Religious Debates - come on in y'all!

[Khem]

Alright i would just like for someone to try and convince me that there is a god/afterlife/anything like that. i have no faith in such things and often have to defend my non-believing status. so i am giving you an open oportunity to try and convince me of having faith in "God".

come on give it your best shot!

[Of Crazed]

Who cares, if you don't believe in God, you just don't.  Religion is something that imo is a touchy subject, I personally don't like to talk about my religion, and often times when I see them debated on a forum they turn into a flame war of sorts.

One thing I will say is no one has the right to give you shit for your religion.

[Saletsia]

If ur already a staunch atheist, why bother?
If you're happy with it then be love with ti and be happy

[Khem]

oh thats the problem i am not happy with it. i am merely content with it and contentment is never good enough for me.

[Saletsia]

Then research on the faith of various religious group...though in essence do not forget that they are man-made and God is not bound to the image created by men.

And in my faith we got the 3 divine "virtues": faith, hope, love: with love being the greatest amongst three. If you love, you know God. Faith is secondary.

[Of Crazed]

Well there is no way to logically tell someone something to get them to believe in God.  For me starting to believe in God was a very personal moment for me.  Mind you I don't go to church, but I am not ashamed of that.

If your willing to search for a belief in God, I would say you will find it but only if you search in the right way.

[Saletsia]

Well there is no way to logically tell someone something to get them to believe in God.  For me starting to believe in God was a very personal moment for me.  Mind you I don't go to church, but I am not ashamed of that.

If your willing to search for a belief in God, I would say you will find it but only if you search in the right way.

Aye, the church can sometimes be the wrong place to look for..but if you're lucky, you got a priest who understands what religion should be about..and not some fundie nutcrack.

[Myroria]

There's no way to logically tell someone there is a God because God is not logical. As George Carlin put it...

"The Invisible Man in the Sky".

Go PUR. Challenge the absurdities of religion.

[Solnath]

And in my faith we got the 3 divine "virtues": faith, hope, love: with love being the greatest amongst three. If you love, you know God. Faith is secondary.

You don't need any God if you have faith, though.

Myro, the concept of the traditional father figure God is logical. Someone who protect and whom to blame.

Personally, I just turned the whole thing around until I found the right line. Created something that was greater than myself and realised it was me.

[Eientei]

There's no way to logically tell someone there is a God because God is not logical. As George Carlin put it...

"The Invisible Man in the Sky".

Go PUR. Challenge the absurdities of religion.

That's an oversimplified view of religious belief.  I have some sort of faith, but my idea of God isn't quite an "invisible man in the sky".  Maybe some religious types have that view of God, but I don't.

And PUR, sometimes contentment is the best we can do.  Doubts over issues like the existence of God or an afterlife, or lack thereof, are only human.  Maybe you can be happy being content in this case.

[Delfos]

Die Gottesformel...there is an invisible 'something', my best shot is Shiva's dance. You know, i don't like to say it, but i had a moment, inside an Evangelic camp. I don't believe in the christian god, and have reasons to hate Catholicism, yet, i believe in something, I'm not atheist, but i don't know what i am. I believe in Truth as omniscient, the closest thing i have to believe is in Buddhism. I wouldn't say i believe in Karma, but i believe the past and future influences the present, and saying so, i believe that past and future exist. Then gets more complicated if i try to bring scientific proofs into this thread, i don't think that's what you want.

I've studied religions on my own, if you understand a few you will see they all have similar concepts. It's not a problem of knowledge, it's not 'why the fuck do religions exist, there must be something in the sky'.

[Solnath]

I'd recommend looking at pantheistic faith systems, as they seem fairly logical to me from an atheistic point of view. Though personally I've abandoned my faith in science and this physical world. It might everything or it might not. So what?

[Khablan]

Spirituality and religion are different things.  They are related, but not the same at all.  Religion is an external organization, while spirituality is the individual heart-felt beliefs.  One can be very spiritual without being religious in the least.

Spirituality is something that every person has to find for themselves.  You have to search your heart for what you truly believe.  Other people can say things that might ring true, but in the end, they can only offer thoughts to ponder.

[Delfos]

i remember something funny for this topic, let me try to find the right words:
"If He is omnipotent, then He can create a rock so big that He can't pick it up. If He cannot make a rock like this, then He is not omnipotent. If He can make a rock so big He can't pick it up, then He isn't omnipotent either. Either way demonstrates that God cannot do something. Therefore God is not omnipotent. Therefore God does not exist."

there was another one about omniscient, but couldn't find it.
Some say Science is another religion.

[Allama]

Mama Khab says it best, as usual!  Though I'm a Christian, I don't consider myself "religious" as I don't believe that's what Jesus intended; I believe strongly in the importance of seeking faith personally and without the hindrance of 8,000,000 rules and bits of hierarchy.  I'm a very non-traditional Christian, clearly.

Christianity aside (I'm NOT starting that particular debate ), I think it would be very worthwhile for you to search yourself and your surroundings for faith in a higher power whether you discover it to be internal or external.  Hell, even if it confirms your atheism it will have been a learning experience and a positive affirmation.  Go PUR and may you find joy in whatever you discover and believe!