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Libby1978
member
I believe in one less "God" than you....
Libby1978
member
As I expressed in emilydholmes1 thread I am atheist. So, I literally believe in one less god than you (the general you).
So, I guess my question is more for those of you that do believe in a god. There are many religions, with many different beliefs and many different gods. How do you know you worship the "right" god?
This is not intended to offend anyone. I respect the beliefs of everyone and would never put down on others for their beliefs. I'm simply posing the question to get everyone thinking.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: I believe in one less "God" than you....
Hm. Never thought about it like that.
That's really all there is to it. "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" Hebrews 11:1. Now I for sure sound like a total Christian zealot.
That's an interesting point of view. I guess it's safe to say you are not of the opinion that everyone that does not share your beliefs will go to hell.
I agree. And I hope that when I die, if I am wrong about my way being the right way, whoever is the 'true' God will look upon me and know that I lived my life according to a moral code that may or may not be this God's but still 'good' and allow me into Heaven (or whatever comes next).
Yes, I think this is the general answer. If that answer is enough for someone that is great, but I guess I would need a more concrete answer to believe. Maybe an answer that doesn't come from the holy book of that particular religion.
Well, my "belief" is in a higher being called God. So, yes, on some level I believe those who do not believe in him will not go to heaven (that does exclude people who never had the chance to learn about him like children, people who would have some severe mental diagnosis, cultures that haven't been exposed to God).
But, I don't think there is a "right" type of believing in him. I think if you believe in him and you are a "good" person, you will go to heaven. But, terms like "good" are relative.
Generally I believe religion is man-made and flawed. But, God, being "other" made is not flawed.
All about faith.
I totally know where you're coming from here. I was raised in church my whole life. My dad is a minister. And I had a very difficult time overcoming all the things that I was taught as a child. Even when I really didn't believe I had a hard time saying it out loud. My parents still don't know how I feel!
I cannot possibly fully explain the depth of my faith in a post. However, in short, I believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God. Therefore, if I abide by what is found therein, then I feel I am following God's Word. This is how I know I worship the "right" God.
Big brother and sister are excited to meet the new baby! It's a GIRL!
~ G ~ 10/2008
~ E ~ 7/2010
I believe I worship the "right" God because I don't have fundamental questions about my religion that keep me up at night. I'm at peace with the foundations of my religion and my faith keeps me going. I believe that this world could not have been created by a human like me, and it did not just appear out of nowhere-- God created it.
To me, nature and humans are proof of God's existence and His ultimate power. Whether I'm admiring a beautiful tree or ocean, or am in awe of the power of a natural disaster such as an earthquake, I always think that this is God's power; there is no way I can believe it's man-made or just exploded into being.
Please do not take this as an attack on your religion, just a general question, but people fundamentally believed the Earth was flat at one time too. They were adamant and some had no desire question whether they might be wrong or not. But it turned out that they were wrong. It's things like that that make me question.
I am Catholic, but as far as the world goes, I believe this. Judaism and Christianity are openly worhsipping the same overall god, just differing on whether he has been present upon the earth.
Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. all worship gods that represent the fundamental pieces of a Judeo-Christian god, so who am I to say that all religions didn't start with the same one God and fell victim to various people's interpretations?
first, i would say that this question would need to be reworded for polytheists. you could be believing in rather a lot of gods if you aren't careful.
second, i have a question. i'm an agnostic. i honestly don't know if god exists. as an atheist, why do you feel you have to identify as believing in anything? why don't you identify as what you are instead of what you are not? and i don't mean to offend you with the question, it's just something i've always wondered.
I believe there is one God, just different religions view/name Him differently or as multiple entities.
Why? Did I offend you in some way, or do you just not click with my personality?
Wow! Very interesting view! I also have a hard time believing that a being can show mercy and send you to eternal damnation at the same time.
this is interesting. the most compelling description i ever heard of an afterlife came from an episode of art bell (wait, don't laugh! it's really pretty good!)... "heaven" as we understand it, is nearness to god. if you are a nice person, kind, not self-centered etc... you get to be near god with all the other decent folk. if you are a jerk, you are way the heck away from god, with all the other jerks. and that is hell.
i don't know, that sounds very reasonable to me. it makes more sense than following an arbitrary set of rules from a magic book that mutually excludes most if not all of the other sets of rules from magic books.
i had the impression that agnostics weren't faithful... what made you decide to call yourself one?
Deal. Let's agree to disagree on everything except God/religion/spirituality. How many people in the world can say that?!
Not offended in the least. I think I understand what you are asking. Why wouldn't I just say I don't know one way or another? I use to feel this way, but at some point I realized I truly do not believe in a higher power. So to say I'm agnostic would be incorrect. I'm not sure if that's the answer you are looking for.
I totally agree with your comment about polytheists. I guess my question is more for the one god people.
Faith.
look at the birds | bless this food
It's funny you should say that because the man who married DH and me (he went to seminary, but he doesn't have a church yet, if that makes sense) explained heaven and hell to me in just those terms. He said that heaven and hell were more of a "thought" and that it was about closeness. Those who went to hell would be in hell because they would never be close or have/know the love of God. It makes more sense to me than some mystical brimstone/fire place.
Thanks for this! I couldn't have said it better myself. I have always been at a loss for words to describe what I believe:)
oh i'm not trying to convince you you're an agnostic... i just wonder why anyone would say "hi, i'm libby the atheist!" as opposed to "hi, i'm libby the mechanic or the sahm or whatever." why choose to identify yourself through something that (imho) says very little about any beliefs or ideas you do like? or... what does it say?
hope that clarifies!
Ahh..I understand what you are asking. In general I don't go around telling people I'm atheist. Only when the conversation calls for it. Like if we are talking religion. It's definitely not part of my introduction!
Agree and agree!! You should ALWAYS question!!!!
No offense taken. My wording may have conveyed something other than what I meant. I definitely believe that people should question what they are being told and taught about religion/God. If they just "accept" that there are things that are too difficult for us humans to understand, then I believe they are doing themselves a disservice.
I was saying that I personally would not be comfortable subscribing to a religion where I didn't fully grasp the foundations of it... where I had big questions about it in my mind that were not answered. And I think many people today are like this. While they have lots of questions, they don't take the time to pursue answers and might just take the easy way out by accepting whatever is the convention.
And just because I'm at peace with the foundations of my religion, does not mean that I don't question certain aspects of it or other things in life...
I hope that makes sense
I am a late joiner to this post, but I have something I would like to hear your opinions on:
My son almost died in utero. He came out, and began seizing 6 hours later. He had a blood clot in his arm that rendered it painful and useless. He had kidney, liver and brain damage. He was vented, pumped full of meds, given a spinal tap, and countless other blood draws, pokes, tests, etc. He was in the NICU for almost a month. He has made a great recovery and we are very happy about that, but he is still at long term risk for some very serious issues.
So here is my question: if God has the power to heal, why does he let things like this happen in the first place? And if God does not cause pain like this, then are Gods powers limited? Does he let bad things happen to teach a lesson? And what lesson was this? And if God heals, WHY would he let babies die or suffer so much? Does he choose who to heal? Do you have to be a good person or Christian? And if so, then why do I know many stories of totally faithful and wonderful people who have lost children? What is the purpose of that?
These are honest questions. After this ordeal, both my husband and I stopped believing in God.
So then why does he not save the babies of people who are way more faithful than I was? How does he pick and choose?
Again, this is NOT meant to be snarky. I am sad for my "loss" of faith, but I just can't wrap my brain around it anymore.