Do you believe in God? Why or why not?

[woody]

Originally Posted by xcoder

How to identify a religious man from an Atheist:

- Religious: Prove that god doesn't exist
- Atheist: Prove that god exists

I am with Logic ;)

God is not something to be proved.actually if you prove God that means God becomes a logical element. it is either you are a believer and in someway you are a mystic,or an atheist.so be whatever you are but don't be obsessed with the idea.that does not mean, if you are a believer, that you don't have a critical judgement on all religions...

[xcoder]

Extracted from many articles i read + personal opinion:

God is the invisible man living up in the sky and watch everyone of us, he punished us by staying on this earth because Eve was convinced by a snake to eat the apple and we are living the consequences of this horrible act.
Best qualities of god are: he loves everyone and forgives everyone but if you behave bad in your life like not repeating the same I-Love-You-God I-Am-The-Little-Slave-Of-Yours prayer your whole life, you will be sent to an ugly place full of fire till the end of time.

The argument of god existence is the worst, yet it managed to be the most believed by people.

[J. Abizeid]

Originally Posted by Frisbeetarian

No i am no longer a theist. I used to be quite pious in the Muslim sense. Used to pray everyday, go to the mosque every fridays, read the Quran on a continuous basis. Fasted every ramadan from the tender age of 9.

It is safe to say that after questioning these beliefs, and after seeking answers from Cheikhs, i found myself unsatisfied, thirsty for answers. Found myself unconvinced. And in so i longer believe in the existence of a divine being. Left with this void in my belief system, i started looking for answers by extensively revising history. I am on that path still. So i dont have an answer regarding the nature of my belief now.

Is religion a luxury or a necessity?
Most believers are comfortable with their situation. If certain stories don’t make sense to you, join the club… Unfortunately, many will accuse you of being a bad person for questioning nonsense. The fact that someone is an artiest or an agnostic doesn’t necessarily mean he’s against the good values that religion teaches. As a matter of fact, I give such people more credit for being good to others not by fear but by conviction.

[Frisbeetarian]

Is religion a luxury or a necessity?
Most believers are comfortable with their situation. If certain stories don’t make sense to you, join the club… Unfortunately, many will accuse you of being a bad person for questioning nonsense. The fact that someone is an artiest or an agnostic doesn’t necessarily mean he’s against the good values that religion teaches. As a matter of fact, I give such people more credit for being good to others not by fear but by conviction.

Out of luxury? One would need to revise and see if pre-agricultural societies were spiritual or not. There have been findings which prove that hunter societies practiced spirituality. In so, i would analyse that religion doesnt necessitate luxury to exist. Because the simplest form of luxury comes in the form of fixed, stable food supply. And in contrast, the existence of societies with no stable food supply (hunter societies) that predated agricultural ones and held close bondage with spirituality, negates the need of luxury for religion to exist.

Indeed, i second you on the fear issue.

[TripolySunni]

Originally Posted by J. Abizeid

Is religion a luxury or a necessity?
The fact that someone is an artiest or an agnostic doesn’t necessarily mean he’s against the good values that religion teaches. As a matter of fact, I give such people more credit for being good to others not by fear but by conviction.

Who Said there arn't any good people in the world?

Out of fear not conviction eh? Ya3ni I'm not convinced that Stealing is wrong But I don't do it out of fear cuz I'm muslim? Mashallah 3ahal Te7lil el 3azim.

If I'm a Muslim and I'm not convinced that stealing is Bad Then I would leave the Whole Freaking religion which preaches that it is Bad.

[J. Abizeid]

Originally Posted by TripolySunni

Who Said there arn't any good people in the world?

Out of fear not conviction eh? Ya3ni I'm not convinced that Stealing is wrong But I don't do it out of fear cuz I'm muslim? Mashallah 3ahal Te7lil el 3azim.

If I'm a Muslim and I'm not convinced that stealing is Bad Then I would leave the Whole Freaking religion which preaches that it is Bad.

Why people steel?

[Danny Z]

Originally Posted by J. Abizeid

Why people steel?

lesh el ness 7adid?

[J. Abizeid]

Originally Posted by Danny Z

lesh el ness 7adid?

Picky picky…
Let’s try again:


Why people steal?

[LubnanALkawi]

i have been like walid jumblat on the god issue!

sometimes i just wanted to ignore it at whole like just nah no god it just dumb to believe in god!

but well we human change our way of thinking from time to time and age play it roles...
as a kid i was brought in a not so religious Muslim family but i used to go in a catholic school i was totally brain washed i was so confused that i prayed in both religion (Islam and Christianity) in the end my mom was suggested by some in the family that i start to go in Islamic school but i never stayed there for long as we had to move anyway by time i grew up from it and did not care about religion at all but i think i always had some fear from god and my believes! at the age of 15 i was a new person i was extremely against the idea of god existence i was strong atheist and i stayed that for a long time till i was 23/25 years old i started to change a bit more to moderate on this issue i started to think ''There must be a Creator'' and this creator could be anything and probably i would never know what it is! but i totally refuse the idea that god will punish us or god think or god demands

God is everything you see around its not a soul it is not a spirit it does not give you orders and god is not a he or she! when i say God is all around us i mean by that the creation we see everywhere and not god being a creator of this universe! am i confusing you?

if i put it in more simple way: god did not create the universe with a any motives as god cant have any tension for anything god is universe it self!

plus religion are in way evil what ever you all say...
they picture god as an evil unfair person demanding things from us!

lets see how unfair god is in most of the religions if not all
modern humans have been for about 200,000 years here on earth and how long have Judaism Christianity and Islam etc been on earth so does it mean the majority of us human would go to hell? (maybe this god is running out of space)

plus those who where born at a time when there used to be miracles and prophets and saw it in their own eyes that there is a god the way religion talk about! how fair for those who never saw anything of that?

how evil is it if i choose a wrong religion i would burn in hell? its like playing lottery number here if i win i go to heaven if i dont i will be burning in hell for choosing the wrong number! now that is pure evil!

i believe being a good person is enough no need to fear god no need to be a slave for god its all made by human!
we human makes our own hell and our own heaven its all up to us and it is 2009 time to view stuff this way!


no idea what i should call my self Agnostic, soft atheist or non religious believer!

[TripolySunni]

Originally Posted by LubnanALkawi

i have been like walid jumblat on the god issue!

sometimes i just wanted to ignore it at whole like just nah no god it just dumb to believe in god!

but well we human change our way of thinking from time to time and age play it roles...
as a kid i was brought in a not so religious Muslim family but i used to go in a catholic school i was totally brain washed i was so confused that i prayed in both religion (Islam and Christianity) in the end my mom was suggested by some in the family that i start to go in Islamic school but i never stayed there for long as we had to move anyway by time i grew up from it and did not care about religion at all but i think i always had some fear from god and my believes! at the age of 15 i was a new person i was extremely against the idea of god existence i was strong atheist and i stayed that for a long time till i was 23/25 years old i started to change a bit more to moderate on this issue i started to think ''There must be a Creator'' and this creator could be anything and probably i would never know what it is! but i totally refuse the idea that god will punish us or god think or god demands

God is everything you see around its not a soul it is not a spirit it does not give you orders and god is not a he or she! when i say God is all around us i mean by that the creation we see everywhere and not god being a creator of this universe! am i confusing you?

if i put it in more simple way: god did not create the universe with a any motives as god cant have any tension for anything god is universe it self!

plus religion are in way evil what ever you all say...
they picture god as an evil unfair person demanding things from us!

lets see how unfair god is in most of the religions if not all
modern humans have been for about 200,000 years here on earth and how long have Judaism Christianity and Islam etc been on earth so does it mean the majority of us human would go to hell? (maybe this god is running out of space)

plus those who where born at a time when there used to be miracles and prophets and saw it in their own eyes that there is a god the way religion talk about! how fair for those who never saw anything of that?

how evil is it if i choose a wrong religion i would burn in hell? its like playing lottery number here if i win i go to heaven if i dont i will be burning in hell for choosing the wrong number! now that is pure evil!

i believe being a good person is enough no need to fear god no need to be a slave for god its all made by human!
we human makes our own hell and our own heaven its all up to us and it is 2009 time to view stuff this way!


no idea what i should call my self Agnostic, soft atheist or non religious believer!

Good start, you looked at the sky, you looked at the trees and more importantly at how ur own body functions then you simply came to the conclusion that they were created. Now as for religions you seem to have a very basic idea about those from the things which you described specially regarding the people of the book and the people of the recitation.
If you are interested in finding the truth and are not scared to change ur way of life, I urge you to read the Quran with a proper English translation and to seek out any knowlegeable scholars for answers on the things which you do not understand.
Then will you only know why the number of converts in the west tripled after 9/11.