Does God exist?

Does God exist?

I spent my childhood in the churches of my youth, and believed what the adults taught me about the Christian faith.

Later in life, I started questioning my faith to a point I've eventually become agnostic. I'm no longer religious, so I'm not biased either way in the great God debate. I'm open minded to both sides of the argument.

(1.) What is your religious affiliate?

(2.) Were you raised in a religious background?

(3.) Do you ever question your beliefs?

(4.) What causes you to believe whatever it is that you believe?

it's literally all make-believe. anyone who says otherwise is mentally ill.

God exists, but religion is bullshit.

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*accurate appearance of user*

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1) none
2) baptised Catholic as a baby, never really went to mass. Spent some time with Pentecostals during my mother's second marriage (c r a z y)
3) none, no
4) lack of evidence I guess. lack of need of religion's comforts? I'm not even superstitious in any way or believe in like... ghosts

>God exists, but religion is bullshit.
But religion means the belief in God?

Still, I get what you mean. You're talking about the "man-made" religions of the world, yes?

this come back is so original and legit I can't even refute it

1. Orthodox Christian
2. No, family isn't/wasn't that religious
3. I did for a time. Not anymore though
4. My own life experiences.

>1) none
So you wouldn't even say you're atheist or agnostic?

>Spent some time with Pentecostals during my mother's second marriage (c r a z y)
Very much so, yeah. :/

Damn nice muscles

>My own life experiences.
Care to share something?

Warning: If you do, you'll get picked on by anons for whatever experience you share, so you may have to ignore them if they become too uncivil.

Damn weird family

I don't really think lack of belief can be categorized as religious affiliation. None was a fine answer.

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1) non-denominational, pretty much just follow the new testament.

2) Yes

3) Maybe? I tend to question my understanding and interpretation of scripture more than anything.

4) A feeling that it helps me be a better person, and improves my life and the lives of those around me. There is a bit more to it than that, but that is the core reason.

>(1.) What is your religious affiliate?
None.
>(2.) Were you raised in a religious background?
No.
>(3.) Do you ever question your beliefs?
I ask people to give me reasons to believe, sure.
>4.) What causes you to believe whatever it is that you believe?
I don't believe because there is no good reason to believe.

Does God exist?

Depends on what you mean by God.


1. None.
2. no
3. Yes
4. Desire to learn


God is objective morality. A body of science.

Just like animals can have flashes of "comprehension" of physics, mathematics, morality, proper behavior (for their society), etc, we humans can have flashes of understanding of "God."

God is related to Love.

Objective morality is discoverable, but not in its totality. It may be approached but never reached. Just like we will never finish discovering new scientific information.

People, humans, have a tendency to anthropomorphize (to see something in terms of their own image) things. In this case, God is the anthropomorphization of "Love." Love is great and terrible. That is, awesome; awe-inspiring.

To actually meet with Love is to die to the flesh.

Evolution equipped us with Pride, Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, etc... it's in our DNA. We evolved among small tribes who killed one another and raped each other's women, enslaved each other, etc.

Religion is systematic, structured, and compels people into relationships with each other (preacher, congregation, bishop, scholar, etc.)

Your belief in God is its own evidence. The belief itself is supposed to transform you and help you.

Trying to prove God exists is "doing it ass-backwards."

Either believe, and try that experiment with yourself, or don't.

Morality is inherently subjective.

I believe in god because when I feel bad I pray and I feel better and when I feel good and pray I feel great. When I was 11 I did some bad shit and prayed then I felt way better so that did it for me. Maybe I just need someone to talk to who wouldn't ever judge me

>When I was 11 I did some bad shit and prayed
>Maybe I just need someone to talk to who wouldn't ever judge me
The feels

It's kind of like I'm talking about infinity, and you're saying "but numbers are inherently finite."

There is a discoverable objective morality. Not discoverable in its totality, because it is ridiculously complex. Yet, it must have patterns and qualities which could have principles applied to them that allow for some level of comprehension.

Honestly, you just dismissed me as a retard as soon as you read "objective morality." And that's fine. That's what I have to live with, lol.

1) Wish emotionally I could subscribe to religion, can't actually make myself believe any of them. So Agnostic, I guess.

2) I'm what my dad likes to call "ethnically Catholic"- both my parents were born and raised Roman Catholics, but both lapsed and raised me and my brothers outside the church. However, they both went through Catechism class ("sunday school", for you non Christians) and were Confirmed before they lapsed, and had no compunctions answering questions when we asked. And the rest of my extended family does still practice to some degree or another. So, I guess you could say I have a religious education without ever really being encouraged to accept it as truth.

3) Constantly. On the one hand, I cannot look at the stark facts not only my life, but all life I can observe and ever come to the conclusion that any religious teaching I know of is accurate on any sort of large scale. However, on the other hand, I can see why people /want/ to believe, and I can't truly give up the possibility of a larger framework without giving into existential ennui.

4) In the end, logic. I know that sounds cringy, but hang on. In the end, whether or not God exists has nothing to do with whether we believe or not. If He does exist, then he exists. It's the same reason I don't think it matters if fate or destiny are real, if they are, then by their nature, you can't do anything about it, and if they aren't, then it doesn't matter. Knowing for sure won't do much except in a few fringe cases where people were undecided; if you're determined to believe, you will believe. If you're determined not to, then you won't. I won't begrudge you your choice either way; if you don't believe, I understand why. It's illogical to believe. However, life and the universe is scary, and by nature, humans need things to have pattern and meaning, and faith provides that in spades.

tl;dr: Probably not, but it doesn't matter one way or the other.

>There is a discoverable objective morality.
No, there isn't.
>Honestly, you just dismissed me as a retard as soon as you read "objective morality."
I don't think you're a retard, but I do think a lot of what you type is meaningless gibberish.

I remember my father telling me that our family is atheist at around 10 years old. But at family dinners my grandparents always had a prayer first.
I'm in my 30s and still despise religion even though I lean towards conservative values.
Nobody knows if god exists. But youtube keeps me believing in simulation theory... who fucking knows

1. Protestant
2. Yes. My uncle was a Pastor, I was baptized, we prayed before meals, and religious beliefs were instilled in me from a young age
3. Yes, I question my beliefs. I used to be Christian until I realized what utter bullshit it is and how many problems there are with it. However, I constantly worry about whether hell is real or not and whether I’ll go there for not believing in god.
4. Because Christianity makes no sense. I don’t believe in any one god, but certainly the Big Bang happened somehow, so I’d call whatever force, being, instance, event, or whatever triggered the Big Bang God.

Ok. You're probably right about that.

Goodnight.