Thought.

Very, very good point Ghostoker. Religion to me is just something we believe in to make our existance not seem as lonley or a good excuse to start a war , but all said and done I think that its healthy to have something to believe in, which is far better than not beleiving in anything at all. Me, I believe in this, fuck the bickering, we only live once, lets just be happy and not care about the stupid little things we care about but arent really neccesary at all, and only care about whats truly important to us, survival, family, and friends. :)

Have a nice day.

I think it really depends on the outcome (whether there is a god or not). If there was no god people would value their lives more but if there is than people may just throw their lives away knowing there is an afterlife (depending on the circumstances of death and whether there are rules that have to be followed while youre alive that you have to follow to successfully enter the next phase in existance).

People fear death because they don't understand it and if there was no afterlife than people would fear it more. But ghost is right things would settle to an equilibrium but not before the vast array of turmoil surrounding this issue. I don't see the point in fearing death. If there is really nothing than it's not like we're going ton know about it anyway. But enough rambling, what youv got to keep in mind is that even though there might be an answer to the question (is there a god? etc) there are going to be many interpretations of that answer. I say some things are better left to when theyr meant to be known. There might be a reason why it's so difficult to obtain this answer

I think people are going to find reasons for war. There isnt any problems with religions just the people in them. I agree with creeper, people need something to belive in to give them piece of mind. Not everyone has the same pattern of thought and thats what ultimately decides the future of our civilisation, not the religions (although its a good excuse), not the weapons, but the people the thinking behind these powerful entities (whether it be the people in power of these entities or the public consensus)

All in all I belive everyone should chill out and be happy, but that's for the individual to decide...

I consider myself a very philosophical person, and I have been lucky enough my whole life to be around a lot of smart people with interesting ideas. In previous years I would think that there was nothing after death, that we would just cease to exist. I believed this because I considered human beings another unimportant, practically nonexistant piece of life just like insects, all the way down to bacteria. And if germs dont have an afterlife than why should we? but something happened ages ago that produced humanity, and intelligent thought through the course of evolution. I believe there must be for a reason for this, that the earth couldnt have been existant for billions of years with life on it, then just suddenly beings whose mental capacity involved only the basic need for survival, grew into unsurpassed intelligence without some force behind it. And I suggest reading near death experiences, search it on google.

"there are going to be many interpretations of that answer."

Exactly - that was on of my points, though I said it in a very roundabout way... I was stoned. :) People always ignore the truth, or interpret it to suit their own conclusions.

I agree with flesh essentially. I think that all religions who believe in a higher 'god' are all right, Religion is a good set of morals to live by and i think that there is the same god for everyone but the perceptions are different. People have been free to interprate and relate to religion for whichever ways works for them whether it be Roman Catholic, Jew, Muslim etc.

What i hate though is when conflict is carried out under Gods name.It completely leaves me dumbfounded. I don't know how humans can kill other humans for not having the same beliefs. Even by their own thinking, if people are made in Gods image then that means ALL humans should be from the same power.
I don't know, its a difficult subject to put into words!

But a good thread to read!

But do you believe that God is actually a sentient, omnipotent, omniscient being or do you believe that he's just an extremely persistent figment of mankind's imagination?

Both is possible and both is good for people. Its nice to belive in something. And to have something to question, otherwise whats the point