sourdough

question for believers obviously.
I believe your life is what you make it.
why do you need god?
as far as morals go if you obey the laws of the country you live in,shouldn't that be enough?

Amie

Hi sourdough I believe so too...

hmmm good question. I am not so sure it is a need or a necessity. It is just what I believe to be. I think ultimately it comes down to a choice to believe or not. I believe because that feels right for me...

Absolutely. I do not necessarily feel that my God belief has anything to do with my morality. I feel that moral behaviors evolve due to many things, familial teachings, social structure, cultural influences and while I think that some moral behaviors can be religiously influenced in some people more often than not it is other things that influence our own moral bases...JMO

Heathen Dawn

For me, belief in the Goddess and God means that I'm no longer just a disposable box for my genes, riding on a temporal conveyor-belt towards oblivion, but that I have a real purpose in the universe, and have more than a short accident-prone lifetime to realise myself. I'm no longer just an expendable cog in the naturalistic wheel, but one of the living, growing souls of the universe. No longer vanity of vanities, but instead, everything is new under the sun.

Hugo Holbling

I'm no believer, sourdough, but i understand that God helps with the scoring of touchdowns and the like.

luvluv

Can anyone live without "a" god, or as Tillich has called it, an ultimate concern?

It could be argued that we all have effective gods, that is to say we all have a concept or entity which, in our eyes, gives us meaning, gives us value, brought life into existence, and is the "hope" of mankind.

For some this is money, or fame or sex... for still others this is science. Very few of us, however, do not have a First Cause, or an ultimate concern.

AdamWho

I think that people NEED god because, as Heathen Dawn pointed out, they feel like

People need to feel like they are important, that they matter. Belief that some ultimate (daddy) being loves you works for some people. The hope of a futuristic and rational utopia (like star trek) works for me but it is really the same crutch. Could I live without this hope (faith?) I think so, but I would be sad for it

Biff the unclean

I don't get it.
You are going to live for 70-80 years and then you are going to die, just like everyone in the world does. Why is undestanding that the "vanity of vanities."
It would seem to me that thinking--despite all the evidence aginst and no evidence for--that you, unlike everything else, were not going to die is about as vain as vain can get.

You didn't exist before you were born and that doesn't seem to bother you. Why should not existing after you die be any worse?

GALI

Calling yourself a Christian in America is simply the easy thing to do. It is taking the course of least resistance and, by the way, you get to spend eternity in paradise. A real nifty deal requiring minimal contemplation or use of your intellect. The same can be said of a Hindu in India or a Moslem in Egypt. I do not believe it is so much the belief in god for most Christians; it is more about social acceptance (go along, get along). If 80% of the country worshiped trees, you would be asking the same question, simply substitute tree for god.

Sabine Grant

That is your subjective understanding of what existing consists of. You are assuming that a believer does not aknowledge his existence prior to inhaling the first breath of fresh air out of the womb. Well... do not generalize. I do believe that I existed from the moment I was concieved. I had my genes in place, my DNA all lined up and my vital signs appeared progressively to sustain my brain activity during the fetal growth process.

Of course one can define existence only when conscience of oneself appears... the old Descarte's principle. That would leave out all persons who have limited brain activity and cannot have the oneself's awareness.

Sabine Grant

SOURDOUGH : my personal walk with faith is a personal choice. God is a necessity for me to modify my character and be a "better version of myself". It is not based on feelings of insecurity or unworthiness but simply on the desire to grow. Find better ways to do things. Better means to deal with others. It is a challenge also.