Why do you believe in God

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According to the cosmological argument, there has to have existed something which created all else, and therefore predates the rest of creation. It must be separate from the physical universe and not bound by its laws. I made no argument concerning the origin of life, but the Big Bang does not explain the creation of the universe- merely its expansion. All of that highly condensed mass and energy had to come from somewhere.


It differs in that the God of the Gaps is an appeal to ignorance, while the cosmological argument argues from known scientific laws. A notable example of the "God of the gaps" argument is Behe's "irreducible complexity." Basically, if we can't see a mechanism for how something evolved, it can't have evolved and "Goddidit." That is a God of the Gaps. The cosmological argument is different in that it is not based on such an appeal, but on simple thermodynamics. Matter (and energy) can neither be created nor destroyed. How then did existing matter and energy come to be? A counter is that they "always were" but this requires an infinite time span, which is incomprehensible. If there were infinite time in the past, it could never have all passed and we would never reach the present. Basically, there is no reason why anything should exist. Existence should not exist. The existence of the universe requires that at some point there was external input into it.

There were three very important elements for me.

1) Believing that I could choose to believe something, that I could simply decide to believe whatever I wanted.

2) Reading about the theory of the "god need". "Recent" studies in psychology/neurophysiology hypothesise the existence of a need for "belief in god", ( in many people ), created by the evolution in of fluid intelligence, which is what has us assigning cause, ascribing agency, recognising patterns, and seeking and creating meaning out of "chaos".

3) Several years of struggling, and failing, to make free-will work. I was ready to recognise that I was "in need".

Since "choosing" to believe in god there has been a kind of cascade of effects.

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Last edited by ouinon on 14 Dec 2008, 7:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

Are you familiar with the mythology of Stargate:SG1?

As for myself, I believe in God probably because I was raised Roman Catholic. But aside from my upbringing, I've always been a deeply spiritual person. Some people discover their faith after being raised in non-religious homes. There is an area of the brain associated with religiosity and religious experiences, and I submit that in some individuals this "God-zone" is less active or altogether inactive.

Code 19.

http://submission.org/miracle/

Which is why I prefer Linux. Similarily, I follow the Qur'an alone, instead of the barbarism of Sunnism/Shi'ism. Reminds me of a Robert Frost's poem "The road not taken" - I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference

Peace.

much like the mythology of the bible its about as funny. maybe a little more so

I do not believe in God because no solid train of arguments leads to that conclusion unless some serious distortion of terms or intentional self-deception is involved.

I know we don't know where it came from. An answer will be found one day, but making up an answer does not solve any questions, it just satisfies curiosity.
That's why religion exists; to satisfy mans curiosity for things he cannot explain or does not know how to explain.

It satisfies a need which many people have, and which, like any need, it is a good idea to satisfy, so long as doing so harms noone. Not satisfying it can cause chronic depression, anxiety, a sense of meaningless/purposelessness, tiredness, apathy, etc.

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i haven't had any need to believe in god yet am a deeply spiritual person. in fact i was quite content to not believe in god. for most of my life i've believed everything is connected either directly or indirectly with everything else --- much like a set of interlocking gears. when one gear moves, it will eventually cause all the rest to move even if only very slightly...or like pebble tossed into pond with ripples spreading out infinitely...

i believe in predestination as opposed to freewill [99.999999999999%]....in the sense that whatever we do is almost totally determined by what everything else does. i believe some moments and some thoughts-feelings-actions are more important than others...i.e, not every moment is qualified with the same intensity and consequences.

sometimes we're on stage with the spotlight on us...the universe watching/waiting for us to act, and taking it's cue from the group that we are a part of....it is at those times that we have a miniscule measure of free will...in that the consequences of our thoughts-feelings-actions will be slightly more than the infinitesimal mathematical proportion of the totality constituted by our existence.

--->similarly when a leader makes a decision it generally has a greater effect than decisions made by the people he/she leads.

so the god i believe in is the master calculation or equation which is the sum total [maybe a fractal] of everything and nothing.....

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why do i believe in god? i had very little to do with it...i.e., it just happened. my god is not personal and not a creator....most people would hardly say my spiritual belief is a belief in god per se...but when i finally wrapped my brain around this 'divine equation'...there was absolutely no doubt...i knew that god had found me, in a manner of speaking.

the thing is...i have never felt there was an 'i' separate from 'god'. to say 'i' believe in 'god' is to imply, at least grammatically, a difference and separation between subject and object. for me this kind of duality or dichotomy is inappropriate and makes no sense at all..

I believe in god- but it's none of your business why. I'd prefer to not post it on the internet. In this case though, it over-rides science and I'm a very scientific person.

I know exactly what you mean. I am also very appreciate of science but I have also have much reverence for God. All the good things I have in my life today are what God chose to give me. This has vdery strong meaning in a world where children are born in suffering, live in suffering, and die in suffering. In this world there are little pockets of heaven but there are also big swatches of hell.

I must say mr.mutant, compared to other christians I have met, you are like non alcoholic beer (compared to like a 10 L thing of vodka lol)
and as a Yule celebrator it is good to see you pay homage to your great day
thank you

Eh?

I think it is more as if at rare moments something "free" happens, ( the "uncertainty" of the universe, a creative shift ), but even then it's not my freedom, when something changes without any normal reason. Those moments are precious, feel important, but I don't believe that they necessarily correspond with any moment or event which one would usually consider crucial. It might happen in the most humdrum/mundane situation. But cause changes apparently out of all proportion with the context/event.


I know. but it still works best as a way to express it, for me. I don't know how else to express it and remain coherent.

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@ouinon
consider 9/11 as a crucial event which changes a probable timeline to an improbable one...