Why don't you believe in God(s)?

[SeddyRocky]

essence what on  is a telempathic experience?  ???
anyway i just never really believed in it(religion) my families quite religous though-i just never needed god and never really thought about him and when i did i had no faith in him.

i am a catholic and everyone needs to believe in god..your question is "why didn't i had fate in god"

This is not promoting religious tolerance XD I have never felt that I needed God (what exactly is there to need?) but then again, it is hard to feel like you need something that you don't believe in.

[Hamish MacWolf]

essence what on  is a telempathic experience?  ???
anyway i just never really believed in it(religion) my families quite religous though-i just never needed god and never really thought about him and when i did i had no faith in him.

i am a catholic and everyone needs to believe in god..your question is "why didn't i had fate in god"

This is not promoting religious tolerance XD I have never felt that I needed God (what exactly is there to need?) but then again, it is hard to feel like you need something that you don't believe in.

I second the motion! Even if God exists, and even if Catholicism is the best way to serve Him, that still is a lousy method of reaching out to those who disagree! Start with a chocolate biscuit, ask someone about their day, buy them a pony… anything, rather than the conversational equivalent of a Sherman-mounted flamethrower!

After all, wasn’t Jesus humble?

In other news, SeddyRocky, you pose an interesting question. What is there to need?

If I could play Devil’s advocate for a moment (no joke intended), and take our friend BloodlinE213’s own faith, Catholicism, what is it that their God can offer? Absolute justice? The meaning of life? Eternity? Love?

Please understand, I pose this not as a claim of truth, but as a philosophical response to your own question, based on a hypothesis that God is real. What are your thoughts?

[Belthus]

If I could play Devil’s advocate for a moment (no joke intended), and take our friend BloodlinE213’s own faith, Catholicism, what is it that their God can offer? Absolute justice? The meaning of life? Eternity? Love?

Existential comfort. Social ties. Hierarchy. At one time, an explanatory framework, though religion has lost a lot of ground on that front.

[SeddyRocky]

If I could play Devil’s advocate for a moment (no joke intended), and take our friend BloodlinE213’s own faith, Catholicism, what is it that their God can offer? Absolute justice? The meaning of life? Eternity? Love?

Existential comfort. Social ties. Hierarchy. At one time, an explanatory framework, though religion has lost a lot of ground on that front.

Funny thing is, most dictatorships (take communism sovjet or Nazi germany) can say the exact same thing. (Do note that while it may seems so, I do not by any means think that Religion is equal to dictatorships, communism, nazism, etc. I'm just taking a description and showing that it can apply to more things)

Existential comfort: We are all equals and work to build a better society! (well that was the idea.. I think?) / We are the supreme race, hohohohoh!

Social ties: Didn't I already say we're all equal? Of course we're all social! / We are le best people, let's form a group and hand out!

Hierarchy: Oops, turns out we weren't equal..., go Lenin? Then his subordinates, then the rest. / Der Fürher. Need I say more?

An explanatory framework: Once upon a time, nations go through industrialism, then they fall, then communism and happily ever after. Oh and man was meant to work! / Jews are responsible for everything. Well, jews and blacks... and gays... and handicapped... and well, anyone who's not a Nazi party member pretty much.

Then again, to be fair, gardening can do the same. "Creating" life and caring for it (existential), sharing oyur garden with others (social) Hierarchy (good plants, weeds, who may enter the garden) and an explanatory framework: Nutrients plus water equals happy plants! (or more complicated, how plants grow, why, chemical stuff, biology, maintenace, etc. I'm stretching it a bit here )


I had a point somewhere but it got lost... Or wait: Point being: By Belthus definition, (I think, aka this is my opinion) Religion can be replaced. . But by other definitions of the benefits of religion (not sure Hierarchy is a benefit though) it may be more unique.

By the way, question to Catholics (or any other denomination which is particular about itself): Why is Catholicism(/other denomination) better than other denominations of Christianity?

[Azumi]

Well.....I went to a Christian elementry/middle school all the way up till 7 1/1 grade before moving to a private school. (Started in Kindergarten not pre school or w/e the lower ones are). Most of my old family (grandparents and up) were Christians, though not die hard Christians. I think my grandmother only went to church (Asian one) b/c she talked and hung out with here friends there more than actual worshiping. The rest of my family (I'm not sure about my aunts or uncles) don't seem to be die hard Christian/Church goers themselves b/c I've never seen them go. I do think they believe in God though.

Back to my life and beliefs. I have never believed that there was a God(s) or higher being just because I guess there was never a reason or event that would make me do so. Thus I never got into religion. Most of the time I went to the private school I was Egnostic for the most part but as time went on I went from doubting the existance to just plain not believing that there was a God(s) or higher beings.

[falconbane]

Born of Buddhist parents (one converted to catholic now), went to catholic school (for better facilities and education), disgusted with their hypocrisy (we had to memorized the entire bible in two languages, and then see the preachers not practice it), went with the Lutherans (whom I believe is probably the only branch of Christianity that I can say I can respect with a straight face) until I emigrated to Canada.  From where I became agnostic (closer the atheist spectrum, as in, I don't believe in a God, but if there's a irrefutable evidence, I will review my position).  And then shortly got into trouble in school with the son of "fanatical christian parents" (who claimed that he can do anything horrible he wanted cause God will forgive him), where the parents threatened violence (among other things, I still laugh when I remember them telling a kid -me- he's going to hell) and their minister had to get involved when the secretary called the police fearing for our safety.  Then some sort of weird reverse-accidental conversion took place when we were debating (invited me and my friend's family for a debate in his church) and ended up with about a third of the church members renouncing their faith/no longer go to church.

I currently claim to be a FSM member to confuse any evangelist "visitors" as it keeps them away better than claiming to be agnostic (quite a few of them don't understand what it means).  Speaking of which, happy Ramen-dan to fellow "members" 

Just in case no one know what Lutherans are, it's basically christians that believe matters of God and Oneself is between them and does not need an intermediary (ie. church) and minimal guidance (the bible is a guide, with lessons to be learned and shared).  Lutheran church tends to have low attendance with large memberships, but known to be the most accepting (even of other faiths) and most charitable regardless of circumstances (at least when I was a kid).  AFAIK, the Scandinavians states are Lutheran (I could be wrong xD).

[Daxx]

My "spiritual history" is somewhat varied, but ultimately I've spent a lot of time thinking and reading about the problem, and have come to a conclusion I'm happy with.

There is almost certainly no god, or gods, and given very strict qualifiers I do not believe it is unreasonable to simply say "there is no god" and get on with my life. If there is a god or gods, they are even more certainly not the god as defined by the judeo-christian tradition or indeed any of the mainstream religious traditions. On a position of epistemology I consider myself more of a Strong Agnostic; on questions of fact I consider myself a Weak Atheist.

For me to have some belief in a god or gods, I would need proof. Importantly, the standard of proof needs to be rigorous for such an important claim. I have yet to find any "evidence" or "proof" of the existence of a god or gods that withstands criticism and satisfies me that it is definitive. I'm willing to consider anything that people want to offer.

Perhaps a better question to raise is "Why do you believe in God(s)"? Asking why I don't believe in a God is like asking why I do not believe in a small invisible teapot orbiting Mars.

[Sengiratolom]

My father was a Minister and as a child of one i was forced to attend every single time he had to work in church (which was alot), instead of being allowed to play outside with other kids.
Stories from the bible were read to me, and i had to atend a religous activity group for kids, in which we were tought religous songs.
Furthermore thanking something for the food we bought ourselves by praying before eating didn't make any sence to me.
Those events made me dislike or even hate church itself, and i got more interested in the scientific aproach on things and historical explainations for occurances.

So it short, i became an atheist due to religion, or rather the enforcement thereof and resulting alienation felt hostile to me.

I respect everyone no matter their believes, and have friends from various religions, but trying to convert me is pointless.

[vrt]

I'm an agnostic; I don't think there's any sort of God, but if he comes over for coffee, I won't tell him no either.


I've been raised in a moderately Christian family, went to a Christian school, and attended church mostly every week. I can safely say that at the time, I believed in God.

However, as I grew up, I realised how incredibly wrong certain things were. If I were to believe the Bible, the only basis to believe in a Christian God, the Bible is His word. But that book is so full of contradictory bullshit, that's been used throughout history (as well as in this day and age) to harm others, that I can't and won't affiliate myself with it. I cannot justify being part of an organisation that keeps its followers together through mass fear and hatred.

I think I was about 13 when I reached that conclusion. After that, I delved into books, documentaries, studies, and whatnot. And the more I learned, the less likely I found this whole 'God' entity to be. Not to say I haven't tried; I've attended meetings, seminars and festivals of a huge variety of religions, but I can't identify with any of them, be it for the fact that they're pretty far-fetched, or that their ideology clashes with what I see happening around me.


In the end; I believe in what I see: love, hope, and compassion. Fuck yeah, I'm a hippie.