It's extremely hard for me to believe in a God.

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Okay, so I have been agnostic for several years now and I am wondering if it is normal for me to find it hard to believe in a God? I already have my own good personal reasons for not wanting to join the Christian community. Now, I am not ruling out Deism which is the belief that a creator exists but that he did not reveal himself to man. My Deist friend has a very good reason for believing in what he does. He says that he couldn't imagine life just evolving on it's own to the state in which it is, and the way emotions work and stuff. I can. I believe in science. I think of all the possibilities that the entire universe could have been created all by itself if a God could have existed. I know the whole everything has a creator argument, but I often ask, then who created "God"? I mean, some beliefs just don't seem logical to me. I never understood how someone could believe in the Christian God. Everytime I discuss religion, I get the whole faith argument, yet I still don't understand it. I just think that "God" is everyone's simple explanation to all the hard questions that we cannot answer.

Is it normal that I find it hard to believe in a God?

I think there is no "normal" here. I mean, if you don't believe in the Christian God, then you don't. Whatever your reasons are, they are YOUR reasons. You don't necessarily need to explain it to everyone.

VERY normal. I think even people with strong beliefs in God (or a god, or what ever creator) still have their moments of question.Religion gives people a sense of eternity, as in, this isn't it. (Heaven, reincarnation and the like).It also helps explain the hard stuff. It allows people to "blame" someone else when things go awry. It usually lends to values as well. MOST religions have rules to live by, and most people see them as rules to just help us get along in this crappy world.

Yes. That is exactly how I see it. I think religion is a crutch for a lot of people.

If you practice Buddhism, it's much easier to understand. There is no "correct" God. All Gods in all cultures teach the same basic principes, to be good to one another. What's so wrong with that? I don't see anything to cause an uproar about. It's a lot of the same that's taught in Buddhism, it's doing good, for yourself first, so you can then have the power to love others. I'm still trying.

as an atheist, I think its not only normal but right to question gods existence. It at least shows your thinking for yourself instead of just preaching what others have said.
I dont even have a problem with people that think there is a god, just those that push their vies on me, and use god as an argument for laws and to say whats right morally.
You dont think its so? then dont follow it to its conclusion find something that makes sense to you and follow that.
I personally take alot of stock in science, I want definite proof of a supreme being before Ill alter my life to fit its moral views.

Originally Posted By: SexpertIf you practice Buddhism, it's much easier to understand. There is no "correct" God. All Gods in all cultures teach the same basic principes, to be good to one another. What's so wrong with that? I don't see anything to cause an uproar about. Could not agree more

funny thing...the survivors of the Tennesee tornados are thanking god yet they won't blame him for starting the whole damn mess!maybe god doesn't make tornados, maybe it's satain... or communists?gays?Osama?

Originally Posted By: PepsiChaser

VERY normal. I think even people with strong beliefs in God (or a god, or what ever creator) still have their moments of question.

Religion gives people a sense of eternity, as in, this isn't it. (Heaven, reincarnation and the like).

It also helps explain the hard stuff. It allows people to "blame" someone else when things go awry. It usually lends to values as well. MOST religions have rules to live by, and most people see them as rules to just help us get along in this crappy world.

To the OP regarding Pepsi's response, I've pretty much gotten to the point where I am far beyond just believing in him. The changes that have happened in my life, and the experiences I have gone through. The people I have encountered and the places I've been are far enough proof and more. I always found it interesting how people think Creationism is laughable but yet they'll prove to their last breath that matter really did explode and create all that we see and more. It just sounds like something I'd hear a little kid say. Nonetheless, there are so many things I wish I could tell but I can't find the words to say. And there are so many things I've experiences that I wish I could show but I just can't demonstrate. I'm still just a young teenager trying to excel in my education so I can prove this world wrong. I wish I could have the advanced mind as William Bryan, Billy Sunday, Talmage, D.L. Moody and etc who prove so well with passion and determination their beliefs, but I'm not really there yet lol.

It's not hard to believe that you can't believe in God. Most people don't. I can't really say anything else on the matter without people thinking I'm "forcing religion down their throats" which has become the motto for this site.

You'll often hear people say that believing there's a 'man in the sky that watches what we do' is just as childish a notion as an explosion that lent us our existence today. I am not lending my opinion on this, just saying.I myself am a hesitant Atheist. I don't believe there is a God, but.. I guess you could say that I want to believe. If I had any proof, I would welcome it and practice what He teaches, but I simply can't bring myself to believe it, no matter how much I want to. I have too much of a logical mind to. I also am of strong conviction that one does not need to believe in any God to know what is right and what is wrong. Personally, I think that dismissing the Big Bang as folly simply because it sounds stupid is a little arrogant. To say it can't happen is to assume that one knows exactly how the universe works, and we most certainly don't. We have no idea. What we experience is just that: what we experience. Just because it (creation of matter, or whathaveyou) cant be done by us, or anything we've observed, doesnt make it impossible. We are but the blink of an eye in the grand timeline, and there's an infinity of things we have yet to experience as a people.HOWEVER. That being said, I'd like to say I don't think any less of anyone who does believe in God, specifically you because Im replying to your post. I respect people who can believe in God and use what He teaches to better their lives and the lives of others. I dont, however, respect people who try to 'make' others believe.

@clixx:That is how I feel as well. I want to be able to believe in something, I think we all do to some extent, but our logic and reason leads us to believe otherwise.I think it is very confusing that the Christian God gives us logic and reason, yet when we use it for some things (atheism, etc.), it would go against the Christian God.This is why I am learning about Deism. It seems like a philosophical religion I can believe in. Deists believe in a creator who wants humans to behave morally and doesn't believe that God reveals himself to man. Deists also don't believe in supernatural events that are associated with other religions such as miracles, prayers, etc. It is strictly based on logic and reason and believe it or not, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine were Deists. The slogan that sums Deism up is, "God gave us reason, not religion."

If you think about it, the situation of the world that is, religion has no bearings. Either a god once existed, created us, and abandoned us, or one never existed. That, or he's a hellacious prick who likes watching his creation suffer.IE: AIDs, starvation, war.I think questioning beliefs is healthy, and intelligent. I'm a cultural jew, I was raised jewish, and i love my jewish culture. I married and have a little boy with a israeli orthodox jew, we love each other to death and make it work.

Quote:That, or he's a hellacious prick who likes watching his creation suffer.IE: AIDs, starvation, war. Oh come on....like He created AIDs, starvation, and war?? Those things are caused by man.

hey, don't go blaming men for everything now missy!

The truth is NOONE knows. Not anyone that's alive, anyway. We can feel, speculate, believe, have faith, or have none at all. Every human who speaks of this topic is speaking like they have too much logic to think otherwise. The fact that anyone would even say that shows a lack of logic in my eyes. We can repeat what we've been taught, or follow our own path . I doesn't matter. Just try to be good to others and things will all fall into place. It's not that difficult of a concept.

Originally Posted By: DxLISHxISx_43  Quote:That, or he's a hellacious prick who likes watching his creation suffer.IE: AIDs, starvation, war. Oh come on....like He created AIDs, starvation, and war?? Those things are caused by man. I agree

How, might I ask, could we create AIDS or other sicknesses like the Bubonic Plague?

Wouldn't have had anything to do with he scientific accident where HIV was spread through contact with Monkey blood. That wouldn't be man's fault.....wait, who does science? A little sarcasm to help along the point Nutshell: HIV and AIDS wouldn't be around if we hadn't been studying it in Primates. (and no, the old story about some guy having sex with a monkey is actually false)

I think that monkey sex theory was proved wrong a long time ago. Patient zero seems to have helped the international spread of AIDS but as far as when the earliest reported AIDS related death was? Try the 1920's.
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In January 2000, the results of a new study presented at the 7th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, suggested that the first case of HIV-1 infection occurred around 1930 in West Africa . The study was carried out by Dr Bette Korber of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The estimate of 1930 (which has a 15 year margin of error) was based on a complex computer model of HIV's evolution. If accurate, it means that HIV was in existence before many scenarios (such as the OPV and conspiracy theories) suggest._

Originally Posted By: CiderHow, might I ask, could we create AIDS or other sicknesses like the Bubonic Plague? Why don't YOU research how AIDS came about. please.people say they don't believe in God. and the excuse they use not to believe in Him is all the negative things about the world when it's really THEIR fault. load of bullcrap.