"If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him."--Voltaire

Respect the mystery.

Anonymous wrote:If there were a god children would not die or suffer.

If there were a god, there would be no child molesters in church, which by the way is the number one place that heinous act happens.

Gee, Einstein, nobody ever thought of those views before. Thanks for the enlightenment.

Anonymous wrote:If there were a god children would not die or suffer.

If there were a god, there would be no child molesters in church, which by the way is the number one place that heinous act happens.

Not sure how you came to these conclusions. Have you never heard of evil?

What is the difference between believing in gods or not? If it makes you feel good or bad, that’s something. If it leads you unhealthy or hurtful behavior, that’s bad. God can never justify anything you do, because believing in god is your choice. God is not an excuse for your behavior. God dying for your sins make everyone around your justified in being concerned about what sins you’ll be willing to commit because you believe someone else is picking up the check.

Anonymous wrote:If there were a god children would not die or suffer.

If there were a god, there would be no child molesters in church, which by the way is the number one place that heinous act happens.

According to YOUR concept of what a god would be like if there were one.

Anonymous wrote:So many posts stating that people should face reality, there are no gods or God.

This is not a settled question.

Whomever posts this is stating their opinion, which if correctly stated, they personally don’t believe in gods or a God.

They claim something that no one really knows.

So if you don’t believe in gods or a God, great, that’s your opinion.

But other people do believe in a higher power, gods, a God, or God. Their belief is just as valid and acceptable as not believing.

No, your opinion that Gods exist is not "as valid and acceptable as not believing" unless you apply that same standard to belief in fairies and Santa Claus. They, like God, are invisible beings, that all kids grow out of before adulthood. Also, I bet you only believe in one of the Gods that are out there -- say the Christian God and not the Muslim God. How can that be?

Every phenomenon we have investigated so far has a natural explanation. There is a complete lack of credible, testable evidence for any specific supernatural claim. Therefore, the most rational conclusion is that a supernatural entity is unnecessary for explaining reality.

My approach has always been that if there is a god or gods, and they are benevolent, they will not take my lack of faith personally and will judge me by my actions.

If they are malevolent (or petty, insecure, manipulative, controlling, etc.) the it doesn't actually matter if I don't believe in them because we're all screwed, but I can't make it worse by just trying to treat other people well.

And if there are no god/gods then my belief is irrelevant.

So I try to act morally/ethically according to Kantian philosophy and hope the truth is A or C and not B.

Even if god(s) exist(s), they have no material, direct impact on my life. So why bother?

Let's say there are one or more higher beings . . . I'm still willing to bet that those proposed by humans here on Earth are entirely a work of fiction.

Anonymous wrote:Aren't both acts of faith? You "know" there is a god(s), or you "know" there isn't.

I'm firmly agnostic because of this.

I guess I’m agnostic on a lot of things then.

Fictional characters, etc.

It’s tough to prove a negative. It’s similar to proving that a fictional character doesn’t exist.

The fact is: there is zero evidence of gods. Zero evidence of supernatural forces.

Aren't both acts of faith? You "know" there is a god(s), or you "know" there isn't.

I'm firmly agnostic because of this.

If there were a god children would not die or suffer.

If there were a god, there would be no child molesters in church, which by the way is the number one place that heinous act happens.

So many posts stating that people should face reality, there are no gods or God.

This is not a settled question.

Whomever posts this is stating their opinion, which if correctly stated, they personally don’t believe in gods or a God.

They claim something that no one really knows.

So if you don’t believe in gods or a God, great, that’s your opinion.

But other people do believe in a higher power, gods, a God, or God. Their belief is just as valid and acceptable as not believing.