Religion topic!

[Liquid Blue]

New Question
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(if you believe in him, no matter the religion)
Do you think God is responsible for everything that happens to us, do you believe that any and all hardships/ difficult times that we face are by his design, or is he just there for help, support and guidance through such times? Like if your brother is diagnosed with cancer on the same day that you wife leaves you- do you think that God planned all that out, or is it just free-will and the randomness of the universe at work?




--BTW no one brought up any info about Bhuddism for me, I know it was only 3 days ago but I'd appreciate any Bhuddists here laying it down for me.--

[Superted]

New Question

Personally I'm unsure, while it can be comforting to believe that God has your back and that you've been given a purpose, it takes away your free will. However I believe that everthing has a reason, so I guess that I believe in God's plan, but just not keen on the idea.

As for why do bad things happen to good people? I believe evil things exist so that you have a choice, God doesn't want you to follow him blindly and if everything was good, you would.

[Sumpson]

I believe humans can not know the deep meaning of life and wether god excists or not. To me it seems some have the need to know to live. I also think christianity is starten up as politics, it is pretty much a perfect way for a government to rule. I don't hate people who believe in a religion, this is just the way I think about it and I know it can be a good guidline for people, it's just not for me.

[Mr. Peanuts]

I believe that we are left to our own devices here. God set the playground and we play freely.

[StarKitty]

The thought of a sentient being that rules over all life existence and the universe is somewhat difficult to comprehend. Until someone proves we even exist in the first place i'll always remain sceptical about religion.
Christianity seems a lot like a religion bigged up by the monarchy back in the olde days in order to keep people in line, especially after studying English history.

[Tone]

The thought of a sentient being that rules over all life existence and the universe is somewhat difficult to comprehend. Until someone proves we even exist in the first place i'll always remain sceptical about religion.
Christianity seems a lot like a religion bigged up by the monarchy back in the olde days in order to keep people in line, especially after studying English history.

In the Speculation Section of Borders, there is a book called The Christ Conspiracy.

[Theif of Time]

God doesn't do anything to us. Its all randomness and other people. Believing he does things (good or bad) to you is simply arrogant, to think you get 'special attention'.

[K2Grey]

You can believe in a religion without believing everything in the bible, IMO. I don't see how not trusting it 100% would equal a lack a faith.

Because it seems extremely close to basically just using the Bible to support everything you do, except that when you disagree with it, you feel that your personal judgment is better than the judgment of the Bible. Now, if you didn't believe in it then that's a perfectly good idea, but if you feel that the Bible is the revealed word of God, why are you only following it when it is convenient for you? After all word of God > your judgment. And if you can't handle that, you should go get a different religion or quit them altogether.

[NaiLed]

if the Bible is the word of God, and the Bible has many contradictions, does that mean God isn't perfect? and if He isn't perfect, would He be God?

[Pandagirl!]

Well the Bible has a few contradictions, minor ones at that, because humans did, in fact, write it. I remember awhile back someone someone illustrated this quite well. There was a dance at our school on Friday, and then in church on Sunday our teacher asked us what we thought of the dance. The responses of course varied, some said it was horrible, some said it was awesome, and etc etc. If you look at what we all said, it was all contradicting each other. Does that make any of us wrong? No, we just all interpreted the event that happened in a different way. The same thing happens in the Bible.

[Mr. Peanuts]

if the Bible is the word of God, and the Bible has many contradictions, does that mean God isn't perfect? and if He isn't perfect, would He be God?

I believe that God's word was interpreted by humans and that leaves for human error. Your theory there is one directed to literalists, people who believe that the Bible is purely word of God.

[Riesen]

Okay, I'm not really sure how to post in this thread since I'm not very religious. I will state that I am Jewish according to one of their stupid rules. I am not Jewish in practice, however, I'm pretty atheistic.

I don't think you can be religious for the wrong reason. They way I see it is that if God is mercyful, and the be all, end all, he wouldn't really care why you were religious, just that you are religious in the first place. I think he would be happy knowing that you had faith.

Since I've never read the Bible as to be true and a stone set of laws, I wouldn't care if there was something about interracial relationships. There's a lot of stuff in the Bible that is simply outrageous by today's standards, such as the passage about killing children to disrespect you. But that's another debate.

Here's the fun part. No, I don't think God watches over you all the time, and this is part of the reason I'm not religious anymore. When i was about 10, I would pray a lot for different reasons, but my prayers went unanswered. So I went to my Rabbi and asked him why this was, and he told me that "God is a busy man". God is busy? He's bogged down in paperwork? God isn't supposed to be busy, he's God. He's all powerful, all knowing, all everything. How can God be too busy? So I left, told my mother I wasn't going back because God wasn't real. Now, if God was watching over us all the time, 24/7, don't you think he'd care a little more about his creation and his people? Don't you think he'd come down and reassure me, a 10 year old kid who's lost his faith, that all is well? God is here with you, whatever? He's 100% absent in every way possible, except in hearsay. Which is very un-Godlike of him. He's just a mean kid who sits on his cloud ignoring us, at least that's how I think of him, if there is a him. . .that is.

[Liquid Blue]

Well what did you pray for/about in the first place? When I was 10 I was focused on shit like Power Rangers and Teenage Muntant Ninja Turtles. I wasn't that religious when I was little, nor did I have any major problems that I thought needed answering. I think your Rabbi just sucks, that's a stupid thing to say to a little kid. " Sorry God is too busy for you, come back in a few years ". Way to inspire the youth, chief.

[Riesen]

I wanted my grandmother to not have lung cancer and for us not to have to move because some guy stole money from her company. Nothing all that huge though.

[Liquid Blue]

Did the Rabbi asked you what you prayed about? Or did he just tell you that God was too busy for your -_-

That's kind of shitty to hear man, a shame you didn't have someone there to give you better advice/insight at the time. I don't think he ignores us, I simply think that we can't really see the whole picture- some things have to happen, were meant to happen. It might suck at times, but like some people have said before, I think that everything happens for a reason. I don't know whether or not God is responsible for every tiny thing that happens to us, or simply has a broad, simple plan for each of us and let's the universe sort out the small stuff.