What Are Your Beliefs About God / Higher Power?

[batgirl]

There has been a fair bit of talk about God on the forum lately, so I thought I'd ask about people's beliefs on the matter. Personally, I am an agnostic, though I do attend church with my family now. It's moreso an outing though, it makes my family happy, and I find the atmosphere of church relaxing. In case anyone doesn't know the difference, an agnostic is someone who believes the existence of God cannot be proved one way or another, whereas an atheist is someone who absolutely believes God does not exist. Oh, and I didn't include a whole bunch of options either, like whether you believe in God in the traditional sense, whether you go to church or not, or whether you are simply spiritual and not religious, etc. I figured that was just too complicated, and if people want to elaborate here they can.

[hodge]

I believe in a god, though I also consider myself agnostic about it, since I really don't know who or what it is and have not found enough satisfactory answers for myself in the various religions I've explored. Basically, I believe we really can't know, in the empirical sense (hence, faith). But I personally do believe in a god of some sort because I've had experiences and personal insights which convince me that there is a larger Intelligence or Soul or Something.

[batgirl]

Actually I've had those experiences too, I relate to what you're saying, maybe I should have voted I believed too! ;) Oh well, I do think I am an agnostic basically though. I don't make any claims one way or another, basically I sit on the fence.

[hodge]

Hmm, well, maybe you could add an option like, I think there's a God but I'm agnostic about it, or something. Or, I'm agnostic, but I feel there is a God. I don't know. This is tricky :) Maybe just let people elaborate if they want as you originally said.

[grace5555]

Even though "God" was used as a tool against me in severe ways, I believe there is a God who is nothing like I was shown He was - if that makes any sense.

Grace

[kers]

I'm an atheist, and I was raised that way. At some very difficult times in my life I have wished that I did believe in a higher power, but I just don't have that belief. It's not in me. At varying times I have considered myself a Buddhist, however, I feel very uncomfortable with veneration of anyone or anything.

[SoloJade]

I am an atheist, I strongly believe that there is no god or higher power.

[ruddy]

I voted as atheist because that is probably closest to my belief. I rarely refer to myself as an atheist because I'm not really that sure. I guess I'm also afraid of insulting people who are devout by making a proclamation that there is no god. I never refer to myself as agnostic because that implies (to some) that I am looking for answers. (I don't want to be converted.) I believe that the manner in which we conduct ourselves in society is what matters most.

[hollyberry]

I believe in the father, the son, and the holy spirit....I believe that God is alive and if we believe in him, his holy spirit can fill our hearts and we can feel great peace...I believe that God uses his believers and maybe some of the non-believers to help us with our struggles here on earth.

[mightsurvive]

Hiya
I do think theres a God / higher power but i dont think it can actually be proven. Lord knows ive asked for signs but none have come. Not sure that God can give me what i need - hope he can.

[2quilt]

I am Atheist, Humanist, and I belong to a group called the Ethical Society.
I was raised in a strict Southern Baptist church, which may explain why I am now Atheist. Ha Ha. I believe in "Just Be Nice." The people who don't believe in equality for all people, no matter what your color or gender or whom you marry, really bother me. I have a hard time tolerating intolerance.
I believe that dieties were created by humans the same way as Santa Claus was, just a story to tell, "You'd better watch out, You'd better not cry, Jesus Christ is coming back some day. He's making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who's naughty or nice." Think about it. Both stories offer a reward if you behave a certain way for a specific time period. Both are just stories written by human beings. The difference is that along about 6 or 7 years old, we begin to realize that Santa is not real, but the adults still push the deity story.

[marc69]

I believe that we are all smaller parts of a unified whole. We are in God, and He's in us - we are One! We are all "little" Gods / Higher Power / Buddhas - the difficult part is realizing it. :)

[mightsurvive]

Hi i hear what you are saying and i know you are right. There is goodness in most of us. i also believe there are "little" devils out there too. Some people have no godliness in them whatsoever and are just pure evil. Luckily there are an awful lot more of us than them. Its the old good versus evil thing for me. A difficult fight. There is so much goodness in the world but also too much cruelty. I dont mean to infer that you are wrong - not at all - so plese dont take thia the wrong way. i just see it from a different perspective i guess. We all have our own unique slant on life and that is a healthy and good thing. I'm sure that in your career you have seen too much of that evil and im sorry you have. Take care

[WorkingThruIt]

I am a devout atheist, if there is such a thing. I was raised Protestant. My parents sent me to a Southern Baptist school for high school and I hated every minute of it. I tried to get expelled a few times. Listening to them drone on and on about how everyone but Baptists were going to hell got old very fast. It has given me a very bad opinion of religion in general. The fact that I am lesbian doesn't really help too much, since I have gone toe to toe with a few hate-spewing Christians at protests/demonstrations.

Some people can hold faith in the most graceful ways and I have the deepest respect for them and others seem to use it as a way of feeling better than someone else.

[lrs]

I was raised in church, and I have always believed in God.
I might be a bit unusual among those do believe in God.
I don't believe in hell ( the afterlife variety - with fire, brimstone, and pitchforks ) and I haven't since I was about 12.

[SoloJade]

In the Jewish religion, there is no hell, but there is a god and heaven.

[Grama-Herc]

The miracles and blessing given to me over the pass few years have proven to me that there is a God or a higher power. It has also be proven to me that there is a plan for my life and I can chose to follow it or not. But the blessing come when I let that plan work and not fight it.

About 2 years ago I went to church with Mom--been a very long time since last visit! Had what I thought was a panic attack but while in the middle of it I cryed out "Oh God help me" and I have had only blessing ever since.

[coolgirl]

I believe 100% in God and Jesus. The God described in the King James Bible.

[LostInTheFog]

God has been absolutely proven to me many times, I have witnessed so many miracles, one of the greatest being the complete filling of my heart with His love. When you receive that, you know it with no doubt. I started rather late on my spiritual walk, and am moving along at my own pace. I was baptized in the Atlantic ocean, and that was one amazing experience, as I have always felt one with the ocean. It has always exemplified God's awesome power and glory to me. The tide never EVER stops, and the breeze always blows, breathing life into me. I feel its thunder under my feet [or butt!]

I often wonder how folks get through life without anything to hold on to, to believe in and be grounded, when there is no one or nothing else there. No one to hand your burdens to. What a relief that is, to know that someone will take your every worry and trouble and entrust that it will be taken care of. Maybe not always the way I would choose, but always a way and reason I can understand that is right. But that is a very hard thing to do, to have that kind of trust, esp. for 'us'. I realize that. WE do not want to let go of our burdens, to let anyone else shoulder them. Faith is a journey. Those of you that got involved and turned off by 'odd' churches, I completely understand.

My son has a saying I love - "I hate religion, I love Jesus Christ". Jesus himself warned to beware of 'religious types'.

[Chissi]

I believe in God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. With what I've been through in my life as a young child though adulthood, I'd be dead if I hadn't had a loving, holy, Father to take care of me through thick and thin, even when I feel He is not there, I have been in the palm of His hand.

One way I can see Him is that I write "letters to God" and keep them in a spiral notebook. I can go back read my requests and they have all been answered. Sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes wait, but they are all answered to my good.

Chissi

Chissi

[morgan]

When I believed in God I was pissed. I thought He let way too much misery and suffering into my life. Then I finally decided that there probably isn't even a God so, why waste my energy being pissed at someone I don't even believe in? I do believe in Spirituality though. I believe in being truly loving, kind, thoughtful and helpful and that is my way of being spiritual.

[linasmom]

My husband and I are both atheists. I was raised Catholic and was a firm atheist by the age of 18.

[TDurden1937]

I know ya didn't ask for a debate but the times call for it so . . .

Some of you know me by now, even though I've been a member of this forum only since 2/12/08 or 12/0208 for those of you who write the date backwards like in Europe and the like. Man has it only been four days? I consider myself hard headed, critical, and I'm not convinced of nothin' 'till I've seen and heard all the evidence.


I'm a downright outright full blown radicalized fundamentalist Christian. Now before you go throwing up your defenses and stereotyping me, let me explain. I got “Saved” when I was 15 by a traveling hell and brimstone Southern Baptist preacher. And let me tell you, while I've strayed from the path, and come back in a vengeance, I know every reason there is to not be convinced that God is here and here to stay . . . 'cause I've used them.


Bein' a “Christian” I don't look down my nose at no one. People have the right to be as wrong as they want or right as they want. This is the good old US of A which I love, and that there is what it is. And I'll defend the right of anyone to be heard hearted, misguided, and down right wedded to their materialistic self-serving life style.


Now when I say fundamentalist you right away got the wrong impression .. . . didn't ya. Because I don't trust any of those movements most would call fundamentalist. What I mean is the fundamental words of Jesus. Which are love they neighbor as you love yourself, and do for your neighbor as you would want done to yourself. I don't usually go to church 'cause most of its make nice, say the right things, don't step on anyones toes, don't criticizes the preacher and just listen to the sermon. BS.


Now, ya'll don't think there's proof of God. Wrong. C.S. Lewis gives the tightest logical proof of God I've seen. Go to http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ and get a copy of The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classic.

Ya'll don't like God 'cause he lets bad things happen: Isn't him doin' it. Free will of man/woman. If we didn't have free will, we'd be machines, not humans, punching out happy buttons all day, all night. Got to have free will. At http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ look for the Lee Strobel series, especially The Case for the Real Jesus The Case for a Creator : A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence That Points Toward God.


Think there's no evidence for the existence of God: wrong again. New Testament is acclaimed by almost every historian as the most accurate history of the ancient world. Got the word of people just like you and me that they saw what He did and are they lying? At http://www.bakerbooks.com look up Why I am a Christian.


Think ya can make it by just being good: nope . . . that stopped when He came to earth. Got to accept him as your savior.


Think science contradicts God; nope . . . wrong again. Again look at the series by Strobel, The Case for a Creator : A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence That Points Toward God.


Think you've heard the arguments for and against: not even close brother's and sister's.


Now ya'll gotta be either angry, turned off, or pitying me by now. But I hope you are angry 'cause I got a challenge. My challenge is this . . . . you open your mind if you got the guts, and look at the question and I will guarantee . . . 1000% guarantee that you will be jolted to your core by what you find out . . . stunned, dazed, etc.


Now if ya'll think its just smoke and mirrors and myth, and your minds closed, and ya don't want to give truth or God a chance . . . don't bother. But if you think there may be something in it, have an open mind like a good scientist, I'll bet you a Buffalo nickel you'll be mighty impressed. Mighty impresses.

[upstream]

Atheist and humanist. I make it to church when family politics demand such a thing.

Belief-o-matic:
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/76/story_7665_1.html

I recommend the belief-o-matic quiz, very interesting concept. Tries to match your beliefs to a best-fit religion. I would make a good Secular Humanist, Unitarian, and Buddhist. And I would make a terrible Roman Catholic, as it was at the worst fit of all the religions. I was raised roman catholic and rejected the religion.

[lrs]

I was raised in church, and am gratefull for it. I'm a musician, proficient, but not professional. I play gospel songs I grew up with almost every day.
I was raised to believe you had to be saved, if were not, you go to hell the moment you die. No other way is viable, there are absolutely no alternatives, any other kind of thinking was SEVERELY wrong, unthinkable, unacceptable, and most of all, simply invalid.
I have had PTSD most of my life, though it was not diagnosed until I was 38. I have learned and done a lot since that time. I am a recovering alcoholic, and I've taken drugs too. I will have 6 years of sobriety this coming friday.
In AA, step 3, it says:
"made a decision to turn our will and lives over to the care of God as we understood Him".
This was contrary to the way I was raised, and at first rejected this notion, although at the time I might well have been the sickest person on the planet.
However I soon realized that people who were working these 12 steps were being transformed before my eyes. In addition, I saw how people's lives started coming together, in remarkable short order time, and in ways other than mental health and sobriety. To me, the proof is in the pudding, nothing else could have been doing this but some kind of ultimate higher power. I choose to call him God.
I have been the butt of some judgementalism among family and friends, but I simply can not subscribe to such a fundamentalist notion.
Religion can be used in an abusive manner, it's not difficult to find articles on the subject of religious abuse.
One of the things I have had to learn about in the past 8 years, is the notion that there are boundaries, and religion has boundaries. I try to respect the boundaries of others, but I also have to protect my own boundaries as well.
- PEACE-
I'm glad your here

[reallydown]

I guess I would be somewhere between an atheist and an agnostic...which may sound weird...but the thing is, I don't really believe but at the same time I'm willing to admit I could be wrong. I certainly respect both those who believe and those who do not.

[Jim]

I recommend the belief-o-matic quiz, very interesting concept.

Did your belief-o-matic quiz. Pretty accurate. My beliefs are 95% Roman Catholic. And. Low and behold, I am a practicing RC. So. No surprises there. ;-)

Jim.

[Awakening]

Wow that quiz was fun, thanks Upstream.

My Mum at the time was Catholic, and raised us Catholic (Holy Communion, Sunday School all that) and my Dad an atheist. Quite confusing!

I did the Quiz and came out as 100% Unitarian Universalism, followed by 97% Liberal Quaker, and then 90& each for Neo Pagan & Reform Judaism.

I'm not familiar with any but just clicked on the U.U. one that says basically I have very diverse beliefs and that I don't believe in Satan/Hell.

To answer the poll itself, this exactly how I would have summed it up; Yes I believe in something, but my beliefs are very diverse. I don't subscribe to one religion. I actually have a theory that all religions carry common themes and all will be realised. Oh and I believe human beings are quite capable of creating evil on their own.

[upstream]

I actually have a theory that all religions carry common themes and all will be realised.

I believe what you are describing is the Bahai faith...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahai

Also the Bahai have very cool temples, but only one on each continent.

[batgirl]

Wow I'm 100% an atheist (nontheist) haha. I thought I was agnostic. Thanks for posting the quiz Upstream, it was fun.

[upstream]

Wow I'm 100% an atheist (nontheist) haha. I thought I was agnostic. Thanks for posting the quiz Upstream, it was fun.

Funny, my sister has a theory that most self proclaimed atheists are actually agnostic and vise versa. She called me out when I told her I was agnostic, and she was right.

[Awakening]

I've heard about the Bahai religion, and correct me if I'm wrong, but women are revered like goddesses???!!!

[upstream]

I've heard about the Bahai religion, and correct me if I'm wrong, but women are revered like goddesses???!!!

"The Bahá'í writings emphasize the essential equality of human beings, and the abolition of prejudice."

Also the Bahá'í believe there is only one god.

I've spent a little bit of time with people of the Bahá'í faith, and I don't recall women being regarded any differently then men. I don't imagine such a thing would be in line with their belief system.

[nic]

This is deep! I was raised as a reformed Jew, (and I guess I still am). In terms of the Jewish holidays, I celebrate them more due to culture/tradition than for religious reasons.

Anyway, I've had a couple of life experiences which have tested my belief system. The first was when I was raped/abused as a teen. I thought, If there is a G-d, why would he let this happen to me? Needless to say, I was very hurt and angry for a while.

However, a few years after that, when I was in college, I was driving back up to school from my home in Boston during a really bad snow storm. Since the snow came on quick, there was still a good amount of cars on the highway. Anyway, all of the sudden my car spun around. It must have gone around at least three times, because I kept seeing the trees go past me. I didn't know what to do, and kept trying to turn the wheel to gain control. The next thing I knew, I was safe, in the median of I-95, and even though many cars were zooming by, neither I nor my car had a scratch!

Now you can call this luck, and perhaps it is, but I certainly felt as though G-d or someone gave me a hand that day. (I've even thought that it may be G-d's way of apologizing for all the other shit I went through in my life.) Who knows, but I thought I'd share.

nic :-)

[linasmom]

I polled atheist here and BeliefNet says I'm a Secular Humanist 100%.

Cool!

[northernpunch]

Interesting question for me to face today, because I've been debating where my soul lies for the past week. I know it lies in tatters, is shattered, has been ripped asunder by this wretched condition, but I am prayin everyday. I keep doing it so I can get back to the faith I had before the attempt on my life. So, I believe in God, but I am trying desperately to believe he's not a malevolent SOB How's that?

[smr0182]

Jesus Christ is the son of God. Without Him I would not make it through each day, especially with PTSD. He also intervened in my life and saved me from alcoholism. I also believe what you said HollyBerry that He is not what some Christians make him out to be.

[Cecilia]

God is my refuge. At times I get angry at him, but that is ok, he doesn't mind. However, I did change religious beliefs. I left the extreme fundamentalist religion of my family. My mother does not know. If she did I would be disowned. My friends and spiritual director say "good riddance", but I can't let go. This is a source of stress.

[2tired2deal]

Since this is a poll, and we are all entitled to our beliefs (or non-) this is my .02
Most of us here have gone through he%# and back, so whatever may be on "the other side" is probably a cakewalk.
Personally, I don't believe in "A" God. I'd like to think our souls go to another plane and perhaps some can interact with the physical sides of those who still inhabit bodies; who knows. I think those who need to believe in a higher power have their reasons. We need to live our lives with fairness, honesty, and qood will, and if some need a church to teach them that, then there's nothing wrong there. I don't believe in the "my faith is better than your faith" people; that's why there's so much pain and death and hatred on this earth, and we have enough of that.
The 'bible, 'torah', Quoran (Sp) all are written by MEN for MEN. So I think they are just nice stories and someone decided they'd get a little more power out of this life if they sold those stories - convincing people to "follow" the leader, as it were. Again, mortal human failings, but handed down by God? Nah. Handed down by guys with a need for power. And grabbed up on by successive guys (and women) who need power.
So religion can be good, but mostly I think it's bad, because people refuse to think for themselves if they can have someone else do it for them.
That's just my opinion.