Do you believe in God?

[darunzahn]

I don't believe in any of the well known deities, especially the Judeo-Christian God. "I was raised Catholic until I reached the age of reason." is a George Carlin quote that fits well for me. I applaud many of the altruistic philosophies of many religions, but I think true ethics are not spawned from fear of a punishment or promise of a prize.

I've never cared much for blind faith anyway.

[MisterTinkles]

Ive never seen any proof that there is ANY type of "god" out there...anywhere.

[ThatRobGuy]

I echo SolemnBoy's beliefs.

I don't claim to know for certain that there is no God, but I do not personally believe in one. If there is one, then I'll be damned... literally!

[Pix]

Anyone want to play Pascal's Roulette?

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyath...-roulette/

[SolemnBoy]

Oh, I've heard the whole "believing in God - nothing to lose, everything to gain" argument before. The problem is, you either believe or you don't. Even if you started "believing" just because of the aforementioned argument it would be a shallow kind of belief that only origins from an "if there is an afterlife, I want to end up on the good side!" mentality.

Shouldn't God, an omnipotent divine being, be able to see through that? o.O

[quixote87]

Oh, I've heard the whole "believing in God - nothing to lose, everything to gain" argument before. The problem is, you either believe or you don't. Even if you started "believing" just because of the aforementioned argument it would be a shallow kind of belief that only origins from an "if there is an afterlife, I want to end up on the good side!" mentality.

Shouldn't God, an omnipotent divine being, be able to see through that? o.O

I totally agree with this I am not a fan when religious friends tell me I should believe just because its better safe than sorry...

[takopako]

im not very religious at all...im interesting in religion as a study and the effects it has on people, but as far as fact goes, science is what i like to reference. XD

[Lilitu]

I totally agree with this I am not a fan when religious friends tell me I should believe just because its better safe than sorry...

I don't like the idea of reducing faith down to a game of chance and bets either.

[Beaux]

I grew up SURROUNDED by people who wanted me to mirror their religous convictions. My mother is Jewish, my father is Catholic, and I spent my youth in the Middle East with Muslims.
I watched for years as one religon attacked other religions, I watched while various churches attacked churches of other dominations, and I have watched while virtually ALL OF THEM attacked gay people.
I am a Biologist, and I am afraid that religon doesn't look kindly on critical thinking.

[SolemnBoy]

I grew up SURROUNDED by people who wanted me to mirror their religous convictions. My mother is Jewish, my father is Catholic, and I spent my youth in the Middle East with Muslims.
I watched for years as one religon attacked other religions, I watched while various churches attacked churches of other dominations, and I have watched while virtually ALL OF THEM attacked gay people.
I am a Biologist, and I am afraid that religon doesn't look kindly on critical thinking.

Most of the time anyways. Lots of religious people admit that there's no logical evidence for a God but choose to believe anyways because they "instinctively" feel like that's the case. As long as some atheist does not attack their belief they are unlikely to attack others. Although, I do admit that religion sometimes scares me - but that's probably because the 11 year old me knew that any hypothetical God would hate him for his sexual preferences