Is there a God? What do YOU think???

[Buffy]

Do you have any proof that there is no God?

Under most circumstances, it is not possible to show that something does *not* exist: "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." This is a central principle of the scientific method. However it is possible to show that something does exist with convincing evidence. Note that Nitzche did not say, "there is no God," he said "God is dead," which is slightly easier to prove, although he did not do so convincingly to most.

 

Cheers,

Buffy

[Buffy]

To the moderators I say, "isn't it about time to shut this thread down?" It has gone nearly a month without any posts, until yesterday.

Normally we do not close threads simply because they are inactive. This one in particular has been popular. We *do* close threads that veer wildly from their original topics because they get unwieldy and it becomes hard to scan for discussions of interest. We'll take your suggestion under advisement, but for now it will stay open.

 

Cheers,

Buffy

[lisajonesrn]

It really boils down to FAITH. Faith is believing without seeing. Faith comes from a person's experience.

 

It takes faith to believe you can sit in a chair and it hold you up. Through past experiences you have faith that the chair will hold you up. You have to have Faith to experience God. But for me it is hard to comprehend how a person cannot believe in God when we see all the amazing things around us....the things of nature, the human body. It never ceases to amaze me the wonders of God.

[goku]

faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of god.

the god i believe in is all knowing, all powerfull, but gives us the choice to believe or not.

his will is for us to believe in him, but he does not force himself upon us.

[lisajonesrn]

Goku, well said.

 

Today I came across a link to an article at Every Student.com, "Does God Exist, 6 Reasons to Believe he is there." I read it okay to post a link if it pertains to the discussion and I describe the link. The link outlines some really good points from a former Athiest who is now convinced that there is a God. I may not be doing this properly but this is the link that I found interesting. http://everystudent.com/features/isthere.html

[Dark Mind]

faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of god.

the god i believe in is all knowing, all powerfull, but gives us the choice to believe or not.

his will is for us to believe in him, but he does not force himself upon us.

My God lives with me and follows me everywhere I go... My God forces itself upon me and all others... My God is more powerful than you "all powerful" God... There is no need to believe in my God, for it is there whether you want it there or not.

 

My God is Light. For I believe in light, I follow light, I have faith light will guide me to where I need to be, there is no proof light is *around* us... but it is forever *upon* us (There is proof of that ;))... One needs only open there eyes to *believe* they are in the presence of my Higher Being. I was formed through my Lord's basic composition (...Energy), I am here to serve my creator. I intend to do this by developing some method to perpetuate it's existence (;)), my Bible is Light Thermodynamics ;).

 

Give praise to my Lord and Saviour, for it shall forever guide you.

 

Amen.

 

Liked the post, by the way ;). Just posted this to reinforce the only fact that there is in religion... It all has to deal with *belief* ;).

[Linda Stolte]

Normally we do not close threads simply because they are inactive. This one in particular has been popular. We *do* close threads that veer wildly from their original topics because they get unwieldy and it becomes hard to scan for discussions of interest. We'll take your suggestion under advisement, but for now it will stay open.

;)

I was only referring to the fact that I thought it had reached the Administrators goal for 100 vote responses, at which time he stated he would close the thread. It is now pretty much only being used/abused as a back and forth banter, rather than the "poll" it was originally intended for. The quotes below are what I was basing my thoughts on when I suggested that it was surely time to close this thread.

 

Ok, two things.

First thing- Rep points to anyone who can tell my why this poll was started. You'll have to do a bit of checking, but the first person with the right answer gets some Rep.

Second thing- As I write this, there have been 83 votes cast. When it reaches 100, I'll close this thread. So if you haven't voted yet, please do so now.

Thanks to all, I've really enjoyed this one a bundle.

;)

I responded to this post and obviously answered correctly, as the next post the admin made was the following:

 

Good job, LindaS.

It was last year when I thought of this thread. I made a comment about there Christians being very outnumbered here, and a staunch atheist friend of mine asked what type of facts I had to back up that claim. So I decided to do the poll. Of course, it took a bit before I found the right wording to make most everyone happy.

And I agree that it's sad to see so many people that don't believe in God. But at the same time, it's also kinda cool to see that, even in this science forum, there are still just about as many people that DO believe in God. Actually, as I write this, there are 24 people that claim the god of the Bible, and 8 that accept a non-Christian God, while 11 others have some sort of God-idea. We have 15 'freethinkers', and 22 that don't believe in any type of God.

Actually, it was quite surprising to me, to see those numbers.

I'll post more when we get 16 or so more people.

;)

Again, my comment was based on the goal of 100 votes the admin was looking for, at which time the thread was supposed to close. I didn't state that goal, your own admin did. However, at this point, my own thoughts are for sure that the back and forth banter is not to anyones' edification, and should be posted under other religious topic discussions. So I was merely saying, if the votes are in, post the results and be done with it. Let the threads on creationism, evolution, proof of, non-proof of, etc. take place elsewhere. Had I wanted to be involved in any of those, I would have joined those threads. I did not expect, nor appreciate finding it in this thread. I came here to offer my vote in the statistical intake, and to explain my thoughts on why I voted the way I did. I thought that was all this forum was for. It hasn't turned out that way at all, as every one winds up either reposting to defend their own belief, or posting to bash the belief of others. Is that really what the admin intended to happen with this thread????????

[Buffy]

I was only referring to the fact that I thought it had reached the Administrators goal for 100 vote responses, at which time he stated he would close the thread. It is now pretty much only being used/abused as a back and forth banter, rather than the "poll" it was originally intended for.... However, at this point, my own thoughts are for sure that the back and forth banter is not to anyones' edification, and should be posted under other religious topic discussions.

Irish definitely can close the thread if she'd like to (she's on vacation right now), but I'm a bit confused as to why you're demanding that it be closed now. I'll certainly talk with her when she's back, but its up to her to do so. Its her thread, but I'm not going to close it now just to maintain the internal consistency that you may see in her posting of almost 2 months ago. Sorry!

So I was merely saying, if the votes are in, post the results and be done with it. Let the threads on creationism, evolution, proof of, non-proof of, etc. take place elsewhere. Had I wanted to be involved in any of those, I would have joined those threads. I did not expect, nor appreciate finding it in this thread. I came here to offer my vote in the statistical intake, and to explain my thoughts on why I voted the way I did. I thought that was all this forum was for. It hasn't turned out that way at all, as every one winds up either reposting to defend their own belief, or posting to bash the belief of others. Is that really what the admin intended to happen with this thread????????

In fact though, that is the nature of discussion and debate, and in this case, the question is two part, with the more interesting half being "what do you think?" Its a broad question, and the second clause begs people to give reasons for their belief, some of which you may disagree with, but that does not mean that you can say that they are invalid or should not be discussed here. While this thread has strayed at times, it has kept closer to its purpose than the threads we have closed, so this is also not a reason to close it immediately.

 

Thank you for your input, and I do encourage you to look at some of the other threads and forums here that you may find interesting to comment upon.

 

Cheers,

Buffy

[Linda Stolte]

Irish definitely can close the thread if she'd like to (she's on vacation right now), but I'm a bit confused as to why you're demanding that it be closed now. I'll certainly talk with her when she's back, but its up to her to do so. Its her thread, but I'm not going to close it now just to maintain the internal consistency that you may see in her posting of almost 2 months ago. Sorry!In fact though, that is the nature of discussion and debate, and in this case, the question is two part, with the more interesting half being "what do you think?" Its a broad question, and the second clause begs people to give reasons for their belief, some of which you may disagree with, but that does not mean that you can say that they are invalid or should not be discussed here. While this thread has strayed at times, it has kept closer to its purpose than the threads we have closed, so this is also not a reason to close it immediately.

 

Thank you for your input, and I do encourage you to look at some of the other threads and forums here that you may find interesting to comment upon.

 

Cheers,

Buffy

Please don't put words in my mouth. I didn't demand that this thread be closed. I merely suggested that I thought it had reached it's original purpose and goal, and was possibly time that it be closed. My understanding of the thread was that it was a "poll" where you were supposed to choose one of the multiple choice answers as your response, then explain why you believe that way. That understanding was further embedded in my mind by a response I got from Boerseun, after a person was told, by Biochemist, to please take their comments to the Evolution forum. (He stated that there were several threads running that were much more applicable to their post.) When I then posted a comment to defend their right to have made their comment in this particular thread, the response I got plainly told me the point was to vote and explain your vote....any other specifics should be taken up in other threads. That was pretty plain instruction to me that the purpose of this thread was as a "poll".....not a "discussion" or "debate".

 

I expected to find opinions that were both similar and completely different than my own so, again do not put words in my mouth, as I made no statements about the validity or non-validity of anyone's post contents. Taking the below response seriously, I thought we were only supposed to vote, explain why we think what we think, and watch others do the same, while all other "discussion" on underlying subject matter was supposed to be dealt with in threads specific to the discussion of such.

 

Linda, what Bio meant was that there are a couple of threads on these forums dedicated to the evolutionary question alone.

 

This thread is actually a poll, and you're supposed to vote and explain your vote.

 

Any specifics can be taken up in new threads, to keep the topics apart. Otherwise, the thread will evolve - no pun intended - into a general illegible mish-mash.

 

Welcome to hypography, by the way.

 

In conclusion.........You're right, nothing I said bears any weight on whether or not this thread is closed, immediately or otherwise. If the admin and mods don't think it is turning into the general mish-mash that Boerseun was afraid it might, then pay no attention to anything I've said. I've been following the thread and had no intention of posting again, until I completely tired of it not fulfilling the purpose I was told it was for. I should have just kept my thoughts to myself and simply stopped reading the thread. ;)

[Dundasbro]

Do you have any proof that there is no God?

No, but i am not claiming that there is no god, I simply asked you to provide evidence to why you believe there is one. If you are going to tell us there is a god then please explain why. Blind belief is extremely ignorant. ;)

[goku]

i believe in god because i can feel him and see the evidence of his work in my life and other people's lives.

 

one evening at my church the preacher finished preaching and gave the alter call. he said, if the lord is speaking to your heart and you know you need to be saved then come to this alter and ask him to come into your life. a man about my age stepped out of the crowd and walked to the alter, and prayed. a few moments later he stood up and said god saved me. the preacher asked him what made him come to the alter? the man said, my heart started beating harder and harder boom boom boom. i knew i had to do something, i knew i had to go to the alter. the preacher asked, how does your heart feel now? the man said, feels great!

 

what makes this event different is the fact that the man could not hear the preacher preach nor give the alter call because he is almost completely deaf. he lost his hearing due to meningitis that almost killed him when he was a baby. but god could still speak to him.

[Buffy]

Blind belief is extremely ignorant. ;)

That may be your belief but it is obnoxious. Calling people names will not be tolerated here and you may be banned for such behavior.

 

Testily,

Buffy

[Dundasbro]

That may be your belief but it is obnoxious. Calling people names will not be tolerated here and you may be banned for such behavior.

 

Testily,

Buffy

Sorry, I really didn't think I was "Calling people names" though. But all the same I apologise... ;)

[Dundasbro]

i believe in god because i can feel him and see the evidence of his work in my life and other people's lives.

 

one evening at my church the preacher finished preaching and gave the alter call. he said, if the lord is speaking to your heart and you know you need to be saved then come to this alter and ask him to come into your life. a man about my age stepped out of the crowd and walked to the alter, and prayed. a few moments later he stood up and said god saved me. the preacher asked him what made him come to the alter? the man said, my heart started beating harder and harder boom boom boom. i knew i had to do something, i knew i had to go to the alter. the preacher asked, how does your heart feel now? the man said, feels great!

 

what makes this event different is the fact that the man could not hear the preacher preach nor give the alter call because he is almost completely deaf. he lost his hearing due to meningitis that almost killed him when he was a baby. but god could still speak to him.

My grandmothers preacher died during a healing sermon or something like that, kinda ironic really...

[GAHD]

*CLOSED*

 

Please feel free to start new threads on any topics you wish further dsussed.