Why DON'T you believe in other gods?

Thinking a religious person doesn't really stand a chance of being able to prove their point of view doesn't mean I would ignore it if they did

I assure you my mind is open to any possibility. I frequently try very hard to convince myself god exists. i haven't managed it yet.

No man made gods anyway

the possibilty of the existence of a creator of some kind is actually quite high I think. The various quirks and rituals of man made religions though seem a little ridiculous to me

Give me one reason to believe they are true.

Wanting it to be true doesn't count, so things like "Life would have no meaning otherwise" are actually arguments in favour god not existing in my opinion.

I assure you I am genuinely hoping you are able to do so whilst knowing with almost absolute certainty that you can't
 
Apone said:
I'm an atheist, and one of the reasons that I am one is because it seems like nowadays God is whatever you feel comfortable believing it is, and anything that would have otherwise been an unpleasant truth is attributed to ignorance, or politics, or just flat out denied because somehow, you just 'know'. So basically, you think that the people who say that 'God hates fags' don't know God as well as you do? How can you possibly know this? If it's 'just a feeling', how do you know that your 'feeling' is true while other's 'feelings' are not?

I know that atheists tend to compare God to fantasies as a kind of insult, but if the point is just to have 'faith', then really, does it matter what you believe in? Why would you believe in a God who excludes people from paradise for not believing certain things as opposed to one who includes everyone, no matter who they are? Because it comforts some people to think that they have something that other people don't, or because the idea that someone can be a monster and share the same fate as a wonderful, selfless, giving person is somehow offensive?

I'm not trying to be insulting or confrontational, but it always seems like people who have 'faith' are too often opposed to believing in things that make them uncomfortable-- things like meaninglessness, or insignificance, or the idea that maybe the universe doesn't care about people... the really 'hard' concepts that can actually produce things that some people might not want to feel-- like despair and hopelessness.
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Your concerns seem valid. One of the things that defines my God is that he is the most loving person, so at least on this basis, I have some greater understanding of this God than they do. But they may believe in a different God, or if it is the same one, they may have greater understanding of his love in other ways that I do not understand him.

I can't defend other people's horrendous actions, let alone my own.

I might prefer to believe in a God who lets everyone into paradise, but then he would also allow people who commit horrendous actions to enter paradise.
 
I'm somewhat of a pantheist. Perhaps the only thing that makes me different from atheists is my blind belief that something must have created or given rise to existence, but I'm not interested in why. That in mind, I'm also not interested in all of the vast characterizations of god(s) out there.
 
Black Sheep said:
I'm somewhat of a pantheist. Perhaps the only thing that makes me different from atheists is my blind belief that something must have created or given rise to existence, but I'm not interested in why. That in mind, I'm also not interested in all of the vast characterizations of god(s) out there.
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Why must something have given rise to existence? Those rules break down at the Quantum level.
 
There are plenty of reasons and those reasons are usually voiced in threads like this, but one reason that rarely gets mentioned is they are never presented to me as legitimate.

Example: from what I understand the Mormon god has a different name than the regular christian god, but they've never presented them to me. I just dont have enough money for scientologist to come knocking on my door to let me in their club, but same thing: they never presented it to me.

The reason I would expect and require god to be presented to me in person by a human is that I think god and religion is both a inner thing and a interpersonal relation kind of thing.

Now this isnt the primary reason for not believing but I just dont feel its helpful to just be echoing other people.
 
Billy said:
Why must something have given rise to existence? Those rules break down at the Quantum level.
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Hell, idk. All I can tell you is, if that isn't the case, my reaction will probably be something along the lines of: "Hm, ain't that some shit."
 
Sriracha said:
That's pretty judgmental coming from a Christian.
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Yea I thought that too. I confess I thumbs downed that. I figured if I believed in Christianity's hell I was going to hell anyway and since I don't, it didn't matter.
 
Sriracha said:
That's pretty judgmental coming from a Christian.
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Not really, at least not in the form that the Bible condemns. But that's a whole nother Bible study.
 
Meer said:
I don't believe in any gods because there is no evidence that any of them exist.
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I kinda agree with this. The idea of a 'god' or 'gods' as actual separate entities appearing as big white dudes with beards or women with the body of a supermodel and head of a cow that live in an isolated dimensions only enterable on death, while being surrounded by an army of flying naked babies or what-have-you and control the forces of the world...... on top of never ever showing their faces or sending messages seems rather silly.

In my opinion, belief in a divine entity(s) that is involved with the universe (theism ) is remnant of dark-age superstitious thinking when people's understanding to the world dissolved after the collapse of ancient empires, where "the gods" were actually symbolic rather than literal.

However I believe in a divine consciousness that created all things, and is all things at the same time, and that separate physical entities (especially us humans) are pieces of that consciousness experiencing itself separately. It does not interfere with reality, it simply is and the universe runs its course. (Deism, clockwork universe theory, etc.; my beliefs are very complex.)
 
Horatio said:
I kinda agree with this. The idea of a 'god' or 'gods' as actual separate entities appearing as big white dudes with beards or women with the body of a supermodel and head of a cow that live in an isolated dimensions only enterable on death, while being surrounded by an army of flying naked babies or what-have-you and control the forces of the world...... on top of never ever showing their faces or sending messages seems rather silly.

In my opinion, belief in a divine entity(s) that is involved with the universe (theism ) is remnant of dark-age superstitious thinking when people's understanding to the world dissolved after the collapse of ancient empires, where "the gods" were actually symbolic rather than literal.

However I believe in a divine consciousness that created all things, and is all things at the same time, and that separate physical entities (especially us humans) are pieces of that consciousness experiencing itself separately. It does not interfere with reality, it simply is and the universe runs its course. (Deism, clockwork universe theory, etc.; my beliefs are very complex.)
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Pot, kettle, black.
 
Billy said:
Actually no, I didnt think you knew that.
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Well, it seems your mind is made up about me without even getting to know me. We've both learned something today.
 
Horatio said:
Well, it seems your mind is made up about me without even getting to know me. We've both learned something today.
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You didn't give me but 2 choices... admit I am smug, or admit that I didn't think you knew.
 
Neverwhere said:
@acd calling the religious immature? I rest my case. Sure, there are some who can be very immature...but there are plenty of wise people who have faith. Generalising doesn't exactly answer the question. I'm kind of stumped here.
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Why so serious?
 
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Billy said:
You didn't give me but 2 choices... admit I am smug, or admit that I didn't think you knew.
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I apologize, for I assumed you would figure I find my beliefs as strange and convoluted as anyone else's. After all, who really knows the truth?
If you feel my above posts are personal attacks on you in any way; they are not. Though the fact that you listed "admit I am smug" as the first question is hinting you are upset.
 
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