Does God Exist?

[RDD_1210]

I believe in God.
Those that don't believe in God will someday wish they did.

Why is that? In what situation would I possibly wish I believed?

 

[Bern80]

The answer is no body knows. Anyone who claims to 'know' God exists is lieing (if only to themselves). Just like anyone who claims to 'know' God doesn't exist is lieing. We are told God was kind of big on this concept of faith. Faith is the belief in something without evidence for it. And 'knowing' God exists would entirely defeat the purpose of having faith in God.

If there is such a thing as God it is not required that he either be spiteful/cruel or powerless. The alternative and one that I think makes the most sense if one does exist is that God is all powerful, he just doesn't use/abuse that power. I don't believe God answer prayers or does miracules. To be just he would have to do them for everyone or no one. A God can not justify allowing someone women to be beaten, raped and killed and intervene and save some one elses life. If God exists this life is a test, that he does not interfere in, in preparation for the next life.

 

[G.T.]

I don't know. Neither does anyone.

 

[logical4u]

They are not all the same deity--but the formulation of each religions perspective may be from the same sources!!

There is only one god. I wonder if the Chrsitians and muslims ever wondered why Jews took such painstaking attempts to prove that Jehovah was the god of the Jews. But then, they probably knew thus explaining some of their members anti-semantism.

If there is a god, you may have to admit more than one and then exclaim faith to the god that defend your people. Western Theology maybe a system of plagarism and recasting others ideas to setup an ordered society.


Given this type of way of looking at religion, it may not be a good idea to break their idols!

Consider that a form of good advice.

There is only one god? That is your opinion and you are welcome to it.

Actually, I meant to put that in quotes since that is the cornerstone of faith belonging to Christians and Muslims. In truth, if the Christians and muslims are correct, there are numerous gods!

In the 'new Covenant', the other gods are banished.

 

[ABikerSailor]

IF god exists then one of the following statements has to be true

1) He is a cruel, spiteful God. (look at the world today for evidence of good people dying every minute)
2) He is powerless (look at the world today and tell me why so many bad things happen every day to good people)

OR

Neither of the above statements are true because.......There is no God.

Using Occam's Razor I will go with the last choice.
There is no God.

Wrong. Good people die every day because their fellow humans act like there ISN'T someone watching, and that is why they are killed.

And........He's not powerless. Bad things sometimes happen to good people because a situation arose, but it is also a test for the people around them to step in and help out their fellow human.

God does exist, it's just that people who are too self absorbed or ignorant won't acknowledge this, because they don't want to be bothered by helping out their fellow man.

Interestingly enough, there have been situations in my life (a few actually), where bad things happened to me, which later down the road of life became some of my strongest assets.

I've been through all 3 types of child abuse as a kid from 5 - 12, but because of that I've got experience that I can use to help out others who have gone through, or are going through those bad things, and I can help them out of the pit they were thrown into.

Some were very simple normal things which later turned out to be a great thing after I'd made it through, because it was replaced with something better. A good example of that was getting kicked out of my apartment because of a meth cook in my building (he spent a lot of time lying to the owners because he was pissed thinking that I'd called the cops on him). But that turned out to be a wonderful thing because now I live in a real house with a real yard.

Interestingly enough, I'm paying about the same amount in rent.

I'm not talking about crime. Explain to me the millions children who die from horrible diseases. Why does a God allow that to happen? Are those children being tested??

Actually, it's not so much that God allows children to die from horrible diseases, it's that the people utilize their self will and by not following God's direction, end up in places (or have things happen) that is away from Him, and then they die.

By the way, look up the 613 Mitzvot sometime and read them all. Know what it is basically? A way to live and be healthy and have a long life.

Christians know those instructions as the 10 Commandments, but again, the intent is the same, to keep humans alive. The first 3 Commandments are there to remind you who God is, tells you not to worship idols, and to not disrespect Him.

The very next one, number 4, is "thou shalt not murder".

The rest of them after that? It tells you what NOT to do so that someone doesn't come by and murder you (many people are murdered because of lies, adultery, coveting, etc).

And the one about respecting your parents? Remember.......they brought you into this world, they can take you out.

Remember the Sabbath? Simple.......if you don't take a break every now and again, you'll stress out and kill yourself.

So basically, follow the rules and you'll have a long and happy life. Don't, and you may not be here much longer.

 

[Big Black Dog]

I believe in God.
Those that don't believe in God will someday wish they did.

Why is that? In what situation would I possibly wish I believed?

You are absolutely correct... Don't worry yourself with thoughts of God.

 

[hortysir]

One day we'll all find out one way or another.
I'm covering my bets
If there isn't a God, and I just vanish one day, so be it.
If there is a God I feel relatively safe **looks around nervously**

 

[ABikerSailor]

A great quote that I'd heard a while ago.......

I'd rather live as if there WAS a God and die to find out there isn't, than to live like there ISN'T a God and die to find out there is.

 

[RDD_1210]

I believe in God.
Those that don't believe in God will someday wish they did.

Why is that? In what situation would I possibly wish I believed?

You are absolutely correct... Don't worry yourself with thoughts of God.

I asked a question. You don't have an answer?

 

[RDD_1210]

A great quote that I'd heard a while ago.......

I'd rather live as if there WAS a God and die to find out there isn't, than to live like there ISN'T a God and die to find out there is.

What are you implying, that you only do the right thing because you think God is watching and judging?

 

[ABikerSailor]

A great quote that I'd heard a while ago.......

I'd rather live as if there WAS a God and die to find out there isn't, than to live like there ISN'T a God and die to find out there is.

What are you implying, that you only do the right thing because you think God is watching and judging?

Nope. I do the right thing because it's generally easier than fucking up.

And.......Is God watching and judging? Kinda.......most of the watching comes from His Angels, and they are the ones that take what you're doing up to Him, so that He can decide if you should be stopped or not.

By the way.........there is no such thing as "coincidence", it's God letting you see Him at work to see if you're paying attention. Coincidence is actually part of God's synchronicity.

 

[RDD_1210]

Wrong. Good people die every day because their fellow humans act like there ISN'T someone watching, and that is why they are killed.

And........He's not powerless. Bad things sometimes happen to good people because a situation arose, but it is also a test for the people around them to step in and help out their fellow human.

God does exist, it's just that people who are too self absorbed or ignorant won't acknowledge this, because they don't want to be bothered by helping out their fellow man.

Interestingly enough, there have been situations in my life (a few actually), where bad things happened to me, which later down the road of life became some of my strongest assets.

I've been through all 3 types of child abuse as a kid from 5 - 12, but because of that I've got experience that I can use to help out others who have gone through, or are going through those bad things, and I can help them out of the pit they were thrown into.

Some were very simple normal things which later turned out to be a great thing after I'd made it through, because it was replaced with something better. A good example of that was getting kicked out of my apartment because of a meth cook in my building (he spent a lot of time lying to the owners because he was pissed thinking that I'd called the cops on him). But that turned out to be a wonderful thing because now I live in a real house with a real yard.

Interestingly enough, I'm paying about the same amount in rent.

I'm not talking about crime. Explain to me the millions children who die from horrible diseases. Why does a God allow that to happen? Are those children being tested??

Actually, it's not so much that God allows children to die from horrible diseases, it's that the people utilize their self will and by not following God's direction, end up in places (or have things happen) that is away from Him, and then they die.

By the way, look up the 613 Mitzvot sometime and read them all. Know what it is basically? A way to live and be healthy and have a long life.

So I'm still not understanding what children cancer patients did or didn't do to deserve to be killed at such a young innocent age. Why doesn't God let them live full productive lives?
Maybe you can explain in layman's terms what this means in relation to children dying of cancer - "people utilize their self will and by not following God's direction, end up in places (or have things happen) that is away from Him, and then they die."

Please correct me where I have this wrong, but the way I'm reading what you wrote is that children with cancer, have cancer because they failed to follow the direction of God and the result they get is Cancer. Do I have that right?

 

[RDD_1210]

A great quote that I'd heard a while ago.......

I'd rather live as if there WAS a God and die to find out there isn't, than to live like there ISN'T a God and die to find out there is.

What are you implying, that you only do the right thing because you think God is watching and judging?

And.......Is God watching and judging? Kinda.......most of the watching comes from His Angels, and they are the ones that take what you're doing up to Him, so that He can decide if you should be stopped or not.

I'm just not getting it. If God "can decide if you should be stopped or not" why doesn't God stop criminals from committing crimes since he's watching and can tell that they're planning evil acts?

 

[Intense]

There is no proof of god.

There is no reason to believe in things that there is no proof of.

Yeah Right.

 

[hortysir]

So I'm still not understanding what children cancer patients did or didn't do to deserve to be killed at such a young innocent age. Why doesn't God let them live full productive lives?
Maybe you can explain in layman's terms what this means in relation to children dying of cancer - "people utilize their self will and by not following God's direction, end up in places (or have things happen) that is away from Him, and then they die."

Please correct me where I have this wrong, but the way I'm reading what you wrote is that children with cancer, have cancer because they failed to follow the direction of God and the result they get is Cancer. Do I have that right?

I had a similar conversation with my preacher back when my Mom died from cancer, RDD, and I've taken his advice to heart,
When something happens I don't see it as "something bad happening TO me". It could be something good happening FOR someone else.
I recently lost a friend of mine. He dated a grand daughter of mine for years. He partied too hard with pills an booze.
Now there are 4 or 5 other people that just got a new lease of life.
There were several young people, at his memorial, that came up to speak about the lesson they have taken from his death.
This one death could, potentially, save dozens of others.

 

[RDD_1210]

So I'm still not understanding what children cancer patients did or didn't do to deserve to be killed at such a young innocent age. Why doesn't God let them live full productive lives?
Maybe you can explain in layman's terms what this means in relation to children dying of cancer - "people utilize their self will and by not following God's direction, end up in places (or have things happen) that is away from Him, and then they die."

Please correct me where I have this wrong, but the way I'm reading what you wrote is that children with cancer, have cancer because they failed to follow the direction of God and the result they get is Cancer. Do I have that right?

I had a similar conversation with my preacher back when my Mom died from cancer, RDD, and I've taken his advice to heart,
When something happens I don't see it as "something bad happening TO me". It could be something good happening FOR someone else.
I recently lost a friend of mine. He dated a grand daughter of mine for years. He partied too hard with pills an booze.
Now there are 4 or 5 other people that just got a new lease of life.
There were several young people, at his memorial, that came up to speak about the lesson they have taken from his death.
This one death could, potentially, save dozens of others.

That's great that people learned something from his death. But what has a child done to deserve death at such a young age. What productive lesson could possibly be learned from hundreds of thousands of children dying of cancer every year? It doesn't add up.

 

[hortysir]

So I'm still not understanding what children cancer patients did or didn't do to deserve to be killed at such a young innocent age. Why doesn't God let them live full productive lives?
Maybe you can explain in layman's terms what this means in relation to children dying of cancer - "people utilize their self will and by not following God's direction, end up in places (or have things happen) that is away from Him, and then they die."

Please correct me where I have this wrong, but the way I'm reading what you wrote is that children with cancer, have cancer because they failed to follow the direction of God and the result they get is Cancer. Do I have that right?

I had a similar conversation with my preacher back when my Mom died from cancer, RDD, and I've taken his advice to heart,
When something happens I don't see it as "something bad happening TO me". It could be something good happening FOR someone else.
I recently lost a friend of mine. He dated a grand daughter of mine for years. He partied too hard with pills an booze.
Now there are 4 or 5 other people that just got a new lease of life.
There were several young people, at his memorial, that came up to speak about the lesson they have taken from his death.
This one death could, potentially, save dozens of others.

That's great that people learned something from his death. But what has a child done to deserve death at such a young age. What productive lesson could possibly be learned from hundreds of thousands of children dying of cancer every year? It doesn't add up.

I don't pretend to know it all, my friend.
I can only take comfort in the promise that one day all will be revealed. (or not )

 

[RDD_1210]

I had a similar conversation with my preacher back when my Mom died from cancer, RDD, and I've taken his advice to heart,
When something happens I don't see it as "something bad happening TO me". It could be something good happening FOR someone else.
I recently lost a friend of mine. He dated a grand daughter of mine for years. He partied too hard with pills an booze.
Now there are 4 or 5 other people that just got a new lease of life.
There were several young people, at his memorial, that came up to speak about the lesson they have taken from his death.
This one death could, potentially, save dozens of others.

That's great that people learned something from his death. But what has a child done to deserve death at such a young age. What productive lesson could possibly be learned from hundreds of thousands of children dying of cancer every year? It doesn't add up.

I don't pretend to know it all, my friend.
I can only take comfort in the promise that one day all will be revealed. (or not )

And that's where one of my major problems with the whole concept of God comes from. Stuff like that, just doesn't make sense to me and once you find one chink in the armor you start to question everything else in even greater detail.

 

[marv]

I see from the more recent posts that gods are generally needed to explain the unexplainable. I prefer to think that natural processes have a lot to do with things in this world.

 

[Intense]

So I'm still not understanding what children cancer patients did or didn't do to deserve to be killed at such a young innocent age. Why doesn't God let them live full productive lives?
Maybe you can explain in layman's terms what this means in relation to children dying of cancer - "people utilize their self will and by not following God's direction, end up in places (or have things happen) that is away from Him, and then they die."

Please correct me where I have this wrong, but the way I'm reading what you wrote is that children with cancer, have cancer because they failed to follow the direction of God and the result they get is Cancer. Do I have that right?

I had a similar conversation with my preacher back when my Mom died from cancer, RDD, and I've taken his advice to heart,
When something happens I don't see it as "something bad happening TO me". It could be something good happening FOR someone else.
I recently lost a friend of mine. He dated a grand daughter of mine for years. He partied too hard with pills an booze.
Now there are 4 or 5 other people that just got a new lease of life.
There were several young people, at his memorial, that came up to speak about the lesson they have taken from his death.
This one death could, potentially, save dozens of others.

That's great that people learned something from his death. But what has a child done to deserve death at such a young age. What productive lesson could possibly be learned from hundreds of thousands of children dying of cancer every year? It doesn't add up.

And why do so many blame God for what we do to each other? That doesn't add up either. Who is to say, what could have or would have been? There are things beyond all of our understandings.