i know this has been asked before, but i'm doing a percentage poll for a church presentation.
2007-11-05 14:34:13 · 18 answers · asked by angel1 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Yes. Because I have a personal relationship with Him that is real. I talk to Him and He talks to me. I can feel Him. I can see Him working in my life. I taste and see that the Lord is good. I know that I can touch Him with my prayers because He always answers. He has proven Himself REAL to me.
2007-11-05 14:46:57 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
I read your question in 2 ways:
1) Is there some entity that set the universe in motion?
That's hard to say. At that level of the game, it's really anyone's guess if the initial cause of the universe's existence was a conscious act. I don't believe it was, because we understand consciousness to be a result of a functioning nervous system*, which requires (in simple terms) matter and energy, which didn't exist (presumably) until AFTER the moment of "creation" (Big bang).
Now, since you go to church, presumably you are a Christian. In this case, you probably meant:
2) Do you believe in God as conceived in Christian teachings?
In which case, I respond with an emphatic "no". Regardless of the atheism/deism question, Christian dogma just piles on the leaps of faith, so that you REALLY have to work to convince yourself it is all true. It is worth mentioning that the religion of your parents is the single best predictor of your own religion. That's true for ALL religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, etc. But back to Christianity... People don't rise from the dead. Your body doesn't just turn into a pile of salt. Oceans don't make way for pedestrians. Dead fish don't multiply. Water can't be turned into an alcoholic beverage without some additional ingredients. None of these are even remotely possible. And since there is no unbiased guide to tell you which parts of the canon are true and which parts less so, you just have to assume that it's all fiction: an historical relic, perhaps worthy of scholarly investigation, but certainly not a reliable source of history, science, or any other aspect of knowledge.
* I don't mean to sound like consciousness is well-understood. It's not. But what is generally-accepted among professionals in neuroscience is that consciousness cannot exist apart from a nervous system. The specifics are as shrouded in mystery as the grand unified theory of physics.
2007-11-05 14:47:39 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
No.
You are the one making the extraordinary claim. You are the one that needs to back it up with something.
If I said that I believed there was a small Spode teapot in orbit around the sun between Mars and the Earth would you just accept my belief. On the basis of my belief would you believe in the celestial teapot too? Or would you be asking for some reason why I should make such an extraordinary claim? Why does your god have a 'Get-out-of-rational-argument-free' card when the teapot does not?
2007-11-05 14:47:30 · answer #3 · answered by DamnLimey 2 · 4⤊ 1⤋
No, because there is no reason to believe that there is anything more powerful or influential in my life than myself.
Religion is also conjecture based on ancient theologic thinking. Theology being the mystical alternative to phylosophy. Basically, theology is answers based on superstition, and philosophy is explainations based on logical reasoning and experiment. The two are not compatable.
2007-11-05 14:44:31 · answer #4 · answered by Judo Chop 4 · 4⤊ 1⤋
No.
Because I am too well educated to accept what is nothing but superstition, and thankfully my parents did not brainwash me into any faith
Man created god out of ignorance.
Christians do not even seem to be aware of the history of their god, and that originally he had a father, wife-mother and numerous
siblings (see my last question)
2007-11-05 14:44:17 · answer #5 · answered by Vermin 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋
No.
Same reason as why I do not believe in unicorns.
Show me some evidence that unicorns exist and I will accept that they are real. God gets the same level of requirement.
2007-11-05 14:40:39 · answer #6 · answered by Simon T 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
No.
Because God is just as likely to exist is the flying unicorn that I play with every evening at 8 p.m.
2007-11-05 14:38:03 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 2⤋
No....It is the greatest hoax that has ever been endured by mankind. Hopefully, one day it will be realized and put where it belongs. In the books of mythology.
2007-11-05 14:39:42 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 1⤋
Yes. God is the one and only power in this universe.
2007-11-05 14:42:27 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
No. Proof, evidence, logic and reason are the main points as why I don't believe. And for myself, faith is not enough as I would rather know than believe.
2007-11-05 14:38:00 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 2⤋