Reasons for your beliefs?

[sneezer3]

Other side of the wall but same. :)

[exatreide]

I was a jew before I became a Atheist. So I have never belived in jesus mwahahaha....

Ahem anyway...I was just raised to pick my own belifes....and being the lazy basterd that I am. atheism was nice and i felt like it that day. So I chose it and thats what I still am... :)

[Inoculator9]

I'm about the same really :) I started rationalizing later ;)

[ken124578]

[quote author=ExAtreides

[Edric O]

I became a Christian 6 years ago, around the age of 11. I had been a strong atheist all my childhood, until I was about 10. In fact, I had been a very strong atheist. Even more so than Acriku is these days. I was also a selfish, uncaring bastard. I didn't have any interest in politics back then, but I think I would have been a fascist if I did. In short, I was almost the complete opposite of who I am now. Christianity changed all that.

I hated religion with a passion, but my life was empty, and getting emptier each day. Nothing could make me feel at peace with myself. Nothing seemed to be good or beautiful - everything was dull and meaningless. I became very interested in religion, but only as a target for my hatred. As I learned more about it, however, that began to change. And so did my selfishness. What was the purpose of living for my own greed and satisfaction, when in the end all the wealth and the glory in the world is nothing but dust in the wind? What was the purpose of living at all? I started asking myself these questions when I was ten, and so I began searching for the answers. The first thing to be washed away was selfishness, as I realized the inherent evil and futility in living only for oneself. I began to love the world, and with it Mankind. There was my purpose. There was my answer. "Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile" (Albert Einstein). But it was not enough. Mankind itself had no purpose, no reason to keep existing. Or did it? Was there really no higher being, nothing but the cold empty void of space? For the first time, I began looking at religion objectively, casting aside my hatred. I saw truth and wisdom in many of the world's religions. And I saw that my own religion of atheism had no more proof to support it than any of the others. So, when logic dictates that all of them have equal chances of being true, which one should I follow? The one that was closest to my heart. The only one which really gave me inspiration and enlightenment, and whose very first followers showed much more faith and courage than any of the others, through peaceful martyrdom. The religion of love, compassion, and peace. Christianity.

So, you want a short answer? I am a Christian because otherwise there would be no reason to live.

[DukeLeto]

Funny, the more I learn about religion, the more despicable it seems. Oh well, all a matter of one's opinion, I guess...

Ah, I see what you're trying to do here. Athiests are not all "selfish, uncaring bastards". In fact, relatively few of them are. I'm not particularly selfish (I'm registered Socialist!) nor am I uncaring. And Akricu; does he seem selfish and uncaring to you?

How about Emprworm? Does he seem selfish? Uncaring?

You can't base your perspective of an entire group around one or two people.

[TMA_1]

yes leto, being a regestered sociallist makes you a model for society. geesh.lol

He wasent getting at that. I mean duh not all athiests are horrible. its like any person, some people in a certain groupa re bad, many arent. the reason why you dislike religion more and more as you "study" it is because you dont want to like religion in the first place. Any kind of study taken in the beginning with a bias mindset will ruin the whole study.

[Edric O]

Leto, I was talking about myself... no one else.

And IMO, you're obviously learning about religion from the wrong people.

[DukeLeto]

Eh? Come again? "Learning about religion from the wrong people"? Maybe, if you consider Baptists "the wrong people". Lots of Baptists where I live. And each and every one of them has tried, at least on one occasion, to convert me. If I wanted to convert, I would go to them!

And, allow me to ask a question: Were you really a "selfish, uncaring bastard", or is that just the drivel the church told you? EG,. I hear a lot: "You selfish and uncaring deeds will be forgiven if you convert" or something to that effect. That's especially funny when it comes from people I've never met. ::)

Yet I know people who've converted, and there more "selfish and uncaring" now than they were before!

[Edric O]

Actually, yes, I would consider Southern Baptists to be exactly the kind of "wrong people" I was talking about. At least, that's the conclusion I came to after everything I heard about them. You seem to have had some bad experiences with that sort of people. Please don't assume all Christians are like that. We are not.

And, allow me to ask a question: Were you really a "selfish, uncaring bastard", or is that just the drivel the church told you? E.G., I hear a lot: "You selfish and uncaring deeds will be forgiven if you convert" or something to that effect. That's especially funny when it comes from people I've never met. ::)

Yet I know people who've converted, and there more "selfish and uncaring" now than they were before!

Ah, my dear Duke... Do you see how your preconceptions and stereotypes blind you? You would rather believe what you want to believe than the truth which doesn't agree with your prejudice.

I'm not trying to insult you. I'm only pointing out a problem that you yourself might not see, so that you can correct it.

Think about it, Duke: I'm a COMMUNIST, for God's sake! Does that sound to you like someone who would let himself be manipulated by corrupt religious leaders? Come on, you know me better than that! Nowadays, religious manipulation isn't even up to the times any more. Politicians and corporations do a much better job at it.

The fact is that I spend a great deal of time on self-analysis. I know every little detail of my personality, including my qualities and faults. I'm capable of drawing my own psychological profile, and I know exactly how I could be influenced or manipulated (and of course I'm not going to tell you ;) ).

When I'm telling you that I was a selfish, uncaring bastard, I know exactly what I'm saying, and there's nothing in the world that I can be more sure of than this truth. Never mistake me for some weak-minded fool.

[GUNWOUNDS]

I'm interested in the reasons for your beliefs, or lack thereof. And now you can tell me why!

OK acriku this seems like a cool opportunity.

Well the reasons for my belief have to do with extremely ancient times. I dont really look at the middle... i look at the begining and the end. I like to read genesis and revelations alot. I like to know how the story begins and how it ends. I of course have read much of the middle of the bible as well but i find the meat of the bible teaches how to live this life correctly. However, what i am interested in is how this all started....why was i created....what is going to happpen in the end.

I am going to tell you a story.. a story that i believe is mans purpose in life. You may think it is silly ...but hey you asked. Well the bible states that Lucifer and one-third of the angels rebelled against GOD and the other two-thirds. Michael the warrior angel led the battle against lucifer and defeated him ....and god cast them down to the earth.

At this time god created Hell. Hell's main purpose was not for the souls of man... it was to be a containment area for the demons and satan. Now god didnt want to send satan and the fallens angels to Hell right away. He wanted to judge them first. However, GOD being so all-power felt he could not judge satan or the fallen angels as it would not be fair. That would be like you and i judging a cockroach...... God wanted them to be judged fairly ...however he could not let the other angels be the judges as that is not their purpose. Their purpose is to serve and worship him....not to serve as judges. So God created Man to be suitable judges for him. We are to be righteous and prove ourselves worthy in this life so that when we become spiritual bodies in the realm of eternity we shall judge the fallen angels. A good example of this is that god does not judge us when we die. Jesus will judge us when we die. How can that be? you ask?? Jesus was GOD's word that came down to earth and became the form of a man and lived as a man and suffered as a man and died as a man. Therefore he went thru what we had to go thru and is a worthy judge. So jesus will judge us... then we shall judge the fallen angels. In corinthians one of the prophets states.."Do you not know we shall be the judges of angels??" Yes it really says that. I will find the scripture and post it for you later.

So this explains why satan and the other fallen angels would despise us and try to corrupt us... the more people who fail to become proper righteous judges will end up joining satan and the rest with him ...thus leaving less judges availble. I think the number of judges has to be important and must be what is taking so long for this world to end. The bible states that one shall not be judged unless by a witness of 2 or 3 so i guess we need 2 to 3 times the amount of people in heaven than the amount of fallen angels that fell. There must have been alot.

Why i believe there is a god at all???

Well i look at god's existence in a scientific way.God is a Its hard to explain. I believe god is a higher dimensional being.

This has alot to do with physics.. i suggest oyu pick up the book titled "ON the 4th Dimension"

This book explains how a being could be of a higher 4th dimension and therefore appear god-like to a lower 3rd dimensional being.

Since we dont know what the 4th dimension is like we have to use lower dimension analogies.

For instance i am a 3rd dimensional being and if i were to able to travel to the 2nd dimension i would appear god-like. or even the 1st dimension. However i cant travel to the 2nd or 1st dimension because they are abstract and dont exist....because the 3rd dimension is the base the dimension... the lowest physical functional dimension. This explains why god made us in this 3-dimensional form. basically we are trapped. we cannot travel to other dimensions because you can only go from high to low dimensions. in other words you cant go to a dimension higher than what you are. So a 5th dimensional creature can travel to the 4th, and 3rd as well as within the 5th. God didnt want to give us that kind of freedom. So he stuck us in the lowest base dimension. number 3.

Ok lets start making some analogies. Lets just say the 2nd dimension did exist. Lets say the 2nd dimension is the surface of a pond and there are creatures within the very surface of the pond and they can only move back and forth.. not up and down.

Now lets say the creatures are shapes. circles and squares and such. Now lets say i step into the pond. The pond's surface will cross-section my legs and i will appear as two circles to these 2-dimensional beings. Amazing....i am one creature yet i will appear as 2 !!! I was basically cross-sectioned in their dimension to look like them. (angels are 4th dimensional and do not look like us....however when they come to the 3rd dimension they get cross-sectioned to look like us) now lets say they try to surround me and trap me. Well i simply step out of the pond and step back in far away from them. What will they see?? they will see two cirlces disappear and then reappear far away from where they were trying to trap me. They will think i can teleport and that i am godly.. yet i am no god.. i am simply a higher dimensional being which is able to manipulate their univers to my advantage by doing simple things.

Now you may say....well then god isnt god?? he is just some higher dimensional being toying with us?? no no no .... that would be what the angels and dmeons are... simply higher dimensional beings... probably in the 4th dimension. God isnt 4th dimensioanl.. if he was he would be equal to the angels and demons. but he cant be 5th dimensional either... cause then a 6th dimensional creature would be higher than him. for him to be a true god he must be Infinitely dimensional meainig ruling all dimensions.

Thats all i got to say... i know this was long and many of you wont be able to comprehend it but acriku seems intellingent and may get my points... i just wanted to show that you CAN think of GOD in a scientific way.