What are your beliefs about God?

Though many peoples' beliefs in this matter are similar, every individual has their own variation of what they believe. Its fascinating to me, to encounter people with different beliefs and for them to explain why they believe so.

I will not judge you based on any differing beliefs, rather, I will respect your thoughts and words, and take an interest in anyone brave enough to explain and challenge their own beliefs. I can not say the same for any other members, however! Please understand that if I or anyone else asks you questions - "Why do you believe this?" "What do you think about this?" "Can you explain this concept, then?" - it is not hurled as an insult, but rather it is meant as a probe into your consciousness in order to more fully understand where you come from. That, and I am truly interested in how someone with a differing belief explains their own concept of something I disagree or agree with. It's okay to disagree!

Please do not flame, troll, or taunt. Keep this thread respectable, and realize that this is a place to share your thoughts and contemplate others, not to tell people they are wrong, stupid, or to insult them in any manner. This is not Atheists vs. Theists, this is "Why are you an Atheist? Why are you a Theist?"

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Omnis Dei has brought a matter to my attention, that is, some people may not believe "God" as a being, but rather an energy, or a collective consciousness. I have re-created this thread in order to assert this position alongside the others.

If you are disagreeable with any option on the poll, please vote for the one closest to your beliefs and then explain why you voted that way.

I really don't know. My family for generations has been Roman Catholic, so I've been raised to believe there is a God. But what if people weren't raised and taught by their parents to believe one thing? I wonder if I would still believe in God then.

1st Atheist vote. Guess I ought to explain..

I believe all ideas of Creator gods are projections. Te believe that an omnipotent being created the universe for the sole purpose of housing Mankind places us in a special position. Science has explained so much that all creation myths are shown to be totally wrong unless takes in a completely metaphorical context.

"If you stare long enough into the abyss the abyss stares back into you". - To me this means we have a tendency to anthropomorphize everything - imagining humanlike qualities in rocks, trees, clouds, and even the depths of the universe and the metaphysical void itself. Disaster strikes and the primitive human response is "There's a big man in the sky and our actions have angered him - we must atone".

Also, in response to the last post, my parents were atheist, but they had me and my sister go to Sunday School for a while (sort of junior church for kids). It was obvious to both of us though that they were atheist, and it felt pretty hypocritical.

RU SRS I just made that whole bloody post and it's still not a smidge easier to answer the poll question in this new thread.

My most basic understanding of God would be related to the Tao, that which is neither something nor nothing, the gestalt, the stage upon which all is manifest, that which escapes yet contains all definition. But simply because I find it easier to assume consciousness is a precursor to matter rather than matter a precursor to consciousness that still does not contain my definition of God. Nor does my view on what is most probably the fundamental order of existence contain my definition of belief.

The world is made up of systems of information. With the control of the Word, people are partially Gods for their ability to manipulate these systems of information. However, because this idea is difficult to consume, as a means to an end it is practical to put your faith in some sort of deity or deities and use them as instruments of your work. Because of this, I often utilize belief in order to invoke the power from a God or Gods. Whether or not these Gods actually exist is of no concern to me. I am concerned with value, truth is obsolete to my mental framework. The only distinction is value in favor of short-term success vs long-term statistical dependability.

So you see, my beliefs are not a reaction to my environment, they are tools to manipulate my environment. And so in answer to your question, I believe in God when it suits me.

Lol sorry Omnis - I can retrieve that post if you want?

(But that's what you get for making a big post on a thread that had just been changed to "Please Delete This Thread" :cheeky:)

It's fine, I put it more eloquently the second time anyway.

(But I started that post before it was mentioned that B12 wanted to delete the thread)

Lol ok!

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Originally Posted by Anthonyyy0

I really don't know. My family for generations has been Roman Catholic, so I've been raised to believe there is a God. But what if people weren't raised and taught by their parents to believe one thing? I wonder if I would still believe in God then.

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See, you were getting somewhere and then you just stopped.

Keep going, keep wondering.

Would you? Why, or why not?

Goddess.

What is so special about "God" being "energy or collective conciousness" that it deserves a place on the list? Why not include "God is a bowl of steel-cut oatmeal with maple syrup and sliced bananas" as an option? Is that your belief? If so, when starting polls, you should be less biased to get better results.

God is................................................ ................................................

But does god have sliced bananas or not sliced bananas?

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Originally Posted by Abra

See, you were getting somewhere and then you just stopped.

Keep going, keep wondering.

Would you? Why, or why not?

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It's hard to say. I mean, looking at it from a logical standpoint, most of it doesn't make sense. For example, how was it that God could perform miracles, when it's been proven impossible nowadays? What I think is that because not much had been proven scientifically in the time of Jesus, everyone was willing to believe in miracles and thus decides to follow him. Humans always try to look for some kind of explanation to things, so they latched onto what this guy was telling him. In the long run, I guess I wouldn't believe in God if I wasn't raised Catholic.

I hope what I just said makes sense. :?

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Originally Posted by PhilosopherStoned

What is so special about "God" being "energy or collective conciousness" that it deserves a place on the list? Why not include "God is a bowl of steel-cut oatmeal with maple syrup and sliced bananas" as an option? Is that your belief? If so, when starting polls, you should be less biased to get better results.

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The idea that god is intimately connected with all things, and that the definition of god would be synonymous with the Gestalt is pretty common.

Not really sure what the difference between 3 and 4 is. There's no option for 'I deny the existence of God', either (not that I want to choose it). Don't know what the fifth one means. If we're allowed to use different definitions for God then I guess I don't actually have any idea what the poll is asking me about.

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Originally Posted by PhilosopherStoned

What is so special about "God" being "energy or collective conciousness" that it deserves a place on the list? Why not include "God is a bowl of steel-cut oatmeal with maple syrup and sliced bananas" as an option? Is that your belief? If so, when starting polls, you should be less biased to get better results.

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I think I mainly liked this post because it sounded so delicious.

i vote i don't deny nor confirm the existence of god. i'm unsure if a higher power exist but at times i do feel like something is guiding me and other times i'm thinking its just my imagination.

God is not a separate entity but rather the totality of all. There is infinity. This infinity is one. It contains all possibilities. In order for infinity to experience itself it must view portions of itself as separate. This creates the manifestation.

Metaphor: if you were to view a huge number of T.V channels all at once, you would get jumbled white noise. Now if you were to view infinite T.V channels, every possibility would occur at the same time and there would be nothing to see. A void, singularity. So to watch a program you have to seclude some channels and focus on others.

Infinity does not experience itself in its complete state, so the illusion of separation is used so that it may create experience.

You can call the complete state "god," but that is just a label.

my whole life is like white noise

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Originally Posted by Tranquil Toad

God is not a separate entity but rather the totality of all. There is infinity. This infinity is one. It contains all possibilities. In order for infinity to experience itself it must view portions of itself as separate. This creates the manifestation.

Metaphor: if you were to view a huge number of T.V channels all at once, you would get jumbled white noise. Now if you were to view infinite T.V channels, every possibility would occur at the same time and there would be nothing to see. A void, singularity. So to watch a program you have to seclude some channels and focus on others.

Infinity does not experience itself in its complete state, so the illusion of separation is used so that it may create experience.

You can call the complete state "god," but that is just a label.

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The separation between manifestation and perception is an illusion. We are the different TV channels, not just the viewers of the TV channels. Without fragmentation of perception, like you said, there would be no manifestation. There would be only a singularity.

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Originally Posted by Xei

I think I mainly liked this post because it sounded so delicious.

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You have to admit though that even though three and four are the same, it's five that sticks out like a sore thumb. Note that the first three (folding four into three) are all mutually exclusive. The final one could be combined with any of the others though. So if you choose that one then no information is given on which of the first three options one would have chosen.

I grew tired thinking about this "God" thing. It's interesting how people perceive God and I'm interested in reading the answers in this thread. However, I don't believe you can really say anything sensible on this topic, because the "truth" is just that we don't know. And we can't know. Ever.

But you're having faith here.

In saying that the truth is that we can't ever know if god exists or not, you're assuming that the universe would never go the way of revelations (blood and toads or whatever) or that some omnipotent being couldn't appear and claim its place as God. Physics would just be a good practical joke.

Neal Donald Walsh was asked what God would share with us , in 10 words or less. At the end of an interview. (He wrote "Conversations with God")

HIS reply
"I'm not what you think"


WE are far more than what we perceive ourselves to be..... that true WE may be part of the mystery and a clue....
I feel sorry for the burden that Atheists create for themselves....
For me belief is a knowing, an inner experience, rather than a faith .... in something that should probably remain nameless

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Originally Posted by PhilosopherStoned

But you're having faith here.

In saying that the truth is that we can't ever know if god exists or not, you're assuming that the universe would never go the way of revelations (blood and toads or whatever) or that some omnipotent being couldn't appear and claim its place as God. Physics would just be a good practical joke.

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I don't believe in a personal God whatsoever, that's just... very very very very..very unlikely. So no I don't believe in revelations or an omnipotent being appearing in the sky to claim its place. If that ever happens I would rather believe I've lost my mind instead of believing it's real. If there's a "God" it's probably some sort of asbtract force of nature, Spinoza's God. I call it God because there are still stuff that science doesn't have an answer for. Like how all this came to be.

Almost my whole family believes in a God, I don't ; if there was a God, why all this misery ?
Circa 50 years ago someone was leaving a church, he fell down the stairs, he was fine he said, but 2 days later he began to lose his memory, he was going insane, he couldn't recognize his own family anymore, he couldn't talk anymore...
He was married for over 40 years, his wife cried all the time, she was losing her lovely husband.

Conclusion : if he didn't believed in a God he wasn't dead, and his wife wouldn't go through all that misery.

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Originally Posted by Sharkbyte

Almost my whole family believes in a God, I don't ; if there was a God, why all this misery ?
Circa 50 years ago someone was leaving a church, he fell down the stairs, he was fine he said, but 2 days later he began to lose his memory, he was going insane, he couldn't recognize his own family anymore, he couldn't talk anymore...
He was married for over 40 years, his wife cried all the time, she was losing her lovely husband.

Conclusion : if he didn't believed in a God he wasn't dead, and his wife wouldn't go through all that misery.

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That doesn't disprove the existence of God. That only disproves the existence of a good, omnipresent and caring God.

The greatest thinkers on the planet have debated this forever.
The multiplicity of religions and spiritual sects are all seeking to experience a reality that mystics perceive yet escape the perception of brilliant philosophers.
I'm far from brilliant, so I leave the debating to others.
It's really a dog chasing it's tail, to try and describe the transcendent. That which is beyond language and description.
If one has never fallen in love no words will ever simulate the experience.

I believe in multiple gods.

Options 3 and 4 are the same thing.

There is so much mystery surrounding God. Over 4000 different religions, countless religious wars, so many questions, and endless energy spent on the subject.

My father taught me something that seems applicable here. Sometimes, the smartest thing you can say is, "I don't know."

Religious wars may now continue.