I don’t know if I do. As in I am not sure. This is one topic which I am really confused about. When asked about it all I manage is an ‘Umm’, ‘maybe’ or ‘I don’t know’. I don’t pray everyday. I don’t religiously go to temples or churches.
The only time you will find me in a temple is when my mom manages to drag me along with her. The only time you will find me in a church is on Christmas, that too not because it is Christmas, but because the particular church I go to has fond memories associated with it.
Am I an Atheist? No, I don’t think so. Am I a believer? No, I don’t think so.
I don’t believe in God in stones, in temples, in churches or synagogues. For me god is a mystic power. There is certainly something above us all. This nature, the quirks, the way the world works is something which has to be created by someone. It simply cannot exist on its own. It is, for me, a very complicated concept.
I think, many people believe in God, because it gives them someone to hold accountable. God is an explanation to so many things unfathomable. God is courage. God is Hope.
My friend gave me a book called ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ to read. Though I don’t read spiritual stuff, I agreed because she said the book answers questions like,
Why are you on this earth?
What is your purpose or role in the overall scheme of things? And so on and so forth. Believe me she could go on and on.
But I have never thought about this. I mean, what good would it do if I came to know my purpose on this planet, right?
India is famous for its sages, guru’s, swamis, yogis, rishis, sadhu’s and so on. But for me, even the concept of a Yogi or a rishi is murky. When I see the almost naked Sadhus in the Kumbh Mela(the biggest fair in India, held once in every 12 years), smoking pot and talking on mobile phones, I think I better not go there. Let it remain a mystery.
I don’t think not bathing for days, hiding yourself in the Himalayas or shunning your responsibilities to achieve a higher goal (whatever that is) can get you closer to God or whatever power you believe in. But that again is hazy, for me. It is a mystery.
That is one of the major reasons I have starting reading the book. Also because my friend said it will change your perception entirely.
This post is mainly to clarify my thoughts, to write them down as they come to my mind; it is a parameter to measure the difference in my perception if there is any, after reading the book.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this (without further confusing me please).
Anyone has a definite reason to exist on this earth???
Book-Shelved 
Nice post!
Since you ask, yes, I believe in God! I believe He made the world and put us in it to enjoy it under His rule. I believe we as humans rebelled against Him but He didn’t wash His hands of us. I believe he sent his son (Jesus) to put right the mess we’ve made of things. And that’s just what Jesus did.
I agree, religion can really put us off the idea of God. That’s why I’m not a fan of religion as stones and buildings, as you rightly say. My faith is all about a relationship with God, not ritual.
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I am actually not sure if I believe in God CM,in the way you put it. I don’t believe in a particular Jesus or Krishnaor Ganesh or any other names and forms which we humans tend to give to God. I think, I believe in a supreme power and would not like to give it any form.
I have just googled a name, it is called Agnosticism, I think…
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Yes, a lot of my friends are agnostic… I think a lot of people who used to be atheists are now agnostics because the ‘No God’ worldview doesn’t quite add up for them, and so they are open to different ideas.
Like you say, this existence has to be created by someone… 🙂
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I would have loved to joke and quote the Irish drinking song, which would answer your question by saying it’s all for “sex and beer“.
I do think about this, albeit not very often. I’m more of an atheist, but believe in the hindu relegious principle that states, “Karma is your true dharma” (Doing deeds is your true religion). That’s as far as I am willing to acknowledge God.
I believe that by doing good deeds, things will generally go well for you as a person. I believe we exist in this world so that we can appreciate beauty, pain, nature, rain, love, hate and spectrum of emotions and senses that it offers us. It is upto us to make the best of this chance. Now who gave us this chance is a question I don’t have an answer to, but I don’t attribute this chance to any one person or persona either.
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Violet, I think you have a better understanding of God than you give yourself credit for, because he isn’t in a piece of stone, or an ancient building, or dead piece of architecture.
I believe in the same God as CM, and I’ll explain why I believe in Him. I believe in Him because of the reallity of what Jesus did, it’s not a question of theology or religion, it’s because of Jesus that I know God. I believe that through Jesus dieing I have access to God, not though having to follow some religious procedure, but because Jesus paid for a life time pass with His sacrifice. Thus God is reallity not in some old belief or building but as an Everyday reallity, an existence, someone who is approachable as a friend. To me thats who God is, He’s always been there and never let me down.
As to other beliefs, I’ve looked at others, and to me the only one that is real is Jesus. I’ll explain why, I think that God is someone with amazing attributes of love, and the central figures in a belief should be people to aspire too. Jesus was a perfect guy, full of compassion, there can be no denying if more people were like Him the world would be a better place, where as other religious figures that can’t be said. Jesus had everything correct, he had wisdom and knowledge and power, but used it practically, used it in real ways to make a real difference to help real people. Take Muhammed, he was a killer, he was a soldier, if everyone was like Muhammed, we’d be fighting. Jesus was practical and real, He wasn’t some out of touch remote religious figure having cryptic dreams, He was a real guy, helping real people, in that sense He’d get involved, be hands on.
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So much of what you said in your post rings true for me. I have a catholic mother and an atheist father, but I have never felt as strongly as they do about their beliefs. So I have ended up pretty confused about religion and god.
I find organised religion confusing, each one seems to have the ‘one true God’. And the rules that these religions lay down, that you must follow if you want to lead a ‘proper’ religious life seem wrong to me. Yet atheism is too hard line for me, to certain. To have nothing there just makes life a bit empty.
I would class myself as agnostic, but I feel that this is just a fancy word for very confused.
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Hemanshu:
There are certain things in Hindu religion I believe too, but that is something I believe is written by mortals, by learned people.
I think that is something different. Many people do agree on what’s written in the scriptures even if they are atheists.
You have a good view on why we exist though:)
See that’s where my problem lays Pete, I don’t think I believe in people who could perform miracles. Yes, but I agree people could sacrifice or dedicate their lives for a bigger cause. They are the ones we should look up to. But I don’t think I could digest the idea of being a messenger of god, no offence meant here.
See I AM pretty confused. I am probably not making any sense.
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Hi Rebecca, your words ring true for me too.
Why do all of us follow different religions, believe in different gods?
That’s where the human aspect for me comes in.
I think it is because we humans have perceived god in our own way and then given him names or forms.
That’s why it is so hard to believe or follow anything.
Also lately there is a new faith that is being followed here, called Baha’i, which believes god is one.
And I don’t even want to go to Kabala, scientology and all. That will be just too much.
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This is a really good discussion! 🙂
The reason I believe in God as a personal God, is that He made us as personal people(!). I think if He was a more abstract force, why would He create us to be so relational? And creative? For me, that’s part of what the Bible means when it says we are created ‘in His image’. Also, a God who creates giraffes and stars and flowers and colours and sounds and smells, seems to me to be more of a God with personality – or character – , rather than a merely a more impersonal ‘power’…
I guess the issue about Jesus and miracles, etc hinges on whether he was who he claimed to be. The Bible makes it pretty clear that he claimed to be God, so if he was, then I guess it wouldn’t be too hard for him to do miracles! So I guess that is what it comes back to… 🙂
I don’t know if that makes any sense! This is a great post btw! It’s got us all thinking!!
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Yes CM, good discussion indeed, but it has left me all the more confused 🙂
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I do believe in Miracles, even now I believe God can do miracles, if he chooses. If God is powerful enough to create the world, he’s surely powerful enough to repay someones faith with an answer to their prayer. But this power comes from God, not man, I can’t wander out and raise the dead (altho you know, that would be some money maker) but when you’re talking in the context of someone being the Son of God then things become possible, impossible becomes nothing.
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Oh dear! Hope you’re not too confused!
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Pete: I guess it is a matter of belief. Everything is possible if you have faith in God or Jesus for that matter.
Cm: confused I am, but I will manage 🙂
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Cool. Pop in for a meebo sometime! 🙂
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Sometimes I do Violet 🙂
When things make sense, or life seems to click and tick all the right boxes, whether raging or gentle – THEN perhaps I can admit to feeling a certain amount of wonder at “all of this” yano 🙂
Such creatures as your good self – a case in point, or a good thundery rainstorm, or misty damp morning.
Then something like “politics”comes along and makes all the wonder seem false again!!! everything turning into nothing other than something to be “owned” or “controlled” 😦
Then, as now, I wonder what the point is!!!
Why such great and wonderful gifts are we bestowed, simply for them all to be taken away in a mess of confusion and ramapnt power hunger!!
GOD I love white boots and white stockings, sexy hair and well kept nails!!!
I like my legs and adore measuring their sexiness next to woman of obvious sexual GRANDURE!!!
I love all things kink,,, and boy do I also like to go out early in the morning and capture a fish on my line, and come home all dirty and smelling of fresh air!!
These things are all me,, as all that is you is SURELY YOU 🙂
BUT God sure has a funny way of doing things…
Either that OR,, this is all just pure chance,, and sooon enough it will all dissapear in a likewise chance “event”.
I’ll still try and read ur words though indian Princess 🙂
Be well you 🙂
Hyper xxxx
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No. I absolutely do not believe in any god. God is in the same category as the Tooth Fairy, Santa and Leprechauns. Sure it would be good to have some benevolent being out there looking out for us and making sure we get through life without any mishaps, someone to point to when things go wrong but it’s just wishful thinking.
Why are you on this earth?
I evolved and inherited traits from my ancestors that allow me to thrive in this environment.
What is your purpose or role in the overall scheme of things?
Do I need one? Isn’t my very existence enough? Why look elsewhere for validation and purpose when you have it within you to begin with?
If you’ve read one book that advances the cause of spiritualism then I can recommend a number of others that hold the opposite view. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins is well written and well argued although it does have a distinctly anti-Christian bias.
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Mr. Frog: You are an Athiest then. The only person i know who can say it with such conviction.
Why are you on this earth?
Well, then why were your ancestors here?
So that you could inherit their traits. Well, there is never an end to such questions.
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I know a fairly large amount of athiests. You can trace lineage back be the first and simplest lifeforms and further to the formation of the planet, the formation of the solar system right back to the Big Bang. Nowhere is there a requirement for a god. You may as well say who created god? A bigger, older, simpler god? It just goes back to nothing. Given the size of the universe the probability of life spontanously arising is not that far fetched.
I’m quite happy to have no-one responsible for it and just accept that it was a combination of physical and chemical events millions of years ago.
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Hi hover, it’s good to get another viewpoint in on this! 🙂
In fairness though, it’s not quite the same as saying ‘who created God?’ is it…? Since God claims to be omnipotent, pre-existent and creator. (we know ourselves NOT to be things, the question is whether we believe God is, but I wouldn’t say it’s the same thing…)
Also, I’m interested to know what you thought of the Dawkins book, because a lot of my atheist friends thought it was very disappointing… Did you find it OK? I’d be interested to know your perspective on it! 🙂
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CM, it isn’t as simple as saying “who created god?” I see absolutely no need to have any supernatural being enter the equation at all. God is exactly in the same place as invisible, intangible, odourless unicorns in the real world.
Let me be clear: God never claimed anything. People wrote down stories thousands of years ago which were edited and translated and re-edited to support a religion or several religions originating from the same basic source. Pretty stories with scary monsters in and someone powerful and just to make everything right. There is no evidence for any god.
I liked The God Delusion although he sort of went off on a tangient in the second half. I’d recommend it to anyone as a good book to make you think about things that we take for granted.
I know I can be a bit forthright about by opinions of religion but I would debate it in the same way that I’d debate a political stance that I disagreed with even if I do fall into a tiny minority.
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Hi Hover! That’s OK – we’ll agree to disagree, I think! It’s good to hear your views, though.
I was interested by Dawkins’ arguments, as i said, a few of my friends who are atheists felt some of his arguments were very flawed, and I know some heavyweight atheist philosophers from across the pond have given him a bit of a caning too… As a Christian, I know why I disagree with him, but I’m curious as to why so many atheists have reacted against his book so strongly. It seems as though he’s got people thinking though, whether they agree with him or not, and I guess that’s a good thing! 🙂
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I don’t want to agree to disagree. I want to know what makes you so certain that the Christian religion is the right one given the 10,000 or so established faiths in the world? Tell me why you disagree with me because, to be perfectly honest, I can’t see how anyone can be without doubts given the vast amount of evidence that directly contradicts Christian dogma.
Also your earlier comment about god being omnipotent is a fallacy. There are simply impossibilities in this universe that cannot be circumvented. You cannot know everything and get lost (i.e. not know where you are) for example. I’m not sure where the idea of an omnipotent and omniscient god came from because I’m pretty sure it’s never stated in the bible. The bible being the edited translation of an edited translate (and so on) of some old scrolls which is full of inaccuracies and contradictions and yet remains the only source of evidence for a Christian god.
What I’m saying is that I’m quite happy to debate religion with you till the cows come home.
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Hehe! Thanks hover! 🙂
I’m more than happy to discuss further but I don’t really want to hijack Violet’s blog to do that! 🙂
There are so many things in your last comment we could debate here but I’m not sure this is the best platform for it… Very briefly, the Bible does claim quite explicitly for an omniscient and omnipotent God, (although it doesn’t use those actual terms, the concepts are very clearly put forward) who reveals himself in time and space in the Bible and in the person of his son, Jesus. Personally, I believe that claim.
I think our differences come down to world views. However my belief in a creator God who reveals Himself is not the intellectual suicide you seem to suggest. Of course, I exercise faith, but I’m not sure that there is a world view that doesn’t… (Even atheists have to exercise the faith that their conclusions are correct, etc) We all look at the evidence around us and come to conclusions about the existence and character of God – or otherwise. And that is why I disagree with you (as you asked me to explain), because I look at the world around me, and because I read the Bible and find that its message rings true. I see no contradictions there.
However you don’t interpret these things in the same way, and I hugely respect the fact that you have taken the time to think these things over. I suspect you and I have both had this debate with other friends, on numerous occasions (on more conducive platforms than a third party’s blog! 🙂 )which is why I suggested we agree to disagree…
Thanks for taking the time to discuss it though, and maybe we’ll pick it up again sometime?!
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Well yes, blogjacking is one of those “to be frowned on” things. Sorry. I have opened a debate on my own blog though which your welcome to pop on to.
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I don’t mind anyone hijacking my blog, after all I do get to read some really interesting viewpoints 🙂
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May be irrelevant, but this guy usually has interesting stuff to say on various topics: http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/07/the-atheist-who.html
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The existence of God cannot be proved or disproved, so why fret about it? Good and evil do exist. It’s much more productive to concentrate on leading a good life, to the best of your ability. That way, you’re a winner, whether there’s a God or not.
> Anyone has a definite reason to exist on this earth???
Since I’m here now (I didn’t have anything to say about that), and because I think I make a positive impact (on balance) as opposed to many others, that is definitely a good reason to continue to exist for the time being.
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