Is it bad to believe in god?

IS it bad to believe in God.

  • Total voters
    30
Mr. Hamtastic said:
MW-I would suggest that you are just disillusioned. That you based your faith in people and not God was disheartening, I'm sure. Humans are not God, not even near to God. We as believers must place our faith in God, and not in man. Man will always let you down. You know what else I believe, MW? You don't get the choice. Like a child, tugging against his parent. You tug against God with all your strength. Yet, God is there, holding your hand firmly. God will protect you in spite of yourself, MW. Once saved, always saved. Like it or not, I think we'll be hanging out in Heaven. Will you feel silly, then? I hope not. I hope you feel loved. I hope and pray that you will find happiness with God, and that you will return to your faith.
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M*W: I had faith in god and in Jesus and the whole idea of the trinity. I understood it, I taught it for a number of years to teenagers and adults. I lived it. To be honest, I've never had that kind of faith in man (figuratively, speaking). I truly believed I was saved and, in fact, I still believe I am saved, strange as that may sound, the only difference in my salvation is what I was saved from--religion. If such a thing happens that I end up in a place called 'heaven,' then I'll deal with it. In the meantime, I just don't plan to go there, because I cannot fathom such a place. Actually, I'm a very happy person who has lived long and loved well. I choose to find happiness in this lifetime and, so far, I have. The mainstay of my 'faith' is in my family. They are the god I believe in.
 
Medicine*Woman said:
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M*W: I had faith in god and in Jesus and the whole idea of the trinity. I understood it, I taught it for a number of years to teenagers and adults. I lived it. To be honest, I've never had that kind of faith in man (figuratively, speaking). I truly believed I was saved and, in fact, I still believe I am saved, strange as that may sound, the only difference in my salvation is what I was saved from--religion. If such a thing happens that I end up in a place called 'heaven,' then I'll deal with it. In the meantime, I just don't plan to go there, because I cannot fathom such a place. Actually, I'm a very happy person who has lived long and loved well. I choose to find happiness in this lifetime and, so far, I have. The mainstay of my 'faith' is in my family. They are the god I believe in.
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Oh...so all of your anger is actually shame?
 
CheskiChips said:
Oh...so all of your anger is actually shame?
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M*W: Shame? Where do you deduce that? Perhaps you think I should feel shame, but I don't have any reason to feel shame and I'm not angry in the least. I'm relieved of the facade that is christianity.
 
MW-Then why do you point to man's failings as evidence that christianity is "a facade". I was raised baptist, myself, and the ins and outs of being baptism seemed like a sham to me. I came to understand, however, that christianity is not the ritual religion would have us believe. Christianity is not only faith in God, but a personal relationship with Him.
 
Mr. Hamtastic said:
MW-Then why do you point to man's failings as evidence that christianity is "a facade". I was raised baptist, myself, and the ins and outs of being baptism seemed like a sham to me. I came to understand, however, that christianity is not the ritual religion would have us believe. Christianity is not only faith in God, but a personal relationship with Him.
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M*W: I have never referred to "man's failings" that I can recall. We're human. I don't expect perfection. I'm not sure I understand what you're talking about here. Please remind me.

Roman catholicism has its rituals, but so do Protestant churches. It's all ritual. That's what makes it keep going. It's a familiar comfort zone. Why do Protestant churches always repeat "The Lord's Prayer?" Why do they have an offering? Why do they always ask you to come up and accept Jesus as savior? Why do they have hymns? It's all ritual. That's what gives us humans a comfort zone. Look at our lives outside of religion. Monday Night Football, the evening news, dinner time, mowing the grass, watering plants, feeding the pets, bedtime, writing on SciForums. It's all ritual. Perhaps humans can't live without ritual. Perhaps that's what keeps us civilized. Even so, I don't find a need for the ritual of religion.
 
EmptyForceOfChi said:
Is it bad to believe in God? simple question yes or no.
We are talking about having faith in God, not following a set of rules and scriptures.
Is it a bad thing?.
peace.
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As long as that belief, is not a delusional hallucinogenic type belief, that involves one on one seeing and talking to an imaginary creature, as then it becomes dangerous in the extreme.
 
By your own statement, God doesn't always let you down. Your lack of belief lets you down. The person who believes it's their lucky rabbit's foot probably does not feel that their lucky rabbit's foot lets them down.
 
Mr. Hamtastic said:
By your own statement, God doesn't always let you down. Your lack of belief lets you down. The person who believes it's their lucky rabbit's foot probably does not feel that their lucky rabbit's foot lets them down.
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The word YOU in the above refers to me. The word YOU in my post refers to you. I never said god lets me down. I said god lets YOU down.
How people feel doesn't affect truth, only their perception.
 
StrangerInAStrangeLa said:
The word YOU in the above refers to me. The word YOU in my post refers to you. I never said god lets me down. I said god lets YOU down.
How people feel doesn't affect truth, only their perception.
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God has not let me down. I was assuming you were making one of your one-lined witticisms, suggesting that the you that you were talking about was everyone. I thought this because of your use of the word always preceding it. I knew that this statement was false, thus I sought to correct you.

Do you have any examples of objective truths you would like to share. I think we can agree that there are many to be found in mathematics. I would suggest that whatever one perceives, that is the truth to that one. Thus, feelings absolutely influence truth. If you mean something else, try to be a bit more precise.
 
I say you to mean you not everyone. You doesn't mean everyone, it means you.
You don't know the statement is false. Anything you don't know exists has to be a letdown. You can have faith but you don't know any god exists or what it's like if it does exist or what it wants.
Perception isn't truth. "Truth" TO any 1 person isn't truth. Color blind people see 2 cats as red while I see 1 as yellow & 1 as orange. 1 or both are wrong. They're not both true.
 
It's neither bad nor good to believe in God. It's what you do with those beliefs that is important.
 
EmptyForceofChi said:
But you can never observe a persons thoughts, so when a loved one tells you what they are thinking and you trust them, it is faith based.

Also there is no proof that they have stayed faithful even if you have not observed it in the past, they may just be good at covering up trcks, yet you trust they are truthfull.
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I would surmise, based on your post, that for you, being a "believer in God" means you can trust something, since you so obviously have no faith in your own ability to read people or understand them.
 
To answer the OP,

I don't believe that a belief in a god is an inherently bad thing. After all, there are plenty of different religions out there that are a lot less vile than the Abrahamic ones. Still, I think it would be best not to believe. I think religion generally tethers us to outdated dogmas, and unfortunately, you can't really separate the dogma from the faith. Religion also makes us less accepting as a society, and often the religious groups are the last ones left fighting against positive societal change.

So no, faith is not necessarily a bad thing, but it's a very slippery slope.
 
God always answers prayer. The answer can be 'no'.
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Amusingly perhaps, but so does my cup of tea. Unfortunately that is the problem with the old yes/no/later scenario - it counts for everything, from gods to baked beans. Seriously, ask your tin of baked beans for something. The answer will be yes/no or later.

I think we should have a contest. You ask god for stuff, I'll ask my cup of tea for stuff. Work out the success rate and we'll meet back here in a week.
 
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