Is God alive and all around us?

[Saint Edward]

I had a long discussion with a friend of mine today, we basically argued over the importance of going to church. I've become a deeply religious person myself. Personally, I feel God inside me all the time.

Do you believe religion is bad or good? Do you think it's an antiquated idea? I know sometimes religion as been twisted in wars, which have led to nothing. Or, do you even believe in God?

What's your opinion on this?

 

[Lyri]

my feelings on this are kinda...confused.
i used to be religious, believed in God and all that. but things happened in my life where i was left thinking 'well, why is this happening to me? why isn't God doing anything about it?'
basically, i felt pissed that so many people in my life were being taken from me that i lost my faith completely.
i believe there is a God, but i don't think 'they' are the all important over seer of everything that happens. too many bad things have happened in the world for that to be the case.
i don't judge people for having a faith, i don't discriminate against different religions, it's just not for me. not anymore.

 

[Schillaci]

Is God alive and all around us?

Doubt it do you? Well you should not. Life creates it, makes it grow. It's energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we...not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you. Here, between you...me...the
tree...the rock...everywhere! Yes, even between this internet connection. For my ally is the force, and a powerful ally it is.

Ding! Scored a 10.1 on the geek-o-meter.

Life is bigger, it's bigger than you. And you are not me.

Consider this, consider

That religion would have one perform the same tasks day after day. Remember, life is bigger than you.

That God knows what is in your heart, no matter what you do.

Ask yourself who you are performing these tasks for. Remember, life is bigger than you.

As you dance along to church each day, filling up the coffers with your hard earned pay.

As you marvel at the stars, and blame God for the scars. Life is bigger than you.

When you get bored rhyming, la la la timing. 😛

One does not have to be religious to believe in God. One is religious because life is bigger than you. If one must believe in God it must not be for what one may receive but for what one has already recieved.

If I type one one more time I will...have typed it one more time.

The point is this, God would not create a great river, and then tell you that you cannot swim in it. No matter what crap, religion tries to force on you.

Not that I actually believe in God. I believe that it's ok for others to believe in God. Belief in any sort of religion, however, is quite simply, idiotic.

 

[Frenchy Faith]

Men created God in their images.
Religion created a God that gave it power to control people.

That's my thought.

 

[Willow Rosenberg]

Don't believe in God, and I'm certainly against people who come knocking on my front door, & start ramming it down my throat.

If I want religion, I'll go find it myself! 😉

I'm pleased some people find it easier to go through life, having 'faith', & that they find comfort from their chosen religion, but it's just not for me.

 

[goldenboy]

It's interesting, the cultural split between America and most of Europe and the other Western democracies on belief in God. If you give any creedence to polling, belief is still up at 93% or somesuch, in the States. Europe, seems more like a 50-50 proposition.

 

[Angel's vision]

Personally, i believe God is alive and all around us, i believe also we are responsible for our own faults, and deeds wether good or evil,I also know that God never promiced us a rose garden, either, bad things happen, people are taken from us that we love, i lost a dear friend four years ago to breast cancer, i didn't like it, but it is part of our lives, it happends, i don't blame God for those things, i was made redundant twice, i just felt that it was part of life, i beleive God uses bad things to bring about deeper faith, character growth,etc yes it is painful, i had a bad upbringing, was abused verbally, but what came out of it was a strong faith in God, i wouldn't of found Faith otherwise, and i'm a sronger person inspite of.

I accept people don't believe, my family don't, but i can force them to, anymore than they can force me to believe what they believe.

I don't like it when people use religion to start wars either, if they can't practice it right they shouldn't have anything to do with it.

GoldenBoy what you posted is very interesting, where did you see that?

 

[Hero]

remember to be careful, yall. religious discussion on here mostly always turns into religious wars. and with that in mind i'll say nothin else but that i believe in somethin, but i don't know what. dunno if it's god, or ahla or whatever.

 

[mire]

i'm divided on the religion topic..
like edb said, must be conforting really having that ammount of faith and hope, especially when something bad happens..
but honnestly sometimes i think the concept of god and religion has caused more deaths than anything else..
it's funny if you think something that preeches about "love" is used mostly to hate and hurt people.

 

[Randy Giles]

Well, I'm a religious person and I believe in God. I don't believe "he's all around us" in a literal sense. I know some people do, but I believe God has a pyshical body and looks like a regular man. (Pretty logical if you believe the Bible which says God created us in his image.)

Also, to people who think God either doesn't exist or doesn't "care" based on things that happen in their lives: life is about learning and growing as a being, and there's absolutely no point in sending us to Earth if we didn't have to endure terrible things - going through trials is how you grow and determine who you really were, and I believe that instead of asking not to have anything bad happen to you, ask that you'll be given the strength to make it through and be glad that try to learn from your experience.

I used to go to church faithfully but I now believe that churches are for the most part corrupted and I basically just try to learn for myself, but I'm a religious guy. My friends don't think so because they think the important thing is actually going to church. And I also don't agree with people going around door-to-door, there are other ways to let people know what you believe (especially in the age of Internet).

 

[SpikedBuffy]

Is God alive and all around us?

Answer: Yes

I'll lay it on the line, and I'm saying right now: I'm not attacking anyone or trying to cause a dispute with anyone. You asked my opinion, I'm giving it.

This world would not exist. You would not exist. It's a powerful thing to believe in a entity that created everything.

 

[alexa]

I believe, but it's something really personal and hard to explain without sounding weird.
It's not about being something to comfort myself with in bad times, but more so about feeling that connection now and then.

 

[Mesektet Ra]

I don't necessarily believe in 'God' in the Christian sense of the word. Not that I have any problems with people who do, let me just say.

I believe in duality of Spirit. I believe in good and bad, man and woman, yin and yang, whatever you wanna call it. I believe you can't possibly have good things without bad things, and I believe it's all a part of the circle of life, to sound a bit corny. I believe we make our own destinies and while there is a force watching us, it doesn't govern us insofar as we govern ourselves. It set the role of things and we take those things and make it our own. We also take full responsibility for our actions in the here and now, not in some hellish/heavenly afterlife.

Basically, there is a Spirit, and it IS us, all around us in the world and in nature and in the actions of people. But it's not some overwhelmingly watchful being that's vengeful or controlling - mainly just an observer, watching the world go by. [Again, I'm really trying not to start anything so please don't take my words out of context.]

I also believe in past lives and things like that, but that's something kind of off topic. So, yea, that's me. I might've made sense and I might not have, but I'm tired so GOODNIGHT.

 

[Butterfly13]

I do believe in God, and that he made everything around us. I'm just not sure he intended for it to be this way. I think that only because of the serpent that we feel things wrong and are not perfect.

 

[Schillaci]

Well, I'm a religious person and I believe in God. I don't believe "he's all around us" in a literal sense. I know some people do, but I believe God has a pyshical body and looks like a regular man. (Pretty logical if you believe the Bible which says God created us in his image.)

It is also pretty logical that God would look like a man if men wrote the bible. Oh, yeah, they did. I wonder if God would look like a man if females were the dominant sex 6000 years ago.

Also, to people who think God either doesn't exist or doesn't "care" based on things that happen in their lives: life is about learning and growing as a being, and there's absolutely no point in sending us to Earth if we didn't have to endure terrible things - going through trials is how you grow and determine who you really were, and I believe that instead of asking not to have anything bad happen to you, ask that you'll be given the strength to make it through and be glad that try to learn from your experience.

Life is about learning and growing, for you. For other people it is not such a thing. There are many different views on what life is. Each religion will tell you it is this one thing, and one thing only. And yet, one must wonder why life is so complex. Why, what is right to some people, is wrong to others. Why there are so many paths. For thousands of years religion kills what it cannot assimilate, kills what is different. Is that Gods design? One can only look at life and realise this is not so.

Answer: Yes

I'll lay it on the line, and I'm saying right now: I'm not attacking anyone or trying to cause a dispute with anyone. You asked my opinion, I'm giving it.

This world would not exist. You would not exist. It's a powerful thing to believe in a entity that created everything.

It is a powerful thing, for you. You think that without some supreme creator there would be no life, because you cannot fathom why there is life. But the existence of an all knowing god contradicts the very existence of life. For there would be no point. One would not put a flame to paper to see if it will burn when one already knows the answer. Also, if God can exist for all eternity then why can't matter. In any other circumstance one would not explain that which we know with that which we have absolutely no knowledge of.

God is the easy way out. It is the answer people will cling to because people are afraid of the unknown.

 

[Butterfly13]

Kanga, I know free will would come into it, but wasn't free will given to us after we gained knowledge from the apple? Or I'm uninformed =(.

 

[zombie.apparatus]

I recently had someone try force me into a religion. I am not religious, but maybe more spiritual? Like I am into Feng Shui and all that. But seriously I am not going to write here all the stuff I have said to the people that come knocking on my door trying to share with me something I dont give a crap for. It could offend some people here, so sorry I just dont. God? Well I used to go to this primary school where we had to do Religion has a subject and I remember hearing all these stories of what was put as "history and truth" yadda yadda yadda which prob. will never believe til i see it with my own eyes or have proof these things happened. how do you know the bible wasnt written by someone who was drunk! no many people could write back then so its the whole "what if" for everything. And i believe in God not as a person, but perhaps what comes after death.

 

[evo]

Yeah religion in primary school is about as important as Commercials inbetween a show...

To sit around and be forced to listen to old farts who say they found god and colour in and get a cookie is not what i found enjoyable at all.

I don't believe in god nor do i in anything else... i live in the moment.

I can believe in the science becuase unlike religion it can be backed up by fact and truth.

So as soon as an allmighty god comes down... throws out the bible and sticks his thumbs up i will in no way follow anything about religion.

Life is short, and who knows what's beyond... no one can know.

Live life in the now and not to what should be or could be.

That's my 2 cents

 

[jesterjay]

This is such a touchy topic - I believe in the Charter...everyone is entitled to their beliefs.

Religion holds a large role in the world I believe. Whether or not it's right or wrong I don't know.

I will say this, it's wrong to wage a war because you believe it's God's will. But with that said, I'm going to completely contradict myself. I hate violence, and war scares the hell out of me, but I love my country. I'm incredibly proud and if parliament told me I had to fight, well, I would do it. I guess with the kind of pride people hold for their religion & there God, there's no difference between the two.

Thoughts?

 

[evo]

'Its not important about what faith you have, more that you have faith'

Ahhh dogma was so cool.

I could never kill anyone, no matter what, and in that i don't hold much respect for those who kill.

Soldiers, killers alike... all the same in my eyes.

To take another's life away is just plain wrong.