God and / or Spiritual Beliefs - Discussion and Intellectual Debate

Everyone has their beliefs, doubts and wonders, and things they do not believe. I've started this thread because I believe that just because you are of a particular spiritual belief or religion, it doesn't mean you can't incorporate good philosophies or beliefs from another spiritual belief or religion to better yourself. We can all stand to learn from each others personal spiritual beliefs and religions, if not only to help ourselves be better people, but to understand others better. So please if you're so inclined, share your personal thoughts on God and / or your spiritual beliefs and / or religion and / or non-beliefs.

The one and only rule to this thread:
Do not criticize or insult anyones beliefs. This is to be a beneficial intellectual discussion and debate.

Wow, this could become a really touchy subject if not approached properly. I'm glad you put the disclaimer you did in your first post and I hope everyone reads and understands it.

First I'll say that belief's are not a subject I would want to debate - I don't feel that peoples beliefs lend themselves for open debate. I'm all for open discussion and sharing of ideas, however a person's beliefs are very personal to them, and often attacking someone's beliefs can cause the worst of hard feelings... so I'd just like to add that it's important that everyone be absolutely and completely respectful of other peoples beliefs (or lack of them) in this thread. There's a fine line between debating and insulting, so I'd just caution everyone to read, re-read and triple check your post before you go insulting someone's core beliefs.

As for me, I was born into a Jewish family and raised as such. Until the age of 13, I attended Hebrew school after normal school 2 days a week and also on Sundays. I was taught the customs and traditions of the Jewish faith and was a Bar Mitzvah at the age of 13, as is traditional in the Jewish religion.

Since that time, I've come to the conclusion that I do not believe in a supreme being as defined by organized religion. In fact, I've come to believe over the years that religion in itself is simply a huge man-made mistake that has caused nothing but separation and pain in the human race. More people have died or been killed in the name of religion than for any other cause. We have slaughtered our own people, waged wars and terrorized entire nations - over beliefs.

To me, the core values that religion attempts to teach - those being faith, morality, compassion - are all noble and things we should try and pass on from one generation to the next. I actually believe the intent of religion in those days was to create order from chaos and provide a basic law for morality. Sadly, man has taken it upon himself to destroy all of these things - as we have proven ourselves apt to do since the beginning of recorded history. Instead of focusing on the good aspects of religion, man has used it as an excuse to create further separation amongst people of the same race.

Furthermore, I believe that religion does not allow for individually developed thought, but rather those beliefs are forced on children based on the religion of their parents. A child does not have the mentality to come to these conclusions on his own, therefore parents push their own beliefs on their children. I have a real problem with this concept as it doesn't give the individual person an opportunity to decide what their beliefs truly are - but rather their beliefs take on the form of whatever is taught to them - or as I see it, forced upon them. I view this as the ultimate form of brainwashing.

In my opinion, it's also far too late to turn around and declare that religion in itself was a mistake. It would only help to create panic, chaos and confusion - the same things religion was aimed to help curb ages ago.

The real eye opener for me, however, was science and its evolution. As I learned more about the universe we live in, it became painfully obvious that we are not alone in this vast space. With literally tens of billions of recorded, known galaxies... how can we be?

If that is the case, how can it be that a supreme creator made us in his image forsaking the rest of the known universe?

Isn't it arrogant to think that, in a universe containing billions of galaxies, we are the only intelligent life out there?

In my opinion, it's not only arrogant, but rather its absolutely preposterous to think so....

As I started to put everything together, I reached the conclusion that religion is man-made and no more real than the mythological tales that Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, Incans and other idolatrous societies are known for.

Man has searched for faith and some connection to the world since the dawn of time... and, in my opinion, we've been wrong the entire time... and still are.

my thoughts
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god = easy to manage word for higher power or universal law of some sort that we are not very aware of/ = universe in my personal case

physics laws [assuming these are in fact laws]
-conservation of energy
-transformation of energy
-apply to "consciousness" and "spirit/soul" + Death

combine with ASSUMPTION that time goes on

=> likely Rebirth/reincarnation in similar forms by chance

additional beliefs-
all forms of energy possess magnetic qualities
patterns - things can get infinitely smaller and more complex. as well as larger and beyond measurable boundary. all patterns.

My belief is the Christian God. Although i stray from the different labelings since they dont really lend to do much other than divide. I believe God to be righteous and just. I think we have qualms with faith because we have problems accepting that. But again just my view.

i really don't want to impede on your beliefs, since i think that you are entitled to have that in your life, but bringing it back to what was said earlier; are you christian because you studied religion, and deemed that religion the one for you, or because your parents took you to church as a child, and raised you that way?

PunkOfBlood doesn't really have a religion.

I grew up as a Christian. I didn't go to church that often and I've only ready like huge major parts of the bible. I've been to Christain camps and all that jazz. I just realized it wasn't for me.

I DO belive that there are gods. Not god...Gods. I don't worship them though...it's more of a, "I know there is something out there but there is no real proof."

With like 485693475867248752 different religions, I find it hard to believe that there can only be ONE god. So...yeah.

I'll explain more on what i believe if someone asks but...I'm basicly going to leave it at that cause it seems pretty understandable. I am willing to answer questions though lol.

A lot of people would not admit it, but they adhere to a religion (or lack of religion) not because they truly believe in what the religion states or decrees, but rather for the community associated with the religion.

I have a few Christian friends who tell me that they highly doubt the existence of God and many of the principles that the bible advocates, and that they only say in the church community because everyone is so warm and nice. Vice versa, there are a lot of individuals in the scientific community who believe in God but hesitate to admit it in fear of losing respect from their fellow academics.

I am a Christian-agnostic. I will avoid any long and detailed explanation and just quote Donnie Darko
which is basically a summed up version.

"An agnostic is someone who believes that there can be no proof of the existence of God, but does not deny the possibility that God exists." - Dr. Thurman in Donnie Darko

I have gone to a Christian church all of my life, and even volunteer there.
Is it possiple that god exists? yes.
Is it probable the god exists? perhaps. I would like to think he does.

unfortunately, there is no actual proof of Gods existance. The Shroud of Turin (Jesus's supposed burial cloth) has been proven to be of a different era (1200-1400 AD) as a result of carbon dating. There is no "holy grail", and the bible has been edited countless times by counltess individuals. all in all it's like an argument without any supporting facts