''God''

[Fiskarfred]

I think that ''God'', isn't a old guy with beard sitting above the clouds. I think that ''God'' is more a power,
a mental boost for people. God, was the creator of everything, right? [Unfinished Religion Theory] I think
that ''god'' is every soul everywhere, together shaping and creating more and more and evolving, not only
visible, but also with experiences from each other. What I am trying to say, is that everyone together, we
can do anything. [Tex. Found A State (USA);Cross the Sea;Fly;Travel To The Moon]

[Jake55778]

Cool. Anything that helps you live your life as a better person is definately worthwhile. Religious beliefs only cause problems when people try to force them on others.

[Fiskarfred]

I do not understand that either, if the true meaning of belief is to believe, then you cannot force people to become
religious.

[arogon343]

Unfotuneatly i dont believe in god. Firm believer in science.
Though i do think that religeon if not taken literaly can offer good morals and tips on living life as a good person.
Though i would imagine god as rather a set of guidelines on how to build a sucessful and well moral'ed society..

[Fiskarfred]

Unfotuneatly i dont believe in god. Firm believer in science.

I can see on your comment that you didn't understand what I meant.

[ilikefoxes666]

I too am a strong believer in science, so god never took any role in my life. My father is a hard core Christian holy-roler and once we stumbled upon the topic of religion. I explained my beliefs and disbeliefs. He was shocked to hear that I'm not a Christian (as if it weren't obvious enough) but took peace in mind after I assured him that I support the basis and teachings of his religion. I told him that you don't have to worship a figure to be a good person and do right in society, it is all about the decisions you make; which could be influenced by your spiritual practices. We learn about earth's development all throughout our years of school, but for some reason it is nearly impossible for humans to put the big picture together - that all of our existance is composed of greed and hatred. Our planet would be much better off if the human race stopped evolving in its most primitive state. We have absolutely wrecked a beautiful life sustaining planet that nobody seems to be thankful for and destroyed what could have been peaceful coexistance. I sometimest wish that the puddles of sulfur life initially was formed in just evaporated before such a tragedy could be made possible. We don't deserve any of this.

[SMWasder]

Hmmm... I'm not sure about people saying they're 'believers in science'. Seems a little odd. Science is just the process of discovery and experimentation, it's not a doctrine. Saying that you believe in science doesn't make much sense because 'science' isn't one thing; there are many conflicting theories and hypothesis. I guess I understand what you mean, it's just poorly worded.

[ilikefoxes666]

Hmmm... I'm not sure about people saying they're 'believers in science'. Seems a little odd. Science is just the process of discovery and experimentation, it's not a doctrine. Saying that you believe in science doesn't make much sense because 'science' isn't one thing; there are many conflicting theories and hypothesis. I guess I understand what you mean, it's just poorly worded.

It is pretty hard to explain.. I think the only thing to be concerned about while alive is discovering more and enjoying it while it lasts.

[ilikefoxes666]

Hmmm... I'm not sure about people saying they're 'believers in science'. Seems a little odd. Science is just the process of discovery and experimentation, it's not a doctrine. Saying that you believe in science doesn't make much sense because 'science' isn't one thing; there are many conflicting theories and hypothesis. I guess I understand what you mean, it's just poorly worded.

It is pretty hard to explain.. I think the only thing to be concerned about while alive is discovering more and enjoying it while it lasts.

We as humans tend to worry about what happens after you die more than we have beautiful.

[Furdabip]

there is no god.jpg

The $20 bill explains it. There is no god.

[Jake55778]

Is it just me or is atheism extremely popular on the internet? Or at least more vocal

[Wildwill002]

Just gonna wave the minority flag for believers in Gaia over here...

[EricSmarties]

God? Ha, a father figure invented for our society more like. If there is a god how do we know there is one? I mean come on, religion causes more wars than stop them and all in the belief of a stupid god. I can only say, if you believe in something that isn't yourself you cant understand the bigger picture of society.

[XDelphi]

Eric, mind your tone. That seemed a bit hostile. People believe in what wills them, such as faith in God, trust in science and such. Society really doesn't bear relevance. In fact, modern Britian is the most secular as it has ever been.

[Lord_Mountbatten]

Without adopting a position, I would like to point out that people waving the Atheist flag, taunting others for their faith and even being violent or antagonistic about it, is one of the most irritating things I've ever come across whilst on the internet. What should be maligned is when what someone believes becomes a platform for control and the infringement of, though a vague thing to define, "rights".

So for instance, what is often derided, and I may say rightly so, is organised religion, just as I can very much envision some form of "organised Atheism" being comprised of smug aresholes who instantly scorn others as idiots for not thinking the way they do and even force them to think their way, and no, I do not mean the usual culprits people like to name like Nazism or communism (that's a different matter entirely which I won't get into currently). I mean if actions were perpetrated in the name of Atheism. And the perpetrators could be just as hungry for power, just as self-righteous, and just as moronic in what they do as those Atheists so commonly deride in the belief that they are inherently better.

[Furdabip]

Without adopting a position, I would like to point out that people waving the Atheist flag, taunting others for their faith and even being violent or antagonistic about it, is one of the most irritating things I've ever come across whilst on the internet. What should be maligned is when what someone believes becomes a platform for control and the infringement of, though a vague thing to define, "rights".

So for instance, what is often derided, and I may say rightly so, is organised religion, just as I can very much envision some form of "organised Atheism" being comprised of smug aresholes who instantly scorn others as idiots for not thinking the way they do and even force them to think their way, and no, I do not mean the usual culprits people like to name like Nazism or communism (that's a different matter entirely which I won't get into currently). I mean if actions were perpetrated in the name of Atheism. And the perpetrators could be just as hungry for power, just as self-righteous, and just as moronic in what they do as those Atheists so commonly deride in the belief that they are inherently better.

I believe South Park did it best in their episodes "Go God Go" and "Go God Go XII." The United Atheist Alliance, Unified Atheist League and Allied Atheist Alliance all are fighting about which name best describes atheists. Proving that no matter what humans (and otters) believe, they will always find some reason to hate one another and fight about it. I do believe the same rings true for real life.

[697134002]

Is it just me or is atheism extremely popular on the internet? Or at least more vocal

I rarely talk about religion in real life, because almost all of the aggressive people I've known are religious and I'm not physically imposing.

[yabai_ninja]

I used to believe in god, since that's what I was taught, by my super-religious parents to believe. I slowly started becoming an agnostic after high school, after getting past atheism's initial abrasiveness in the public eye. I eventually became an atheist after seeing what lunacy the religious right came out with in the United states. I can't believe what kinds of things they think the bible justifies. I also can't believe what kinds of things the bible actually does justify. So while I don't hate anyone for believing in a certain religion, I still don't really get it anymore. I figure that people should put religion on the back burner of their minds, and just try to live their lives the way they see fit.

[Sti_Jo_Lew]

The thing I've always wondered is how Christians feel about other religions. The claim their God is real, but what about say, Greek Gods and Goddesses? What makes the Greek views wrong and the Christian views right?

I don't know, it's just something I always think of when anyone mentions religion.

[Milo_Windby]

The thing I've always wondered is how Christians feel about other religions. The claim their God is real, but what about say, Greek Gods and Goddesses? What makes the Greek views wrong and the Christian views right?

I don't know, it's just something I always think of when anyone mentions religion.

Well for one thing Christians have a rule in the bible saying "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
The whole point of Christianity is to just worship god and god alone.

[Wildwill002]

The thing I've always wondered is how Christians feel about other religions. The claim their God is real, but what about say, Greek Gods and Goddesses? What makes the Greek views wrong and the Christian views right?

I don't know, it's just something I always think of when anyone mentions religion.

If you think about it then its just what people are either most comfortable with or most used to. The foreign deities are rarely worshiped/believed in/whatever in say Britain because the majority of people that believe in a religion believe in Christianity. It's very hard to find more than one person that believes in a foreign deity in a country that teaches mostly about God. Trust me, I haven't found anyone so far that believes in Gaia in Britain. Some people believe in whats easiest and simplest to believe in. With Christians they have the entire bible telling them about the past and giving them the commandments to live by.

[LS13]

Hey, on the topic of aggressive atheists. I once was sitting there thinking when I came up with one of my little random thoughts of mine: If you believe that there is no God, and that when you die that's it, the end, then what is the harm in hoping for something more? What is there to lose?

[697134002]

Terrorists hope for something more. Knights in the Crusades hoped for something more. What happens? People die because of other people who think that killing them will get them eternal happiness.
Plus, if you go to a church for one hour every sunday from, say, age 20, and you live until 65, that's over 170 conscious days of your life gone. Churches also take a lot of money from people. I don't know the actual number, but I'm going to guess a minimum $1 donation each week. That's four thousand dollars minimum. I have not - can not - factor in the price of gas to get there, or not having as much fun on the weekend and slacking off at work instead and making less money.

[LS13]

Hey, just food for thought. What I meant is why do atheists, including many who go to my school, seem to try to crush down religions. I agree that bad things have been done. Look at terrorists, look at the wonderfully corrupt church in the middle ages. But I for one do not care at all what other people think religion wise. There are people like me who could care less if the entire world converts to their religion, and being thrown in with the people who go all aggressive religious on people is not a good experience. I believe that everyone has a right to believe what they believe without being bothered about it.

[Lord_Mountbatten]

Because in essence, it's trendy. Most of them don't really know why, but they know vaguely that religion is "bad". Most of them are teenagers who want to be edgy and cool basically. Atheism is more popular nowadays, but not enough that it's too mainstream. Militant atheism shows as much hypocrisy in the way it speaks about religion as it accuses religion of.

However, the ubiquitous and privileged nature of established organised religions, especially when religion is definitely on the wane in some countries and senior members have incredibly privileged positions in society (bishops in the House of Lords for example, to the exclusion of other religions or advocates of the lack thereof), will convince your average "rebel" teenager that they ought to oppose it. It generally doesn't help that the religion they'll be primarily opposing is usually one they've been overly exposed to, for instance in a religion-orientated school (which as far as I can tell generally manage to drive away people instead of convert or retain them).

Militant atheism is very misguided at any rate. Smart people like Richard Dawkins (generally considered one of the frontmen of militant atheism) are the ones generally able to defend their ideas well, but they're likely supported by an army of misanthropic teenagers. The problem with Dawkins is that he's projecting what he thinks on to others. He doesn't understand why people believe in the general concept of what God is (the idea of an unconscious power creating the universe is something he does not consider "God"), and he thinks this makes them stupid. You could call what he does an attempt, in his own way, to educate, but he can be a little eyebrow-raising.

There is a lot of strength though in arguments against organised religion, and some people will mistakenly rally against religion in general for the injustices of organised religion. It's not even a question of belief - it's a question of power. Everyone likes to quote Lord Acton when he said "absolute power corrupts absolutely", and it seems in many cases it does. If you imagine religious leaders as statesmen - and people like Pope Benedict and the Ayatollah of Iran are actually both - and ignore the religious aspect of things, you may see oligarchies with tyrannical men at the helm, rather than men of compassion and in keeping with spiritual tradition. History certainly doesn't help vindicate organised religion either. For spiritually-focused organisations, a lot of these leaders seem to care about utilising their considerable power to material gains.

[Godavari]

Lord certainly has a number of valid points. I'd like to add the rider, though, that we shouldn't make the mistake that assuming that all (or most, or even a good number of) atheists are just edgy teenagers. In a time when the average age for Christians to become "born-again" is under 14, I don't think it's fair to say that losing religion is any more or less legitimate than gaining it.

And of course there are going to be edgy teens out there just doing it to be rebellious, but we don't judge any group by a subset of its membership. I wouldn't judge all of Christianity by looking at the WBC. As with any situation, we ought to focus on how each individual acts rather than dealing in broad generalizations.

[Lord_Mountbatten]

we shouldn't make the mistake that assuming that all (or most, or even a good number of) atheists are just edgy teenagers.

I said militant atheists, which is very different.

[Godavari]

That's not a phrasing that makes any sense to me. "Militant atheism" seems, more often than not, to translate to "atheists expressing their opinion without giving the utmost respect and courtesy to religion." I'm not well-versed in Dawkins, but The God Delusion didn't come off as "militant" to me. When I hear that word, I think of Muslim suicide bombers and Christians who shoot abortion doctors. Not a book that, by all accounts, didn't harm anything except people's sensibilities. I'll agree that atheists in general like to argue about religion much more than any other religious demographic, but it hardly qualifies as militant behavior. And besides that, these belligerent types of atheists aren't even necessarily rebellious teens. Most atheists I've met that I think would qualify as "militant" have good reasons for their lack of faith, even if they have a chip on their collective shoulder and prefer to duke it out over the moral bankruptcy of religion rather than have a calm discussion on its merits as a philosophy.

[697134002]

Militant is simply a misleading term, unless you're talking about state atheism. But generally it refers to someone who does not grant religion a sort of taboo respect.

[Lord_Mountbatten]

Fine, "New Atheism" then. It is not someone who will not automatically treat religion with respect; it is someone who believes that religion should be fought against and dismantled, hence the use of "militant", which last time I checked implied violence.

And Godavari, I am not talking about people being edgy for lack of faith, I'm talking about them trying to destroy faith at the same time. I can imagine many not simply being content with lack of faith, but a need to act on it by actively combating faith at the same time. That kind of thing is usually something people drop with age (not everyone though).