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[quote]
Couldn't an all-powerful being have stopped the 9/11 attacks
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<p>yes He could have. But that's life: **** happens. Life can't all be happy.</p>
<p>You didn't convert me, trituim, I've read Douglas Adams too :P.</p>
<p>I believe in God. And Jesus. That's just how I was raised. Catholic.</p>
<p>However, even if my view is not correct (Jesus not existing and all), I believe there is a Higher Power that watches over us and that created existence... Yes, I know, it's confusing... because then how did that Higher Power come to exist?</p>
<p>Well, I don't think we'll ever answer that question during our lifetimes. I believe God is too vast to understand. So we just try to explain Him/Her in whatever ways we can... but we really will never do Him/Her justice.</p>
<p>I have a question. What do people who don't believe in God believe in?</p>
<p>huh? can you rephrase the question NotAmbi? :p</p>
<p>NotAmbidextrous -- I believe that Humans don't have the power, at this point in time, to know who/what if anything rules over us, but I can't speak for all people who don't believe in God.</p>
<p>ajay - those of you who don't believe in God, what exactly do you believe in? nature, the chaos theory, nothing at all? I'm just curious..</p>
<p>I don't believe in any higher powers at all. I don't really get what you mean by believing in nature though... of course nature exists....</p>
<p>I don't know either, lol. A kid once told me that, and I didn't really understand what he meant. I think it has something to do with natural disasters or something, but I'm just speculating.</p>
<p>NotAmbidextrous, why do atheists need something to "believe in"?</p>
<p>I also said "nothing at all?" If you don't believe in something, just say so.</p>
<p>q -- atheists believe that there is no god. your question should be why do agnostics need to believe in something.</p>
<p>fair enough, but I think my question would be: what do agnostics believe in? (yes I know it means that they have doubts that ther is a God, but then do they go on looking for a greater power to believe in, or do most of them just leave it at that?)</p>
<p>mj93, I assumed NotAmbidextrous meant atheists because the phrasing of the original question was "people who don't believe in God".</p>
<p>(Just occured to me that it could be interesting to discuss whether or not the statements "I don't believe in God" and "I believe that there is no God" are equivalent. This may not be the forum, but if anyone wants to give it a go, I'm game :))</p>
<p>NotAmbidextrous, what I was trying to get at was - God fills a lot of roles for a lot of people - explaining the origin of the universe, personal guide through life, source of morality, etc. So, what do agnostics believe in for what purpose? Sorry for asking that in such a vague and confrontational manner.</p>
<p>atheists believe in the big bang and evolution</p>
<p>agnostics believe that humans don't know what is out there, if anything.</p>
<p>i'm agnostic, but in a sense of morality, im jewish.</p>
<p>I believe in myself.</p>
<p>I think that just about sums it up, mj93.</p>
<p>I don't think it's fair of some of you to say "There is no God", just the same way that it isn't fair for others to say "There is a God." Whether you are a religious person or an agnostic or atheist, not one of us can prove our position to be true. So really, to answer the OP's question, we are simply stating our different opinions on a single topic.</p>
<p>I also think that link that was posted to a study about prayer working was stupid. I mean, come on. Even I could have told you that study wouldn't work. First of all, I have never read any religious work or heard any credible religious teaching saying that prayers will be answered the way YOU want when YOU want. In fact, most of what I have heard about prayer is the opposite. Your prayers probably won't be answered when you want, or the way you want. If those 'researchers' had even read a few chapters of the Bible or Torah or Qu'ran, they would have known that and not have wasted thousands of precious dollars. Not to mention that the people in the study could have easily been non-believers looking to make a quick 25 bucks or get some free meds.</p>
<p>Personally, I don't think we'll ever be able to prove God true or untrue unless He shows Himself to us. One of the major points of religion is faith, which is generally summed up as believing in something without physical proof. Let's think about this- if we somehow received proof that God was real, then what would be the point? Everyone would have to believe in Him. I think this whole 'life' is a giant test to prove your worthiness for Him. Can you stand up to the ridicule and occasional misery of being a believer? Can you handle choosing between right and wrong? Can you spread the message even though it may not be received well? To many, this seems 'selfish' of God, and that may turn people off to religion. But, as part of the 'deal', we understand that we will be rewarded someday. This reward is called Heaven, and we believe that we will receive this reward after we die our mortal death. No one knows what happens after death, so again, this cannot be confirmed. Many also think that since the many little 'clauses' involved in religion are more reason to not believe. You can't see God, you will never know if He is real, etc. Well, like I stated earlier, these are just ways to test us. Now, you may think, I didn't ask to be 'tested', I don't want to follow this invisible guy's 'rules', I don't care about Heaven. Well, although we believe that God would want us to follow most of his rules, He gave us a much simpler choice: believe, or don't believe. You don't have to be perfect. Theoretically, you could break all of His rules repeatedly, and murder and hate and cheat and lie your whole life, but as long as you believe, it doesn't matter. Now, if you really did believe in God, you would want your life to be clean and pure (do not read as boring and chaste) for Him, but that isn't required at all. All you have do is believe. That's enough for Him. Now, you also have another side of the coin. You don't have to believe. No one's forcing you to believe. One common trait I've seen in agnostics and atheists is a constant anger when it comes discussing religion. They want to fight and prove and argue until they have convinced others they are right. Why? If you believe you are right, then leave it at that! This is simply an opinion of mine, but I think when some agnostics and atheists are arguing, they are not only trying to convince the other party, but also themselves that they are right. This, to me, indicates that they are still unsure of their choice, that they still wonder if there is indeed a God. Because the presence of God has touched me personally throughout my years, I do believe in God without doubt. I think that with atheism and agnosticism, since they do not believe in God, they would not receive any 'inner' proof that they are right, and therefore would naturally constanly doubt their decision. But anyway, this is just a theory of mine.</p>
<p>mj93-- Tht's not what kind of signs I was talking about. Don't assume you know.</p>
<p>And to the athiests- If you don't believe in anything, where do your morals come from? Why do you live from day to day? Just to please youself? And if you just live for selfish reasons, what happens when you're dead? Why would your life be worth living? i don't get how athiests still pretend to be moral--If you don't belieive in God, there's nothing.</p>
<p>He's only real if I get into columbia</p>