What Is God?


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xxanime_junkyxx

-sama
Retired
well, i've been thinking about putting up this topic and was really interested in what people thought about God.

Well, here's a little background about my relationship with God. I grew up in a religious family and was told to believe in God, I had no option on that. Though a certain situation came into my family just this past year, and I completly lost faith in God, and believed that He wasn't there, He was just a make-believe figure that was made up for the benefit of society. There was no God.

Though slowly, after more than a year of atheism, I came to realizing what God was to me. God was my security blanket, He was what I believed in. Even if there was no such thing as God, I needed the IDEA of God there. Before when I still believed in God I talked to God, I told him my problems, I wasn't ashamed of being my true self around him, when I was scared, or sad, I turned to him for salvation, He knew my darkest fears, He was someone I needed in my life to survive.

So in conclusion, I came to realize that I cannot completly cut off God from my life, it would be like cutting off a part of me.
 
interesting that you say what you do. I was exposed to differeing christian sects as a child, but never gave it much thought. it was just a game to me where they askedquestions and i repeated answers from the bible verbatim. they acted like i was some gifted child. It was fun, but it never meant anything to me. Recently while thinking of the nature of god, which i do often, I have come tothe conclusion that god for me isthe unanswerable question, and the something that exists in nothing.

Think of it like this: try to picture "freedom" or "love" or some other abstract concept in your mind.

Then once you have one really strong idea of this abstract feeling or idea, think about how it might come about in the complete opposite situation. Sartre for example said he never felt more free than during the nazi occupation of France. In other words, during the least free of times, he was most free. continue with this experiment. think of another situation involving that particular feeling or concept. while doing this eventually you come upon a point of seeing that in every situation that you try tocreate with the complete absence of a concept, you still have in some way the existence of that concept.

in other words, even in the most complete void your thoughts can concieve, there's still something within that nothing.

that to me is where god is. god is something that exists even in its nonexistence. god is an idea, and even though we think we live in a material world, our minds are something else. it deals with concepts, ideas, symbolics, thoughts, emotions, sensations etc every moment of ever day. even this simple act of communication would not be possible without symbols to give meaning to physical representations. thusly, we are something else with a physical presence.

god may not exist for or physical existence or this physcial realm, but it does for the mental as something that transcends the symbolic, as the sum of everything and nothing. "an image in place of an image" and the "I am that I am" god that is very different from the typical iterations of these quotes.
 
Well... I am an atheist. If you want a simplification of my thoughts:

1) How many ways are there to view the world?
answer: Infinite

2) How many of them involve god?
answer: Essentially one

(sure, there are infinite ways to view god, but in comparison to the total number of ways to view the world the number involving god is an infinity that reduces to 1. Can't argue with math!
wink.gif
)

Conclusion: Given that all possible ways are equally probable/correct... We must assume that the liklihood of believing something not based on logic/reason is probably incorrect.

That is my thought process. Its a logically sound arguement. However, it is still my opinion. Faith has nothing to do with logic/reason (some would argue). Well, I don't rely on faith, I find it dangerous.

Some facts:
1.1 billion people (or around 1/6th of the population), are atheist/agnostic. There is a strong correlation of wealth and IQ to these beliefs. Take these facts as you will.
 
QUOTE (windfinder @ Sep 18 2006, 01:02 PM) Well... I am an atheist. If you want a simplification of my thoughts:

1) How many ways are there to view the world?
answer: Infinite

2) How many of them involve god?
answer: Essentially one

(sure, there are infinite ways to view god, but in comparison to the total number of ways to view the world the number involving god is an infinity that reduces to 1. Can't argue with math!
wink.gif
)

Conclusion: Given that all possible ways are equally probable/correct... We must assume that the liklihood of believing something not based on logic/reason is probably incorrect.

That is my thought process. Its a logically sound arguement. However, it is still my opinion. Faith has nothing to do with logic/reason (some would argue). Well, I don't rely on faith, I find it dangerous.

Some facts:
1.1 billion people (or around 1/6th of the population), are atheist/agnostic. There is a strong correlation of wealth and IQ to these beliefs. Take these facts as you will.
Actually i think your wrong. there's two choices: a univerese with god. a universe without god.

beyond that you'd be just setting up different forms a universe might take with god or without.


for example:
a universe with god but with it using evolution to create life and the big bang to creat the universe itself

a universe without god using evolution to create life and the big bang to creat the universe itself
.

a universe with god creating it as is, humans and all.

a universe simply always having existed as is humans and all.

a universe with god and evolution creating humans but having always existed without beginning or end.

a universe without god, evolution existing and always existing without beginning or end.

a universe created by a fish who is god and this universe exists within its stomach

a universe whih exists inside an ordinary fish for some odd yet humourous reason.

the possibilitiesare endless.
 
QUOTE (postindustrialist @ Sep 18 2006, 02:23 PM) Actually i think your wrong. there's two choices: a univerese with god. a universe without god.

beyond that you'd be just setting up different forms a universe might take with god or without.


for example:
a universe with god but with it using evolution to create life and the big bang to creat the universe itself

a universe without god using evolution to create life and the big bang to creat the universe itself
.

a universe with god creating it as is, humans and all.

a universe simply always having existed as is humans and all.

a universe with god and evolution creating humans but having always existed without beginning or end.

a universe without god, evolution existing and always existing without beginning or end.

a universe created by a fish who is god and this universe exists within its stomach

a universe whih exists inside an ordinary fish for some odd yet humourous reason.

the possibilities are endless.
Breaking up all possible views on existence on a dichotomy based around "god existing or not" is a oversimplification and is an invalid arguement. This also invalidates relgion, due to the fact that relgion is based on more than god's existence. You can have religions without god, and people can hold beliefs about gods without religions.

The fact remains, even if there are only two categories of possible existence one of those categories (the one with a god) has a limiting factor whilst the other does not. Assuming that these two categories is equal (in numbers) is incorrect.
 
QUOTE (windfinder @ Sep 18 2006, 04:55 PM) Breaking up all possible views on existence on a dichotomy based around "god existing or not" is a oversimplification and is an invalid arguement. This also invalidates relgion, due to the fact that relgion is based on more than god's existence. You can have religions without god, and people can hold beliefs about gods without religions.

The fact remains, even if there are only two categories of possible existence one of those categories (the one with a god) has a limiting factor whilst the other does not. Assuming that these two categories is equal (in numbers) is incorrect.
what you say is very true. i think that it is mistaken that religion can be directly associated with god. in many cases religion can be seen as a way of life, of beliefs and morals, but literally, god has a very small/no part in that religion what so ever.

the exsistence of god cannot be seen at as a black and white picture. there is definetly a grey area. both sides of argument are redeemable and they are quite good. I agree with evolution and science, but i also believe in a god at the same time.

i like to think and stay in that gray area. i don't know if there is a god or not, but i do believe that there is some ulterior force out there that we do not have a proper understanding of.

also, i think of it this way, why would mankind even bring up the idea of a 'god', if there was no possibility of this strange, mysterious ulterior force existing?
 
In my view there is only one answer to this.

God is what you belive.
 
QUOTE (Sammeh-Chan @ Sep 18 2006, 05:16 PM) In my view there is only one answer to this.

God is what you belive.
ha ha. short, sweet and to the point.
smile.gif
 
QUOTE (xxanime_junkyxx @ Sep 17 2006, 07:04 PM) well, i've been thinking about putting up this topic and was really interested in what people thought about God.

Well, here's a little background about my relationship with God. I grew up in a religious family and was told to believe in God, I had no option on that. Though a certain situation came into my family just this past year, and I completly lost faith in God, and believed that He wasn't there, He was just a make-believe figure that was made up for the benefit of society. There was no God.

Though slowly, after more than a year of atheism, I came to realizing what God was to me. God was my security blanket, He was what I believed in. Even if there was no such thing as God, I needed the IDEA of God there. Before when I still believed in God I talked to God, I told him my problems, I wasn't ashamed of being my true self around him, when I was scared, or sad, I turned to him for salvation, He knew my darkest fears, He was someone I needed in my life to survive.

So in conclusion, I came to realize that I cannot completly cut off God from my life, it would be like cutting off a part of me.
I myself grew up in more of a split family. My mother went to church whenever time allowed it. My father went to church whenever my mother asked it of him. God in my life is a thought only in the back of my head. When I was a child I went to church occasionally if I woke up for it, the same habits my mother lived in. Now days, i never go to church. Im unsure, you could say, as to what i believe. So you could name me agnostic.

But, to define your question "What is god?"

From my beliefs and experience's I would catogarize god as an omnipresent idol. In our society an "atheist" is put into a category such as dark or evil. Now im not saying this is true, just how society portrays it. In saying that I am also saying that people who believe in god would be referred to as "Christian" or in our society, white and fulfilled.

In the old days there was very little room for free thought. I think that the entire conceptual question of "What is god?" truely came about in the 1900's when technology started to increase and man started to get downtime or freetime. When this time came we all realized that the freetime was more enjoyable then the worktime. In this we found that we could think about Things besides work, Things besides god, Things besides family. That is when videogames and televisons and anime, all these things, came about.Now, when a human begins to do something that is enjoyable the human brain wants to do more of that thing. Which, in turn, makes them want to sacrifice things that seem less necessary(For example: god).
From what I have seen the majority of people that play video games and the like are "Atheist".

What is god? In my thoughts, god is merely a presence, that was created. This "God" was created as man's very first place to put faith. The reason that he was created was for the working class people. To give this class of people something of which to look into for beliefs and faith. To give them the power to go on. In the human brain, with nothing but sorrow, your life span is proven to decrease. However, when your happy, your lifespan is proven to increase. Based upon when god truely started to appear and how the bible portrays him(The wine and bread was shared with the less wealthy people and the unfortunate people).
So in theory. I believe god was created by more powerful people in order to give the working class something to believe in.

Now call me crazy, call me atheist, these are merely my thoughts. Like I said I am an agnostic
smile.gif
.

(bah any grammatical mistakes and stuff)
 
Well, it just so happens that I have the answer to your question. God isn't what you believe or any kind of nonsense like that. In fact god is...
th_scott_baio.jpg

Yes.... that is correct.. God is none other than Scott Baio.
 
well god is the being that some of us believe in, as for me i dont believe in god. But that doesnt mean that there isnt a god. The universe is a vast place and holds unexplained and unknown mysteries. Therefore the possibility of actually having a god may seem possible or maybe something similar to idea of god. But then again it may seem that a logical explaination would be needed to prove the idea of god exists.
But then again what happened if our principles and ideas of the universe were all wrong and that logic is something that we just use to TRY to explain the unexplained.
 
i'm not a religious person. in fact, i'm almost completely atheist. i find it ridiculous to think that god would bother to let humans, who have existed for an incredibly short time on this tiny planet rotating about one of a million stars, know of his existence. i think every religion which claims to teach the way of god is a human creation.

still, there must be something. our universe is constantly expanding. there is matter and there is space. space. literally, nothingness. the "big bang" is what we can think of scientifically as the beginning, when all the matter in the universe exploded outward into the nothingness. before the big bang, what could have existed? nothing. some force or some being must have been so powerful that it created existence itself. that's pretty incredible to me, and if anything can be called "god," i think that's it.
 
QUOTE (xxanime_junkyxx @ Sep 17 2006, 05:04 PM) So in conclusion, I came to realize that I cannot completly cut off God from my life, it would be like cutting off a part of me.
I know what you mean. God is like a naked lady to me. If you don't believe in God, you will be sad your whole life. You need God so you can talk with her about your problems. You want to hug & kiss God to show you love her. And if God fails you, you can dump her to find another God. Its as simple as that.

God= wet ladiez
Devil= menz with whips


Never give up hope on God or the Devil will punish you!
 
QUOTE (LosingSolace @ Sep 18 2006, 05:34 PM)
What is god? In my thoughts, god is merely a presence, that was created. This "God" was created as man's very first place to put faith. The reason that he was created was for the working class people. To give this class of people something of which to look into for beliefs and faith. To give them the power to go on. In the human brain, with nothing but sorrow, your life span is proven to decrease. However, when your happy, your lifespan is proven to increase. Based upon when god truely started to appear and how the bible portrays him(The wine and bread was shared with the less wealthy people and the unfortunate people).
So in theory. I believe god was created by more powerful people in order to give the working class something to believe in.

Now call me crazy, call me atheist, these are merely my thoughts. Like I said I am an agnostic
smile.gif
.

(bah any grammatical mistakes and stuff)
I know what you mean. i used to think that way as well. i used to think that God was only created as salvation for the human mind. sometimes humans can be their own enemies. btw, i am not christian, but hindu, and many people ridicule our religion for having so many gods, but it is a common misconception. we believe that all those gods are there to represent the many personalities that god has.

i also used to have a great interest in christianity. not that i wanted to convert or anything, but the history is quite bloody no? i am a huge fan of Dan Brown, call me crazy, but his views totally blew me away. he made me look at religion in a totally different perspective. what if all these religions we were talking about were all man made.

that is why i never allow myself to associate with a religion. technically i am hindu, but i don't like to believe that. i don't have a religion, basically. that's because religion is all man made...this is my opinion, but i feel that those who get too into their religion and are ignorant of anything but their religion, then they are being close-minded. To me, religion cannot be taken seriously, the stories, the teachings, the morals, i dont believe they were sent down to earth by god. we made them up ourselves.

that is why religion and god cannot be fairly tied to one another.
 
hmm sad i dont believe in a god or anything close to it.

There no changing my mind untill it is proven to me.
If a story is told to me about a god, thats just what it is to me a story, untill something happens to me to prove there is one i dont beleive.
smile.gif
 
And thus I never believed or will ever believe in the existance of atoms until I see them with my very own eyes and nothing else.

Just because you can't see it, it doesn't mean it's not there! And according to Faye's theory, all healthy males should believe in God and healthy women believe in Devil, (feel free to replace believe with any other word you feel it is appreciated... NO I DIDNT SAY ANY WTF NOOZZZZZZZZZZZZ)

So say fate, if you were a women and believed in God (as you have defined) then can I come over and watch??? Andmaybejoininandmakeitathreesome?
 
QUOTE (noob @ Sep 18 2006, 10:10 PM) And thus I never believed or will ever believe in the existance of atoms until I see them with my very own eyes and nothing else.

Just because you can't see it, it doesn't mean it's not there! And according to Faye's theory, all healthy males should believe in God and healthy women believe in Devil, (feel free to replace believe with any other word you feel it is appreciated... NO I DIDNT SAY ANY WTF NOOZZZZZZZZZZZZ)

So say fate, if you were a women and believed in God (as you have defined) then can I come over and watch??? Andmaybejoininandmakeitathreesome?
omg!! lol noob! thats good thats really good. lol lmao
 
There are people nowdays who don´t believe anything if its not proved by science. But most of these people dont realize that they are equaly blind zealots as religion fanatics. For instance: "you cant argue with math". I CAN argue with math!, But i cant argue with nature. Another example is the Big bang, because it doesn´t truly explain the beggining of the universe, just of an age of the universe, after all, for a big mass of matter to explode, it requires first of all... matter, or energy, which its almost the same, and even now, one day gravity will condense all the universe again, and then again a big bang, etc. Science is the most trustworthy tool to understand true (or reality, or nature), but its not true itself.

But that´s off topic, I just said that cause i think we have some science zealots here.

So what is god? God is:

1. The creator.
2. The guide of humans.
3. He who is.

This are basically the most common definitions of God. And i think one is wrong "The guide of humans" This though is wrong I think, love, greatness, evil, art, etc. are human stuff, and have nothing to do whith God. Jesus, Ghandi, Da Vinci, etc, where just humans after all. "Those things you call idealistics, I call them human things, maybe just too human". So in this planet we are alone.

But not in the universe, The universe wasn´t created, and the universe just is. God lives as a one with the universe, the mistake is thinking of god as a superhuman whith magical and enormous powers, if you want to understand god you have to stop thinking as a human. Why would god care about a person?, maybe he (he? it?) cares about mankind, but i doubt he cares about little things.

But again. Who is god? God is eternity, God is the beggining of all, God IS and last but not least, God is not the wisest of humans
 
EVA is a goddess... goddess of all anime :> Well, beeing honest I never thought of the fact how actally God looks and acts... maybe he doesn't have visible form even in heaven... he's just a voice in ones head, nothing more nothig less...
 
yes EVA is a goddess, the goddess of all anime.. i agree, but im still sticking to it, i need god to be proven to me, no by any of you but by him/her if there is one or many. i beleive in alot of unknown but this one i wont.
 
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