Is there a God?

Time to get a sense of the religious cross-section on this forum.

Fairly athiest board

I think man invented God out of desperation for clarity during the dark times, when science and reason was unheard of. However, there are things, such as Pascal's Wager, which give weight to a deity existing. So I don't know.

Yours sincerely
Morgan

I don't know if there is a god.

But I do know that I'm not god.

i'am R C.

There is a God.

Bit deep for a Saturday night

I was christened catholic but im aethiest

There is a God.

In your opinion

I'm dyslexic and was just about to say of course there is, and mines lying by my fire place.

If there was a god he wouldnt be allowing the rebrand

Last edited by CP76 on Sat Jun 16, 2012 7:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I don't know.

No point ruling it out just incase

I don't know.

No point ruling it out just incase

Ooo..in case of what exactly?

I don't know.

No point ruling it out just incase

Yep


Read this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal's_Wager

Not designed to enforce belief, but to make you weigh up the possibilities

I don't know.

No point ruling it out just incase

Ooo..in case of what exactly?

Some look to an afterlife for comfort, and that doesn't bother me, completely understand it. I'm probably 70-30 in favour of atheism, but I don't scorn theists for belief.

I don't know.

No point ruling it out just incase

Ooo..in case of what exactly?

Well if heaven does exist I'd rather go to the pearly gates than not

I don't know.

No point ruling it out just incase

Yep


Read this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal's_Wager

Not designed to enforce belief, but to make you weigh up the possibilities

The thing with Pascal's Wager is it's essentially hypocritical.

If I were to follow that theory, then I should live my life in a way which would be acceptable in the eyes of God, regardless of my true and sincere beliefs. Surely that encourages dishonesty? As pretending you believe there is a God in order to gain access to (what I presume would be) heaven, must be the greatest of all lies?

I don't know.

No point ruling it out just incase

Yep


Read this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal's_Wager

Not designed to enforce belief, but to make you weigh up the possibilities

The thing with Pascal's Wager is it's essentially hypocritical.

If I were to follow that theory, then I should live my life in a way which would be acceptable in the eyes of God, regardless of my true and sincere beliefs. Surely that encourages dishonesty? As pretending you believe there is a God in order to gain access to (what I presume would be) heaven, must be the greatest of all lies?

Yes, I think if you are following it, you do need to be truthful, as God can supposedly see through all deceit, otherwise the premise falls apart.

But it doesn't instruct you how to live your life AFAIK. It doesn't instruct anything, only encourages how to place your Wager.

There is a God.

In your opinion

Nope. There is defo a God.

I'm dyslexic and was just about to say of course there is, and mines lying by my fire place.

woof --

There is a God.

In your opinion

Nope. There is defo a God.

Now it's people who say things such as this that give religion a bad name. I respect the views of all, so should you.

What I dont get is these religions who spend all day praying to god, with no vices, living their lives in devotion to god so they can come again in the next life.

What happens in the next life? Same all over again?

Who the f**k would want infinity leading that kind of life!

There is a God.

In your opinion

Nope. There is defo a God.

Now it's people who say things such as this that give religion a bad name. I respect the views of all, so should you.

Look. People are entitled to their views. If they believe that there is no God then I respect that. Just saying that I think there is definately a God.

What I dont get is these religions who spend all day praying to god, with no vices, living their lives in devotion to god so they can come again in the next life.

What happens in the next life? Same all over again?

Who the f**k would want infinity leading that kind of life!

It isn't infinite. Eventually they believe they will achieve release from the physical world, and you don't have to do those practises, just leading a good life can lead to release. Of course in the next life they may not be a part of that religion and lead a LAD lifestyle.

There is a God.

In your opinion

Nope. There is defo a God.

Now it's people who say things such as this that give religion a bad name. I respect the views of all, so should you.

Look. People are entitled to their views. If they believe that there is no God then I respect that. Just saying that I think there is definately a God.

You were stating it as fact

Yes, I think if you are following it, you do need to be truthful, as God can supposedly see through all deceit, otherwise the premise falls apart.

But it doesn't instruct you how to live your life AFAIK. It doesn't instruct anything, only encourages how to place your Wager

.

Therein lies the second flaw. Only those who have an inclination to believe in God, or at least apathy towards belief, can follow the thesis correctly. Individuals like myself who sincerely believe that there is no such thing are unable to do so without being dishonest and consequently sinning. Thus, only those who are inclined to believe can follow the wager successfully. All others are simply pretending.

The third flaw regards instruction and encouragement. Being told what to believe in, more so with regards to religion, undermines its primary principals entirely. Religious belief should be a natural decision made by the individual concerned; not by a theory, statistic, or philosophy such as this. What it's saying is "There's more to gain through belief than there is to lose". However, religion is not that simple for many.

Yep. "Johnny Rotten"

Yes, I think if you are following it, you do need to be truthful, as God can supposedly see through all deceit, otherwise the premise falls apart.

But it doesn't instruct you how to live your life AFAIK. It doesn't instruct anything, only encourages how to place your Wager

.

Therein lies the second flaw. Only those who have an inclination to believe in God, or at least apathy towards belief, can follow the thesis correctly. Individuals like myself who sincerely believe that there is no such thing are unable to do so without being dishonest and consequently sinning. Thus, only those who are inclined to believe can follow the wager successfully. All others are simply pretending.

The third flaw regards instruction and encouragement. Being told what to believe in, more so with regards to religion, undermines its primary principals entirely. [i]Religious belief should be a natural decision made by the individual concerned; not by a theory, statistic, or philosophy such as this.[i/] What it's saying is "There's more to gain through belief than there is to lose". However, religion is not that simple for many.

I agree wholeheartedly there.

On your second flaw. With regards to feigning belief, we don't whether God would repent your false belief in the afterlife if you changed your beliefs upon meeting him. But I suppose you could say at that point your sin has been done and religious damage done.

And the third flaw.... you could say religions force people to follow certain beliefs anyway, and many people are inducted into religion without choice and learn to accept it and trust in it, so what would the difference between being encouraged to put faith in God and forced to partake in religion be.

Religion and God only exists in the minds of humans!!! Its like its been programmed into us for some reason or other by a creator.... The universe we live in is a chaotic and downright bizarre place that really doesn't make any sense at all...its as if its been designed just the way it is for everything to exist exactly the way it does for a reason!! What that reason is we may never no! Its like the question, what's the meaning of life??maybe
the meaning of life is to seek the answer! What that answer is we might never find but to search for the answer gives meaning to life...

Yes, I think if you are following it, you do need to be truthful, as God can supposedly see through all deceit, otherwise the premise falls apart.

But it doesn't instruct you how to live your life AFAIK. It doesn't instruct anything, only encourages how to place your Wager

.

Therein lies the second flaw. Only those who have an inclination to believe in God, or at least apathy towards belief, can follow the thesis correctly. Individuals like myself who sincerely believe that there is no such thing are unable to do so without being dishonest and consequently sinning. Thus, only those who are inclined to believe can follow the wager successfully. All others are simply pretending.

The third flaw regards instruction and encouragement. Being told what to believe in, more so with regards to religion, undermines its primary principals entirely. Religious belief should be a natural decision made by the individual concerned; not by a theory, statistic, or philosophy such as this. What it's saying is "There's more to gain through belief than there is to lose". However, religion is not that simple for many.

imo there is a god .defo

I agree wholeheartedly there.

On your second flaw. With regards to feigning belief, we don't whether God would repent your false belief in the afterlife if you changed your beliefs upon meeting him. But I suppose you could say at that point your sin has been done and religious damage done.

And the third flaw.... you could say religions force people to follow certain beliefs anyway, and many people are inducted into religion without choice and learn to accept it and trust in it, so what would the difference between being encouraged to put faith in God and forced to partake in religion be.

Upon meeting God, wouldn't every athiest (or false believer in this instance) change their beliefs? Even I could no longer deny his existence if I were shaking his hand.

Equally, it's not a simple case of stealing, adultery, or what not. This is feigning belief for an entire lifespan for purely selfish gains. Consider it, every act of kindness that the said individual has commited throughout their lifetime could be attributed to selfishness (ie wanting to gain entrance to Heaven). In my opinion, this would be the the greatest of all 'sins'.

Forcible belief is one of my main problems with religion, second only to reducing and suppressing individual thought. Whether it be through religious organisations themselves, or philosophers and theories such as this; it will never be right in my eyes.