Now, take a second to read the title. I'm not asking anything about wether God actually exists or not, this has nothing to do wether he really exists.

I want to know wether you think people should believe in God, wether he exists or not, and why you think people should follow him faithfully, or not as your case may be

[This message has been edited by Aurilius (edited 09-06-2006).]

It doesn't really matter.

People are violent about their beliefs, which at first seems reason to not believe. But.. you take away God, and people will be violent over something else (worldly possessions?), so.. it doesn't matter.

People shouldn't believe in anything specific without a reasonable amount of strong evidence.

People should believe in whatever has proved its existence to them, in whatever fashion is required for that particular person.

Which one? I'm more inclined to accept Norse mythology than Egyptian.

quote:Originally posted by Aurilius:

I want to know wether you think people should believe in God

I think that believing in God can be beneficial. A God whom one can pray to faithfully and with the power of their belief and mind help themselves to accomplish their desires. I also think it is healthy to have a relationship and appreciation for nature and its perfect beauty and this can easily tie in with the belief in God. I don't mean a man or woman in the sky type of God but an overall all controlling force, an idea that might bring the faithful a kind of security in their heart.

I believe it is beneficial to believe in a God who rewards for doing good and punishes for doing evil, not to live out of fear, but it can assist in adopting an attitude towards the world in which one can easily forgive others, knowing that God will deal with them justly in the afterlife.

I believe it is important sometimes to have the feeling that there is a force that one can call on at any time, but that feeling of nearness may only come to those who deeply believe and have a certain idea about what God is, where God is etc.

I think people should believe in a God who furthermore encourages good and claims to reward good.

I believe that overall it is beneficial to include spirituality into one's lifestyle be it through meditation, prayer, or a communication with the force.

quote:Originally posted by Abrahim:

I think that believing in God can be beneficial. A God whom one can pray to faithfully and with the power of their belief and mind help themselves to accomplish their desires.

Ten minutes of hard work is worth more than a thousand years of prayer.



quote:Originally posted by Abrahim:

I also think it is healthy to have a relationship and appreciation for nature and its perfect beauty and this can easily tie in with the belief in God.

You can say anything ties in with God, however, belief in God is not necessary whatsoever to have an appreciation for nature and its beauty.



quote:Originally posted by Abrahim:

I don't mean a man or woman in the sky type of God but an overall all controlling force, an idea that might bring the faithful a kind of security in their heart.

Ahh, being faithful for a feeling of security.

http://www.buddhanet.net/ans73.htm



quote:Originally posted by Abrahim:

I believe it is beneficial to believe in a God who rewards for doing good and punishes for doing evil, not to live out of fear, but it can assist in adopting an attitude towards the world in which one can easily forgive others, knowing that God will deal with them justly in the afterlife.

It's much healthier to forgive without believing someone will get what he has coming to him in the end. True forgiveness does not entail knowing that someone will be punished.

Punishment is not needed in forgiveness, only in justice.



quote:Originally posted by Abrahim:

I believe it is important sometimes to have the feeling that there is a force that one can call on at any time, but that feeling of nearness may only come to those who deeply believe and have a certain idea about what God is, where God is etc.

That sort of belief is irrational. It reminds me of parents who believe they should pray for their sick children and don't allow them to get medical attention.



quote:Originally posted by Abrahim:

I think people should believe in a God who furthermore encourages good and claims to reward good.

I think people should do good without expecting rewards.

quote:Originally posted by Aurilius:



I want to know wether you think people should believe in God, wether he exists or not, and why you think people should follow him faithfully, or not as your case may be



One should keep an open mind on it, being aware that most talk of god is from a point of view developed within one's culture. For instance you speak of god as 'he' and ask if "people should follow him". That reveals a view of god that suggests god is like a human, such as the commonly understood versions of god like Jehovah, Allah etc. One then attributes human feelings, emotions and attitudes to god. However, when one talks of god, is one talking of an 'absolute' - ruler of the universe, omnipotent etc? Our minds are puny relative things, how could we understand the absolute? It would be like trying to use an old computer with a few hundred megabyte of memory to hold the information capability of the latest supercomputer.

Other than that I think it's a good thing to recognise a higher power, whatever one may conceive it to be.

"If god did not exist, we would have to invent one so that our grateful hearts might have someone to thank!"(Author unknown)

Namaste http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif)

quote:Originally posted by redzed:

"If god did not exist, we would have to invent one so that our grateful hearts might have someone to thank!"(Author unknown)

Grateful hearts?

Haha.

quote:Originally posted by HandOfZek:

It doesn't really matter.

People are violent about their beliefs, which at first seems reason to not believe. But.. you take away God, and people will be violent over something else (worldly possessions?), so.. it doesn't matter.

He's right...Completely right.

quote:Originally posted by Aurilius:

Now, take a second to read the title. I'm not asking anything about wether God actually exists or not, this has nothing to do wether he really exists.

I want to know wether you think people should believe in God, wether he exists or not, and why you think people should follow him faithfully, or not as your case may be



Lol, you contradicted yourself there. http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif)

First off I don't believe in God.

Second, I don't believe we need a God to survive. If there were a God, then he obviously did alright for himself, so there is no logical reason that we shouldn't be able to do alright for ourselves.

Now yes I know what you're going to say, "God is omnipotent....blah blah etc." But then that just raises so many questions it's behind comprension!

If you can say that God "just was." Then why can't you say, the universe "just was?"

Taking God out of the equation makes things so much easy, why? Because the universe has laws, God doesn't. Seen has neither theory can be proven, when given two equally valid explanations for a phenomenon, one should embrace the less complicated formulation. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam's_Razor)

There is no "should" about it.

God does not care what you do or believe, and he/she/it/them/whatever loves all equally and unconditionally.

quote:Originally posted by ArmsMerchant:



God does not care what you do or believe

How do you know this?

quote:Originally posted by Martini:

How do you know this?



Your just mad because god talks to him and not you. It's aparent he KNOWS god's thoughts, therefor proving god is real.

/thread

God speaks to everyone. Many of us fail to pay attention.

Throughout the years, God has sent many people to speak on his behalf. We are generally ignored, hated, killed and/or worshipped.

A guy known as Jesus springs to mind, although his teachings have been grossly distorted with time, mistranslations, and priestly politics.

quote:Originally posted by ArmsMerchant:

God speaks to everyone. Many of us fail to pay attention.

And God has told you that He doesn't care what we do or believe?



quote:Originally posted by ArmsMerchant:

Throughout the years, God has sent many people to speak on his behalf. We are generally ignored, hated, killed and/or worshipped.

We? God has sent you to speak on His behalf?

People have every right to believe in whatever they want.

You have every right to call them on their shit.