Do you believe in God?

[Cherrychip 111]

I'm on the fence myself. I think religion can be a force for good, but I've seen way too many cases of people being taken advantage of because people tricked them into a belief system that only drains them. 

If religion helps and is cathartic to you, and you aren't being hateful to anyone doing it, you do you! I will accept you no matter what!

The problem comes in when people use religion as a vehicle to hate, though. That's not okay in the slightest. 

 

[Splashee 28,537]

My mom believes in God, and I am happy for her

[Pandora 38,004]

based on my experiences with things, no-

[Evil Pink One 12,983]

One thing that people don't get is what the word GOD truly mean. It is not a name... But a title.... Humans can be gods too... A cow can be a god... The idol you worship is a god... The singer you idolize? The politician you believe in? The person you love too much which is starting to become questionable?... The money you crave? They in a way are some people's god.... 

[Aticus the Adequate 249]

To an extent. I was raised a Christian but I view things from a more secular lens now. I believe in the theory of evolution and so on and so forth. However, I do like studying different religions and am fascinated by the idea of a God existing. The way I see it, God is the universe itself. It gave birth to everything that resides within it as well as to itself. In terms of the contents of the Bible, I read it as more of a metaphorical story and I like and appreciate many of the lessons and concepts within it.

Edited August 1, 2022 by Aticus the Adequate

[RDDash 18,866]

I mean, not really, God is an abstract concept that many people believe in for some reason. 

[EpicEnergy 22,082]

I'm not sure anymore, but uncertainty of my religion is the least of my problems.

[Props Valroa 26,043]

I will update my previous posts with something that I have now come to the conclusion of. In the Earth, there is the Geosphere (Materials that make up the Earth), the Biosphere (Life), and the Noosphere (thought).  Just as the emergence of life fundamentally transformed the geosphere, the emergence of human cognition fundamentally transforms the biosphere. The noosphere is the sphere of thought encircling the earth that has emerged through evolution as a consequence of this growth in complexity/consciousness. The noosphere is therefore as much part of nature as the barysphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. Social phenomenon is the culmination of and not the attenuation of the biological phenomenon. These social phenomena are part of the noosphere and include, for example, legal, educational, religious, research, industrial and technological systems. 

In this sense, the noosphere emerges through and is constituted by the interaction of human minds. The noosphere thus grows in step with the organization of the human mass in relation to itself as it populates the earth. The noosphere evolves towards ever greater personalization, individuation and unification of its elements. Evolution culminates in the Omega Point—an apex of thought/consciousness—which is the ultimate truth of the 'return of Christ', etc. Christ isn't an actual man who 'returns', it refers to human awareness reaching it's apex.

Paraphrased and edited, are words from Wikipedia (which provide a better summary than my own words can give).

Edited August 3, 2022 by -Solstice-

[Vinyl Scratch. 604]

@-Solstice- I think we might have somewhat similar beliefs. I feel that we are both looking at the same or similar abstracts/dynamics and concepts through different lenses; coming to our conclusions by following different paths to the same place. I was actually looking at this thread and planned on attempting to post an answer once I get home from work and have access to an actual computer as apposed to trying to type out a long wordy reply on my phone. So it's interesting to me that would would post this now. Especially due to having only really interacted with eachother for the first time just before.

Edited August 3, 2022 by Vinyl Scratch.
Additional context

[Props Valroa 26,043]

@Vinyl Scratch.

Issue is with humans, everyone has different labels and terms to describe the same thing. It's why I think religion and science is so divided, we are all talking about similar things, but we disagree on the terms used to express those ideals.

[Vinyl Scratch. 604]

@-Solstice- And the implications of such ideas. Following a lot of this stuff through to its logical conclusions takes you to some pretty weird and often very uncomfortable places which often leads to a lot of arbitrary lines and justifications being drawn by people who engage with it which often leads to confusions and flaws in the discussion and analysis of the phenomenological and impirical data sets

[Cherrychip 111]

@-Solstice- I also feel like us humans have issues with having the same ideas but miscommunicating anyways - me and my irl friends have been in fights, even through we agreed in the end and the language was the barrier. For the most part, I would like to think we're on the same page, even if a very vocal few aren't 

 

 

 

 

[Props Valroa 26,043]

@Vinyl Scratch.

One of my goals, relating to this topic is to take an objective view on it, at least in terms of how I express it. I do not know the right terms to discuss such things, but I wish to express these topics in a formal and dispassionate form, as to separate myself from the emotional sects within this topic.

@Cherrychip

The language and how terms are used can vary differently between people, and in some cases, be the prime case for escalation and violence in such affairs. 

[Vinyl Scratch. 604]

@-Solstice- I try and do the same, but I think I have come to the conclusion that you can only get so far down the rabbit hole whist staying entirely in the realm of cold, empirical rationalism. I think that lot of understanding nessecarily has to come from participation in the the phenomenological which is why I mentioned it above. I have come to the conclusion that, as we are a part of our universe and do not exist outside of it, only a portion knowing can be extracted from detached analysis. Along with this is the problem of intellect vs intuition. Intuitional understanding (knowing something so well that you no longer have to think about it consciously such as balancing whilst riding a bike or knowing an intellectual topic so well that you can describe it entirely in your own words by thinking of the concepts themselves as apposed to thinking about the linguistic content of how it was taught to you. Think of the "Aha! *snaps fingers* I get it now!" Experience as something moving from intellectual understanding to intuitive awareness) requires practical experience and therefore participation. 

The reason I bring this up is because I believe that in order for us to understand certain things intellectually we need to have certain prerequisite intuitive understandings forming a framework of awareness required to even perciceve the patterns of certain concepts via intellectual perception. 

Consider this somewhat akin to, as you put it, the increasing awareness of the noosphere, but on the level of individual consciousness.

The problem that can occur with this way of thinking is that it opens up the possibility of getting pulled into certain ways of thinking and either not being able to, or not wanting to escape from them. I think there are solutions to this though.

 

The conclusions that i have some to in this regard may me wrong and I am most definitely missing some things but I have found this an exceptionally powerful way to understand material and gain insights into ideas that I would of never found otherwise.

Edited August 3, 2022 by Vinyl Scratch.
Spelling and additional info

[outlaw_f0x 149]

not really. but i completely respect those who do, as long as they don’t force their beliefs onto others!

[They call me Loyalty 1,941]

Yes, I am of YHWH and the old testament. I have discarded christian beliefs as well as the new testament and the character of jesus. I have gained in understanding. No, it is more than that. I have gained something very important that was inside of me all along. I just lost perspective of it because of the world. But now I can begin to to see the image of YHWH. He is the most beautiful of all. My friend. There is not much to say anymore.

[Lonstecation 303]

I live in a country with orthodox religion. This means I must believe in God. So yes, I do.

[Sphinx-Ara 3,517]

Honestly, not sure.. I am polytheistic though

[They call me Loyalty 1,941]

Yes. But Against. Always against. And you can see the babylonian ideology that shapes the modern world in opposition to the laws of YHWH. With laws in favor of abortion, for example. Which go directly against the fifth commandment. Thou shalt not kill.

You have obelisks, which are openly pagan symbols, in argentina, the united states, london, the vatican, all over the world. People commit to homesexuality, they alter their own sex, they suicide. There is corruption, drug abuse, prostitution, murder, etc.

The european union is built in the image of the tower of babel, and the roman empire is made in the image of Babylon with a pagan trinitarian idol on a cross. This jesus character. First commandment. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Though this world is a mockery of Babylon. Imagine how free was the world before, as to warrant the flood of Noah. This modern world and its imaginary “devils” are a pitiful shadow of what we used to be. Truly free.

And this plastic babylon of today is equally meaningless. People are not fighting against God anymore, they are fighting against themselves. They have become scared of imaginary evils that never existed. Before, we were free. And we fought against YHWH, for this freedom.

Why do you think the geocentric plane of our creation was obscured behind a false global model and the heliocentric paradigm, if not to hide the fact that the very creator genocided the entire creation for daring to go against his laws?

Why do you think there are so many people holding onto painful hatred against God? We proved that God was no better than us. We proved that God was just another murderer.

I am starting to remember.

Edited August 20, 2022 by They call me Loyalty

[Pony Flutters 530]

I identify as agnostic. There could be a god. There could be many gods. There could be no god(s). There is no evidence so far to prove or disprove the existence of one. Although I'd like to believe that I don't presently exist just randomly, and that there could be a higher power out there. I also find the idea of reincarnation to be more plausible than an eternal afterlife. Something like heaven might be a thing, but it might be more of a temporary resting place; and I don't think there is such a thing as hell, since it's a concept that's been used as a scare tactic by organized religions to scam and control people.

Edited October 18, 2023 by Pony Flutters

[Evil Pink One 12,983]

To the ones who do not believe...

Do you believe in Derpy?

Checkmate.

Repent for your sins.

[Clawdeen 12,110]

12 minutes ago, StrawberryMilk Simp said:

To the ones who do not believe...

Do you believe in Derpy?

Checkmate.

Repent for your sins.

All hail Derpy. The supreme ruler of this world

[Iforgotmybrain 3,508]

49 minutes ago, StrawberryMilk Simp said:

To the ones who do not believe...

Do you believe in Derpy?

Checkmate.

Repent for your sins.

Blasphemy! We all know Luna is the one true God!

[Evil Pink One 12,983]

1 minute ago, Iforgotmybrain said:

Blasphemy! We all know Luna is the one true God!

You forgot your brain again