How do people still belive in God?

dlofnep

I had an argument with a christian lunatic from the Bible belt on facebook yesterday about god. A friend of my had posted a status update, stating that she didn't want people to push their religious views on her and to stop pushing Jesus on her.

Someone from her list then started harping on about Jesus, and that she should watch what she says - because she will be judged when she dies. (Exactly what my friend was trying to highlight). So I interjected.

Conversation went like this.. (Surnames removed for privacy). Long post, so FRAT warning!

Debra
number 1, JESUS dont do groups... number 2 he's not into religion....but if you do it your way..it might be wrong...and if your wrong....you pay the ultimate price,your soul.....the bible says seek my face,and you shall see my face......just sayin........BE CAREFUL what you say,we are all held accountable for what comes out of our mouths....... take care!!!!!

Ryan
whats a "jesus"?
19 hours ago · Like

Me
He's some guy from some fairytale Ryan.

Debra
CAREFUL KIDDO'S !!!!!!walkin on thin ice..... dont try GOD !!! he 'll try you !!!!!! and it is'nt any fun !!!!!!go ahead ang joke ......i promise !!!!! you'll eat those words !!!! just sayin !!!!

Me
god isn't real.

just saying..

Debra
well ,then all i can say is.......hang on ,its gonna be a bumpy ride !!!!! your just afraid to put yourself in a spiritual place ,to find out for yourself , if he's real....????? dare you !!!!

Me
Debra, you can live in your own little deluded comfort bubble all you like, it doesn't prove the existence of God. I don't have to put myself in a "spiritual place". I'm quite content in reality, where I live my life on my own terms, and not by the terms of an archaic book that preaches that gay & lesbians will burn in hell.

Ryan
who says god is a he or even a person ? lol ahh i love religon so much ignorance

Debra
he is a medifor ,stupid !!!

Ryan
maybe you should learn to spell metaphor before using it in a sentence and calling people names..

Debra
are you like ....15 yrs old....

Me
Is that all you have left Debra, ad hominem attacks? Yeah, the basis of a great argument right there.

More sillyness went on after this, but that's the truncated version. She invited us to continue the conversation on the page.. Presumably, so she would have more christian nutjobs to back her up.

Scary thing is, this woman was 50. If I'm that dumb at the age of 50, I'll shoot myself.

coffee_cake

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

I'm assuming you're completing me?

Are you incomplete?

aidoh

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

I'm assuming you're completing me? Not getting at you, but sometimes it's hard to know genuine comments from sarcasim on these types of threads

Ah no sarcasm at all. As I said in my previous post, I think its ridiculous and offensive to call believers idiots. I have no cause to believe in God myself and am totally satisfied and happy with my morals and attitude towards other people. Sometimes new atheist get a bit fresh after watching some documentary or reading some pop science book.

prinz

genericguy wrote: »

because religion demands that science be disregarded, making it the direct enemy of science..

Any examples of these demands?

Ush1

orourkeda wrote: »

What is the basis for this statement?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Boeing_747_gambit

Basically, God is as probable as anything your brain can imagine.

God is so improbable you couldn't put a number on how unlikely he is.

orourkeda

Raiser wrote: »

Have Theists or Theologians, or whoever, ever discussed Gods greater intentions in bestowing the evil gift of Childhood Leukaemia on so many while at the same time allowing Nazi War Criminals to die of Old Age in their plush, Seaside Argentine Villas?

A God who is happy to allow so much misery and suffering on so many levels, especially with so much of it being perpetrated upon the weakest and most defenceless Members of our Societies by those who purport to be his Messengers on Earth, isn't worth a split seconds consideration in my view.....

I believe this is a somewhat phoney argument. The fact that bad stuff happens to people somehow disproves god.

Sh*t happens.

aidoh

bluewolf wrote: »

Are you incomplete?

F**king LOL

Ush1

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

Why should people of faith have to justify ourselves to you or anyone else? Why to athiests/agnostics feel they can take the high ground all the time?

I believe in God because I choose to. No-one forces me into it. I don't KNOW that he exist anymore than you KNOW he doesn't. But I BELIEVE he does. But I am also an intelligent woman, I don't take the bible literally but see it as a guide on how to live life.

I have no problem with anyone who doesn't believe in God and am extremely tolerant of those with ideas and beliefs. Perhaps KJL you need to look at your own predjudaces and intolerances before you critise anyone else.

If you can give me 100% doubtless proof that God doesn't exist then, and only then, will I stop believing in him. But you can't, any more than I can prove he does.

Let people believe what they want. If it doesn't hurt you or anyone else what does it matter to you?

Does that you mean you think the odds are 50%?

gbee

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

If you can give me 100% doubtless proof that God doesn't exist then, and only then, will I stop believing in him. But you can't, any more than I can prove he does.

I doubt you would stop believing in him [God], it's a nice gesture and you sound like a level headed person and not overly fanatical, but if you've come this far, it's part of your life and always will be.

orourkeda

Ush1 wrote: »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Boeing_747_gambit

Basically, God is as probable as anything your brain can imagine.

God is so improbable you couldn't put a number on how unlikely he is.

Because Richard Dawkins says so in a wikipedia article?

What about the counter arguments? Do these contain any merit?

prinz

dlofnep wrote: »

More sillyness went on after this, but that's the truncated version..

So the first person to throw insulting words around was you? Interesting.

Ush1

orourkeda wrote: »

Because Richard Dawkins says so?

What about the counter arguments? Do these contain any merit?

You clearly didn't read it so. If you don't like Dawkins:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell's_teapot

Scientifically? Absoutely not.

genericguy

Ush1 wrote: »

Does that you mean you think the odds are 50%?

"y..NO!"

gas how people eventually concede that much, yet still decide to live their lives on the basis of the craziest story ever told.

Craptacular

aidoh wrote: »

This is a pretty ridiculous statement, in fairness. The keyboard you're typing on would have been programmed by someone with a computer science degree I'm sure.

WTF has that got to do with science's inability to prove dinosaurs didn't have MRI machines?

AudreyHepburn

gbee wrote: »

You shouldn't. Obey the laws of the land you are living in, pay your taxes and get judged by God on your death.

Now, wouldn't that be grand.

Wouldn't it just! If only it were that easy.

bluewolf wrote: »

Are you incomplete?

LOL!

aidoh wrote: »

Ah no sarcasm at all. As I said in my previous post, I think its ridiculous and offensive to call believers idiots. I have no cause to believe in God myself and am totally satisfied and happy with my morals and attitude towards other people. Sometimes new atheist get a bit fresh after watching some documentary or reading some pop science book.

Didn't think there was really, as I said it can be hard to tell sometimes! Thanks for the comment btw.

Ush1 wrote: »

Does that you mean you think the odds are 50%?

No it just means that for me there's not enough proof for me to stop believing. I haven't seen a shred of evidence that tells me beyond any doubt God isn't there.

gbee wrote: »

I doubt you would stop believing in him [God], it's a nice gesture and you sound like a level headed person and not overly fanatical, but if you've come this far, it's part of your life and always will be.

If some-one showed me irrefutable evidence that God wasn't real, I would no longer believe. I have no problem accepting evidence of any kind as long as it is without doubt.

orourkeda

Ush1 wrote: »

You clearly didn't read it so. If you don't like Dawkins:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell's_teapot

Scientifically? Absoutely not.

I never said I like or dislike him. I just asked if you believe there are any merits in the counter arguments raised in the article you posted.

Ush1

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

No it just means that for me there's not enough proof for me to stop believing. I haven't seen a shred of evidence that tells me beyond any doubt God isn't there.

So you do require proof. So you have been presented with enough proof to make you believe in him?

furiousox

Look..there's a man in the sky who can see all of us and hear all of our thoughts all at the same time.
You will live with him forever and have a big party as long as you're not gay or a thief or have sex when you're not married etc
If you have sex before you are married etc you will burn in a big fire forever BUT......he LOVES you!
What's so implausible about all of that??

gbee

dlofnep wrote: »

Scary thing is, this woman was 50. If I'm that dumb at the age of 50, I'll shoot myself.

That's one way to look at it but also two points, she has got totally wrapped up in her imaginary friends that psychologically she'd have a mental breakdown from which she'd probably physically not recover from, ending her days as a vegetable.

And being over 50, you are facing death any-day now, 50 is a pivotal time for most of us we will suffer a series of illnesses and seizures, many will be fatal on the first attack ~ so the only comfort left is her belief in Jesus, in fact in some cases, their belief actually stimulates recovery after an attack.

Ush1

orourkeda wrote: »

I never said I like or dislike him. I just asked if you believe there are any merits in the counter arguments raised in the article you posted.

Fair enough, but my point is that many people have said the same, it's the scientific concensus, i.e; Not because Richard Dawkins says so.

AudreyHepburn

Ush1 wrote: »

So you do require proof. So you have been presented with enough proof to make you believe in him?

I see where this is going :rolleyes:

As I said before I believe he exists but I don't KNOW that he does. I choose to believe though.

My issue was with those who say there is proof he doesn't exist and I just mean that for me there isn't enough to make me doubt or for me to want to change what believe.

aidoh

Craptacular wrote: »

WTF has that got to do with science's inability to prove dinosaurs didn't have MRI machines?

1. Read all my post.

2. Not justifying this with any more of a response. Im generally not one to call people who I know nothing about idiots. But you come across as an absolute dolt dribbling out this sort of rhetoric.

I hope that your post was meant to be funny or something. If it was I apologise.

orourkeda

Ush1 wrote: »

Fair enough, but my point is that many people have said the same, it's the scientific concensus, i.e; Not because Richard Dawkins says so.

Perhaps there is a scientific consensus and I must admit to not being hugely knowledgeable on that particular aspect. At the same time it isnt hugely conclusive either.

dlofnep

prinz wrote: »

So the first person to throw insulting words around was you? Interesting.

No, please point out where I insulted her.

Brendog

Rat Poison is to rats as Pope Benedict is to Catholisism.





Basically Preists just make up stories to make god more attractive to people...

This is also known as "Putting cheese on the Flying Spaghetti Monster"

Millicent

Jakkass wrote: »

Being honest with you, I think people need to believe in Jesus Christ in order to be saved from sin. It's a hope I have for all humanity really.

Well that's depressing! Can't say I agree with the view there Jakass. I was strictly, devoutly Catholic when I was younger and I can tell you with 100% certainty that my life today and the way I treat people is still better than some of those who are still attending mass every week. Not everyone needs to be "saved", Jakkass. There's some of us more than capable of living a good, moral life without religion.

coffee_cake

Millicent wrote: »

Well that's depressing!

Some such viewpoints are generally depressing
"we're all bad people" "he only punishes me because he loves me and sometimes I make him angry" "life is inherently worthless without god"
sigh

dlofnep

gbee wrote: »

That's one way to look at it but also two points, she has got totally wrapped up in her imaginary friends that psychologically she'd have a mental breakdown from which she'd probably physically not recover from, ending her days as a vegetable.

And being over 50, you are facing death any-day now, 50 is a pivotal time for most of us we will suffer a series of illnesses and seizures, many will be fatal on the first attack ~ so the only comfort left is her belief in Jesus, in fact in some cases, their belief actually stimulates recovery after an attack.

Sounds about right. But something tells me, she's been this way all her life

She's quite milfy btw for 50!

Kazvixen

God is the guy who ignores ya when ya pray to him for something.

jordan..

for God to exist there must be evil. Right now it is clear evil rules the world!

Thats my take on it! I dont go to mass but im a good person and I believe in God more than I dont!