How sure are you of your belief/non-belief in a god?

[cheltenham_villa]

ill chuck my two pence in. I believe in god, dont go to church, not particularly interested in religion or debating it but i know that in times of trouble/distress that ive resorted to asking god for help. Just something i do, maybe its a comfort thing, i dont know. One thing i would say is that ive had a pretty decent life and all the things ive prayed about have worked out ok for me....make of that what you will. On this basis i dont believe that any new evidence either way would change my beliefs.

Of all the stupid ideas that religion is responsible for, praying is surely the msot stupid of all. Do you seriously believe that an omnipotent being decides on a seemingly random basis whether to intervene in the trivialities of human existence? So if he answers your prayer for a new job or to get well, why would he ignore those of people dying in Haiti or wherever? Seriously, think about it for a while.

Not claiming it as evidence, just offering my viewpoint. I dont sit every night and pray for a lottery win. When my son was born however, and he had breathing difficulties i found myself praying that he would get better. On that occassion, like many others it worked out well for me. Not saying it was a result of divine intervention but it was the only thing i could do and from that i took some small comfort. It was an instinctive thing and i believe it is something that millions of people around the world do. Was just trying to give an insight into what it is like to be a believer.

[ClaretMahoney]

Hahahahahahhahahahahaha I just had a brilliant idea.

Someone should make a TV show about the Off-Topic of VT.

Or maybe a podcast/audio show with different characters reading what everyone else writes.

[TheDon]

Yeah, put your faith in some divine being and not the team of doctors that were actually doing something about it.

If I was a doctor I would be seriously pissed off because the amount of times some made up being gets the thanks when you save someones life must be ridiculous.

[Risso]

ill chuck my two pence in. I believe in god, dont go to church, not particularly interested in religion or debating it but i know that in times of trouble/distress that ive resorted to asking god for help. Just something i do, maybe its a comfort thing, i dont know. One thing i would say is that ive had a pretty decent life and all the things ive prayed about have worked out ok for me....make of that what you will. On this basis i dont believe that any new evidence either way would change my beliefs.

Of all the stupid ideas that religion is responsible for, praying is surely the msot stupid of all. Do you seriously believe that an omnipotent being decides on a seemingly random basis whether to intervene in the trivialities of human existence? So if he answers your prayer for a new job or to get well, why would he ignore those of people dying in Haiti or wherever? Seriously, think about it for a while.

Not claiming it as evidence, just offering my viewpoint. I dont sit every night and pray for a lottery win. When my son was born however, and he had breathing difficulties i found myself praying that he would get better. On that occassion, like many others it worked out well for me. Not saying it was a result of divine intervention but it was the only thing i could do and from that i took some small comfort. It was an instinctive thing and i believe it is something that millions of people around the world do. Was just trying to give an insight into what it is like to be a believer.

I can understand the comforting feeling you get, but the reality is that the skill of the medical team, or your baby's lungs kicking in properly, or a whole host of other logical explanations were the real reason for him getting better.

[cheltenham_villa]

Yeah, put your faith in some divine being and not the team of doctors that were actually doing something about it.

If I was a doctor I would be seriously pissed off because the amount of times some made up being gets the thanks when you save someones life must be ridiculous.

obviously chose not to read this bit

Not saying it was a result of divine intervention but it was the only thing i could do and from that i took some small comfort.

[TheDon]

Yeah, put your faith in some divine being and not the team of doctors that were actually doing something about it.

If I was a doctor I would be seriously pissed off because the amount of times some made up being gets the thanks when you save someones life must be ridiculous.

obviously chose not to read this bit

Not saying it was a result of divine intervention but it was the only thing i could do and from that i took some small comfort.

Yet you're here retelling your experience of how when you've prayed it's all come good. Therefore you ARE attributing the result to your prayer, even when you say something like that. If you didn't think it was you wouldn't do it, and you wouldn't put it forward as evidence in a deity, especially in a statement that says "On this basis i dont believe that any new evidence either way would change my beliefs." With that one statement you're saying you prayed, it worked, so there's a God, and nothing can change that. Thereby directly attributing the result to the fact you prayed and not to the skill of the doctors involved.

Your statements are wholly inconsistent.

Sorry but this is the argument for the existence of god that angers me the most, because it cheapens the hard work done by the very skilled medical staff that are day in and day out saving lives. To take even 1% of the credit away from them is wrong. Not to mention that it results in stories like this.

[leviramsey]

Sorry but this is the argument for the existence of god that angers me the most, because it cheapens the hard work done by the very skilled medical staff that are day in and day out saving lives. To take even 1% of the credit away from them is wrong. Not to mention that it results in stories like this.

Would someone attributing their recovery to a placebo effect be likewise cheapening?

[mjmooney]

I'm both 3 and 4. I'm absolutely certain there is no god, but as the scientific method requires, I will change my mind if someone finds evidence. I voted 4.

How the hell did I miss this thread?

Anyway, I'm with Simon. I'm as hardcore an atheist as they come, but even Saint Dawkins concedes that it's not possible to be 100% sure.

So, 99.9%.

[paddy]

How the hell did I miss this thread?

It was probably divine intervention

[ClaretMahoney]

Heeeey sorry to dig this thread up y'all

Just found some interesting info at this website

"Only Russia (48%), USA (42%), South Africa (41%) and Egypt (25%) remained sceptical about the scientific evidence that exists to support Darwin’s theory.

The results also show that a significant proportion of those people surveyed in the USA, South Africa and India (43%) believe that all life on Earth, including human life, has always existed in its current form.

In all other countries, people in China (74%), Mexico (69%), Argentina (68%), Great Britain (63%) Russia, Spain (56%), and Egypt (52%) were of the view that more people thought that life on Earth, including human life, evolved over time either by a process guided by God or as a result of natural selection in which no God played a part."

Source: British Council

[Chindie]

It's terrifying that a superpower has that many stupid people.

[Risso]

It's terrifying that a superpower has that many stupid people.

Yep, with the obvious and notable exceptions of ClaretMahoney and Levi (and all their friends and family, and their friends and family's friends and family), Americans are pretty dumb.

[ClaretMahoney]

Grrrrrr.

[ClaretMahoney]

It's terrifying that a superpower has that many stupid people.

Yep, with the obvious and notable exceptions of ClaretMahoney and Levi (and all their friends and family, and their friends and family's friends and family), Americans are pretty dumb.

Yea yea yea, a whole nation of idiots, right? I guess that's why we are one of the most developed countries in areas of science, health research, space exploration, fast food consumption and gas usage......right....we're ALL morons.

And btw my mother is a practicing Lutheran, and plenty of my friends believe in God....sooo

yeah.

[Chindie]

2/5s of your nations doesn't believe in evolution.

To my mind, that makes you an idiot, no matter how developed your nation is, when a percantage that high thinks evolution is bupkiss, you're breeding oxygen stealers.

[kurtsimonw]

That USA stat does not surprise me in the slightest.

[ClaretMahoney]

Sorry Chindie but for me the evolution theory versus God theory just doesn't really matter as no one knows the complete truth.

And again it doesn't matter cause we're all gonna die anyways so meh, live and let live.

[ClaretMahoney]

And just something else I'd like to throw out there:

Placing all your eggs in the basket that believes the theory of evolution, carbon dating et al, is really no smarter than putting all your eggs in to the God and religion basket. Because really what is science besides a lot of theories backed up by theories.

[mjmooney]

And just something else I'd like to throw out there:

Placing all your eggs in the basket that believes the theory of evolution, carbon dating et al, is really no smarter than putting all your eggs in to the God and religion basket. Because really what is science besides a lot of theories backed up by theories.

Oh ferfuxsake. It is a lot of conclusions backed up by MASSIVE, OVERWHELMING, TESTED, RETESTED, AND TESTED AGAIN EVIDENCE.

Religion? Unfounded speculation based on some ancient manuscripts.

[Chindie]

And just something else I'd like to throw out there:

Placing all your eggs in the basket that believes the theory of evolution, carbon dating et al, is really no smarter than putting all your eggs in to the God and religion basket. Because really what is science besides a lot of theories backed up by theories.

Bullshit. You don't know what theory means in a scientific sense if you believe that.

Science evidences things. Religion does not.

I'd rather place my eggs in a provable basket than one that relies on a lack of proof and instead on an inherent 'trust' that the basket exists.