I've been finding that the various debate sites I frequent as well as my own real life conversations have been becoming increasingly religiously framed. I can't tell if it has always been this way or if I have only become more aware of it now that I am a, ethnically speaking if not philosophically, a religious minority within the country I live but America and Western Europe are seeming more and more "God" issue centric with time.The idea of an omnipotent and omnipresent force controlling the strings of the universe and providing an invisible scale of justice, retributions, and rewards is appealing and terrifying at the same time. The idea of something that wondrous and awesome deciding to create me out of an act of love is miraculous but no more so than the idea that centuries of random evolutions led to my own creation. People have used the "will of god," to justify their own point of view for as far back as we have written history and it clearly hasn't stopped as of late. Some of the greatest works of art and compassion as well as some of the greatest acts of destruction and depravity have been done in his/her/their/its name.
All of which begs the simple question, is there a God?
The way I see it, the issue of whether God exists depends on whether you, as an individual, believe if one exists. Personally, I don't have a belief in God; therefore, I don't think there is. You ask a Religious person, and they'll say the exact opposite.
I could get behind the idea of a deist god, but I would refrain from calling it an actual god.
As for theist, no, I doubt very much that any exist. I would even go so far as to say that the christian god really does not exist, due largely to his paradoxical nature, or 'mysterious' nature if you listen to the apologists.
Infinitely merciful yet full of wrath? I don't think so.
When I was a kid, I thought there was, but when I got older, my faith disappeared for about a year and a half. I ended up getting arrested, and thrown into the lowest possible state of life. I've come out of the hole, telling myself that if I had not left God, God would not have left me.
So basically what you are saying is, you believe that 'god' took control of your actions and made you break the law and go to prison all because you had no faith? Why would you want to worship something so vindictive? Makes no sense if you ask me.
I heared an interesting theory recently that ties in with the infinite internal multiverse theory (Every one hase their own small universe inside the greater univers, and the size of this expands or contracts according to how much influence over other things this person has) Basically its a more spiritual version. If we belive something exisits, or not, then it exsits within our own personal universe. If we belive in god, then god exists, but at the sime time he/she/it/they don't exist in, say, an Athiests Universe.
Personally I believe in the God the father of Christianity.
No, I think he means when he fell from faith his morals changed, becomming looser and he tried new things. If he hadn't lost that moral disapline that faith gave him he'd not have gone into any of that illigal suff.
Not at all. That's just the way it works wityh some people. Their faith becomes their moral base, lose that and they are will ing to try much more. For some people it's sex, for others it's drugs and alcohol, and for some it's illigal activity. It's all down to personal choice, really. If you choose your faith to be your moral base, then lose faith, your morals will change according to the choice you've just made.
When you claim to be totally irresponsible for your actions, when your actions are determined by the will of an outside force, then you are living in Bad Faith. Doing some reading on Sartre is highly recommended.
Prehaps because there is a higher level of existatnce that we can't comprehend untill our souls escape the limits of the physical and mental aspects of living. Once our mortal restrictions are gone our spiritual eyes can open fully, and will be able to comprehend eternity.
