Religious debate - No flaming here...

Whether you have a scientific mind or not, it's still a choice to believe in God. There are lots of people with scientific minds that choose to believe in God, and lots of people with non-scientific minds that choose not too. It's not like you are forced to believe or not, depending on your personality type.

And yes I consider the creation of the universe to be a pretty good example of God existing, but of course people have come up with the big bang theory and evolution to explain that away. If you choose not to believe, then you will be blind to the evidence that does exist.

And parents can't just let their kids run free until they are 14 or 15 and can make up their own minds about everything in the world. That's what a parent is for, to guide and help develop the child. And I see nothing wrong with them teaching their children their own beliefs. When the child is older, he can make his own decisions and believe anything he wants. But until then he is under the parent's care and guidance, and the parent is responsible for the child.

I don't believe in god and whatnot, and for the simple reason that I can't see the added value in believing in god. You will get just as ill, just as unhappy, just as poor when believing in god.

Even if their is a god... and there would be proof for it, I don't think I would live by the rules of some religion for the reasons as stated above.

"I consider the creation of the universe to be a pretty good example of God existing"

Well my question is how...with all the you know about stars..planets...atoms...chemicals....nuclear fusion...nebulas etc. etc..........how can you believe that god made it all and put aside all this actual physical evidence? Like back to that question of how we got here.....well we are made up of the same chemicals and whatever that started the universe...we grew from the formation of simple life (1 cell ) to now. I dont know how all those chemicals got here to begin with....but im willing to bet that it went through the same procces as the formation of the universe.


" When things go right its Gods will, when things go wrong he works in strange and mysterious ways"

One of my fav quotes..I think its from a movie...

true.. but many people feel that the future obviously has someting better, I mean if they didn't think there was something better, many would have just given up all their belifes rather than be persecuted by the nazi regime

haha
yes even if there was the big bang the chemcials to start the bang had to start come from somewhere.. its just like
say some scientists chuck some chemcials in a test tube and life forms... so whos' our scientist

I personally can more easily believe that someone/something created everything in the universe than believe that it all just exploded out of no where randomly.

the chemcials to start the bang had to start come from somewhere

well thats what im trying to say....the chemicals probably formed through the same proccess as life and the universe. I guess its like the chicken and the egg all over again.......but at least the chicken and the egg are real ya know what i mean. Its not like one day a full grown chicken poped out of a big puff of smoke (although that would be a site to see lol). Even though no one can say where the "first" chemicals came from im more willing to believe it happened through some form of science rather than some "higher power" just came up with it out of thin air.

So then some scientists chucks some chemcials in a test tube and life forms...so whos' our scientist? We wouldnt know the answer but wouldnt you be willing (or more willing) to believe that the scientist is made up of the same kind of matter as the life he created rather than just being there??

I didn't read everyone's comments, but I will throw in my own.

I believe that a certain degree of religion, at least for a time in a person's life, is important. Even if it's simply for the sake of teaching morality, the difference between right and wrong, the development of faith in some way....

Do I believe specifically in a higher being at this point in my life? No. I don't believe that if God was so great, and so forgiving, that he would eternally punish us for the one wrong deed of Eve eating the forbidden fruit. Doesn't make sense to me. In that respect, I would have to compare what God to Hitler, as Hitler did to the Jews, only God isn't killing us, he's just punishing us until the Revelation. If the previous statement pisses you off, go read Genesis and you'll at least understand what I'm talking about. I mean seriously, this man can forgive someone for murder, but cannot forgive someone for eating a piece of fruit that they were not supposed to? Come on. Whomever really wrote the Bible had a very warped imagination.

And Rodder, I don't believe that to this very day scientists have created life from inert chemicals.

it wasn't the fruit it was the fact that god said they couldn't eat from that tree.. yet despite the fact that there were hundreds of other ones they chose that one.. alittle disrespectful if you ask me.. but later on in the bible.. doesn't it say thats why jesus came to earth ? to attone for our sins ?

Originally posted by PowerfulSquid
Let the kid grow up, atleast 14/15, and let them choose whether they wish to believe in something, or not, and then suppport them.

Sorry, but I have to dissagree, I was raised to believe and there have been some long patches in which I have lost faith.

I never really considered myself to be very religious. I just believed because I needed something to grasp to, I think that is all religion really is. It is easily compared to mythologoy. Myths were made up to explain the unexplanable. They may be true, there is just no poof. You choose wether or not you want to believe. Myths may seem very radical to us but that is just may be the American norm we might have been raised with.

Also, beliefs to religion are also based off of your enviornment in my opinion. As my social studies teacher says, Land+Time+People=Culture but a main part of a culture is a religion. Land, time and people are all elements of your enviornment. If you were raised in poor community, during the Great Depression with gangs you may not believe in god or that god is biased, but may not firmly believe in a god figure and vicea versa.

So Joe, it may not be as much as how you were raised to where you were raised, then again, maybe that is the root for how you were raised. Maybe someone raised with little faith but then gained a newfound sense of it may want you to believe the same way they do, but then again, maybe you need the full experience the did for the same ammount of faith. So pretty much, in my opinion faith is streamed from life experiences.

If you are reading this I thank you for listening to my random rambling and thoughts that I just kinda poured onto this page.

Wow. I feel like I said something worthwile on the forums for once...