Do you believe in God?

[DianneS]

No God for me thank you very much! Science makes too much sense.
Imagine if instead of going to church praying for a better world everyone volunteered for an hour a week, now that would actually make the world a better place!!! Imagine if science had not been oppressed by religion for hundreds of years how much further along we would be!

I smiled when I read this post because many people do both. If churches/believers disappeared, many social programs would disappear along with them. That's not to say churches and 'church people' are the only ones who do good things in our communities but they do make very significant contributions.

Am I a person of faith? Yes. Are some of the world's prominent scientists people of faith? Yes.....and some are not.

No one was ever won over to one side or the other through argument. So whether you believe in God, whether you don't, or whether find yourself somewhere in between I wish you peace on the journey of life.

[sheetsofemptycanvas]

I'm actually shocked that this thread stayed as civil as it did... well, with exceptions lol. We're all very much entitled to have an opinion.

[DH666]

I smiled when I read this post because many people do both. If churches/believers disappeared, many social programs would disappear along with them. That's not to say churches and 'church people' are the only ones who do good things in our communities but they do make very significant contributions.

Am I a person of faith? Yes. Are some of the world's prominent scientists people of faith? Yes.....and some are not.

No one was ever won over to one side or the other through argument. So whether you believe in God, whether you don't, or whether find yourself somewhere in between I wish you peace on the journey of life.

I don't really believe that. I don't think being good and doing good has anything to do with faith or belief in god. Either it's in you to do good, or it's not. My wife and I do a lot of good and don't believe in god.

[DaveP]

I don't really believe that. I don't think being good and doing good has anything to do with faith or belief in god. Either it's in you to do good, or it's not. My wife and I do a lot of good and don't believe in god.

Bingo. If you're doing good just because you believe there's a punishment for not doing good does that make you a good person? Not.

[erin9mmm]

No God for me thank you very much! Science makes too much sense.
Imagine if instead of going to church praying for a better world everyone volunteered for an hour a week, now that would actually make the world a better place!!!

That's what churches do though. World Vision is a Christian organization and look at what they do.

Imagine if science had not been oppressed by religion for hundreds of years how much further along we would be!

I partly agree with that, the old Catholic church did a lot of repressing, hence reformation day back in 1517 when Martin Luther protested against the church - then starting Lutherans, protestants etc....
However sometimes I feel all this moving forward so quickly lately with science and technology is doing more harm than good.

[SharonMe]

And yet they divorced in 1991....That's over 20 years ago.....so she didn't really have that much influence on his later views...

I think though our strongest influence on our religious views are our parents. Steven Hawkin's mother was a communist.

[FallenPixels]

I can't multiquote on tapatalk so...

I think it is perfectly acceptable to believe in creationism and evolution together and do myself. I am not naive enough to think that what happens in science doesn't exist.

But then to me, you could believe in purple bunnies ruling the world and if its what you want to believe. And tbh the god people say they believe in in this thread could be anything from the typical sense of god to egyption gods or the purple bunny.

While we were brought to church as children, it was never forced on us and we were taught about other religions. I decided at 11 that it was not for me and stopped going. At 16ish I felt something was missing from my life and investigated other religions before going back to my original one. At the end of the day if I believe in something and feel it benefits my life, it betters me.

I don't think people are good just bc they do good. I know from running a volunteer organisation that people are there for all sorts of reasons, from court or school ordered time to looking good on their resume, but like mentioned above, many groups that do help are religious based.

[Patty Smyth]

I personally dont come on Sc to read bible quotes, religion etc.

I can't even come on SC anymore because I keep getting logged out. Must be a sign from god.

I'll just watch

[VeeVee]

I can't multiquote on tapatalk so...

I think it is perfectly acceptable to believe in creationism and evolution together and do myself. I am not naive enough to think that what happens in science doesn't exist.

But then to me, you could believe in purple bunnies ruling the world and if its what you want to believe. And tbh the god people say they believe in in this thread could be anything from the typical sense of god to egyption gods or the purple bunny.

While we were brought to church as children, it was never forced on us and we were taught about other religions. I decided at 11 that it was not for me and stopped going. At 16ish I felt something was missing from my life and investigated other religions before going back to my original one. At the end of the day if I believe in something and feel it benefits my life, it betters me.

I don't think people are good just bc they do good. I know from running a volunteer organisation that people are there for all sorts of reasons, from court or school ordered time to looking good on their resume, but like mentioned above, many groups that do help are religious based.

+1

I was never forced to believe what I believe, my parents brought me to church, I participated in church activities, I enjoyed it and I still do. I agree with what Pix has said above - what you believe in can be a anything. I do not judge others for not believing and I would appreciate if those who do not believe don't judge or call others morons etc for believing in something greater whatever that may be (yes even purple bunnies haha)

[krysta lynne]

I don't really believe that. I don't think being good and doing good has anything to do with faith or belief in god. Either it's in you to do good, or it's not. My wife and I do a lot of good and don't believe in god.

also. these social programs and such that are church run can never counter all of the detrimental and disgusting acts committed by the church and by people in the name of this so called god.

[krysta lynne]

+1

I was never forced to believe what I believe, my parents brought me to church, I participated in church activities, I enjoyed it and I still do. I agree with what Pix has said above - what you believe in can be a anything. I do not judge others for not believing and I would appreciate if those who do not believe don't judge or call others morons etc for believing in something greater whatever that may be (yes even purple bunnies haha)

people keep saying they were not forced into it. it doesnt matter if you were forced down to your knees or simply brought into the building and surrounded by it. children are so impressionable and succeptible to what is going on around them. if religion surrounds them, then the great majority will turn to religion. its inevitable.

i for one have actually gotten upset with friends of mine for trying to tell my daughter about god and angels and such. she hasnt said anything to jade about it since. i get very uneasy about people trying to convince my daughter about god. its not right.

just last year she was telling me about kids at school telling her it was jesus's birthday on christmas and she was asking me who this jesus was and everything. it was a long conversation with a seven year old describing christianity and different beliefs and the bible and what the bible really is and all that stuff. its a good thing she has a high comprehension level

[scottie54]

I would rather Live my life Believing there is a God and Die to find out there Isn't, than Live my l
Life Believing there isn't a God and Die to find out there is.

Believing in a God of My Choice makes me Happy as I do know that he takes Care of Me, there are too may Coincidences that put People, Places & Things in my Life when they Need to be there.

[krysta lynne]

I would rather Live my life Believing there is a God and Die to find out there Isn't, than Live my l
Life Believing there isn't a God and Die to find out there is.

Believing in a God of My Choice makes me Happy as I do know that he takes Care of Me, there are too may Coincidences that put People, Places & Things in my Life when they Need to be there.

i suppose people could also like covering their bases too

[DianneS]

I don't really believe that. I don't think being good and doing good has anything to do with faith or belief in god. Either it's in you to do good, or it's not. My wife and I do a lot of good and don't believe in god.

Sorry, I must not have been very clear in my post. I was just pointing out that many social programs exist because of churches. I have been part of a number of those programs. However, I have also been involved in many great programs that have nothing to do with churches that are also important to our communities. I have volunteered alongside people who have all kinds of different views of whether or not there is a god. They have done many good things for other people.

I don't know how to multi quote but my response to DaveP would be that I agree with his post about the motivation for doing good. I would also imagine that those who are doing good to 'escape punishinment' will soon grow weary of it. Religious or not, we contribute to the lives of others because we care...otherwise our acts are not good... they are selfish.

[DaveP]

people keep saying they were not forced into it. it doesnt matter if you were forced down to your knees or simply brought into the building and surrounded by it. children are so impressionable and succeptible to what is going on around them. if religion surrounds them, then the great majority will turn to religion. its inevitable.

i for one have actually gotten upset with friends of mine for trying to tell my daughter about god and angels and such. she hasnt said anything to jade about it since. i get very uneasy about people trying to convince my daughter about god. its not right.

just last year she was telling me about kids at school telling her it was jesus's birthday on christmas and she was asking me who this jesus was and everything. it was a long conversation with a seven year old describing christianity and different beliefs and the bible and what the bible really is and all that stuff. its a good thing she has a high comprehension level

Well said!