Do You Believe in God?

[ncba93ivyase]

I will admit, I'm starting to doubt that God is real. I still kind of believe, but I'm thinking about this much more.

*cough* Yes! *cough* See the point that where does heaven lie and where does ****? Where is God? Why won't he answer my prayer of my parents winning the lottery?

I've prayed to God for the past year now about quitting this addiction I have. God has given me no strength to quit. I've asked many times, but no. No answer, no sign. It just doesn't seem right anymore. I've always wondered my whole life if there really was a God, but I was too afraid to think about it. I've always doubted, but seeing a few arguments was the final nail in the coffin, i guess.

What exactly is your addiction? If you already posted it, well, I don't feel like reading everything in this thread for a second time.

It's a faith system guys. I have faith, and I'm not changing that. If you don't have faith, it's not like we can convince you with facts.

Obviously, God isn't something that's physically there. So how would we go about trying to convince you with facts?

What convinced you that he's there?

Faith. awesome;

...Ignorance is not an answer.

Faith isn't ignorance. **by the way. I am a Christian. And with those four words you probably just stereotyped me--whether or not you admit or deny it you did. Human nature--Just letting you know where I sort of come from. We can go into my personal beliefs another time** I accept my basis of beliefs with faith. You accept your beliefs with faith.Surely you already knew that though.

Faith relies on ignorance. If one remains oblivious to the more logical information, then they have this so called "faith."

I have no true beliefs. I sway between atheism and acosmism.

[Buffy]

I will admit, I'm starting to doubt that God is real. I still kind of believe, but I'm thinking about this much more.

*cough* Yes! *cough* See the point that where does heaven lie and where does hell? Where is God? Why won't he answer my prayer of my parents winning the lottery?

I've prayed to God for the past year now about quitting this addiction I have. God has given me no strength to quit. I've asked many times, but no. No answer, no sign. It just doesn't seem right anymore. I've always wondered my whole life if there really was a God, but I was too afraid to think about it. I've always doubted, but seeing a few arguments was the final nail in the coffin, i guess.

What exactly is your addiction? If you already posted it, well, I don't feel like reading everything in this thread for a second time.
It's more of a problem. I have an internet addiction and I'm irritable all the time. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but it is to me.

[iamhollywood]

I will admit, I'm starting to doubt that God is real. I still kind of believe, but I'm thinking about this much more.

*cough* Yes! *cough* See the point that where does heaven lie and where does ****? Where is God? Why won't he answer my prayer of my parents winning the lottery?

I've prayed to God for the past year now about quitting this addiction I have. God has given me no strength to quit. I've asked many times, but no. No answer, no sign. It just doesn't seem right anymore. I've always wondered my whole life if there really was a God, but I was too afraid to think about it. I've always doubted, but seeing a few arguments was the final nail in the coffin, i guess.

What exactly is your addiction? If you already posted it, well, I don't feel like reading everything in this thread for a second time.

It's a faith system guys. I have faith, and I'm not changing that. If you don't have faith, it's not like we can convince you with facts.

Obviously, God isn't something that's physically there. So how would we go about trying to convince you with facts?

What convinced you that he's there?

Faith. awesome;

...Ignorance is not an answer.

Faith isn't ignorance. **by the way. I am a Christian. And with those four words you probably just stereotyped me--whether or not you admit or deny it you did. Human nature--Just letting you know where I sort of come from. We can go into my personal beliefs another time** I accept my basis of beliefs with faith. You accept your beliefs with faith.Surely you already knew that though.

Faith relies on ignorance. If one remains oblivious to the more logical information, then they have this so called "faith."

I have no true beliefs. I sway between atheism and acosmism.

You, my acquaintance, are a liar. You have beliefs. You believe you should type in complete sentences. You choose whether or not you will pay for the cd or game you buy from a store which is based upon your beliefs of whether stealing is right. Whether you want to admit it, you do have beliefs. It is something ingrained in everyone. As for the statement you do not place faith in anything. That is an ignorant statement. You are placing faith in the chair you are sitting in right now. You have faith that it won't collapse below you. You have faith that when you fly a kite it  is the wind that makes it fly. Yada yada yada we could continue this, but I would much rather hear "the more logical information" you seem to know. Unless you are ignorant of what that information is.

I will admit, I'm starting to doubt that God is real. I still kind of believe, but I'm thinking about this much more.

*cough* Yes! *cough* See the point that where does heaven lie and where does ****? Where is God? Why won't he answer my prayer of my parents winning the lottery?

I've prayed to God for the past year now about quitting this addiction I have. God has given me no strength to quit. I've asked many times, but no. No answer, no sign. It just doesn't seem right anymore. I've always wondered my whole life if there really was a God, but I was too afraid to think about it. I've always doubted, but seeing a few arguments was the final nail in the coffin, i guess.

What exactly is your addiction? If you already posted it, well, I don't feel like reading everything in this thread for a second time.
It's more of a problem. I have an internet addiction and I'm irritable all the time. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but it is to me.

First off, I don't think looking for a sign is the best answer to solving your internet addiction. Second, God doesn't work in a "make a conceited prayer and he does the rest" kind of way. You do realize you have to make an effort to change as well? You can't be like "God, help me quit smoking", then pull out a cigarette thinking "if God is going to help me quit smoking, He is going to strike this cigarette from my hand supernaturally". That is ridiculous.

[ncba93ivyase]

You, my acquaintance, are a liar. You have beliefs. You believe you should type in complete sentences. You choose whether or not you will pay for the cd or game you buy from a store which is based upon your beliefs of whether stealing is right. Whether you want to admit it, you do have beliefs. It is something ingrained in everyone. As for the statement you do not place faith in anything. That is an ignorant statement. You are placing faith in the chair you are sitting in right now. You have faith that it won't collapse below you. You have faith that when you fly a kite it  is the wind that makes it fly. Yada yada yada we could continue this, but I would much rather hear "the more logical information" you seem to know. Unless you are ignorant of what that information is.

Too bad I don't sit on chairs. I use no furniture. Before you try to link this to faith and beliefs, it's because furniture hurts my ass and makes me feel uncomfortable. And that's a fact.

Also, saying "I believe in god" and "I believe I'll get a turkey sammich" aren't the same thing. One requires your petty life to revolve around it; the other is just a simple thought. Facts merely require acknowledgment, whereas faith (in the religious sense, not in terms of relying on the build quality of a stool) does require ignorance.

First off, I don't think looking for a sign is the best answer to solving your internet addiction. Second, God doesn't work in a "make a conceited prayer and he does the rest" kind of way. You do realize you have to make an effort to change as well? You can't be like "God, help me quit smoking", then pull out a cigarette thinking "if God is going to help me quit smoking, He is going to strike this cigarette from my hand supernaturally". That is ridiculous.

What about the old saying "God works in mysterious ways"? You're not this god fellow, so you don't know how he works.

[Buffy]

In church the priest said if you pray enough God will help you and give you strength to be a better person and quit unhealthy things, ect. I truly believed God will give me some strength, but I haven't gained any.

Priests really shouldn't give out false information if God doesn't help you.

[Pancake Paraphernalia]

In church the priest said if you pray enough God will help you and give you strength to be a better person and quit unhealthy things, ect. I truly believed God will give me some strength, but I haven't gained any.

Priests really shouldn't give out false information if God doesn't help you.

Exactly. If I prayed to god every day,for five years, will my family win the lottery and live an even more luxurious life? Oh God, please. Please my family really wants to win the lottery. We need that money.

Think of all the other people praying to win the lottery that very moment. I could be last in line.

[iamhollywood]

You, my acquaintance, are a liar. You have beliefs. You believe you should type in complete sentences. You choose whether or not you will pay for the cd or game you buy from a store which is based upon your beliefs of whether stealing is right. Whether you want to admit it, you do have beliefs. It is something ingrained in everyone. As for the statement you do not place faith in anything. That is an ignorant statement. You are placing faith in the chair you are sitting in right now. You have faith that it won't collapse below you. You have faith that when you fly a kite it  is the wind that makes it fly. Yada yada yada we could continue this, but I would much rather hear "the more logical information" you seem to know. Unless you are ignorant of what that information is.

Too bad I don't sit on chairs. I use no furniture. Before you try to link this to faith and beliefs, it's because furniture hurts my *** and makes me feel uncomfortable. And that's a fact.

Also, saying "I believe in god" and "I believe I'll get a turkey sammich" aren't the same thing. One requires your petty life to revolve around it; the other is just a simple thought. Facts merely require acknowledgment, whereas faith (in the religious sense, not in terms of relying on the build quality of a stool) does require ignorance.

First off, I don't think looking for a sign is the best answer to solving your internet addiction. Second, God doesn't work in a "make a conceited prayer and he does the rest" kind of way. You do realize you have to make an effort to change as well? You can't be like "God, help me quit smoking", then pull out a cigarette thinking "if God is going to help me quit smoking, He is going to strike this cigarette from my hand supernaturally". That is ridiculous.

What about the old saying "God works in mysterious ways"? You're not this god fellow, so you don't know how he works.

God does not work in mysterious ways. Ignorant people that say they believe in God and don't read the Bible make the statement "God works in mysterious ways". That's just some random cliche from a movie. Movies also have zombies rape women and I don't try to relate that to religion. Haha. Anyways, I'm not trying to start a fight just talking so let's not get super tense or anything. Cool? So anyways, do you believe in like evolution or something? Any system of thinking that involves how the universe stated or whatever is accepted by faith. If you believe in the Big Bang. Faith. I big ball of goo evolved into a monkey then into me. Faith. If you weren't there, you have to accept it with Faith. Besides you only don't sit in chairs because you don't trust them. Don't give me that "this studded chair is uncomfortable on my tush" junk. I'm not buying.

In church the priest said if you pray enough God will help you and give you strength to be a better person and quit unhealthy things, ect. I truly believed God will give me some strength, but I haven't gained any.

Priests really shouldn't give out false information if God doesn't help you.

You are dodging what I siad. You have to put forth effort too. Talking to people about it helps too. Having accountability friends goes a long way. God didn't mean for you to face things all alone.

[Buffy]

I am putting up an effort. It's not that easy.

[sebastian]

In church the priest said if you pray enough God will help you and give you strength to be a better person and quit unhealthy things, ect. I truly believed God will give me some strength, but I haven't gained any.

Priests really shouldn't give out false information if God doesn't help you.

That seriously sounds like a selfish way of doing things. God will help you, and I forget who said it, but they said that if it was God's will for you do to something, then he has already given you the strength to do it. But He doesn't, like hollywood said, just strike it out like people say. God works in whispers, and most people don't understand that. You don't just pray to quit smoking and then you suddenly aren't addicted anymore. You pray that God gives you the strength to quit, then actually try to quit.

And sure, that sounds like God isn't helping you, but He is. You just have to have faith, otherwise all it will seem like is that He's not doing anything.

What about the old saying "God works in mysterious ways"? You're not this god fellow, so you don't know how he works.

What about the story where Elijah was being chased down by the paganized kingdom of Israel, and he is chased all the way to a cave. Then he asks God to take his life away, but God speaks to him in the form of a whisper. Not a thunderous cloud or a sound of trumpets, even though that's what he did with Moses. And that brings me to your 'You don't know how He works". That's right, he doesn't, but you don't either. Nobody knows why God does certain things. And, in all seriousness, we can't understand. We're too sinful to understand. That's why we needed Jesus to cleanse our sins.

I am putting up an effort. It's not that easy.

Nobody said it was easy. Job had his family killed and all of his land taken away. But he remained faithful to God's purpose, and he was rewarded with twice as much.

[Buffy]

I still believe in God, I just don't really follow him as much as I used to.

It's hard to explain what's going through my head right now.

[ncba93ivyase]

God does not work in mysterious ways. Ignorant people that say they believe in God and don't read the Bible make the statement "God works in mysterious ways". That's just some random cliche from a movie. Movies also have zombies rape women and I don't try to relate that to religion. Haha. Anyways, I'm not trying to start a fight just talking so let's not get super tense or anything. Cool? So anyways, do you believe in like evolution or something? Any system of thinking that involves how the universe stated or whatever is accepted by faith. If you believe in the Big Bang. Faith. I big ball of goo evolved into a monkey then into me. Faith. If you weren't there, you have to accept it with Faith. Besides you only don't sit in chairs because you don't trust them. Don't give me that "this studded chair is uncomfortable on my tush" junk. I'm not buying.

I find floors to be comfortable. Wow, that must be some severe bullshit, right? Some women like rings through their nipples. I'd prefer a plush surface over a nasty mushed cushion.

AND MICROEVOLUTION IS OBSERVED. MANY SPECIES ARE LINKED. AS FAR AS THAT GOES, THE EVOLUTION OF MANY SPECIES IS PROVEN. COMING FROM A VOLCANIC GLOB OF GOOD HAS NOT YET BEEN PROVEN, THOUGH EXPERIMENTS HAVE SHOWN AMINO ACIDS AND PROTEINS CAN FORM FROM SUCH A THING. FOR ALL I KNOW, NOTHING EXISTED BEFORE ME. NOTHING EXISTS NOW. EVERYTHING IS A THEORY.

...

That seriously sounds like a selfish way of doing things. God will help you, and I forget who said it, but they said that if it was God's will for you do to something, then he has already given you the strength to do it. But He doesn't, like hollywood said, just strike it out like people say. God works in whispers, and most people don't understand that. You don't just pray to quit smoking and then you suddenly aren't addicted anymore. You pray that God gives you the strength to quit, then actually try to quit.

And sure, that sounds like God isn't helping you, but He is. You just have to have faith, otherwise all it will seem like is that He's not doing anything.

She isn't doing anything. If someone cuts some addiction, it's their own free will and the people around them. Now tell me: How is this god fellow helping her? She's praying, but nothing is happening. This "You need to believe" malarky is nothing. That makes a person push herself harder to succeed in order to think such a thing is real.

What about the story where Elijah was being chased down by the paganized kingdom of Israel, and he is chased all the way to a cave. Then he asks God to take his life away, but God speaks to him in the form of a whisper. Not a thunderous cloud or a sound of trumpets, even though that's what he did with Moses. And that brings me to your 'You don't know how He works". That's right, he doesn't, but you don't either. Nobody knows why God does certain things. And, in all seriousness, we can't understand. We're too sinful to understand. That's why we needed Jesus to cleanse our sins.

He can't "cleanse" the sins of someone that hasn't been born yet.
If I'm out getting high and getting knocked up, Jesus can't help me. He's dead. He was killed for pissing people off.

And that was just a story. Stories are, for the most part, fictional.

Nobody said it was easy. Job had his family killed and all of his land taken away. But he remained faithful to God's purpose, and he was rewarded with twice as much.

He was rewarded with a lonely death.

[sebastian]

She isn't doing anything. If someone cuts some addiction, it's their own free will and the people around them. Now tell me: How is this god fellow helping her? She's praying, but nothing is happening. This "You need to believe" malarky is nothing. That makes a person push herself harder to succeed in order to think such a thing is real.

Not doing anything is imposing that you haven't the will to quit. Like I said, God's going to give you strength, not do it for you. Sure, with the whole "Jesus, take the wheel" stuff going around, that's what it sounds like. But, if you think about it, you still have control of your life. God's giving you the strength, you just need to, without doubts, accept it.

He can't "cleanse" the sins of someone that hasn't been born yet.

So what are you saying? He only cleansed the sins of the people living at the time? Do you know what the Israelites had to do for forgiveness before Jesus? They had to sacrifice a perfect lamb (no bruises or broken bones). That was the metaphor implied when Jesus was crucified. He was the last sacrifice, not for now, but for all time. God's perfect son, or as some say, The Lamb.

If I'm out getting high and getting knocked up, Jesus can't help me. He's dead. He was killed for pissing people off.

And that was just a story. Stories are, for the most part, fictional.

At first, it seemed like you were actually debating this with knowledge. Now you're just being stubborn and biased. And this next quote proves it that you don't even know enough about this subject to debate it.

He was rewarded with a lonely death.

http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/RsvBJob.html

There's the entire book, in text. Skip around to Chapter 1 and then to Chapter 42, verse 10.

[iamhollywood]

God does not work in mysterious ways. Ignorant people that say they believe in God and don't read the Bible make the statement "God works in mysterious ways". That's just some random cliche from a movie. Movies also have zombies rape women and I don't try to relate that to religion. Haha. Anyways, I'm not trying to start a fight just talking so let's not get super tense or anything. Cool? So anyways, do you believe in like evolution or something? Any system of thinking that involves how the universe stated or whatever is accepted by faith. If you believe in the Big Bang. Faith. I big ball of goo evolved into a monkey then into me. Faith. If you weren't there, you have to accept it with Faith. Besides you only don't sit in chairs because you don't trust them. Don't give me that "this studded chair is uncomfortable on my tush" junk. I'm not buying.

I find floors to be comfortable. Wow, that must be some severe bullshit, right? Some women like rings through their nipples. I'd prefer a plush surface over a nasty mushed cushion.

AND MICROEVOLUTION IS OBSERVED. MANY SPECIES ARE LINKED. AS FAR AS THAT GOES, THE EVOLUTION OF MANY SPECIES IS PROVEN. COMING FROM A VOLCANIC GLOB OF GOOD HAS NOT YET BEEN PROVEN, THOUGH EXPERIMENTS HAVE SHOWN AMINO ACIDS AND PROTEINS CAN FORM FROM SUCH A THING. FOR ALL I KNOW, NOTHING EXISTED BEFORE ME. NOTHING EXISTS NOW. EVERYTHING IS A THEORY.

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION IS TEH TRUTH!!!

[Daddy]

God does not work in mysterious ways. Ignorant people that say they believe in God and don't read the Bible make the statement "God works in mysterious ways". That's just some random cliche from a movie. Movies also have zombies rape women and I don't try to relate that to religion. Haha. Anyways, I'm not trying to start a fight just talking so let's not get super tense or anything. Cool? So anyways, do you believe in like evolution or something? Any system of thinking that involves how the universe stated or whatever is accepted by faith. If you believe in the Big Bang. Faith. I big ball of goo evolved into a monkey then into me. Faith. If you weren't there, you have to accept it with Faith. Besides you only don't sit in chairs because you don't trust them. Don't give me that "this studded chair is uncomfortable on my tush" junk. I'm not buying.

I find floors to be comfortable. Wow, that must be some severe bullshit, right? Some women like rings through their nipples. I'd prefer a plush surface over a nasty mushed cushion.

AND MICROEVOLUTION IS OBSERVED. MANY SPECIES ARE LINKED. AS FAR AS THAT GOES, THE EVOLUTION OF MANY SPECIES IS PROVEN. COMING FROM A VOLCANIC GLOB OF GOOD HAS NOT YET BEEN PROVEN, THOUGH EXPERIMENTS HAVE SHOWN AMINO ACIDS AND PROTEINS CAN FORM FROM SUCH A THING. FOR ALL I KNOW, NOTHING EXISTED BEFORE ME. NOTHING EXISTS NOW. EVERYTHING IS A THEORY.

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION IS TEH TRUTH!!!

I'll let you slip this one time, but in the future keep your posts serious. I will delete any future bullshit, and this post if you do it again.

As for your spontaneous combustion comment, I don't see what that has to do with evolution.  Spontaneous combustion has been documented, and it is no mystery.  [cite=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_combustion_(combustion)]1[/cite]. ; Please think before posting.

[Nate]

No.

*Insert 60 paragraphs explaining why*.