Anonymous wrote:I was raised mainline Protestant, but in my teenage years I got sucked into Young Life and was an evangelical Christian for a few years. When I was 21, 9/11 happened, and I really struggled with the idea that the people in the towers who weren't Christians were in hell. Then one day I watched a documentary on cults and the people were describing the batsh*t stuff they believed and I was like . . . oh . . . my faith is just as baseless and random as theirs . . .

Do I think there's a Creator? Maybe? I mean, does the vast Universe which will one day stop supporting life blow my mind? Yes. Do I think it had to be created by something? Well IDK, why does the Universe need a Creator but this supposed Creator just exists? Why can't the Universe just exist?

I do believe in Universal Goodness. There is certainly some force in the Universe. But to give it a name and worship it . . . I don't see a need for that.

I'm a practicing mainline Protestant again, BTW. I just don't believe in the story literally. I seek the community, the opportunity to serve, the meditative and instructive moments, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was a response on 7/13/2011: Pretty much says it all:

"The idea of God simply doesn't resonate with me--and it never has, for whatever reason.

The thing I particularly can't wrap my brain around is why anyone would choose to worship a God who would choose to cause so much suffering to those who very clearly have done nothing wrong. If there is someone up there deciding that a baby should die after living only days, for example, then I think he's not worthy of my adulation.

I also think the idea of God was created to make people feel better. It's really sucky to think a baby would die for no reason, or that when your husband dies you'll never see him again. Humans are designed to find meaning in things. Hence, God."

Still, others -- people who are committed believers, for whatever reason -- can find explanations for the seemingly inexplicable.

Anonymous wrote:This was a response on 7/13/2011: Pretty much says it all:

"The idea of God simply doesn't resonate with me--and it never has, for whatever reason.

The thing I particularly can't wrap my brain around is why anyone would choose to worship a God who would choose to cause so much suffering to those who very clearly have done nothing wrong. If there is someone up there deciding that a baby should die after living only days, for example, then I think he's not worthy of my adulation.

I also think the idea of God was created to make people feel better. It's really sucky to think a baby would die for no reason, or that when your husband dies you'll never see him again. Humans are designed to find meaning in things. Hence, God."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A more substantive and reflective discussion of this topic is at the beginning of the thread, which was started in 2011.

It seems like the same people, over and over, posting since 2011.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A more substantive and reflective discussion of this topic is at the beginning of the thread, which was started in 2011.

It seems like the same people, over and over, posting since 2011.

Anonymous wrote:A more substantive and reflective discussion of this topic is at the beginning of the thread, which was started in 2011.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t believe in God, in the same way I don’t believe in fairies, yetis, angels, or other fantastic invisible beasts. Religion has had its uses- it can provide comfort and hope to people who have none- but more often than not it has been used as a tool for control. Why agitate for better wages now if you’re going to “inherit the earth?” God’s rules for women and extra marital affairs happen to line up very nicely with things that make the most sense for men from a property and control standpoint. “What God wants” is a handy way to convince the rubes to sign up to die in droves in a stupid war that will bring them nothing. And so on.

Because I’m a live and let live person, I had no issue letting religious people live their lives. But now that a certain segment of them refuses to let me live my life on my terms, I’ve become increasingly hostile to them. Your engagement in delusion may bring you comfort, but it doesn’t give you the right to tell me how to live my life. At some point, when you start demonstrating clear signs of mental disease by speaking in tongues and hearing the Spirit, I really have to question whether you should have the freedom to even decide how you rule your own life.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not believe in God. It is based on a book, the Bible. Just as much as I don’t believe in the book ‘Quickest and easiest ways to drop 20 pounds’.

You probably haven't read through this thread. But the God in the Bible is the god of the jews and christians. There are hundreds of other gods. And some people just refer to the forces that created and supervise the universe as god. We really need a definition here of what we're talking about.

Seems like God is whatever you want it to be -- there's no one definition. Specific religions have specific ways to worship God and specific perceptions of God, that differ from each other. Some people don't belong to any religion, but have their own personal idea of what god is.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not believe in God. It is based on a book, the Bible. Just as much as I don’t believe in the book ‘Quickest and easiest ways to drop 20 pounds’.

You probably haven't read through this thread. But the God in the Bible is the god of the jews and christians. There are hundreds of other gods. And some people just refer to the forces that created and supervise the universe as god. We really need a definition here of what we're talking about.

Anonymous wrote:I do not believe in God. It is based on a book, the Bible. Just as much as I don’t believe in the book ‘Quickest and easiest ways to drop 20 pounds’.

Anonymous wrote:I do not believe in God. It is based on a book, the Bible. Just as much as I don’t believe in the book ‘Quickest and easiest ways to drop 20 pounds’.