Poll: Do you believe in a higher power?
- Thread starter Easykill
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Curse you time zones! Why does the Earth have to be so big and round??? Why, Possibly-existing-omnipotent-being, why?Kayevcee said:John Galt, your complaints are both common and worthy of discussion, and I'd be happy to offer another perspective but it's currently half past one in the morning so... I'll get back to you tomorrow, once I get back from Mass
-Nick
You see, if that was all religion was then I'd have no problem. Once you get past those two innocent sylables, then things can get out of hand really fast.Anarchemitis said:
my theory:
god exists. this does not mean he is benevolent.
he is a being of mistakes like us. we are his only perfect creation, as such, he gives us sentience.
shortly after, he realized how stupid this was and made religion to control our self destructing tendencies.
god exists. this does not mean he is benevolent.
he is a being of mistakes like us. we are his only perfect creation, as such, he gives us sentience.
shortly after, he realized how stupid this was and made religion to control our self destructing tendencies.
See, that's exactly the reason I don't believe in God. A lot of people use it like a placeholder until an actual explanation comes along. I'm okay with saying that I don't know how the universe started. Just because astrophysics doesn't have an answer, doesn't mean the default position is God, it just means astrophysics doesn't have an answer. In my experience, though, astrophysics is a lot more likely to give me a correct answer than faith (personal or organized).Yan-Yan said:
"If there is a god then it is not a strict and caring father or a loving and nuturing mother but most likely a child who wanted to play."
-by someone.
I beleive there is something that had something to do with creating the universe, whether it be a giant ball of gas or a reptile like kitten. I suppose I think of that as god.
But what (in my opinion) really is god would have to be the sun. After all it is what gives life to everything on earth, thats pretty godly.
-by someone.
I beleive there is something that had something to do with creating the universe, whether it be a giant ball of gas or a reptile like kitten. I suppose I think of that as god.
But what (in my opinion) really is god would have to be the sun. After all it is what gives life to everything on earth, thats pretty godly.
Agnostic. I went through a period of atheism, but when the question of how the universe was created, I found atheism unable to answer, so Agnostic, IMHO, would be the best.
I have no qualms with people believing this or that. I do have a problem when they use this belief as an excuse to commit atrocities. Religion, in its purest form, IMO, never states to harm. It's human interpretation/manipulation which justifies atrocities. It's the human which write that it's ok to kill, rape and pillage, all in the name of .
I also have a pet hate for preachers. I don't care if you think I'm gonna go to Hell, I'm fine with my beliefs, thank you very much. I have friends who are religious. They don't talk to me about religion, unless it ends up in the conversation. They live by their choices, and they respect mine.
See, I have this, sort of, notion about religion. I believe religion was created in a time where there was no organised government; where anarchy reigned. In this time period, it eventually became known that prophet(s) talked to a divine being, and had brought a set of rules for the people to live by. This created an abiding set of laws, which, subsequently, created peace. This, IMO, is the role of organised religion; to create a set of rules to live life without constant threat of attack, helping other people, where humans could be in peace, attained by promising paradise to the virtuous, and eternal damnation to those who disobeyed (something humans can't comprehend fully, but are smart enough to realise paradice=good, damnation=bad).
Of course, whatever I have said is my own belief. I'm sorry if I've offended anybody.
I have no qualms with people believing this or that. I do have a problem when they use this belief as an excuse to commit atrocities. Religion, in its purest form, IMO, never states to harm. It's human interpretation/manipulation which justifies atrocities. It's the human which write that it's ok to kill, rape and pillage, all in the name of .
I also have a pet hate for preachers. I don't care if you think I'm gonna go to Hell, I'm fine with my beliefs, thank you very much. I have friends who are religious. They don't talk to me about religion, unless it ends up in the conversation. They live by their choices, and they respect mine.
See, I have this, sort of, notion about religion. I believe religion was created in a time where there was no organised government; where anarchy reigned. In this time period, it eventually became known that prophet(s) talked to a divine being, and had brought a set of rules for the people to live by. This created an abiding set of laws, which, subsequently, created peace. This, IMO, is the role of organised religion; to create a set of rules to live life without constant threat of attack, helping other people, where humans could be in peace, attained by promising paradise to the virtuous, and eternal damnation to those who disobeyed (something humans can't comprehend fully, but are smart enough to realise paradice=good, damnation=bad).
Of course, whatever I have said is my own belief. I'm sorry if I've offended anybody.
I must mention the flaw with the question, because a higher power doesn't necessarily mean a god.
That said, I said yes (to the higher power, not the god part.)
To me, my religion is the teachings of my Elders, which I guess you could call Native Spirituality. I don't care if the Creator actually cares about me or exists, or if my ancestors really look over me. I have found that each teaching has an important place in a healthy life and a healthy community. By praying, we aknowledge what we want to ourselves, and that helps us to understand it and work towards it. Does it matter if there is anyone to answer our prayers? It is the praying that counts. I came to this in adulthood, having been raised agnostically. It is all a part of the Red Road, a name for the personal reclaimation of the teachings of my people.
That said, I have a beef against Christians, because they were the perpetrators of cultural genocide to the First Nations around the world. Also, for being so ubiquitous and defining in our society. People make everything about Christianity; like in this thread, most people interpreted the question to mean "Are you a Christian or not."
Secondarily, I also am slightly resentful of Paganism/Wicca, in that I feel they appropriate my beliefs and integrate them into a jumbled whole with little respect to the individuality of my culture.
I keep these personal trifles under wraps though; I have never held someones Christianity or Wiccanism against them.
Lastly, props to SwiftVengeance for his/her excellent and clear headed remarks.
That said, I said yes (to the higher power, not the god part.)
To me, my religion is the teachings of my Elders, which I guess you could call Native Spirituality. I don't care if the Creator actually cares about me or exists, or if my ancestors really look over me. I have found that each teaching has an important place in a healthy life and a healthy community. By praying, we aknowledge what we want to ourselves, and that helps us to understand it and work towards it. Does it matter if there is anyone to answer our prayers? It is the praying that counts. I came to this in adulthood, having been raised agnostically. It is all a part of the Red Road, a name for the personal reclaimation of the teachings of my people.
That said, I have a beef against Christians, because they were the perpetrators of cultural genocide to the First Nations around the world. Also, for being so ubiquitous and defining in our society. People make everything about Christianity; like in this thread, most people interpreted the question to mean "Are you a Christian or not."
Secondarily, I also am slightly resentful of Paganism/Wicca, in that I feel they appropriate my beliefs and integrate them into a jumbled whole with little respect to the individuality of my culture.
I keep these personal trifles under wraps though; I have never held someones Christianity or Wiccanism against them.
Lastly, props to SwiftVengeance for his/her excellent and clear headed remarks.
Atheist with some agnostic leanings. I like to think of myelf as a skeptic.
To me, most religions screw up with God by trying to explain Him/Her/It as something comprehensible to men; the kind of consciousness needed to create the universe would be totally unfathomable to our minds. So even if God exists, it's absurd to contemplate It.
To me, most religions screw up with God by trying to explain Him/Her/It as something comprehensible to men; the kind of consciousness needed to create the universe would be totally unfathomable to our minds. So even if God exists, it's absurd to contemplate It.
I really didn't want to do this....
I honestly believe somewhere out there there is some sort of devine being capable of creating life on our little planet. for the sake of the argument lets call it god
Now, i'm arrogant, but i'm nowhere near arrogant enough to assume that I know what this "god" wants from us. Hell i'm not even convinced it's watching us. what i do know for sure is that EVERY religion is a construct of man, and man is always looking out for himself
I honestly believe somewhere out there there is some sort of devine being capable of creating life on our little planet. for the sake of the argument lets call it god
Now, i'm arrogant, but i'm nowhere near arrogant enough to assume that I know what this "god" wants from us. Hell i'm not even convinced it's watching us. what i do know for sure is that EVERY religion is a construct of man, and man is always looking out for himself
I'll start off by saying that I'm not quite an atheist, but I don't worship any deity in particular. I believe that there is some kind of power higher than the human race. I think the reason that people developed religion is to fill the void, and overcome the lack of understanding we have towards our creation. We are a curious race, and one of the biggest questions we strive to answer is "Where did we come from?" Since we have no way of recreating the proposed hypothesis (i.e. creating our own "Big Bang"), it is simpler to state that a being of unbelievable power created us. We then further assume that the aforementioned being watches over us, and impacts our daily lives.
In summary, Easykill's statement before represents my view of religion...Wizards did it. We can't explain it, so we say someone else did it.
In summary, Easykill's statement before represents my view of religion...Wizards did it. We can't explain it, so we say someone else did it.