You don't believe in god.

[flobadob]

I mean if you sit back and actually think about it, surely you don't really believe in god. Sit back now, think about god. Think. Think a little more about him. Now tell me, do you actually think he is there? Honestly.

[sandyRoe]

Chakka, "My mind is made up: don't confuse me with facts." What facts would they be?

[Old_Geezer]

Ah but it is all back to the OP isn't it. One doesn't need to consider every conceivable God, merely show that no God can exist. :-) To indicate evidence one way or another about a particular one doesn't move the question on any.

But yes, admitting to not knowing is a fair position to take; albeit one that implies one will not, or believes should not, consider the issue further. I think it also fair for folk to chose to take a position that seems right to them. Maybe we will get to know when we are no longer here.

[sandyRoe]

jomifl, have you ever paused to think what state the world might be in without our prayers?

[Davethedog]

I mean if you sit back and actually think about the Tsunami or the flooding in Pakistan surely you don't really believe in god.

There is nothing in anything I have ever read about god, that can justify the slaughter of the innocents.

[jomifl]

Keyplus.. It isn't that atheists think you haven't thought about the existence of god, it is just that you can't have tried very hard otherwise you would have come to the one and inescapable conclusion.. which is ... well work it out for yourself.

[Davethedog]

Sandy I have know wish to argue about your faith but without your prayers things would be exactly the same.

[Old_Geezer]

If believers have been praying for nonbelievers for millennia, then their prayers have been answered. they have been given an awful lot of them.

Ummm why would the existence of natural disasters shed any light on the existence or otherwise of a God ?

[jomifl]

Sandy.. No, never entertained the idea, are you saying it would be better or worse?

[jomifl]

Très drôle OG

[pa___ul3]

I'd never suggest we shouldn't investigate further, we have done through science which leads more and more to dismissing the ideas of religion. This of course can be countered by the argument that we don't have the capacity to investigate further on the spiritual side but that then only leaves what we actually know to edge towards dismissing the idea, which is, I'm guessing, where the OP is coming from.
It's faith vs reasoning as we all know, but I'd only ever say anyone who claims to know is in the wrong. (I'm sure someone's put that more poetically than me in the past but I can't think of the quote!)

[Tuddypat]

// Some here may not believe in him, but he believes in us, loves us all, and some day will welcome us all home. //

That's nice sandy. Good job I never wasted any time going to church then.

[Lore]

For most of my life, I have felt that the Bible is one of the greatest pieces of fiction ever written. How on Earth could these things have happened? Who's this 'God' guy who seems to think we all need him in our lives?

R.E was a favourite subject at school but I still didn't believe in 'God' my reasoning tells me otherwise, I'm a complete and utter geek when it comes to the big bang theory - even before Professor Cox hit the screens :p

I could never decide, atheist / agnostic? Did it really matter? The fact is, God doesn't exist in my world.... until my little boy was really poorly and there I was, asking for help. I didn't ask anyone or anything in particular but I desperately wanted someone or something to look out for us. I suppose, I said my prayers.

I still don't believe in God but I do think there is something watching over us, maybe spirits from the past, maybe a form of God. Either way, I found comfort in having a little faith.

I think the majority of us have asked for a bit of guidance at some point in our lives.

[cazzz1975]

live and let live flob, just because you find an idea ridiculous doesnt mean that someone should not believe it.

[chakka35]

sandyRoe, just a few facts:

1. There is not the slightest modicum of evidence for the existence of 'God' or any other of the 2500 deities in my copy of The Encyclopedia of Gods.

2. There is no evidence that prayer has any effect other than would be expected by chance.

3. No 'God-produced miracle' has ever been authenticated.

They'll do for now.

[McMouse]

I don't believe in God but have faith in the essential goodness of some people who do.

[B00]

im with sandy and Anne too- yes i believe in God.

[Old_Geezer]

As I understand it, church would be there for your benefit Tuddypat, not any deity's. Surely no deity would be so egotistical that they needed your praise all the time. If you feel you would not gain anything from it then you have no reason to attend.

[flobadob]

OldGeezer, would you consider Mother Nature to be a God?

[flobadob]

And keyplus, I do have an open mind. I stopped believing in my teens and now in my 30's I've seen nothing that would turn me back. The only reason I "believed" in the first place in because that is the way I was brought up, so I think it's fair to say that I've never really believed as I haven't done since I started to think for myself. If anything with all the misconceptions in religion and the ability to disprove things that people of faith take as fact, my idea has been strengthened.

[welshlibranr]

I find that lots of elderly folk 'find God' in their latter years, maybe insurance, just in case!............but more the fact that they have a better social life if involved with the the Church!..........