• Welcome to the Zelda Sages Forums!

    The Zelda Sages Community Forums are a fun and easy way to interact with Zelda fans from around the globe. Our members also have access to exclusive members' only content. Register and/or log in now! Please note that user registration is currently disabled. If you would like to register please contact us.

Do you believe in God?

Re: Do u beleive in God?

Versac said:
G-E-N-E-S-I-S T-H-R-E-E F-I-V-E

This only works, though, if the god is question is the Yahweh/Jehovah, or by extension, Allah.
Click to expand...

i am a teddy said:
It wasn't made by God... It was made by those who had faith in God's teachings and compiled it into a book..
Click to expand...
G-E-N-E-S-I-S I-S B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T

No offense to anyone, that's just what I think. Both of you read the first paragraph in my previous post.

And I'm sorry, I meant not the Bible was created by God, but that it was the word of God.
 
Re: Do u beleive in God?

If there was an omniscient god, and it for some reason wanted to have its word recorded, you'd think it would do a better job of making sure that word did not branch out into three separate major versions and then thousands of permutations later on.

Disregarding the other Abrahamic religions, Judaism and Islam, there are roughly 38,000 denominations in Christianity alone. And all of this is not even beginning to take in all the discrepancies that have arisen through alternate translations.

No omniscient being would create a set of stories and instructions that would get this badly mangled over time.
 
Re: Do u beleive in God?

yoyolll said:
G-E-N-E-S-I-S I-S B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T
Click to expand...
Your decision, not mine. My point is just that I find this particular passage to be in conflict with the concept of a 'master plan', and thus flaws in religions that include it, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This flaw is not of irreconcilable proportions, but it does preclude the existence of an omnibenevolent, which is a whole other can of worms.
 
Re: Do u beleive in God?

ImprobabilityDrive said:
If there was an omniscient god, and it for some reason wanted to have its word recorded, you'd think it would do a better job of making sure that word did not branch out into three separate major versions and then thousands of permutations later on.

Disregarding the other Abrahamic religions, Judaism and Islam, there are roughly 38,000 denominations in Christianity alone. And all of this is not even beginning to take in all the discrepancies that have arisen through alternate translations.

No omniscient being would create a set of stories and instructions that would get this badly mangled over time.
Click to expand...
Well that's nice.

You can continue to boost your self-esteem through your wonderful little attacks on religion while i'll be in church having some faith.
 
Re: Do u beleive in God?

I should have just kept with my keeping mouth shut expose a few pages back...

The origional intent of the thread was simply whether or not you believe in God. Nothing that anyone says will really be able to change any form of hard belief that has been established from a young age; it's just simple psychology. So, I'd like to create a few counter points to even the field and, hopefully, neutralize all of this so the original intent of the thread can return.

  • It is improbable to think that Earth is the only planet with life. I know I probably sound like a nerd from saying that, but honestly it's improbable to think that there is not some other area in the current infinity we know as space which does not have some form of living being. As to whether or not these beings match our definition of "intelligent" is another story. These are all human created terms and human created ideas.
  • I at least never mentioned anything about the Bible, plans, or anything of the sort...just that I thought something was out there and I happen to refer to that something as God. For the betterment of everything, I'll again refrain from further explanation.
  • To enlighten, even teachings from churches have always taught that stories found in the Bible, etc were written and formulated by people on events which may have (or may not have) accrued *obviously the churches themselves teach these events to be true*. The only document I know that any church specifically teaches is the direct writing of God is that of the Ten Commandments. Example, it is well known *or not so well known maybe* that the revelations portion of the Bible was written by a man who supposedly had a vision of revelation while living in a cave *I won't state my belief on that...but that's just the simple fact of it* I took a year long class with my minister and one other interested student in the complete study of religious texts such as the Bible *I'm a UU, believe me I'm pretty unbiased with this* so that's where I'm getting my information :).
  • I'd rant further but I have work to do...and I think I set this off enough :D.
 
Re: Do u beleive in God?

If the question is "Do you believe in God?", I would think that a discussion of why or why not would be in order. I have a serious problem, however, when honest questions/comments are taken as 'attacks' and blind refusal to discuss is taken as 'faith'. Let's keep this in the realm of the polite at the very least.
 
Re: Do u beleive in God?

I calls for freedom of speech! While Darwinism could be considered a touchy subject, it should be able to be discussed on this thread for the sake of discussion... I believe in Darwinism..
 
Re: Do u beleive in God?

No, attacks on other members were made. You can speak your mind, just don't start attacking each other.
 
Re: Do u beleive in God?

ImprobabilityDrive said:
What kind of heaven does Charlieism offer? The best deal I've seen so far was from Pastafarianism, they're heaven has a beer volcano and stripper factory.
Click to expand...
And there is no Hell. And non-believers are allowed into Heaven, too! They just don't get the best strippers.
 
Re: Do u beleive in God?

Personally, I don't believe in a god or a heaven or a hell. I don't believe that there is some entity that controlls our every move and every thought
 
Re: Do u beleive in God?

well, there is a god, and a heaven, and a hell. Satan is Constantly battling God, and Armageddon will soon occur.

and that pastafarian heaven is retarded.
 
Re: Do u beleive in God?

I beleive God works like karma and the devil is just the materialized form of bad karma Christ was a deciple of good and good karma

an ironic thing though the Roman instrument of the cross became the symbol of a religion
 
Re: Do u beleive in God?

Targelion said:
well, there is a god, and a heaven, and a hell. Satan is Constantly battling God, and Armageddon will soon occur.

and that pastafarian heaven is retarded.
Click to expand...

You will, of course, provide your verifiable and objective source for this claim, right?


However, you've touched upon something that I find interesting in your "Armageddon will soon occur" bit. What I’m referring to is the attitude among a depressing amount of religious types that the Apocalypse will be occurring any day now. Never mind the fact that they’ve been saying this for roughly 2000 years now, but when asked they why they think it's soon, many always seem to claim that the world is in the worst shape it’s ever been in right now, and that this is evidence that we are in the ‘end times’.

For human beings, however, the world is improving. New technologies allow us to spend less time working to just get by, and more time pursuing our own interests. Advances in medicine have allowed us to live longer healthier lives. Many of our societies have made great progress, disposing of abominable practices like slavery, and moving closer to proving truly equal rights to all.

World-wide illiteracy rates have fallen by half since 1970 and now stand at an all-time low of 18%. More people live in free countries than ever before. In 1981, 40% of the world's population lived on less than $1 a day. Now, that percentage is only 25%, adjusted for inflation. The amount of wars and other forms of organized violence have been in a worldwide decline since 1980. Worldwide life expectancy, which averaged between 30-40 years in the early 20th century, is not at an average of 67 years

None of this however, is to suggest that we do not still face challenges. Fundamentalists of any religion will always be a dangerous force, whether they’re bombing military checkpoints or abortion clinics. Environmental crisis’s like global warming, and other issues will have to be addressed uniformly by humanity. We are though, arguably better suited to meet these challenges than at other times in our past. In the wars of the past, when the total massacre of all enemies was often the goal, no weapon would go unused. Today the world has had weapons far deadlier than anything seen in the past, yet we have refrained from completely wiping one another out. Modern science has allowed us to realize the dangers presented by global warming in time to take action, and, with a few notable exceptions, the majority of the nations of the world has come together to take action against it. Despite countless generations of doom saying, despite the cries that ring out every time a crisis occurs that the end of the world is upon us, despite the continued insistence that today the world is in its most wretched, disgusting, sinful state ever, evidence points towards it’s improvement.

Many diehard fundamentalists don’t want to acknowledge these improvements. Not only because it means they’re precious apocalypse isn’t happening any time soon, but because if they acknowledged it, they’d have to face a very unpleasant fact: that the improvements in the lives and societies of human beings has coincided with the fading influence and power of religion. The dark ages ended, and the renaissance began, with a period called the Age of Enlightenment. A major philosophic movement, it was based on a critical questioning of traditional institutions, customs, and morals. This included, for the first time in a long time, questioning the ruling religion, specifically Christianity, which until this had served as absolute law. Power and influence began to shift from the priests to the intellectuals, and humanity began a trend of ever accelerating progress which has continued to today.

The power of religion has waned as the institutions it once supported began to crumble away in the face of progress. Two prominent examples include slavery and treatment of women as inferior. During the periods where these practices were commonplace, most priests would have argued that the institutions were supported by the bible, and many passages it contains support this

Bible verses condoning slavery.
http://etori.tripod.com/slave-verses.html

Bible verses regarding women as inferior or as property.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/ofe_bibl.htm

However, as time has moved on, religion has been forced to abandon these principles when they conflicted with modern morality, and the verses once proudly displayed as divine proof of a practice’s righteousness, now must be explained away by those wishing to keep or gain converts.

Returning to my main point, the reason why many fundamentalists need an imminent apocalypse, and refuse to see the world’s progress, is because that progress is damning. It is more damning than anything other argument against religion. It is more damning than any scientific evidence flying in the face of myth. It is more damning than parts of the bible that we would find deplorable today. It is damning because this progress has occurred in spite of the power of religion and not because of it. It is damning to the world view that sees religion as the source of all that’s good and everything in conflict with that religion as evil and it is damning to all those who have based their lives on that worldview.

To reflect back on your original statement one last time:
Targelion said:
well, there is a god, and a heaven, and a hell. Satan is Constantly battling God, and Armageddon will soon occur.

and that pastafarian heaven is retarded.
Click to expand...

Without any divine beings, heavens, hells, or impending apocalypses, our world still exists. Our world can become like a hell, if we allow religious fanaticism to take control of it, or if we work hard, appreciate our world for all it is, while recognizing and trying to address the flaws in it, we can make our world more like a heaven.

Also, Pastafarian heaven rocks.



Sources for some of the statistics quoted:
http://opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110010695
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy
http://www.newsweek.com/id/135380
 
Re: Do u beleive in God?

well, there were many oracles and prophecies from the ancient world who predicted the end of the world in 2012. And literally all of the other things they prophesized happened as they said ot would. and I will not tell you why I believe it will happen during that year.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top