You don't believe in god.

[flobadob]

I mean if you sit back and actually think about it, surely you don't really believe in god. Sit back now, think about god. Think. Think a little more about him. Now tell me, do you actually think he is there? Honestly.

[flobadob]

Yeah welsh, but just because you go to mass and stuff doesn't necessarily mean you believe in God. As you say, just go for the social aspect.

[keyplus90]

So did you really look into any other religion of belief apart from Christianity or you just made your mind up that every thing is same?

[flobadob]

No, I didn't look into any other religion. I'm basing everything on the fact that I cannot believe in a conscious entity existing outside of this world but which is watching over us.

[keyplus90]

Fair enough, but not much open mind then is it?

[Calibax]

I would have thought that every God-fearing person who has ever lived has prayed for world peace (or at least peace in the region they knew about in antiquity).
Not much of of a track record is it?

[RATTER15]

I know exactly what you are saying flobadob, This same question has puzzled me for years. The trouble is that these people cannot even consider that a god doesn't exist.

Ive asked so many people why they believe in God, the answers are generally along the lines of:

My parents always believed so I do!

The Bible says so!

And these people are often intelligent people but they actually really have no idea why they believe and they don't see why anybody should doubt the existence of God!!!

When one man hears voices they call him schizophrenic, when many men hear voices, they call it religion!!

Why would anybody love these so called Gods, they do absolutely nothing for anybody except cause misery and death across the world.

Why do people have to pray to God to ask that God to do something, isn't that just another form of begging, why do you need to beg, cant this God do good things without the need to beg?

He has apparently performed miracles and made the sick and dying well again!!
When did this God every re-grow and amputated limb of an innocent child, maybe God really does hate amputees!!!

And the deeper these people get entreched into these Gods the more evil they become!

[Tuddypat]

// Surely no deity would be so egotistical that they needed your praise all the time. //

You'd think not wouldn't you Old_Geezer, but we don't really know. Deities are pretty mysterious characters - they never really give clear instructions. They mostly leave it to humans to speak on their behalf.

The bible for example is full of contradictions. The god in there seems quite nasty - petulant, vengeful, vain, violent - or maybe he's being misrepresented by the people who wrote the book. Impossible to tell.

[flobadob]

keyplus, have you considered that there may be no God? I feel I do have an open mind, and all arguments lead me to my conclusion with no argument against except to just believe for belief's sake, which I cannot adhere to.

So now I am asking you can you sit back, take in different people's arguments and consider a world were God doesn't exist, or consider the possibility that it is a fact that he doesn't exist?

[jomifl]

Keyplus ..would you care to enlighten us atheists and actually take us through the chain of unassailable logic that led you to believe in god then choose islam as your preferred religion or was it that your parents were muslim and you really had no choice short of going directly to paradise?

[keyplus90]

Flobadob – Yes I have done that. Not once but many times. But in the end I believed that there is God. So why don’t you do one thing. Just sit back sometimes, with open mind and say,
“Oh God if you do exist then please guide me to the right path”
Its just one simple phrase. By saying that you have not started believing God because you are clearly saying “If you exist”, but you have open another door in your open mind. Now once you have done that then wait and see if God guides you (surely he would not come and stand in front of You) through the signs which you would find acceptable and very logical. However if God does not guide you then you have nothing to lose.

Jomifl – Yes you are right I was born in a Muslim family and I was a Muslim because of my parents until I was about 20 years old. But then I started looking into other possibilities, including other religions and no religion at all. Now I am not Muslim only because my parents were Muslims. I have more reasons to believe in God now than ever.

[DTCwordfan]

maybe both Zeus and God died?

[jomifl]

Hi Keyplus.. you did not mean to say that you are not a muslim because your parents were, did you?

[seadogg]

Odd that Jesus Christ hasn't been mentioned as he is surely the cornerstone for belief in the God of Abraham.

[keyplus90]

Jomifl - I don't really know what you mean by that but what I said was that Anyone could be right saying to me that I was only Muslim because I was born in a Muslim family. But only thing I would add into that is that it was true until I myself read about other religions. Now if someone believes that I am only Muslim because my parents were Muslim then it would be wrong as I myself have looked upon other things and I am satisfied with what I am.

[flobadob]

I don't know keyplus, don't think I'd feel right doing that and I wouldn't have any notion who I'd be interacting with. I have a sense that nature could have some sort of dimension that we cannot yet understand. But a man watching over us, I don't think so. keyplus, do you think of God as a man, or as a mind, or how do you view Him?

By the by, I have an english version of the Koran in my bedside locker for the last year or so but I haven't gotten round to reading it, just the foreword about how complicated it is to translate and follow, when translated. But it is on my to-do list.

[jomifl]

Keyplus ...your previous answer was a bit ambiguous, I just wanted clarification that you do indeed have the same religion as your parents. As do most people, which proves that once indoctrinated into a religion most people do not have the ability or freedom of thought to go back to basics and make clear choices for themselves as their thinking is influenced by issues such as fear and guilt.

[RATTER15]

Jomifle, that is exactly the problem, once indoctrinated into most religions, you rarely have a truly open mind again, especially with such strict religions like Islam.

[Katie~77]

......yep, still believe there is a God.

[keyplus90]

Flobadob – No I don’t believe that there is a man with white beard overlooking us. That is Christian thing. Muslims do not believe that. I believe God something as spirit. But even that is a human guess otherwise God is like something we can’t compare with anything we know as human. In fact what God is, Quran sums it up perfectly in chapter 112. 4th verse (below) talks about what I mentioned.
1. Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;
2. Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;
3. He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;
4. And there is none like unto Him.
If you have Quran then I can only ask you to read it. Translation of Quran has two aspects. About 90% of it is straight forward as Quran is the only religious book where the original language is still in use as it was 1400 year ago. Remaining 10% is the most difficult to translate as that talks about things that no one knew then and few are still the talks of future so people can only translate according to the knowledge available. But if you really want to read then Abdullah Yusuf Ali Translation is considered the most reliable. But you do need commentary (explanation) as well because only translation is just not enough sometime.

Jomifl- Then I understood what you meant perfectly. But that is what I said. I don’t feel myself to be Muslim only because of indoctrination from my parents. Since I looked into all other religions and then compared these with Islam and found Islam better than any other option. You may not agree and still believe that my faith is due to my parents, but that is your opinion.

[jomifl]

Hi Keyplus I think the issue is not deciding which is the best or most suitable religion because if there is a god and you believe in it then what religion you have is irrelevant as god apparently has not recommended any particular one. The issue is whether or not there is a god. It is not necessary to read and compare countless religious tracts to decide whether or not god exists, all that is required is a few steps of simple logic. If you have decided that god doesn't exist then what is or isn't written in the Bible,Koran or any other religious text is not significant. I can understand that if someone has spent a good part of their life reading and learning religious texts it would be difficult to admit that it was all pointless but if it is pointless the believing otherwise does not alter the facts. You must agree that millions of people have wasted an awful lot of time following religions which are unjustifiable, but then perhaps they all are.