i don't believe in a god or worshipping people and stuff. i believe in evolution and the big bang theory and stuff. i guess the only reason for me not being christian is that my parents never taught me or brought me up to be christian or believe in god, so when i came to learn about it in school i didnt understand why people could worship a thing they have never seen. perhaps if my parents had taught me from a young age that there was a god, i would be a completely different person.
Whether or not there is a God I don't want to believe in him. If God truly created all of us then why are there children dying in Africa, incurable diseases, intolerance, hatred, etc. Why would God do this to us if he had the ability to make everything okay? It just doesn't make sense to me.
religion has the answer to almost everything, the argument to this question is that, in the bible, god gives us free reign over the world to do whatever we want with it, and he would no longer be responsible. they would then probably say that it's our job to aid the people in poorer countries.
>"Okay here you go humans a world but you are responsible for absolutely everything that happens on it and to it. Even though I can help you because I am omnipotent, I won't because "free will and shit." - K.
Heads up, I get pretty personal in this post. When I was a baby, my family and I would always go to this little Baptist church in D.C where everyone in my family would go on Sundays and Wednesdays. At the time I was too young to understand so much of it, but we practiced Christianity, a lot. I was the kid who went to sunday school so happy to color in Bible Themed coloring books and watch Veggietales. Spoiler: s.o to anyone who knows this This went on until I was 5 years old and at that point my parents got a divorce and caused us to just magically stop going, stop praying, practicing, that stuff. The other reason we all stopped was that my sister, who was 15 at the time, got in with the bad crowd of the group (even the other teens who went to church) and got in to lots of trouble, basically rebellious teenager. It was hard for them to go back knowing it would only bring judgment from others at the church. Keep in mind this place was a Hispanic community and rarely carried any other races. (To the Church) Divorce = Sin, meaning they didn't wanna have that on them. Plus after that my family wasn't really a family. So few years later, about when I was 9/10 my friend at the time, Jasmin, invited me to her church. I remember her telling me that I wasn't her bff, God was, and I was like ???. This was just me, not my family going. It's surprising how much freedom I have, but I was a good kid. For about 5 months, I went to this church on the church bus and sang songs, acted out church plays, and heard stories about God. Did I understand much of it? No. Looking back now, my friend only went for the free things, and I was very confused. I even remember sleeping over one of the pastor's house thinking "I shouldn't be here". It was a really weird part of my religion life and honestly I was confused and looking for something. In the end of that sorta phase, my Aunt came to visit for Christmas and introduced me to this other Aunt that I had no idea I had. I was really shy to meet her and kinda just went with the flow. She invited me, my brother, and my sister to go with her to her church. I didn't wanna go because I was still in to the other church, but my sister ended up making me go, was for the best anyways. I never met this Aunt or my cousins, but they were very welcoming. It was the same building as the first church, but the service was run by this Aunt. I actually felt happy at a church where I learned a lot about myself and God and got to have amazing memories, even though I was about 11. The summer of the next year, when I was 12, My dad and I went to visit my family in El Salvador and had a great time. When we got back, the church was no longer in service and I still don't know why. I think it was a money issue? Not sure. After that I didn't go to church for a while. I called my Aunt and asked where they went now. They went to this huge church that wasn't so much a little community, but a big one. They even had a starbucks outside. I went with them there for a good 3 months until I stopped going. My aunt lives 45 mins away from me, so her to pick me up then drive to a church that was an hour away was too much. I don't really remember what happened after, but I think my dad was invited to my Uncle's church, where he's the owner and pastor. Eventually, we all went to that church and practiced Christianity there. I was about 13 turning 14? I had a stable church, but I didn't like it. I didn't like going there and I always felt odd going. I only went because my family went, and if I didn't I would be looked down on by a lot of people. I went there for a while until I got really tired of it and couldn't pretend to like going. I told my dad I was sick so I could stay home from church. I think my official last time going was last Christmas. After that I just didn't go anymore. More recently I've been going to my best friends church and practice it sometimes. My personality really contradicts with my beliefs, so I'm still trying to work that out. In the end, I do believe in God and I'm still in the mix of not having a stable relationship with him. It's a lot so here's a TLDR; I'm sorta an on and off Christian pretty confused of what to do with my connection with God.
I really don't want to start debates in this thread, as it should just be giving a statement of what you believe and why. However, it'd be good if you didn't answer something you have no research in. There is no singular reason or explanation as to why bad things happen. Personally I believe since sin entered the world, that everything got messed up. It was a perfect world full of no one getting hurt and such, but since sin came that messed up everything. There Christian bible talks about how through Adam everyone has sinned, meaning that sin entered through Adam, we now have the tendencies to sin. Anyways, since sin messed everything up, the world has had many bad things happen to it. The reason why God allows bad things to happen is that, you are partially right here, he does give us free will. It is a complex argument and I wish to delve no further on a statement forum, and I'm not saying "because blab blah", I'm just stating from what I've researched and seen. But the God I choose to believe in works everything for his good. Therefore, whenever bad things happen to me and I question God, I just remember myself that he probably didn't want them to happen not in the first place, but will use them for good. Anyways, that's the last thing I'll say about it as I don't wish argument to ensue. Cheers
I'm an agnostic atheist, though I do harbor a healthy interest in religion I've had about all I can stomach of the Abrahamic ones (Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, the religions of Abraham, Isaac, etc). That doesn't mean I don't believe in some messages preached by various religions, or find value in the community it provides. I've just found that I cannot believe something exists that there's no real conclusive evidence for, and you can't provide evidence that God exists. That would be like describing a nonexistent color or what traveling through the sixth dimension is like, it simply doesn't compute. My brain can't properly grasp it from any angle, as it's indescribable what force is truly behind the universe. How would I ever know? How could I ever be so close minded as to think that the guiding force behind everything is so simple as to be described in a book? By a name? A flawed being utilizing flawed tools cannot create something perfect, nor can they recreate or describe a single aspect of it properly, due to the imperfections of both themselves and the world around them. I simply cannot grasp the concept of a perfect being, really. In the end what I believe is that no one knows what God is, if it even truly exists at all, or what it's form could possibly resemble. The holy books I've read seem like ancient men trying to take control of their disciples in a beneficial manner or explain what they don't understand about the world around them. That said these are my own beliefs, so you may continue to have yours and a cookie, my treat. Spoiler: Cookie!
@Husky that is something that almost all people who don't believe in God say and challenge, and I do not know the answer and i'm not afraid to admit it. We aren't like, magicians who are trying to convert everyone because we "have" the answers, we are just (well we should be) just tellers of the stories within the Bible and how those play into our lives. I don't mean to sound rude, but you're going into an aggressive part of this discussion that I don't want to get into. I'm not about debates in the slightest, this is more just so I, as well as others, can merely get to know each other. Same to you @Adam has a D, I feel it's a bit on the aggressive side, although I do appreciate the opinions you carry. I would say though, to keep asking those questions to people who have the answer. @BmTron Truth be told, religion is so freaking complex it's SO hard for someone, especially in high school, to fully understand what you believe. I was not a follower hardly at all in high school, I hung with the wrong crowd, was having sex, trying drugs my sisters brought around, just living life because I could. It wasn't until I graduated high school that I really found my purpose and identity in my beliefs, and I've never been happier. So it's okay to be lost, it's okay to feel that you aren't sure. (don't mean to sound "momish" haha). I think it's really awesome that you are honest and open about what has led you to the place you're at! Thanks everyone for all the input! I really enjoy hearing the stories!
Chastity I do appreciate what you're saying, but take the time to be understanding towards Husky, he's saying he doesn't know either and it doesn't make sense to him. He's not wrong, and it's not like you offer to make sense of it. That said some people do preach that they have the answers and you can't say that no one is trying to convert anyone because they believe they have the answers. You are not trying to do that, but people have and will continue to do so in the future for every set of beliefs you might imagine. If you talk to one another about what you believe, you may find more common ground than you originally thought. And to BmTron you may need to explore other religions to come to a conclusion that sits well with your personality. If you're looking for something similar to Christianity, know that Judaism and Islam are based on the same God so they may be closer together than you realize. You could also try visiting other religious places of worship, synagogues, mosques, as well as Buddhist, Shinto, and various other holy sites to speak to the priests and priestesses there and perhaps ask to learn about their beliefs or holy texts. It may take a lot of looking, or you may find one you like immediately, you may not find one to your liking at all, but you should learn about the diverse and wonderful beliefs present in many religions.There's no better way to see what's out there than with your own eyes, either. You could go read the Bible by itself, after all, but that does no justice to what a wonderful community a church can be. Good luck in your spiritual journey, Bm. I wish you all the luck in the world finding what gives you purpose.
Oh i'm just referring to the aggression I sense from his original post. I hear him, as I hear that question all the time, as I stated.
Well I have one catholic grandmother, and one Lutheran. Neither of these people really speak about religion so I was left without any sort of influence. My mother and my father don't have any religion, and I don't really disbelieve in god I just never really thought about any of it. Religion doesn't play a part in my life, no reason for it to. I guess that leaves me at some sort of Agnostic, so yea.
Oh man. I typically don't take part in stuff like this publicly, but I am Anti-Theist. I grew up in a family in which my grandpa was a preacher, my grandmother taught Sunday school, so from there you would assume the faith trickled down, however, fortunately it didn't. My mother and father told me from the time I was old enough to question it that they wanted me to form my own opinion, and they didn't want to impose on my thoughts/beliefs. (Which is strange being that they both ended up being Atheist anyhow.) Through science, we've learned that there isn't an inherit need for a creator; give nature long enough, and it will work wonders. I also prefer to think that there's a lot about the universe that we do not yet know, but will eventually find out; as opposed to just saying "well, I've got no idea, I bet god did it." I also have always kind of disliked how, at least in America, religion has such a nasty hold on people that it's actually in some scenarios halted science. I mean, I think like 40% of people here don't believe in evolution or some number like that. To me, that's kind of scary and disappointing at the same time. The biggest issue I have with religion, and this is not something that happens with all religion, is when public figures try to push for religion to be taught as science. That would be a nightmare.
a lot of my early childhood was spent around very enthusiastic christians, i was "forced" to go to church until i was around 8, similar to a lot of people. since i was so young, i never really questioned the beliefs, and most of the beliefs were taught to me through song, which i despised. i remember hating getting woken up early on a sunday and being forced to dress nice just to do the same thing we did last sunday. personally, i think pushing religion on anyone - ESPECIALLY a kid who couldn't possibly understand the basic principles of the religion, is wrong. all that has done for me has made me passively bitter about the religion; further turning me off to it in my later teenage years. onto what i actually believe in i havent exactly found a label or set of beliefs that completely defines what i believe in, but ill try. i truly like the idea of a higher being, an afterlife; there's hope in that. whether or not it's labeled as "heaven" or "hell", "god" or "satan" - the idea of it intrigues me. but realistically, we're all alive right now, on this earth, at this exact moment. this is a fact, there isnt any faith or chance involved; i'd rather make the most of this life now and be happy rather than completely change how i live on account of faith that may have been placed in the wrong thing. i'd rather concentrate more on being a good person rather than be a bad person and mask that fact with my religion. (ofc not saying any of u guys are bad people, ive just met some very overzealous religious people that werent very nice). p.s. i still respect christianity as a religion as well as all other religions that's beliefs, when acted on, don't put others in harms way.
I don't believe in anything particularly, my family was never religious we were just forced to go to church occasionally for image. I respect others beliefs though, for me its just kinda like live life and take it as it comes, and appreciate what you have.
im a muslim . most of my reasons are same as yours i also see what eveloution and theores have to offer but i seperate completly spirtual and religious believes from scientefic things . believes are believes and science is science .. sorry for bad spelling
Muffin I don't know how to quote an exact section of your comment but in reference to 40% don't believe in evolution.... Yes they have a right to not believe in it there are lot of things to point to it not existing... Also there is no concrete evidence of evolution, hence it being called the " Theory of Evolution" it's just that a theory that is generally accepted as true but has yet to be proven so. Just because you can't disprove it, you can't prove it.... I digress it is an interesting topic and I in no way stand to be little your statement and respect it fully. I just like to point the other side of the coin so no corner goes unturned
I believe 100% in evolution and the fact that we are all just bundles of cells who happen to be intelligent enough to believe in some sort of religion to give us some sort of closure as to why we are here. I don't think that there is even a purpose to us being here, we just happen to be the product of some lucky RNG of the chemicals and compounds we are made up of. I also realize that me thinking this way 100% attributed to the fact that no current religions or beliefs compute in my brain as something that is theoretically possible.
