Religious Views: Seek Advice Here or Help Others!

[kayleee]

I know what's coming.

Oh look who it is. Remember when you got shut down in the harrassment thread? How could you forget lol that was embarrassing

No but for real, everyone calm the **** down. It's a legit question. I'm not over here **** talking anyone for being a theist, I'm just saying I don't get how people believe it. "Nothing exploding into everything" doesn't make 100% sense either because I'm not a god damn astronomer, but personally I can get behind that more than this supposedly omnipotent-omnibenevolant dude out there doing whatever big dudes in the sky do (clearly not giving a **** about the human race tho)

 

[doveling]

i consider myself atheist, but im still not sure yet..
questioning my religion ahah!

though my parents are catholic

 

[himeki]

To be perfectly honest, I would mostly class myself as an atheist, however, I still think that there could be some kind of deity, can we completely tell? I don't really mind if people follow a religion, it's their choice what they believe.
However, what I would say, is what upsets me with most religions is that most religious parents will baptise their children into the religion at a young age, so they do not have a choice as to what religion they follow, which is quite sad, as their beliefs are passed onto the children their children before they can decide for themselfs. It's nice when they do not allow baptisim until you are 18
Simillar to this, I dislike it how most of the schools in the UK are Church schools, especially primary. Seriously, my school was messed up and forced a girl who was of a different religion to say Christian prayers .-.

 

[Midoriya]

I myself consider myself Christian and was baptized when I was 16 of my own free will, cause I wanted to be baptized. I personally think it's rude though when other Christians try to force their views down your throat. Those people aren't "True Christians"

 

[Brackets]

Simillar to this, I dislike it how most of the schools in the UK are Church schools, especially primary. Seriously, my school was messed up and forced a girl who was of a different religion to say Christian prayers .-.

I'm not sure that most of them are, but yeah there are definitely too many. I saw a program on faith schools and even the science textbooks mentioned God all the time. And yeah my primary school wasnt even a faith school or anything like that, but they'd say Christian prayers and somehow managed to make me feel guilty for not being a christian and not being baptised when I was very young. (theyd always do this thing where they'd say 'all of you who are baptised stand up!!' and then clap them and stuff. )

And in secondary school I was picked on by the christian religious studies teacher for being an atheist, even though there were muslims in the class nooo you can't pick on them because that would be insulting, but it's fine to humiliate the atheist! I remember saying I didn't believe Jesus came back from the dead and she had a complete hissy fit and screamed at me to 'google it'. Yep.

 

[EpicGamer12]

Yeah because it's so logical to believe that there's a big dude in the sky that created and controls everything
And you said absolutely nothing to "back up your statement" lmao

2. Your point being .. ?

I'm going to write you a big post but I doubt you'll read it, but here we go.

To understand the concept of God you have to first understand the concept of the universe.

- Both are potentially ageless (http://phys.org/news/2015-02-big-quantum-equation-universe.html)

I'm actually going to stop at this single fact. The quantum equation is being explored right now to there being a universe that always was. This literally goes against everything we know about time. Before this, everything we knew had a beginning and an end. Except for God. Point being, this comes to justify the existence of something that seems so crazy as to have always been possible.

Furthermore, your point about logic behind a big dude in the sky is only valid if you're looking at the universe from a perspective that you know everything that always is and was. We use science in the world to justify and rationalize what does happen. Ultimately, no one knows that there actually is a force pulling down on the Earth that keeps us all there, because it's never been observed. We can see the effects of gravity, but not gravity itself. We can also see the effects of God, although we can't see God.

Did you know that the accuracy of first party sources are based on how long ago it was vs. how many different recorded copies there are of what happened? Well, that being said, the Bible is the most historically accurate book in the world. While we don't have Jesus walking around on the Earth, we still see signs and miracles. (I can provide examples but I don't want to get off topic)

Back to the science part; science does not disprove God in the way that YOU view it. In the way that smart people view it, it actually adds evidence. (PS: the way the world was created in the Bible is clearly metaphorical. It's not going to go through the defined scientific processes of the creation of the world because no one would understand it) Some people would say that if God created the world and everything in it (including science), then exploring science will help you find God. Have you looked up the stats for the first cells to form? The chances it would ever happen are so slim. Not to mention that the life reproduces before it dies and the life actually makes it anywhere. How would cells stop reproducing asexually and start reproducing sexually? It doesn't make any sense in an evolutionary development because it is not needed in any specific environment. Based on random chance (which is hard to explain whether or not the argument is solid), the chance of a 300-molecule-long-protein to form is 1 in 10^390.

I've jumped around a lot but please ask questions so I can get more of a feel of where you're coming from.

 

[Gusmanak]

I classify as an atheist, and I always will.

Theres just so many issues regarding religion right now, and there always has been.

I will agree with Bowie in saying that I only respect Buddhism, for the reasons he mentioned.

But I don't oppose religious people, as long as they don't disrespect my sexuality or anyone elses for that matter.

 

[Bowie]

Oh look who it is. Remember when you got shut down in the harrassment thread? How could you forget lol that was embarrassing

Oh, yes, I remember you now. You're the one who considers everyone (specifically men) with a different opinion to yours sexist, am I right? Bingo!

Anyway, I think it's wrong to bash other people's beliefs, but you don't have to necessarily respect them. I tolerate religion, but I don't respect it. If I respected it, I'd be implying that I thought it was respectable, which is the complete opposite of what I think about it. I can respect the concept of having faith in something, but religion itself is something I just can't respect. Buddhism is as close as I get to respecting it, and I don't think that's even a religion.

 

[Pharaoh]

Most religions just aren't that interesting, honestly, Buddhism included. I just don't feel that any one religion has a complete encompassing theory of how I feel about the Universe and existence. They're always lacking or missing something. There's just rules, lots of rules, usually dictated by people who are flawed like the rest of us. I have to say my least favorite major religious sect is probably Catholicism, have you guys ever seen the Catholic channel on television? Everyone always looks depressed, all the nuns and the priests look absolutely miserable, and their entire cathedral is full of gold. What's the deal with that? Seems opposing to what religion is supposed to bring, which is humility and joy.

The only religion I was ever actually fascinated by was ancient Egyptian. The stories for their gods were very clever, and their process of handling death was very interesting.

 

[Stalfos]

It should not be allowed to baptize babies. That's it.

 

[kayleee]

I'm going to write you a big post but I doubt you'll read it, but here we go.

To understand the concept of God you have to first understand the concept of the universe.

- Both are potentially ageless (http://phys.org/news/2015-02-big-quantum-equation-universe.html)

I'm actually going to stop at this single fact. The quantum equation is being explored right now to there being a universe that always was. This literally goes against everything we know about time. Before this, everything we knew had a beginning and an end. Except for God. Point being, this comes to justify the existence of something that seems so crazy as to have always been possible.

Furthermore, your point about logic behind a big dude in the sky is only valid if you're looking at the universe from a perspective that you know everything that always is and was. We use science in the world to justify and rationalize what does happen. Ultimately, no one knows that there actually is a force pulling down on the Earth that keeps us all there, because it's never been observed. We can see the effects of gravity, but not gravity itself. We can also see the effects of God, although we can't see God.

Did you know that the accuracy of first party sources are based on how long ago it was vs. how many different recorded copies there are of what happened? Well, that being said, the Bible is the most historically accurate book in the world. While we don't have Jesus walking around on the Earth, we still see signs and miracles. (I can provide examples but I don't want to get off topic)

Back to the science part; science does not disprove God in the way that YOU view it. In the way that smart people view it, it actually adds evidence. (PS: the way the world was created in the Bible is clearly metaphorical. It's not going to go through the defined scientific processes of the creation of the world because no one would understand it) Some people would say that if God created the world and everything in it (including science), then exploring science will help you find God. Have you looked up the stats for the first cells to form? The chances it would ever happen are so slim. Not to mention that the life reproduces before it dies and the life actually makes it anywhere. How would cells stop reproducing asexually and start reproducing sexually? It doesn't make any sense in an evolutionary development because it is not needed in any specific environment. Based on random chance (which is hard to explain whether or not the argument is solid), the chance of a 300-molecule-long-protein to form is 1 in 10^390.

I've jumped around a lot but please ask questions so I can get more of a feel of where you're coming from.

Very informative, thank you. It doesn't necessarily change my view but I appreciate the time you devoted to explaining your view. However I would disagree that the bible is the most historically accurate account of the world because, like you also said, it's purely metaphorical. Further than the creation of the world I would say that obviously the story of Noah's ark did not actually occur, and there was no real parting of a Red Sea, unless you are the breed of theist that believes everything in the bible is true, which in that case you contradicted yourself in your post. So really there's no logicality behind believing that something occurred that is not possible (i.e biblical miracles) but in this case we can agree to disagree. And in your reference to gravity being felt but not seen, as how God is, I cannot feel or see the presence or effects of God so that's purely subjective. You cannot stop feeling the power of gravity no matter what you believe.

 

[Yukari Yakumo]

I finish my philosophy degree in just a few months, so I've had a lot of classes where this metaphor was used a lot.

God(or whatever divinity in question) is like a square circle. It doesn't matter what you say or think, you're probably wrong because your puny human brain can't wrap your head around it. Even if it exists, you are rooted in your own experiences and can't conceive of something outside them. The human brain is finite. Therefore, it is impossible to comprehend the infinite on any level.

Another example in a story I remember:
Once there was a king in India(or some kind of royal person in some Asian country). One day he told one of his servant to find several men from foreign lands who had been blind all their lives. After the servant brought the blind men, the king brought them to one of his elephants(which none of them had ever heard of). He told them that there was a creature called an elephant there and he wanted them to describe it for him. One man grabbed the trunk, another grabbed a leg, one grabbed the tail, etc. One man said "An elephant is *blah blah blah*." The next blind man said, "No! An elephant is *blah blah blah*." The third said, "No, you're both wrong! An elephant is *blah blah blah*." And so on. The king heard all this, looked at the servant, smiled mischievously, and said "None of them are wrong, until they think that only they are right."

 

[Le Ham]

Very informative, thank you. It doesn't necessarily change my view but I appreciate the time you devoted to explaining your view. However I would disagree that the bible is the most historically accurate account of the world because, like you also said, it's purely metaphorical. Further than the creation of the world I would say that obviously the story of Noah's ark did not actually occur, and there was no real parting of a Red Sea, unless you are the breed of theist that believes everything in the bible is true, which in that case you contradicted yourself in your post. So really there's no logicality behind believing that something occurred that is not possible (i.e biblical miracles) but in this case we can agree to disagree. And in your reference to gravity being felt but not seen, as how God is, I cannot feel or see the presence or effects of God so that's purely subjective. You cannot stop feeling the power of gravity no matter what you believe.

So metaphorical means historically inaccurate? Okay, then. Also I'm pretty sure he only said the Genesis/creation-of-world account was metaphorical. Some of the OT stories are much more realistic than that.

Regarding miracles, they're only impossible if we're only looking at the laws of the physical world, as currently known and observed by humans, and nothing more. If God is real, and if God created our world and our universe, He would be able to break these laws at will, thus miracles. And if He didn't have that kind of power, we wouldn't have much reason to call him God.

 

[Angelmarina]

~snip a few things~

Yeah, I understand that that's part of it, but when he kept judging me about everything I'd do I asked him isn't it against the Bible to judge others, and that's when he stated that as my parent it's his job to judge me and my decisions. That's why it didn't make sense to me and why I asked. Like, I've never seen anywhere in what I've read in the Bible that says no one has the right to judge others, except for parents they can judge their children. Or stuff of the sort.

However, it's very hard for me to talk to my dad. He's a very grumpy person, and it simplest discussions, 90% of the time, turn into arguments or lectures with him. He's also pretty intimidating and has done/said some things in my lifetime that has hindered him from being able to really talk to him without being very nervous and hesitant. On top of that I'm naturally really shy, paranoid and worry/stress about all kinds of things, so even to begin with it's hard for me to talk to ppl, even family and friends sometimes.

Spoiler: Because it's long

Honestly, if he said that then I don't think it has anything to do with your religion. It'a an excuse he's using so that he can say and do what he wants as your parent.

I completely understand because I am exactly the same way. My adopted mom is also a very intimidating person and since I am so shy and stuff I can't handle confrontation well and every time I would talk to her she would turn it around on me, make me feel like the bad guy in the situation, and then she would cause me to cry and not even care. As I got older though (I'm 20 now), I realized that no matter how shy I am I have to stand up for myself because if I don't than she was going to continue to basically push me around and I was just going to listen to her. Sooner or later your dad is going to possibly push you to the same point and you are going to confront him about it. And no matter how upset he gets he is still your father and he will eventually understand.

 

[Brackets]

It should not be allowed to baptize babies. That's it.

I don't really see how baptism is that bad, unless I'm missing something here. Circumcision, on the other hand...

 

[kayleee]

C

So metaphorical means historically inaccurate? Okay, then. Also I'm pretty sure he only said the Genesis/creation-of-world account was metaphorical. Some of the OT stories are much more realistic than that.

Regarding miracles, they're only impossible if we're only looking at the laws of the physical world, as currently known and observed by humans, and nothing more. If God is real, and if God created our world and our universe, He would be able to break these laws at will, thus miracles. And if He didn't have that kind of power, we wouldn't have much reason to call him God.

"One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol" ... Um.. Yeah. Metaphorical isn't exactly a synonym for historical. They mean two completely different things and there's not a correlation between a sequence of events and the metaphorical. Maybe gain some basic knowledge of word definitions

And why is it okay to pick and choose what is apparently "metaphorical" and what is historically true in the bible? Who has that authority? You really think God spoke to a man named Noah and said "build a big ****ing boat and find two of every animal cause I'm gonna flood the world and kill everyone." Lol ok
PS something "seeming realistic" doesn't automatically make it true so I'm not really sure where you're trying to go with that

And if God is omnipotent then why does anything terrible happen in the world? If he exists and he allows terrible things to happen I don't think we have much reason to call him God anyway

 

[DarkDesertFox]

And if God is omnipotent then why does anything terrible happen in the world? If he exists and he allows terrible things to happen I don't think we have much reason to call him God anyway

This responses makes me cringe.

 

[kayleee]

This responses makes me cringe.

How very unhelpful please explain

 

[Yukari Yakumo]

And if God is omnipotent then why does anything terrible happen in the world? If he exists and he allows terrible things to happen I don't think we have much reason to call him God anyway

This responses makes me cringe.

It is not an uncommon opinion.

 

[DarkDesertFox]

How very unhelpful please explain

You honestly can't blame God for everything bad that happens in the world. Especially with people. He gave people free will and if he interfered every time someone tried to do something evil that wouldn't be the free will at all. He'd be controlling people's actions. As for natural disasters, yes God could prevent them, but he has a reason for not doing so. God is good.