Why exactly do you believe in God?

[CasiUSA]

Isn't that the assumption that most christians make?  That humans on Earth are the only intelligent life?

No aliens?

No life on planets outside of our solar system?

Not only Christians, I'm sure. But yes, I believe that is a kind of egocentric assumption that we are the only intelligent life in all of existence.

[Egaeus]

can I bump the next old thread?

As for the subject of this one...I believe in God because I've yet to encounter opposing proof.

Which is why I believe that there is a ring of invisible pink unicorns circling the the Earth. 

[ben2go]

The resurrection of this post is proof there is life after death,but I still don't believe in any gods.

[skoebl]

can I bump the next old thread?

As for the subject of this one...I believe in God because I've yet to encounter opposing proof.

Which is why I believe that there is a ring of invisible pink unicorns circling the the Earth. 

Don't forget about the hyper-intelligent shades of blue that exist out there 

[Wrecent_Wryder]

Laugh if you want.

I got stuck on a long airplane ride next to a guy who explained to me, in all solemn seriousness, that the Earth is hollow, that there are holes at the north and south poles, that there is another sun on the inside shining on the inside surface, that there are people and civilizations in there, that the holes are where the UFOs come and go from, and that's where the Nazis went after WWII, and it's all being covered up by a conspiracy of governments.

However, man walking on the moon was "nonsense", it never happened, it was all faked by the government because it's "impossible".

He is not alone. He had literature.

[bettingpython]

Sorry wrecent, soiunds as though you were stuck next to my mothers husband.
If you were flying into or out of McCarren in Vegas there is a real chance it may have been him.
She is actuaiily loonier than him.

[genEricStL]

Talk to a mathematical statistician, the odds of all of this happening by accident are so great that it takes a lot of "faith" to believe in the evolution theory of how things came about.

Before my comment on this , i have to say to Wrecent ... LOL 

As to the quoted statement ... I disagree . A statastician would also tell you the whole "infinite number of monkeys on an infinite number of typerwriters , one will eventually write ..." (any number of books , the Bible being the one most often used in the quote , but i'm not TRYING to be inflammatory) . Think of how many planets exist in our solar system , then in our galaxy , then in the whole universe . Something had to happen somewhere . I'm sure we aren't alone in the universe , but until someone/thing figures out how to keep our molecules from coming apart by going faster than light , or if there's actually "wormholes" , we'll probably never meet them . And even if we were to meet them , who says we would even recognise them as an actual "lifeform" ? Or that they would even live in the same timeframe as us ... we may see them as statues or inanimate objects because they live to be a million of our years old and what to them seems seconds long could be hundreds of our years . They may exist in another wavelength and live and die without ever being able to be seen by us .
There's a lot of scenarios , but to think that we are alone in the universe is not realistic . So what if the odds are 1 in 1 billion even ... if there's a couple billion planets out there , the odds are that there are at least 2 other sentient civilizations 


ok ... this could go on forever lol . I'm done

[Wrecent_Wryder]

Sorry, I answered this yesterday, but was getting an error every time I tried to "post" for some reason.

Don't know... it was on a leg between one of the DC airports (probably Dulles) and DFW, Dallas- Fort Worth. That's a hub, of course, and I have no idea where he was going from there. Didn't ask. In fact, I really didn't get a chance to ask much... or speak much...

[ohgood]

Confusing organized religion and Belief in a Creator are common. The are not the same.

God to me is someone all knowing, all powerful, and humbling.

Organized religion to me is a way to give some classes of folks something to believe in. It works fairly well at imposing some standards of conduct, and social networking. It also wastes ALOT of energy and money. Does anyone need a $2 million dollar building to worship ? I don't.

I originally believed in God because I was raised that way.

I now believe in God because I've seen some of what I like to think he created. California's coastline, the Redwoods, Caverns underground, The Smokies, the crystal clear waters of Florida, Niagra Falls, and keeping it all from flying apart.

I can't look at my son without believing there is a caring God that blessed me and my wife.

If someone believes differently, I'm not out to convert them. That's for the organized religions to fight out.

I just wanna ride on this blue green blob and not get rashed up.

[SeqArtMark]

Wow.  A discussion on religion that doesn't end in people telling other people they're going to hell or that they're stupid for believing.  That's a very welcome change.  I haven't read this entire thread but the scant bit of scanning I've done has been pretty impressive and I wanted to give everyone a big  for being civil.  Also, it's great to see some clarification on the terms that often trip us up in any debate (esp. regarding divinity).

For the record, I believe in God (I'm a Christian) because of personal experience and it seems logical for me to believe.  I don't mean "personal" in the subjective sense of "well it works for me but whatever works for you" but in the sense that I have a finite view of reality.  I believe there is a such think as objective reality but we're not really capable of seeing the whole picture (yet) so we can only infer and deduce and make the most rational choice in any given matter.

In a round-about way I'm saying that there's no one reason I believe but I can't list every experience or thought that brought me to my belief.  Also, just thanks for being civil human beings.

[spc]

I've said it before and I'll say it again:  God is a big magical retarded hamster   And I will defend that position

[ben2go]

I've said it before and I'll say it again:  God is a big magical retarded hamster   And I will defend that position

+1                      

[Egaeus]

I've said it before and I'll say it again:  God is a big magical retarded hamster   And I will defend that position

Well, nobody can prove otherwise.

[Wrecent_Wryder]

Yeah, well, it's all fun and games until somebody gets burned at the stake....

[spc]

I've said it before and I'll say it again:  God is a big magical retarded hamster   And I will defend that position

Well, nobody can prove otherwise.

Exactly!!!!!  My theory is just as plausible as christianity, or judaism, or islam

[yamahonkawazuki]

okay

[Reddog787]

The Bible was written for why we should believe and how to live.  This forum topic would only be a milimeter compared to a mile.  You searching and asking questions proves there is a God, as God is dealing with you to come find him.  If there is a God, and you truly search for him, why would he not show himself?  What does God have to loose?  He has already given you FREEWILL.  You are free to believe what you want or not at all.  As the Bible says, Cry out to God and He Will answer your prayers; Seek and you shall find.
John 14:1-6    Romans 10:13    Job 29:25    Exodus 2:23    John 20:24-31    John 3:16    Matthew 7:7-8

I believe in God because he is my creator, savior, healer, and friend.  He created me to love and be loved by God and my brothers and sisters ( you ).

[Egaeus]

The Bible was written for why we should believe and how to live.  This forum topic would only be a milimeter compared to a mile.  You searching and asking questions proves there is a God, as God is dealing with you to come find him.  If there is a God, and you truly search for him, why would he not show himself?  What does God have to loose?  He has already given you FREEWILL.  You are free to believe what you want or not at all.  As the Bible says, Cry out to God and He Will answer your prayers; Seek and you shall find.
John 14:1-6    Romans 10:13    Job 29:25    Exodus 2:23    John 20:24-31    John 3:16    Matthew 7:7-8

I believe in God because he is my creator, savior, healer, and friend.  He created me to love and be loved by God and my brothers and sisters ( you ).

Your beliefs are just that, but I think you need some work on understanding the definition of "proof." 

As a counterexample, someone asking why I believe in invisible pink unicorns doesn't prove they exist.

[spc]

The Bible was written for why we should believe and how to live.  This forum topic would only be a milimeter compared to a mile.  You searching and asking questions proves there is a God, as God is dealing with you to come find him.  If there is a God, and you truly search for him, why would he not show himself?  What does God have to loose?  He has already given you FREEWILL.  You are free to believe what you want or not at all.  As the Bible says, Cry out to God and He Will answer your prayers; Seek and you shall find.
John 14:1-6    Romans 10:13    Job 29:25    Exodus 2:23    John 20:24-31    John 3:16    Matthew 7:7-8

I believe in God because he is my creator, savior, healer, and friend.  He created me to love and be loved by God and my brothers and sisters ( you ).

Thank you for reinforcing my 'retarded magical hamster' theory.   Only a retarded magical hamster could create a being with such disturbed views as those who believe that their religion is the only answer.

[Reddog787]

I understand your point.  I have never prayed to an invisible pink unicorn and never will.  However some people do pray to cows.  You are welcome to physically come around me when I pray to God.  I can show you what I believe is God answering my prayers.  However at the end of the day, You still have a freewill and mind to decide for yourself if it is true or not.  Reasons and excuses can always be found.  The Bible says if you ask for God to save you, he will enter your heart.  If God lives inside you, you will know it.  I went through the same exact questions when I was deciding if God existed.