What is it like believing in God?

It feels like even when everyone else seems to hate you, you always have someone to fall back on.
That won't tell you how awful you are, but just listen.
Comforting. Hope. Encouraging.

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Listen but never reply

MetalSuicide wrote: Listen but never reply

I like that tone . . .

i alternate between believing and not believing in the gods.
the only difference for me is when i believe, i feel more comfortable about dying, because i know i will not just rot in the ground.

It was nice. I remeber when I thought there was a god. When I thought there was a heaven, when I thought and turly believed in my heart that the baloons and fathers day gift made it to heaven...that my father got it. But now I know the truth...I know that the balloons poped...that he isn't looking down on me.
It's like believeing in santa and the easter bunny. It gave you a reason to be good...to bad the reason was a reword.

Genderless Camellia wrote: i alternate between believing and not believing in the gods.
the only difference for me is when i believe, i feel more comfortable about dying, because i know i will not just rot in the ground.

Yeah you might just end up burning in hell. Let's face it everything is a sin...no matter how good of a person you are, if you had sex before marriage, if you're in LOVE with someone of the same sex, if you don't to got church...you burn in hell...forever.

that may be true, but i am not christian (Y) out of these, shinto at least approves of homosexuality.
and im not gonna burn, im gonna get reborn, baby ;] but i do not plan on dying, anyway.

Genderless Camellia wrote: but i do not plan on dying, anyway.

If you manage that, give me a call

I know god is real because i can feel him.
What else propels my passion and love for what I do?

It's not a crutch if you don't depend on him.
You're not an idiot because you believe in something greater than yourself.
Science explains everything inside the realm of science, but there are facts about God as well.

I have no religion, but that doesn't mean that there's not something out there.
Intellect can block higher senses and create doubt, but it's quite obvious God is there.

I mean, I don't even look at it in the way of "theres an invisible man watching the world".
That's ridiculous. God is passion, and love, and what helps you make the right choices. He's that gut feeling in your stomach, and that voice in your head. He guides you through your own heart and conscience. He may not make it super apparent to you that he exists, but that's because it's your choice on how to believe it, or to not at all.

It's all about how you look at it.

Little Soul wrote: That's ridiculous. God is passion, and love, and what helps you make the right choices. He's that gut feeling in your stomach, and that voice in your head. He guides you through your own heart and conscience. He may not make it super apparent to you that he exists, but that's because it's your choice on how to believe it, or to not at all

And people aren't capable of this themselves? Interesting.

Intellect creates doubt, which helps more than blindly accepting and grasping for spiritual straws.

Little Soul wrote:
Intellect can block higher senses and create doubt, but it's quite obvious God is there.

aka belief is for dumbarses

Little Soul wrote: I know god is real because i can feel him.
What else propels my passion and love for what I do?

A desire for recognition, I guess. I don't want people to listen to my music so an omniscient being approves.

Little Soul wrote: It's not a crutch if you don't depend on him.
You're not an idiot because you believe in something greater than yourself.
Science explains everything inside the realm of science, but there are facts about God as well.

Can you cite any respected and trustworthy sources, Bible excluded, to document these?

Little Soul wrote: I have no religion, but that doesn't mean that there's not something out there.
Intellect can block higher senses and create doubt, but it's quite obvious God is there.

I believe you're using the "watch argument". The whole "Humans and the universe are too perfect to be accidental." Except that, y'know, accidents happen all the time that are major medicine and science breakthroughs. Penicillin, for example.

Little Soul wrote: I mean, I don't even look at it in the way of "theres an invisible man watching the world".
That's ridiculous. God is passion, and love, and what helps you make the right choices. He's that gut feeling in your stomach, and that voice in your head. He guides you through your own heart and conscience. He may not make it super apparent to you that he exists, but that's because it's your choice on how to believe it, or to not at all.

So to you, God is emotion? Millions of people across the world worship chemical reactions in their brains?

Little Soul wrote: It's all about how you look at it.

Of course, but what about people who have kids and force them into religion who don't get a choice to look at it any other way?

PA wrote:

Little Soul wrote: I have no religion, but that doesn't mean that there's not something out there.
Intellect can block higher senses and create doubt, but it's quite obvious God is there.

I believe you're using the "watch argument". The whole "Humans and the universe are too perfect to be accidental." Except that, y'know, accidents happen all the time that are major medicine and science breakthroughs. Penicillin, for example.

Mm, true, but my main objection to the "fine tuned universe" argument is that "fine-tuned" is a human concept.

I mean, if the conditions for life were different, things could quite possibly have evolved differently, and right now there'd be an entirely different intelligent species thinking about how special they are.

Secondly, if the universe is a designed machine, it fell into disrepair somewhere along the way.
There are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe that, as far as we know, cannot support life.
There's only one scraggly planet, (that we know of), where some life can be sustained sometimes on some of it's surface.

Meh for most people it is just faith ... We dont need any proof we just know ....

But seriously just let people believe what they want people to believe... Arguing just makes it look like you are trying to prove to yourself that your beliefs are correct...
I respect everyones religion/belief as should everyone else ...
I use to switch between christianity and atheism a lot when I was younger... People in my family would try to get me to be either christian, or atheist... I hate people who try to force a religion down your throat ...

justinb52 wrote: But seriously just let people believe what they want people to believe.

KittensKill wrote:

Nintendo wrote: I don't think any religion is stupid. Let people believe what they want to. It's their life and not yours.

but when their religion says that I'm going to burn in hell and they have to "save" me?
When their religion dictates their political views, and causes laws that oppress me?
When their religious views give them the "right" to beat or murder me?
When their religion denies me the right to be treated as a human being?

Religion should be like sexuality: what you do in your own home is your business, but please, don't fuck in the street.