And I bet if you were raised to be a Buddhist you'd think that makes more sense than any other religions. I can't be %100 sure, but it seems like you were raised to believe in the Bible so, you do.

You're right. I was raised to believe the Bible. My parents weren't, but they became Bible-Thumpers later in life =)

My grandma was also a Christian. so yeah.

I'm so glad to know that you're capable of thinking on your own.

At least they're willing to admit that they have no other reason?

I'm probably in the same boat as jabbababba, honestly. If I'd been born in a primarily Muslim country to Muslim parents, I'd probably be Muslim. Even so, the words of Christ resonate with me spiritually and philosophically, so I embrace them. I once heard someone liken religion (Christianity in particular) to a relationship. When you're happily married, you don't go seeking other partners. I'm not advocating that people not explore other religions or try to justify their religion to themselves, far from it, but if someone is at peace with their ideology, morally, intellectually, etc., I don't see why they should change.

I don't see why believing something because your parents believed it delegitimizes the belief. Everyone's beliefs are sourced by their environments and the data available to them. Why do the religious come under attack because they have faith in an idea which makes sense to them, regardless of its origins?

It is important that people are capable of critically looking at beliefs, but in the end we are all victims of limited knowledge in creating our belief system.

I wish we could "like" posts....

But that would make this Facebook.

I fail to see the problem with that.

Because some of us come here for the exchange of ideas rather than a system which reinforces vaguely or not on topic rapport for a popularity contest.

This thread is about the "Existence of God." If you want a "like" button, please take it to the section where you make suggestions about the site.

Oh sorry guys, I wasn't being totally serious when I said I wish there was a like button. I was trying to point out that I liked what they said... Also, I don't see "liking" something being a popularity contest, but whatever. *Backs away*

I'm an atheist but I'm not going to rant, I'll just say, "If God doesnt need a reason to exist, then why does the Universe?"

I do think on my own. duh. Don't you?


Just because I believe the Bible doesn't make me an invalid of some sort.

Oh, the urges I must quell. I was referring to the point where you agreed that you believed in the bible because you were brought up that way.

I was brought up by a Catholic mother. Look at me now. She still doesnt know though. I'd be judged out the ass.

Now are you saying you literally interpret it or do you analyze it?

I'd assume the second. What language ISN'T the bible in at this point?

Whatever language cthulu cultists use

I'd say we can't possibly know. There may be, there may not be. I personally don't believe that if there is a God (or gods), it would be anything even remotely like the one described by any major world religion. It may be, but it seems highly improbable to me. If by 'God' you mean a sentient being that conciously or unconciously triggered the creation of the universe, then I'd say I don't have any evidence either way, hence it's possible. Add omnipotence to the mix, and I'd still say possible, but less probably simply because there's still no evidence, but instead of 2 clauses to the description (Sentience and Universe Creation), there's a third, Omnipotence. The Gods represented by major world religions have thousands of clauses to their descriptions, from their appearance, to nature, to the individual acts they supposedly performed. In the absence of any evidence, I hence consider them to be very improbable. (In the case of the Deities described by movements that have been entirely contradicted by our knowledge of modern science, such as young-earth creationism, I would say that they are fundamentally almost entirely impossible, although obviously, given a Deity with omnipotence, you can never rule anything out entirely. Omnipotence is annoying like that.)

Too long. Didn't read.
If the Universe is some how infinite and god is some how infinite, what's this talk of multiple universes? And if god is a living being, it couldn't have created the universe because life only showed up around the same time earth did. So what's the deal? I think we should all just take a nap and not bother with trying to figure this mystery out.

What connection are you drawing between these claims?
No religion I know of claims that God is/was a biological, universe-bound being. If there is a God who created the omniverse itself, which I believe, he must be entirely unlike any being we are familiar with.

Correction: life on Earth as we know it only showed up around the same time Earth did. We have no way to know if there was or is life older than that we are familiar with. To presume we do is ignorant at best.

That would be like saying: How could there be something called residents years ago if this house was just built?

You can. I've liked heaps of posts. People have been liking things for thousands of years.

You know what he meant, LiV. You don't need to be mean for no reason.