Do you believe in God?

[Aurellia]

To put it bluntly. No.
Too many religions have come and gone over the course of history for me to treat any of them seriously.
That being said, if religion is not mentioned around me, I would not bring it up as a topic of conversation either.

Higher beings (The Ascended from Stargate SG-1 is a good example.(As fictitious as they may be, they are the best example I can provide.)) are a different story though.
But trying to contemplate anything down this narrative I view as quite pointless in our species' current societal and technological development. (This is most likely a discussion for a new topic/thread, as I feel this would stray from the title.)

 

[Crossbreed]

Yes, I believe in God. A short summary of His nature can be found at The FOUR SPIRITUAL LAWS website.

 

[SnowTiger20]

I want to but I can't.

 

[midlife aspie]

Sure I do. Here's why:
My previous life ended and I stood before the Lord in judgement.
He said that I had done XXXXXX good things in my life.
But, He also said that I had done XXXXXXXX bad things in my life.
He then stated that I was not quite good enough for Heaven,
But also that I was not quite bad enough for an eternity in Hell.
So the Lord pronounced His judgement:
"I hereby sentence you to live again; with an ASD."
So here I am!

 

[AspieOtaku]

People can believe what they want to believe as long as they dont force it down my throat.

 

[AspieOtaku]

I am a literal thinker, as a child i used to find it believable and that he was depicted as some bearded man in sunday school as I got much older and got into science, it made it harder to believe in god. If there is a god out there i don't think it would take an anthropomorphic form but maybe perhaps pure energy, there is no way for certain that god exists however the lack of evidence is overwhelming, however there is no way to prove there is no god.

 

[AspieOtaku]

In my opinion there is no god, just something used to explain the unexplainable, a man made concept, god was made by man. This is just my opinion and my take on it.

 

[Sass]

Agreed Sportster.

This will be the second religious thread in the last week that I've had to give a caution.

Take it easy folks, don't be rude, or disdainful. If you can't answer the original question without doing those things, move along...

 

[Nitro]

Agreed Sportster.

This will be the second religious thread in the last week that I've had to give a caution.

Take it easy folks, don't be rude, or disdainful. If you can't answer the original question without doing those things, move along...

When I was the president of a social drinking club years ago,there were two topics we forbid at the bar that would get members barred for life due to the physical confrontations they started
The other one was politics

 

[Cali Cat]

Yes, and no. I guess that leaves me "undecided." I believe in a higher force, but I'm not sure I believe in the kind of God we are often taught about. I'm not sure individual circumstances interest the God I believe in, but rather he/she/it is concerned with the greater mechanism of life. It's not a comforting belief, but it seems more realistic to me. As for the Bible, I think it's a good guideline for how to live one's life without getting into too much trouble. If one can only do the right thing because one believes a God will punish him/her for disobedience, then I guess God does have a function for the individual.

 

[AspieOtaku]

It's interesting, and a little sad, how this thread has gone from a simple "yes or no" poll to one of debate and insults. If a person is a believer, then that is fine. If one chooses not to believe, then that is also fine. There is no need to cast insults either way. I looked at the original post from six years ago, all it asked for was a simple "yes or no" response.

Sometimes people get overly sensitive about opposing opinions. I have seen it happen a few times when it comes to religion at times. People get passionate about their beliefs a no might make them offended and vica versa.

Examples:
do you believe in god?no
Beleiver: you dont believe in god? your an idiot and a jerk. God is real and you'll burn in hell!!

Do you believe in god?: yes


non believer: your an idiot to believe in such things!

People just tend to get overly sensitive and need to learn to keep cool.

 

[Rob]

It's interesting, and a little sad, how this thread has gone from a simple "yes or no" poll to one of debate and insults. If a person is a believer, then that is fine. If one wnot to believe, then that is also fine. There is no need to cast insults either way. I looked at the original post from six years ago, all it asked for was a simple "yes or no" response.

How true, Sportster.

I have encountered in the past several other threads on Aspies Central with very similar themes, that have unfortunately gone very sour. I had contributed to these other threads also. I sided with the moderators then, as the atmosphere became tainted, even poisonous.

It is sad to see a topic based on fundamental religious freedom become a pavilion for insults and name-calling. This has repeated itself too many times. It is time we respect each views and stop any personal attacks. Let us not let history repeat itself on this immensely valuable forum for us Aspies. We're in this together, regardless of our beliefs. State your views but if you disagree with them, there is no reason for personal attacks or insults in return.

 

[Ste11aeres]

Okay guys-there's an explicit AC. rule against religious arguments.

It's fine to state what your own beliefs are. It's not fine to denigrate the beliefs of others. It's sometimes okay to clarify a mistake that someone made about what other people believe...but we're going down a bit of a slippery slope.

If moderators have to continually be stepping into a thread to tell people to tone things down, that's a good way to get a thread closed.

Edit: for anyone who's confused by this post; a lot of comments to which I'm referring have been deleted. So if you can't find anything that warrants this comment, there's a reason for it.

 

[Bellatrix]

It is not a good sign when teachers teaching new ministers are banning tape recorders in their classes because they don't want people to hear what they really believe.

People still use tape recorders?

 

[Maelstrom]

People still use tape recorders?

was a long time ago when my brother was in collage....yes it really happened.

 

[qwerty]

i am thinking of getting baptized but
i am not sure how to go about it.
i am not a member of any church, and
don't really know how to make sure the
baptism is proper.

i like the idea of a full submersion baptism
as beautifully symbolic of washing away sin
so i can declare Christ as my saviour while
pure in spirit as well as intention. i would
like some close friends who are also Christian
to be there too.

can anyone explain the best way of doing
this, and maybe share hoe they were
baptized?

i have been baptized before, but i don't
think i really accepted Christ into my
heart at that period of my life.

i really like the idea of having it done
at a river i used to frequent and have
always felt a deep spiritual connection
with.

 

[Maelstrom]

i am thinking of getting baptized but
i am not sure how to go about it.
i am not a member of any church, and
don't really know how to make sure the
baptism is proper.

i like the idea of a full submersion baptism
as beautifully symbolic of washing away sin
so i can declare Christ as my saviour while
pure in spirit as well as intention. i would
like some close friends who are also Christian
to be there too.

can anyone explain the best way of doing
this, and maybe share hoe they were
baptized?

i have been baptized before, but i don't
think i really accepted Christ into my
heart at that period of my life.

i really like the idea of having it done
at a river i used to frequent and have
always felt a deep spiritual connection
with.

You can go to a pastor and ask for Baptism Qwerty, some will do a non denominational Baptism, some wont. Generally one studies articles of faith with the pastor before it is done, different churches have different articles of faith, mine SDA keeps the old 10 commandment laws, and health laws from the old Testiment, and does not believe in Hell and some other stuff. It is different from mainline protestants and Catholics, I do not know exactly what their articles of faith are, you will have to ask one of them.
The river Baptism is just something you ask for.....how cold the water is and how brave the Pastor is depends on whether he says yes....just ask till you get it....Qwerty

 

[Allen H]

Being religious is naive. It makes me angry, its to cause for most of the fighting currently going on in the world, religion has a lot to answer for. If one person was a christian, they'd be put in a padded cell.

It is curious that you say that "religion has a lot to answer for". How can this be so, from an atheistic perspective? The statement presupposes a set of moral values by means of which religion (the specific behaviors of religious individuals, based upon their beliefs) can be evaluated. But what is the source of these moral standards/values? A materialist universe is composed of matter/energy, period. There are no moral standards hiding behind the next galaxy or emerging from a quantum fluctuation in a vacuum. In other words, there can be no basis for objective moral principles. Thus when you say that religion has a lot to answer for all you are saying is that the behaviors of many religious people are personally distasteful to you. That may be an interesting autobiographical fact, but nothing more.

 

[Maelstrom]

It is curious that you say that "religion has a lot to answer for". How can this be so, from an atheistic perspective? The statement presupposes a set of moral values by means of which religion (the specific behaviors of religious individuals, based upon their beliefs) can be evaluated. But what is the source of these moral standards/values? A materialist universe is composed of matter/energy, period. There are no moral standards hiding behind the next galaxy or emerging from a quantum fluctuation in a vacuum. In other words, there can be no basis for objective moral principles. Thus when you say that religion has a lot to answer for all you are saying is that the behaviors of many religious people are personally distasteful to you. That may be an interesting autobiographical fact, but nothing more.

Tell me that time there is no basis for natural laws of good and evil, while we are both running from big angry guys with big Macheties, I would that conversation most puzzling.
(((............(((( We will chop you up!

 

[Allen H]

Tell me that time there is no basis for natural laws of good and evil, while we are both running from big angry guys with big Macheties, I would that conversation most puzzling.
(((............(((( We will chop you up!

I wouldn't find it puzzling in the least. What has self interested survival oriented behavior got to do with morality? You could just as easily used for your example zebras running from hungry lions. If the zebras could talk, natural laws of good and evil would not be part of the conversation. In a Darwinian world the most that can be claimed for "good" and "evil" is that it is conventionally defined. No natural basis is rationally possible, as there can be no logical argument from "is" to "ought".