Poll: Do you believe in a higher power?

[stompy]

The hindus say that to deny their gods is a sin.

Actually, they don't. My father, who is well versed in the Hindu religion, and I have had some very interesting discussions concerning religion. It seems that Hindus believe that all religions are a path to one God/one Truth. Even not believing in a God, but being a 'good' person (you know, being moral, the usual goodness) will secure you a ticket to Heaven, or whatever the better place in the afterlife, according to Hinduism.

I've also been brought up with the knowledge that religion is a way to live life; a set of rules, which will help you live a 'good life'. As such, you need to take it with a bit of salt (hence, why I hate any type of extremist, regardless of religion).

- A procrastinator

 

[LOOY]

People say it is impossible to not have faith in god because the idea is absurd, but you have faith that the sun will rise, faith that flowers will grow, faith that babies will cry, faith that the birds will sing etc.

People hold faith in science because science controls these things.

Is god science?

^^^^^^^^An example of said feeble arguments^^^^^^

Sorry if that offends you, but religous views are opinions (nothing more) and we all have a right to call each others opinions crap.

If your going to want last, make posts with more than calling mine crap. Also please note my above post and for the love of god think out side the square when making religous arguments.

Why should i think outside of the square, what is this hypthetical square, the univerese, I don't have to think about this too much it's blatantly obvious there is no god, genrally religous people were born into religous family's, and thats the only reason religon can keep going, by FORCING there religion on their own children before they are old enough (and smart enough) to make there own decision.

 

[sammyfreak]

Why should i think outside of the square, what is this hypthetical square, the univerese, I don't have to think about this too much it's blatantly obvious there is no god, genrally religous people were born into religous family's, and thats the only reason religon can keep going, by FORCING there religion on their own children before they are old enough (and smart enough) to make there own decision.

You do realise that people who inherit their parents religion make their own descision sooner or later? Nobody can sustain themselfs on what their parents believed.

 

[Fire Daemon]

People say it is impossible to not have faith in god because the idea is absurd, but you have faith that the sun will rise, faith that flowers will grow, faith that babies will cry, faith that the birds will sing etc.

People hold faith in science because science controls these things.

Is god science?

^^^^^^^^An example of said feeble arguments^^^^^^

Sorry if that offends you, but religous views are opinions (nothing more) and we all have a right to call each others opinions crap.

If your going to want last, make posts with more than calling mine crap. Also please note my above post and for the love of god think out side the square when making religous arguments.

Why should i think outside of the square, what is this hypthetical square, the univerese, I don't have to think about this too much it's blatantly obvious there is no god, genrally religous people were born into religous family's, and thats the only reason religon can keep going, by FORCING there religion on their own children before they are old enough (and smart enough) to make there own decision.

Please explain to me why it is blatantly obvious that god cannot exist.

 

[LOOY]

I give up, can't be bothered to argue. Meh, i'll just wait for it to die out naturally.

 

[Erik Robson]

I don't believe there's a being that has a hand in human (or even Earthly) affairs. In that sense, I'm an Atheist.

The Universe DOES follow a set of tangible, testable rules; how did those rules get established? No idea. In that sense, I'm an Agnostic.

 

[Joe]

Fire, you do understand that science isn't a belief system, right?

 

[Hendar23]

Hail Eris!

 

[Spinwhiz]

I believe in God. There are too many things in this world that cannot be explained and too much happenstance for there not to be one. I also feel a spiritual link to something much greater than myself. It's hard to explain, I just know it's there.

I'm also not talking necessarily about religion. Even though I am religious, I think religion itself is the institutionalized version of our ability to try and grasp the factors that play into God. If you look through religions around the world, a lot of them have a very main core, basically saying "don't be an asshole" which I think more of us should take into consideration.

 

[Easykill]

I never noticed, but the chicken and the egg argument has serious parallels to religion, that may have even been what it was originally made for, although the solution isn't the same for both. The chicken represents intelligence, and the egg is the universe. It's hard to imagine the egg coming to being without the chicken, but it's even harder to imagine that the chicken came into existence with the egg. When this wasn't an absolute beginning, there was a way around this. There were just two things that weren't quite chickens that made the egg. But we suck at absolute beginnings.

 

[defcon 1]

Here's my 2 cents. I can't prove that a higher power or a divine being exist, however I can't disprove it. I did however find myself a large paradox in some of the stories.

God knows all, he can predict the future and is never wrong, therefore everything is inevitable and the future is already written. Given that, once someone is born he is already Hell bound. The higher power says he can atone. Wait a minute, if he's inevitably going to Hell, then how can he possibly atone. If he can't atone, hope can't exist and the "earning an afterlife" ordeal is out the window. Fate and free-will also can't coexist.

I'm also a believer in evolution and the earth being formed from space dust like every other planet. I believe both together disprove creationism beyond a reasonable doubt.

So there's my evidence but I don't think it's good enough to disprove a higher power all together.

EDIT: I found my Creative Writing paper. I enjoy writing random mythology. It's monotheistic mythology, but if a higher power exist, this might work. I'm not going to post the whole thing so Here's a significant sample. For those who care, go ahead. I'm aware that I'm not a good writer.

Spoiler

Why do we not begin in the heavens? If fate cannot change the future, how could faith change what death has judged since birth?

A world so grand is beyond my absolute control, The soul must strip away it's skin as I have waited for you to strip the fur.

when you have fate you cannot have faith. Alone, time inscribes itself in stone, spanning forever on, but it is I who will guide you, It is I who will free you from such a prison, It is I who unchain your will from the three. In prayer, I will not know all, I cannot judge what has not been written, yet it is you who can.

I take leave to the heavens and leave you the sweet earth, guiding your sprite down the road. You leave the nest, your mind unbound, aware and alive, free from hopeless reliability.

True faith is tested when the slightest nudge guards you from the edge, and the slightest touch lights your heart. Only then will your spirit truly prosper and blossom like the lotus and not the leach.

 

[John Galt]

Why is that the Christain God could not be used as a way of explaining science.

The Judeo-Christian god makes for a flimsy explanation of natural phenonmenae becuase there's no proof that their is an unseen hand. We have proof that things happen. We don't have proof that there's a reason. I think R.A. Heinlein says it best when he says that man isn't a rational animal, but a rationalizing animal. He looks at the world and infers certain things about it rather than actually prove whether or not those things are as he claims them to be.

 

[Fire Daemon]

Fire, you do understand that science isn't a belief system, right?

Yes I know that, but this is what I believe and I'm going to try and explain it

Seeing as how the Universe and everything in it is in some way dominated by simple scientific law then you could come to the conclusion the Universe is controlled by science. Whether it be Photosynthesis or the transporation of energy through a vaccum, every little thing is in some way controled by a scientific law or many laws. But no matter what you are science controls us.

The Bible claims that god has a plan for all of us, therefore we are in someway conrtolled by god. The idea of a large man in the heavans controlling what job we have and what console we buy is a rash and stupid idea but the idea that we are controlled by science is not so rash.

Heres an Example: Photosynthesis is the process in which plants draw nutrients from the sun. Simple high School stuff. If plants do not have acess to the sun then they die. Therefore it is photosynthesis giving those plants life. This is very similar to the way God gives all things on earth life don't you think. God gives life to these plants. Photosynthesis gives life to these plants.

Another example: The sun. A simple ball of gas out in space burning. The sun has allowed life to exist (on earth at least) for millions (prehaps billions) of years. Seeing as how God created all life on the earth then you can draw a conection between God and the Sun as being creators. The sun is a part of molecular science in the sense that is made of atoms, but the sun is responsible for life on earth, therefore atoms are responsible for life on earth, god is repsonsible for life on earth therefore atoms are god.

But saying that many things are responsible for life one earth, so maybe many things are god?

I know this sould stupid but think about if for a second. Is it so hard to believe that every scientific law has in some way shaped and controlled the universe and everything in it? No it isn't. So why is it that when you give these Scientific laws a unified name (god) it is hard to believe?

I'm not saying to worship science but I think what I may have done is put a face on god. In my opinion (and thats all this is, don't feel like you need to believe the same as me) god is science seeing as how science controls and created the universe.

But maybe I'm not puting a face on God but a face on science. Trying to mix the unknown with the known and come out of it understanding the universe.

Bhah I'm going to go talk about Videogames.

 

[Joe]

Well that position us fundamentally flawed, though. Science doesn't direct the way the universe works. The way the universe works directs everything; science is just the process of observing the universe and cataloguing phenomena until we can reliably predict the outcome of things. To use your photosynthesis example, we've discovered the process by which plants convert light to energy and named that process photosynthesis. No one created anything; we just observed the process enough to say that's how plants work. Beyond some theoretical stuff on the quantum level (note: it's quantum theory, not quantum law) our observation doesn't create anything.

Short version: You're confusing cause with effect.

 

[Easykill]

Joe misspelled something!

Just kidding, but I'm going to have to disagree Fire. Doesn't make much sense to me, although I did contemplate it in the past.

 

[Fire Daemon]

Joe misspelled something!

Just kidding, but I'm going to have to disagree Fire. Doesn't make much sense to me, although I did contemplate it in the past.

Thats ok, I don't expect anyone to believe what I believe this is just the way I picture god, not as an all powerful guy but as the driving force behind everything.

Looking back on my post though, that isn't exactly what I believe, I find I have a problem describing my beliefs especially other the internet. Still it is good to see Topics in Off Topic the revolve around more than your favourite type of lightsaber.

 

[U-boat]

God? probably not, just because a single being controlling everything is a little arrogant.

Higher power? certainly. A higher power implies more of a conceptual construct, a set of rules or guiding principles. After thousands of years of recorded human history, debate after long-winded debate, and millions of stumped scholars/philosophers, any (or all) reasonable people can (should) agree: Higher power = Physics.