What Is Your Religion?

[Stefan Bauwens]

I don't believe it's all a lie, for sure. There are lots of parts I believe in, because I can just feel that it's right. It's just some parts that I'm like um.. Really?!

I've realized that when certain verses are taken out of context that they can give the wrong impression.

One of the verses that startled me too in your list was:

"Happy those who seize your children and smash them against a rock." (Psalm 137:9)"

[SIZE=15.454545021057129px]I knew there had to be something else behind this and I discovered in complete context:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=15.454545021057129px]"[/SIZE]Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did

on the day Jerusalem fell.

“Tear it down,” they cried,

“tear it down to its foundations!”

8 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,

happy is the one who repays you

according to what you have done to us.

9

Happy is the one who seizes your infants

and dashes them against the rocks."

I've read that that was still in the time when it was still eye for eye, tooth for tooth. This doesn't make anymore sense today, but if you look at it in that light it does to me.

 

[The Ultimate Doomer]

Science flies to the Moon. Religion flies into buildings. Why argue over a fictional person in the sky?

And atheism means "lack of a belief in God(s)"; it is not "faith". Being good and stuff is unrelated to God(s); anyone who doesn't believe in God is still an atheist.

You can "believe" there is one God.
You can "believe" there are many gods.
You can "believe" the Universe was created by a flying spaghetti monster.
But I know there is no God.

 

[Eternal Mametchi Fan]

Science flies to the Moon. Religion flies into buildings. Why argue over a fictional person in the sky?

And atheism means "lack of a belief in God(s)"; it is not "faith". Being good and stuff is unrelated to God(s); anyone who doesn't believe in God is still an atheist.

You can "believe" there is one God.

You can "believe" there are many gods.

You can "believe" the Universe was created by a flying spaghetti monster.

But I know there is no God.

You do not "know" if there is no God. Perhaps stuff in the bible isn't true, but that does not mean God isn't real. I myself do not believe in god, nor do I disbelieve, because nobody has real proof that he exists, nor do they have proof that he doesn't exist at all,

 

[Stefan Bauwens]

For me this is proof enough(and way more proof than proof against) Romans 1:20 :

20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

This makes perfect sense to me. If you look at the beautiful sky, at the plants, at the animals, at everything, you know(at least I do) there must be a God who created it all. Not some magical evolution that doesn't make sense.

 

[dazzilitchigirl]

If Doomer knows there isn't a god and Stefan knows there is one, then one of you has to be wrong. And right now, not even scientists can say which of you is wrong. So nobody knows there is or isn't a god; just like evolution, it's a theory, and obviously a valid one, considering it's survived this long.

I don't believe in any god because the whole concept of one just confuses me and makes no sense. I understand science and evolution, you can see them in action and study them. I know how evolution works. I don't know how god creating stuff works.

 

[Midorime]

Just because I am curious here... has anyone actually died and come back (or was extremely close to death) to verify if there was something on the other side? I can say with certainty that I have....

...and I saw nothing.

But it's not so much of what I did or did not see, but of what i felt. I find it funny how people say death is a feeling of being extremely cold and full of fear. When I felt my life slipping, it felt warm and inviting. But i saw and heard nothing, all that existed was emotion. No light, no figures, no sounds. Was kinda like going to sleep in the arms of your mother when you're a child.

So my question is, if you die, is God not supposed to show himself to you? Or aren't you supposed to see things? Hear things? (Obviously this question is directed at the Christians here.) I mean I hear people speaking of a 'bright light' or such things, but I never saw anything like that.

 

[Stefan Bauwens]

Well, listening to your story it seems like you were dying, but not dead. When you are dead, your soul leaves and only then you will face God.

However, very coincidentally I saw this video the other day, about a man who died but came back:

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[Andrew (=^.^=)]

Oh. I'm supposed to be Catholic. I am in a purely Catholic family. I have to go to church every Sunday and sometimes Saturday, even sometimes Thursday.​

I'm Agnostic, but I don't want to tell my parents.​

 

[Midorime]

Well, listening to your story it seems like you were dying, but not dead. When you are dead, your soul leaves and only then you will face God.

How does one who is dying know the difference between being dead and not fully dead when unconscious? Mind you I was about.... 3 or 4 at the time. Blood loss from a razor blade my mom left out and I cut myself with. She thought a rag over it would fix it. Nope--had to get stitches. (it's a long story on how and why it happened and why I didn't get immediate medical attention, which I won't get into.)

Another question: do you believe in reincarnation? In Christianity does God even allow people to reincarnate?

I dunno if you like to read a lot, Stefan, but I read this book and I highly recommend it for those who are curious to documented stuff about reincarnation from children. Some even spoke about seeing a god of god-like figure while between worlds (some just said it was like sleeping--they woke up and were suddenly babies again): https://www.amazon.com/Life-Before-Childrens-Memories-Previous/dp/031237674X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365172036&sr=8-1&keywords=reincarnation+children

You can get a cheap used copy or get the Kindle edition and read it on your computer maybe or an ereader if you have one. One of the reviewers said to also check out this book, which I have no yet read, but it it said to be more detailed: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0786409134/ref=cm_cr_asin_lnk

 

[hwd45]

You do not "know" if there is no God. Perhaps stuff in the bible isn't true, but that does not mean God isn't real. I myself do not believe in god, nor do I disbelieve, because nobody has real proof that he exists, nor do they have proof that he doesn't exist at all,

Actually, I'm with The Ultimate Doomer on this one. Atheists 'know' there is no God... If we just 'didn't believe' in God, then there's doubt that God doesn't exist- that's not 'pure' atheism, it's either passive atheism or agnosticism. It's not strange to see someone who really knows that God doesn't exist, just as you have people that know that he does exist.And evolution is far from magical. One may argue that the real 'magic' is creationism. It may not make sense to you, but that doesn't mean it's magical. It also does not explain how life was first created.

This post probably should have been sent a few days ago but... I've been having a little difficulty with the mobile version of the website at the moment.

 

[Stefan Bauwens]

Midorime, well the Bible teaches that after you die you go to Hell or Heaven.

However, I do believe that God may decide to send you back(Lazarus for example). I do not believe that adults will come back again and be born again. But perhaps young children. Since God may say they didn't have the time to prove themselves or something.

But I cannot say for certain.

 

[Midorime]

Midorime, well the Bible teaches that after you die you go to Hell or Heaven.

However, I do believe that God may decide to send you back(Lazarus for example). I do not believe that adults will come back again and be born again. But perhaps young children. Since God may say they didn't have the time to prove themselves or something.

But I cannot say for certain.

Oh these were adults who came back and were obviously children at the time they were interviewed and recollected everything precisely, not even having connections to the person or the family of the deceased. It was very interesting. That's why I suggest giving it a read.

 

[Stefan Bauwens]

Hmm, then the only thing I see is that God had mercy on these people(maybe they didn't get the chance in their lives to learn to know Him or they were sinning against Him in ignorance.) and decided to give them another chance.

I'm not God, and God doesn't explain all what He does and how He does it.

I'm not really the kind of guy who is such a reader, and I hardly ever buy online. :/

So the chances of me getting this book pretty soon is rare. Also, I first rather finish another book. (Bible)

 

[ultratamagirl]

there are more wiccans/ witches/ pagans on here than i thought!!!!

i'm all of the above!!! and proud to be!!!!

 

[The Ultimate Doomer]

Wrong? Yes, I'm quite certain one of us is. And by "know", I meant, well, because of facts. Like, it's a FACT that the Earth is far older than 6000 years, yet some bible stuff says the Earth is only 6000 or so years old. But that can't be true--it's not true--because it's a fact that and it has been proven that Earth is NOT 6000 years old. Therefore, God did not make Earth 6000 years ago. Therefore, the "belief" that God made the Earth 6000 years ago is not true. Therefore, God does not exist. Unless, of course, God DID make Earth, but the bible got the years wrong. But the bible "can't be wrong" because it's stuff God himself said. But it can't be stuff God himself said, because Earth is NOT 6000 years old, and that means God is wrong, but God "can't" be wrong, but he IS wrong because he contradicts fact, which means God does not exist.

Try to prove me wrong, now? Why, yes, I expect someone to say "But 'facts' are wrong. I KNOW facts are not true. You're right, Earth being older than 6000 years IS a fact, but it's not true because facts aren't true."

Sure, the bible says Earth is not very old, homo... is a sin and yadda yadda yadda, God exists, blah blah blah. But it's not true. It can be "believed", but it's still wrong.

Where is God? "Everywhere"? If he exists, then he is made of atoms. EVERYTHING is made of atoms. The only thing that isn't made of atoms is empty nothingness. If God is "something", then where is he? There's no trace of God on Earth or anywhere. That means he is "nothing". That means he does not exist (except in the imagination). Science!

I "know" that grass is green. But I'm sure some people "know" grass is purple with pink polka dots because of some religion that says grass is purple with pink polka dots. What does it mean? It means one of us is right. And even fact can prove I am right.


The Natural History Museum Book of Dinosaurs says: "While dinosaurs are an accepted fact of prehistoric life for most people there are those who find it hard to accept the scientific facts about their existence. Such people usually also reject the whole concept of evolution, insisting instead on religious beliefs about the creation of the world as a single, divinely organized event."

So in a way, scientists can prove "which one of us is wrong".


Facts prove that some bible stuff is wrong, which means God doesn't exist. Someone can't "know" something when that something isn't even true. That's like saying they "know" the Universe was created by Cookie Monster, and Elmo created the Sun.


Someone does not and cannot "know" God exists, because if they did, then it wouldn't be blind faith and wouldn't contradict facts, but blind faith and contradiction of facts is exactly what belief in God is. That is all.

A page I found about the contradictions: https://www.infidels.org/library/modern/jim_meritt/bible-contradictions.html

 

[Amat Gotchi]

God:

Not everyone believes in God. In my opinion, God is not tangible at all. Rather, he/she/it is the force that drives all existence. God is the answer to the unanswerable: where did existence itself come from? Where did the matter for the Big Bang come from? What's in that empty space around us? How did evolution happen? Who designed this crazy-amazing universe?

When I think of God, I think of the spark within everything that exists; the energy that makes everything work the way it does. Finding answers will only lead to more questions. And I think that at the root of the series of questions, you can find God.

Whatever form they put God in: male or female, old or young, human, turtle, or flying spaghetti monster, existent or nonexistent, I don't think it matters. A religion is a matter of unique ideas and beliefs that makes you who you are, and that is all your own.

 

[Stefan Bauwens]

Ultimate Doomer, why would God be limited to time or even to physics? What a God would that be.

No, God can do anything, and does not always limit himself to our earthly physics.

To me, sorry to say, what you said sound pretty narrow minded.

However, God does say a day is like a 1000 years to me and a 1000 years is like one day. So it may be that the earth is older than 6000 years, but the creation of man isn't.

Also, the thing is, I am convinced that they got their estimated time of the earth wrong. If you knew how many wrong estimations they already made. For example, they say some earth layers are really thousands years old, and then you see that a tree grew trough several of them. >.>

 

[KERFUFFLE]

Wrong? Yes, I'm quite certain one of us is. And by "know", I meant, well, because of facts. Like, it's a FACT that the Earth is far older than 6000 years, yet some bible stuff says the Earth is only 6000 or so years old. But that can't be true--it's not true--because it's a fact that and it has been proven that Earth is NOT 6000 years old. Therefore, God did not make Earth 6000 years ago. Therefore, the "belief" that God made the Earth 6000 years ago is not true. Therefore, God does not exist. Unless, of course, God DID make Earth, but the bible got the years wrong. But the bible "can't be wrong" because it's stuff God himself said. But it can't be stuff God himself said, because Earth is NOT 6000 years old, and that means God is wrong, but God "can't" be wrong, but he IS wrong because he contradicts fact, which means God does not exist.

I think what we have to remember that the Bible is very, very old. People believed that it was fact that the earth was flat until over time they grew to understand that it was not. Yes they were wrong, but can you blame them? Noone had explored the earth the way Christopher Columbus had and we certainly weren't sending people into space back then. Several thousand years ago, humans would have had no idea how to estimate how long the earth had been around- they had no machines to dig deep into the earth's crust, no way of monitoring the output of radioactivity of an object to determine its age. To us all, 6000 years seems a pretty unimaginable length of time, so back then it would have seemed a pretty plausible suggestion since they had nothing to go on. The fact that they got the age of the earth wrong certainly doesn't make a case for whether God exists or not. In any case, this kind of information is insignificant to the purpose of the Bible since what it is intended to teach us is a moral code and a way of living. Certain scientific facts may be outdated, but treating those as we would wish to be treated, loving and caring for one another, not harming and murdering people are just as relevant today as they always were, and they will remain so forever.

 

[dazzilitchigirl]

Wrong? Yes, I'm quite certain one of us is. And by "know", I meant, well, because of facts. Like, it's a FACT that the Earth is far older than 6000 years, yet some bible stuff says the Earth is only 6000 or so years old. But that can't be true--it's not true--because it's a fact that and it has been proven that Earth is NOT 6000 years old. Therefore, God did not make Earth 6000 years ago. Therefore, the "belief" that God made the Earth 6000 years ago is not true. Therefore, God does not exist. Unless, of course, God DID make Earth, but the bible got the years wrong. But the bible "can't be wrong" because it's stuff God himself said. But it can't be stuff God himself said, because Earth is NOT 6000 years old, and that means God is wrong, but God "can't" be wrong, but he IS wrong because he contradicts fact, which means God does not exist.

Try to prove me wrong, now? Why, yes, I expect someone to say "But 'facts' are wrong. I KNOW facts are not true. You're right, Earth being older than 6000 years IS a fact, but it's not true because facts aren't true."

Sure, the bible says Earth is not very old, homo... is a sin and yadda yadda yadda, God exists, blah blah blah. But it's not true. It can be "believed", but it's still wrong.

Where is God? "Everywhere"? If he exists, then he is made of atoms. EVERYTHING is made of atoms. The only thing that isn't made of atoms is empty nothingness. If God is "something", then where is he? There's no trace of God on Earth or anywhere. That means he is "nothing". That means he does not exist (except in the imagination). Science!

I "know" that grass is green. But I'm sure some people "know" grass is purple with pink polka dots because of some religion that says grass is purple with pink polka dots. What does it mean? It means one of us is right. And even fact can prove I am right.

The Natural History Museum Book of Dinosaurs says: "While dinosaurs are an accepted fact of prehistoric life for most people there are those who find it hard to accept the scientific facts about their existence. Such people usually also reject the whole concept of evolution, insisting instead on religious beliefs about the creation of the world as a single, divinely organized event."

So in a way, scientists can prove "which one of us is wrong".

Facts prove that some bible stuff is wrong, which means God doesn't exist. Someone can't "know" something when that something isn't even true. That's like saying they "know" the Universe was created by Cookie Monster, and Elmo created the Sun.

Someone does not and cannot "know" God exists, because if they did, then it wouldn't be blind faith and wouldn't contradict facts, but blind faith and contradiction of facts is exactly what belief in God is. That is all.

A page I found about the contradictions: https://www.infidels.org/library/modern/jim_meritt/bible-contradictions.html

I agree with that, but many religions say God doesn't obey the laws of physics so he's not made of atoms. But I've met people who think God could be just a spark of energy that created the Big Bang, and they're religious. I think that is actually believable since there are no other explanations for the Big Bang happening, but for these people, God is not a person but simply a force that does things.

As for God being a person - no, that's not believable. It makes much more sense that he just started off the Big Bang and the rest happened by chance.

And the bit about "blind faith and contradiction of facts is exactly what belief in God is", I definitely agree with that. But not all religious people believe they are contradicting facts, but that science is contradicting facts written in their religious books.

 

[Stefan Bauwens]

Don't you see that there is no logic. Say the big bang theory and everything is true you still need something to start it.

Alright, you say a "spark". But how can it come from nowhere. There must be some kind of superhuman, who is not limited to anything, who can do this.

There is NO OTHER WAY.

And it's the Bible that fits in with this. And the Bible clearly doesn't talk about God as just a spark, but as a creator, who demands things from His creation.