POLL: Is there a God ??

[Caveman Catfan]

If you believe there is more, that what is known is not all there is, then you want to know more. If the idea that you were not, then you were, then you are gone again seems in your bones to be incomplete, then you sincerely search. That thought may not be your own. It may be the undeniable truth placed in your DNA to make you seek. If you feel there must be more and that feeling cannot be explained by some post hoc evolutionary theory, then it is reasonable to search. Perhaps imperative.

If that resonates, then the Gospel message of love is not as incomplete as some here suggest. You were made for more and a God that enters the pain and confusion we created in the world to show you how to truly live for more and then suffers injustice for the justice actually deserved so that you can freely enjoy that eternal life today is actually a revelation of love. You can belittle that hope and act as if those who believe in it need a crutch you claim to not need, but that is not true in my experience. I don’t see atheists with their shit together any more than I see Christians needing a crutch.

My life got better when I saw the Gospel message as truth. But, it was not better because I had a new hope in a life eternal. It was better because I realized there was value to all of my relationships in surrendering to God. When I live into that truth, my relationships are full and life has more to offer.

Pain exists. Jesus wept. The reality of death, including it’s source, is painful, but not all there is.

Kingdom living, experiencing God, offered me more than living the daily grind. I am thankful God used his scripture to change my heart from disbelief to belief. A marriage that was a rollercoaster has become a true partnership. I have partnered with others and God to hopefully impact the lives of others for the better. I look for His presence where I before saw nothing, and have had some unexplainable experiences.

That “there is more” feeling is real, IMO. If you believe that “this life is enough” is all you need, I suspect you may find that is not true for your whole life. That said, no one was more smug in his non-belief than I was when I read scripture. I read it so I could better confront Christians with their own “religion.” That is not what happened to me and I am thankful.

 

[WildcatfaninOhio]

I'm just a dumb old country boy. I don't have the ability to think thoughts so deep as some of you, but are some suggesting that God should have created us as robots?

I would suggest that man created god. Not the other way around.

 

[cole854]

I would suggest that man created god.

How?
Why?
When?

 

[WildcatfaninOhio]

How?
Why?
When?

Their imagination.

To fill in answers to their questions, before man had scientific answers.

When their brains were too limited to understand the scary things around them.

When ancient people had the understanding of today’s 4 year olds, lightning and thunder were very scary. And unexplainable. And thunder and lightning came from the sky. So “obviously” there must be a very angry man up there somewhere. And he’s angry because of something they did. Voila! A god did it. And the stories unfolded from there.

 

[cole854]

Their imagination.

To fill in answers to their questions, before man had scientific answers.

When their brains were too limited to understand the scary things around them.

When ancient people had the understanding of today’s 4 year olds, lightning and thunder were very scary. And unexplainable. And thunder and lightning came from the sky. So “obviously” there must be a very angry man up there somewhere. And he’s angry because of something they did. Voila! A god did it. And the stories unfolded from there.

How did man get an imagination?

How did man come to find scientific answers?

How did man know something was scary, or where did they come to understand emotional reactions?

 

[WildcatfaninOhio]

How did man get an imagination?

How did man come to find scientific answers?

How did man know something was scary, or where did they come to understand emotional reactions?

Their brain

Their more advanced brain as evolution continued

Human instinct

 

[Col. Angus]

Ya ever hear the one about the Dyslexic atheist insomniac?

He stayed up all night wondering if there was really a dog.

 

[SDC888]

Ya ever hear the one about the Dyslexic atheist insomniac?

He stayed up all night wondering if there was really a dog.

 

[JonathanW]

Have you ever looked around at the chaos? Earthquakes, wildfires, floods, volcanos, droughts, plagues, tornados? Is that the work of a supreme creator? Or how about disease, cancer, heart attacks, stroke, birth defects, miscarriages? Supreme creator also? Shoddy work for an intelligent supreme being, if’n you ask me.

And which supreme being? There have been lots of them. Even the buybull acknowledges that there are lots of them.

If we lived in a Utopia, then (many) people would not look to a God because they would already have anything they needed. Struggles builds character, makes us stronger, makes us want to overcome. Also some of those you list, we create. So unless you want a God/creator who makes decisions for us all, then some of those will happen.

But to think something so complex as the human body, capable of learning so much with so many emotions, came from electrons and gases bumping into one another, without some sort of supreme being orchestrating it, now THAT is a tall tale to believe. You have much more faith in fairy tales than me. As for many of the old testament bible stories, I think it's very possible many of them are analogies or exagerations to make a point, but I also think it is very possible that God who created the universe can make a whale swallow a man and he survive.

 

[cole854]

Their brain

Their more advanced brain as evolution continued

Human instinct

So to summarize...just out of the blue, you believe man was born/created with all of the above, in addition to every other emotion that we experience. You are putting a lot of credit that these emotions/instincts were always there. My question...how did anyone how what emotion to feel in the event of a specific circumstance? Why did they not laugh when experiencing pain? Your thoughts are that the brain always knew this....that in itself is where you lack credibility for any of your points.

 

[cole854]

Have you ever looked around at the chaos? Earthquakes, wildfires, floods, volcanos, droughts, plagues, tornados? Is that the work of a supreme creator? Or how about disease, cancer, heart attacks, stroke, birth defects, miscarriages? Supreme creator also? Shoddy work for an intelligent supreme being, if’n you ask me.

This is where you fail....you need to understand God's word, sin, free will, etc. Otherwise, you will never grasp why the above happen.

 

[Hank Camacho]

This is where you fail....you need to understand God's word, sin, free will, etc. Otherwise, you will never grasp why the above happen.

You need to understand how hilarious this is:

 

[cole854]

^^^You're a very shallow minded person.

 

[WildcatfaninOhio]

In a nutshell, here’s the main problem I have with religion. And so many religious people have used this in this very thread.

Religion causes some people to stop asking hard questions because they think they have been given a universal answer. Why do we have a beautiful sunset? God did that! How can the human body be so complex? God did that! Why did my dad pull through surgery successfully? God did that!

I prefer beginning any question with no answer. Then follow the evidence and see if it takes me somewhere. Just as a crime scene detective does not start with a suspect and then gather evidence to prove himself right. Just like a doctor does not start with a diagnosis and then use vital signs and test results to prove himself right.

So, before asking any question, we should make ourselves forget that we’ve ever heard about the invisible man that lives somewhere up in the sky, and just look for answers. Why is the sunset so beautiful? Because sunlight shining at a sharp through clouds creates vibrant colors that are pleasing to our senses.

No need to slide any of the thousands of man-made gods in there as the answer to every question.

 

[WildcatfaninOhio]

This is where you fail....you need to understand God's word, sin, free will, etc. Otherwise, you will never grasp why the above happen.

I already understand sin. It’s an imaginary disease created in order to sell people an imaginary cure. It’s about control. It’s about keeping people returning to their house of worship because the church has convinced them that they are defective, and only the church can fix them. Oh, and on each visit to the church please bring 10% of your gross income.

 

[berniecarbo]

I would suggest that man created god. Not the other way around.

Then though I disagree , I'm not questioning you. I'm questioning those who said God should have done it this way or why does God allow that.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

In a nutshell, here’s the main problem I have with religion. And so many religious people have used this in this very thread.

Religion causes some people to stop asking hard questions because they think they have been given a universal answer. Why do we have a beautiful sunset? God did that! How can the human body be so complex? God did that! Why did my dad pull through surgery successfully? God did that!

I prefer beginning any question with no answer. Then follow the evidence and see if it takes me somewhere. Just as a crime scene detective does not start with a suspect and then gather evidence to prove himself right. Just like a doctor does not start with a diagnosis and then use vital signs and test results to prove himself right.

So, before asking any question, we should make ourselves forget that we’ve ever heard about the invisible man that lives somewhere up in the sky, and just look for answers. Why is the sunset so beautiful? Because sunlight shining at a sharp through clouds creates vibrant colors that are pleasing to our senses.

No need to slide any of the thousands of man-made gods in there as the answer to every question.

This condescension is typical in these conversations. Freud called religion an illusion and all the atheist “thinkers” jumped on the wagon, because it is self-praise.

While we hear atheist often respond to the unexplainable by saying science will some day understand what we cannot today explain, we are told that believers don’t like the hard questions. Origins of life? Origins of the universe? Science will some day know, so I don’t have to contemplate those hard questions.

As if reading the Bible and facing your sin involves easy questions. As if concepts of holiness and sin and evil are easy concepts. Temptation an easy topic? Surrender of self?

The atheist who demeans Christians in this way is not facing the hard questions, but rather summarily dismissing them with a haughty wave of the hand (or post).

 

[Caveman Catfan]

I already understand sin. It’s an imaginary disease created in order to sell people an imaginary cure. It’s about control. It’s about keeping people returning to their house of worship because the church has convinced them that they are defective, and only the church can fix them. Oh, and on each visit to the church please bring 10% of your gross income.

You don’t understand sin, as demonstrated above. And, that ignorance will, or has already, done damage to relationships. Sin is about selfishness and selfishness is endemic.

 

[MegaBlue05]

Wait….what? Are you saying that we can’t understand words in a book unless we believe the story to be true?

I had the same thought. I’ve read plenty of works of fiction where I comprehended every word despite not believing the story to be true.

 

[berniecarbo]

I am not sure this is a perfect fit for this thread, but perhaps it will be of some value. In the 1880's there was a baseball player named Billy Sunday who quit baseball and became an evangelist. Baseball in those days was a rough game played by rough people for the most part. Billy had a teammate named Ed Williamson who was one of the big stars of the time. Billy said, "Ed Williamson, a fellow weighing 225 lbs was the most active big man you ever saw. ... while they were on a ship crossing the English Channel a storm arose and the captain thought the ship would go down. Ed tied 2 life preservers on himself and one on his wife and dropped to his knees and prayed and promised God to be true. God spoke and the waves were stilled. They came back to the United States and Ed came back to Chicago and started a saloon on Dearborn Street. I would go through there giving tickets for the YMCA meetings and would talk with them and he would cry like a baby.

I would get down and pray for him, and talk with him. When he died they put him on the table and cut him open and took out his liver and it was so big it would not go in a candy bucket. Kidneys had shriveled until they were like two stones..."

 

[csrupp]

Probably the biggest question human beings have ever asked … has it been answered ??

Science has proven that there is a god.

 

[LOL_Man]

Life is hard and long. Like most things, people want to hand the keys over to somebody else and just follow.

Religion is just lip service anyway to most of them. Like hedging their bets. Do anything to anyone you want to then be magically forgiven every Sunday.

Does anyone believe "Christians" are better people than anyone else anymore?

So are you more comfortable dealing with reality as the sole captain of your own ship or are you going to sign onto another crew and let them make all the calls for you?

The reason religion is successful is it is a con skillfully targeted at the social wiring of human beings. A "God" really? Might as well be a Santa Clause or a Lizard King. Fables. What kind of critical mind could accept living under such a farce? A child-like tale to promise you something if you be good and leave your tooth under the pillow. Utter complete foolishness to exploit the inherent weakness in most men as most are natural followers looking for something to leach onto so they can settle comfortably into cruise control.

Religion is cruise control for the mind on the long highway trip of life.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

It’s a self-serving lie that atheists tell themselves that belief in God is a crutch. Read the Bible. Nothing easy about being a believer. Jesus goes in the home of Simon the Pharisee and tells a parable about people being forgiven of debt. Who will be more thankful? Clearly the one who has the massive debt will be more thankful than the one with little debt. Realizing you have massive debt as a selfish person is not an easy realization. Become a believer and read scripture and you may have a revelation about sin you never comprehended. Far easier to be Simon the Pharisee and deny you are a sinner. That is a person choosing the perceived easy route through life. God calls believers to be generous with time and money, to surrender and trust, to obey … While you learn that joy comes from obedience, there is an ease in denial.

 

[megablue]

I don’t care who or what you believe in, this is both cute and hilarious !!!

 

[BigBlueFanGA]

In a nutshell, here’s the main problem I have with religion. And so many religious people have used this in this very thread.

Religion causes some people to stop asking hard questions because they think they have been given a universal answer. Why do we have a beautiful sunset? God did that! How can the human body be so complex? God did that! Why did my dad pull through surgery successfully? God did that!

I prefer beginning any question with no answer. Then follow the evidence and see if it takes me somewhere. Just as a crime scene detective does not start with a suspect and then gather evidence to prove himself right. Just like a doctor does not start with a diagnosis and then use vital signs and test results to prove himself right.

So, before asking any question, we should make ourselves forget that we’ve ever heard about the invisible man that lives somewhere up in the sky, and just look for answers. Why is the sunset so beautiful? Because sunlight shining at a sharp through clouds creates vibrant colors that are pleasing to our senses.

No need to slide any of the thousands of man-made gods in there as the answer to every question.

Thats lazy and certainly doesn't describe me. Believe it or not I share some of the thoughts you shared there.

 

[LOL_Man]

I'm not tough enough so I need an imaginary friend to guide me through the hard times. Children have imaginary friends as a crutch. They also believe Santa Clause comes down the chimney at Christmas. They are naive and give in easily to their imaginations.

Of course the science remains the same. Just because children are youthful doesn't change the equation or the physical laws of the universe their silly beliefs would otherwise pose to rational thinking adults.

It takes courage to face the world as it is. To understand this is it. There is only nothingness remaining after death. That in the hardest of times it is up to you to get it done. I get that it is too much for lesser men to take.

 

[MatteoV25]

So to summarize...just out of the blue, you believe man was born/created with all of the above, in addition to every other emotion that we experience. You are putting a lot of credit that these emotions/instincts were always there. My question...how did anyone how what emotion to feel in the event of a specific circumstance? Why did they not laugh when experiencing pain? Your thoughts are that the brain always knew this....that in itself is where you lack credibility for any of your points.

I know I'm a couple of days behind on this but regardless, evolution can be the answer for a lot of your questions. The apes that we evolved from have the ability to recognize pain and then attempt to avoid that feeling. The brain can do miraculous things as it develops.

 

[cole854]

The apes that we evolved from

 

[justa]

He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself.

 

[MatteoV25]

I'm not slamming you for believing in God. Don't try to slam me for believing in provable science.

 

[WildcatfaninOhio]

I'm not slamming you for believing in God. Don't try to slam me for believing in provable science.

He’s likely pointing out that man did not evolve from apes. We are not directly descendants of apes. But rather, humans and apes are both descendants of a primate that lived millions of years ago.

 

[MatteoV25]

He’s likely pointing out that man did not evolve from apes. We are not directly descendants of apes. But rather, humans and apes are both descendants of a primate that lived millions of years ago.

I see what you mean, I should've worded that better. To correct myself, the primates that we evolved from had the ability to recognize pain. The point that I was trying to make still applies

 

[MatteoV25]

@Caveman Catfan how many times do I have to say it? If you want my attention so bad, just message me directly. You don't need to react with some kind of response every single time I post. There have been countless times that I've seen you post something that I think is ridiculous and rarely, if ever, feel the need to throw myself into a conversation that you're having with someone else. Why do you feel it necessary to insert yourself into everything that I say? This has been going on for months now and I must admit, having a stalker is starting to freak me out.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

Wow, Matteo the victim strikes again. Someone responded to your evolutionary mistake!!! Oh no!!!

 

[MatteoV25]

Wow, Matteo the victim strikes again. Someone responded to your evolutionary mistake!!! Oh no!!!

Yes, I used the wrong word and I acknowledged that. Big deal. If me calling you out for following me around like a puppy on this site ONCE AGAIN makes me the victim then I will gladly own that title. I slapped you around on the Republican vs Democrat racism debate last week and you couldn't let it go so you just had to react to another post I made.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

Yes, I used the wrong word and I acknowledged that. Big deal. If me calling you out for following me around like a puppy on this site ONCE AGAIN makes me the victim then I will gladly own that title. I slapped you around on the Republican vs Democrat racism debate last week and you couldn't let it go so you just had to react to another post I made.

Dude, quit with the paranoid victim fake claim that I follow you. I post in some threads. If you post in those threads and think people should not be able to respond, you might be in the wrong place. If you think I have done something wrong, PLEASE report me and stop this repeated whine show.

 

[MatteoV25]

Dude, quit with the paranoid victim fake claim that I follow you. I post in some threads. If you post in those threads and think people should not be able to respond, you might be in the wrong place. If you think I have done something wrong, PLEASE report me and stop this repeated whine show.

Someone doesn't like to be called out apparently...If you don't want me to continue to "whine," it could be a good idea to just press the ignore button on me so that you don't have to see my posts that you feel so obligated to always respond to. No one is forcing you to react to everything that I post.

 

[megablue]

Regardless of what your particular beliefs may/may not be, this 4-minute proposition definitely makes you ponder origins of modern-day religions, as relates to the many thousands of years of human existence that preceded them. Most interesting and thought-provoking, to say the least:

 

[crashtestdummy]

 

[megablue]

Here are a pair of absolutely fascinating discussions on whether life after death can exist. It seems to me that life, as we “know” it, is recognized by our brains, which are composed of atoms, like everything else in our bodies.

Is There Life After Death? The Mind-Body Problem

Death has never been popular. The intuition that the mind is more than the product of the brain and will survive its death feels correct, but is flatly contradicted by science.

www.psychologytoday.com