so you know what you believe, but do you know why?

[reddyraja]

if you believe in god, why? what compels you? it's something i've been trying to answer for myself these past few months. i'd like to hear some of your thoughts on this, it doesn't have to be long or complicated.

Comments

[lotus_faerie]

I guess for my part, I have two reasons. One, it makes things much easier to deal with if I think there is a rhyme and reason and that this is all ultimately illusion, anyway. Secondly, I feel the idea of the divine inside me; it's something I firmly believe is there, and I'm glad for it.

[reddyraja]

what is it exactly that you are feeling and why do you identify it as divine?

[lotus_faerie]

It's a feeling of being safe, taken care of, and loved, no matter what. I can't explain why it's divine; that's just how it feels.

[yourdadsvisa]

because of the physical evidence (the way our world is organized seems to me an indicator of an organizer).

[reddyraja]

couldn't that just be dismissed with the fact that humans are wired to see patterns where there aren't any? if you stare at a cloud long enough it will take some recognizable form.

[flyingcake]

After thinking about, I believe in the possibility of many gods, or even one god, and also the possibility of the one God. But I'm not convinced about the salvation piece. Having been raised Catholic, I don't buy into eternal life. Living on Earth itself is enough for me, and the promise of heaven shouldn't motivate me to be good. The examples of people like Jesus, or Buddha, or others, to me, are worth following, but not for gaining entry into heaven. They are simply fine examples of living life, unconditional to getting in somewhere.

[reddyraja]

you should study alternatives to heaven. the heaven you are talking about is a very simplistic concept that is used to teach christian children...even within christianity the idea of heaven is rich and multilayered. it's not simply a place you go to get "the good life"...it's so much more. also, it doesn't make sense that there would be a creator who does not have a promise of salvation in some form.

[flyingcake]

But why doesn't it make sense that there could be a creator that does NOT have a promise of salvation in some form?

[brianrdu]

All I have to do is ponder the universe for a bit and I just feel it's something we can't possibly understand. Does it end, somewhere? Is it contained by something? How did it start? What was it before it became what we know as the universe? I wonder about souls and karma and reincarnation as well. I think this idea of a white guy up there on fluffy clouds with angels singing...that kind of thing is just crap to me. No, I think it's all incomprehensible to us. I do think there is a higher power and that I speak to it in my own way...it has a face in my mind (sort of) and maybe I feel there are communications, but I look at it in computer terms...some sort of abstraction layer is there that I can understand, but beyond that, I'm not meant to.

[reddyraja]

the idea of a white guy sitting on fluffy clouds is just fanciful imagination...just like any attempt to give god form. it helps us focus our thoughts but it isn't the actual reality.

anyway, you said what you think but you still didn't say why.

[laozi]

For me, believing in god is no different than believing in the computer screen I'm staring at right now. Every single method that we have of understanding reality eventually brings us around to infinity and paradox: division carried to the extreme ultimately brings us face to face with subatomic particles that behave in a non-localized manner unless they're being observed (or perhaps more properly, interacted with), not to mention that quantum particles have been demonstrated to appear and disappear in a vacuum. Meanwhile our attempts at mapping the universe inevitably turn into abstract notions of saddle-shapes and mobius strips. Our most popular scientific story of universal origins (the big bang) requires a gravitational singularity at its earliest (non)point in time. And on and on it goes. The infinite and transcendent is an inescapable part of any attempt at devoloping a holistic understanding of reality. I sometimes use the word "God" to refer to that infinite aspect of reality that defies description, just because I have no

[fire_fly]

Wow, that was a really interesting response.

Not sure how to answer, for my own part. I'm at a point in time where my faith about the nature of divinity is all but gone, but I do think there's some measure of transcendence to be gained, even if there's no transcendent being organising it.

[reddyraja]

you're so buddhist :)

[reddyraja]

this is really interesting. do you have a scientific source for the disappearance/appearance of the quantum particles? i'd like to read about it more.

is god more of a rational or emotional experience for you?