A matter of faith

[Typewriter]

I've been going to church since I was 6 years old. I've went to my fair share of Christian summer camps, and I've met some of my best friends through the church. However, as time went on, and as I to questioned the beliefs that I had been taught to adhere to, I steadily began to lose my faith in God. I can't remember exactly when it started to happen, but over the past few years, I have now come to the point where I find the argument for God's existence completely unconvincing. I simply just don't believe. I don't see how, or why for that matter. How is it possible for God to be the loving figure that Christianity claims Him to be and for the world to be the way it is (and has been) at the same time? If God loves us all unconditionally, and has the power to do anything at the same time, why does He allow for so many people have do die such untimely deaths at the hands of injustices, famine, and disease on a regular basis? Why does God need the satisfaction of knowing that humans, who are by nature imperfect and prone to making mistakes, believe He exists to allow them to live forever in Heaven, and to let the rest face eternal suffering in the fiery bowels of Hell for not choosing to believe? Am I missing something here? Is there some glaring hole in my logic that I have yet to see? Am I asking too many question? Am I just being a naive, attention-seeking teenager for questioning whether or not He exists? What do you guys think - what do you all chose to believe?

 

[TheNesMan]

I don't have imaginary friends. That's my utterly profound input into this topic.

 

[kingg5]

I don't believe in god. I believe that where we live is hell and when we die we just get reincarnated and brought back to it.

 

[TheNesMan]

I don't believe in god. I believe that where we live is hell and when we die we just get reincarnated and brought back to it.

I think that's just as ridiculous as believing in god.

 

[SkaRobot]

kinggs belief is depressing : (

i was the one who said yes, i believe in God. i dont think the earth could have happened by chance, and i believe that shitty things happen because he gave us free will.

about teh whole damning people to hell bit, i dont think good people who dont believe (who were never exposed to Christ) go to hell. like the ancient greeks who were taught of zeus. but a bad person is a bad person, and thats who hell is for.

 

[kingg5]

I don't believe in god. I believe that where we live is hell and when we die we just get reincarnated and brought back to it.

I think that's just as ridiculous as believing in god.

Well believe me alot of people believe in it. Of course alot of people believe in the gaia theory wich I kinda believe also to a certain extent.

 

[SkaRobot]

Gaia.

explain what you believe?

 

[kingg5]

lmao thats not what I believe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_hypothesis

 

[SkaRobot]

"The Gaia hypothesis is an ecological hypothesis that proposes that living and nonliving parts of the earth are viewed as a complex interacting system that can be thought of as a single organism. Named after the Greek earth goddess, this hypothesis postulates that all living things have a regulatory effect on the Earth's environment that promotes life overall."

thats copied and pasted out of your link. and then if thats all it is, i guess i believe it too, but i wouldnt think of it as a single organism, and more of a global ecosystem dealy. me and kingg share beliefs!

 

[Hellfire1014]

I believe in god. I doubt sometimes, but it says he doesn't condemn you for doubting.

why does He allow for so many people have do die such untimely deaths at the hands of injustices, famine, and disease on a regular basis?

He created us, and he gave us pure happiness in the beginning. He also gave us a brain to think for ourselves, and Adam & Eve broke the only rule they were supposed to follow. Instead of killing his creation. He punished them for breaking the rule, casting them out of the garden.

Think of it this way. We fucked up in the beginning, now he gives you a chance to return to the Garden. You must resist the sin, unlike Adam & Eve.

I guess this is humanity's chance to repay the debt, and be allowed back into heaven.

 

[Longo_2_guns]

I believe that there is no god, but you can attain divinity through an orgasm. At least, that is what I told the school so I could masterbate in class.

 

[kingg5]

Even if god does exist he's like a kid with a giant fucking magnifying glass and we're the ants.

 

[SkaRobot]

no, he doesnt, its human nature to doubt, and it talks about that somewhere.

 

[kingg5]

Yeah and the world flooded and Adam and Eve were the first humans. Its all written in a book when Jesus Christ was killed and one of his desciples wrote it. ( Yeah I use to be a major christian) ITs all Bull shit I mean if I had a few desciples and they wrote a book you think they'd tell the truth?

 

[Hellfire1014]

Yeah and the world flooded and Adam and Eve were the first humans. Its all written in a book when Jesus Christ was killed and one of his desciples wrote it. ( Yeah I use to be a major christian) ITs all Bull s*** I mean if I had a few desciples and they wrote a book you think they'd tell the truth?

Yea I think existence as we know it would end if Kingg had DISCIPLES.

 

[Enigma]

I didn't vote because I don't know. I too grew up in a Christian community - in fact I was the pastor's daughter. It wasn't until I got depression in 2004 that I started to question everything, my beliefs, my purpose, did I have a purpose, God, EVERYTHING.

After I recovered from depression in 2005 I was still questioning all these beliefs I'd had. I started researching more into it and other Christian denominations before realising my pretty important factor in the whole religion thing. I didn't believe it.

And so I walked away from it all. I thought my parents would kill me and hide my body but instead they were very understanding saying that i had to find things out for myself.

 

[MrHimashi]

These song lyrics are pretty quality, I suggest you read them


Animosity - Holy Shackles

How can we grow if we are living in the past,
Where progression is condemned and life is only just a path,
To an unknown unreal existence?
Better yet, how can anyone believe it?
You told me that Jesus loves us all but you sleep on the streets.
You pray to god every night but your family can't eat.
I know that you aren't stupid, so what are you doing?
It is not just yourself its the fucking world that it's screwing.

His eternal love has bred and epidemic of hate.
Killed off our free will and replaced it with fate.
Until our seeds are born unpoisoned and uncontaminated,
Future generations will only know miseducation.
It's a scary situation when it's captured most of the entire fucking nation.

I wish more than anything, for society to change,
Stop Killing!
Stop dying over religion and relying on god to feed their children,
Living life without feeling.

It's a degradation to humanity,
To believe that we all subserviently
Accept a life of disease,
And wage slavery.
And they continue to teach the kids their lives are out of their reach.

The cyclical onslaught leaves a bloody red chord,
In the name of the imaginary almighty lord. Everyone is killing each other because god loves us all.
There's no hope for change unless this bullshit falls.

There can be no peace until we murder the lord.

Religion is a drain on society, and has held us back for centuries.
Countless acts of violence and atrocities,
Committed in the name of a supreme being.

Evolution means anti-religion,
And until we get there society is living in a fucking prison,
Because of a unsightly regressive history decorated with war.
There can be no peace 'til we murder the lord.
Evolution means anti-religion,
And until we get there society is living in a fucking prison,
Because of a unsightly regressive history decorated with war.
There can be no peace 'til we murder the fucking lord.

 

[kingg5]

Yeah and the world flooded and Adam and Eve were the first humans. Its all written in a book when Jesus Christ was killed and one of his desciples wrote it. ( Yeah I use to be a major christian) ITs all Bull s*** I mean if I had a few desciples and they wrote a book you think they'd tell the truth?

Yea I think existence as we know it would end if Kingg had DISCIPLES.

You just gave me a great idea. I need to get disciples.

 

[damo_ds]

No - i used to be a pretty good Christian - but then i did a subject called "Religion and Society" (year 12, 3+4 subject) that really makes you question what you believe - and i stopped believing. + I'm into the science subjects and need proof + facts to start believing. Unfortunately if i'm wrong in my religious stance it looks like i'm going straight to hell. Oh well.

 

[FrozenBacon]

Everyone questions God's existence at some point in their life.

I was a kid that grew up in a Christian household as well. I never really believed in God and I just went through the motions of being a Christian because everyone else in my family was doing it. When praying it was rare that I thought I was really talking to God and was something I just ended up doing out of habit, especially when I prayed before I ate.

I think it was at the age of 17 or 18 where I started to seriously think about God's existence. It wasn't anything external that influenced me, just that I came out of my "whatever" phase and started to care about things enough to form strong opinions. The idea of a God looking over us at all times just seemed ridiculous to me after I thought about it. Why do humans deserve special treatment over all of the other animals on earth? Nothing makes us special. If we lived out there with the animals instead of our own isolated society, I am sure that people's views of our species would change a lot.