Quote Originally Posted by Billionfold
Some people genuinely believe in and love God. I've seen these people, I know these people. They're not under the effects of Stockholm Syndrome. They've had experiences in their life that makes them feel that God is there. Believing in God, or any other religion for that matter, is a personal thing. No religion is a universal truism, because not everybody believes in the same thing. Personally, I'm agnostic and always have been, even as a child. I would go to church with my grandparents, but none of it really made sense to me. You expect me to believe, with faith alone, that an immortal deity created all that I see? Maybe 2,000 years ago I would have bought it, but not in todays modern world. :stoned:
But do people believe in God out of genuinity or do they believe in God because they are taught/introduced to it from an early age and repeated it on a regular basis forming a pattern that naturally instilled the religion into that person.

I hate to say it but it is a form of brainwashing when looked at in that context.

At the same time I definitely DO NOT deny that people genuinely believe in god. I cannot take their faith or religion away from them and refuse to even try. They are entitled to their beliefs and I would never intend to belittle them or their beliefs. I was merely discussing my own observations and viewpoints.



Some say everything happens for a reason. That may be true. If it isn't true, then the alternative is that it's all random and chaotic, and we're damned lucky to breathe every second that we do. Neither makes me feel better about things that happen. When somebody is diagnosed with cancer, some blame God. Other's blame karma or luck. In the end, it doesn't matter why, all that matters is what you do with the time you're given. Contemplating the why takes away from the now. :stoned:
I think the circumstaces as to how we came to be and our planet made life sustataining were random and chaotic; but I don't believe the present and future we make for ourselves are that way. :hippy: