<p>You hit the nail on the head there. Everyone talks about respecting beliefs- as long as we are respecting religious beliefs. But if you don't believe in that kind of stuff your beliefs are never accepted or tolerated. Maybe its time for people to be more outspoken against religious, for religious extremism has been tolerated by the moderates for far too long.</p>
<p>Thats right. No matter if you are atheist or not, one will always have a curiosity of a spirtual being and life after death. This is God trying to talk to you. Listen, and you will eventually find peace. For I stand at the door and knock, if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in and sup with him and he with me. Rev 3:20</p>
<p>Or maybe it's just a natural curiosity of what happens after death. Since you know, that's just sort of something people do. I don't think it would take God's intervention to make us wonder about the after-life. I'm in no way belittling God's presence/power, it's just, you can't mistake curiosity for a special message from God. Look in saying that, you say that God is fear, when God is love. If someone is scared about nothingness after death, then that persons not being talked to by God (at least in that sense) but simply scared. I can't really identify with any religion, but I am in no way an atheist.</p>
<p>" But then logically its hard to accept that belief."</p>
<p>How is it logically hard to believe that God exists? It makes sense, at least to me, that there must a source of all the laws of the universe. Plus, is there a beginning of time? Did existence as we know it just happen? What about before the Big Bang- what was there? Was there anything? It seems ilogical to think that time has existed forever- I think it had a beginning and will probably have an end. </p>
<p>Good stuff.</p>
<p>you are referring to time only, right. As in, God created time (meaning he was before time), and at some point time will cease. In actuality nothing can before time, since saying that would designate a time frame, which for obvious reasons could not exist. Almost as if there was God and then there was time like BAM. He couldve existed for what seems like eons to a human but its instantaneous in reality. I suppose what youre really saying is that there is something that exists outside of time. This something sees everything happening at once (since theres no time) which is how he knows "the future". Crazy stuff.</p>
<p>when i'm bored, i like to contemplate on whether I'm doing my EC's for college, or whether I have a passion for them.</p>
<p>i also wonder whether college will really live up to the hype socially.</p>
<p>It is very logically difficult to accept God's existence. If you think about all the things that are said and claimed, all the differences and our world it becomes very easy to doubt. There are so many questions relating to not only the existence of God. But even if someone somehow proved to me the existence, I still don't think I would worship it. </p>
<p><<thats right.="" no="" matter="" if="" you="" are="" atheist="" or="" not,="" one="" will="" always="" have="" a="" curiosity="" of="" spirtual="" being="" and="" life="" after="" death.="" this="" is="" god="" trying="" to="" talk="" you.="" listen,="" eventually="" find="" peace.="" for="" i="" stand="" at="" the="" door="" knock,="" any="" man="" hear="" my="" voice="" open="" come="" in="" sup="" with="" him="" he="" me.="" rev="" 3:20="">></thats></p>
<p>Justinian that is not God talking, but philosophy. Life's purpose has been a question of philosphers for centuries. The concept of death as well. That is why religion has prospered, because many people need the comfort of knowing there is something else, because they are too weak to believe that it could just all end and there is nothing.</p>
<p>The thing I don't understand about religion is...
how can someone that is so good, kind, smart, caring, etc, go to hell if they don't believe in God, but someone who commits murder, but is somehow "saved" will spend forever in heaven? that is ridiculous. which makes me believe that most people only believe in god and pray a lot beacuse they want what is best for them: to go to heaven. what is holy about that? it is a way to ensure happiness for the rest of their life....or that is what they think at least. and those you dedicate their whole life to god...what if he isnt real? you only ahve one life, and you just wasted it preparing for the afterlife. i guess the idea is that if you pray to god and follow the rules, you WILL be that great person...but there are soooo many peolple you pray and believe, but commit sin after sin after sin. I feel like i have to join the holy club just to be happy after I die, and I hate that! it is so controling that it makes me want to rebel...</p>
<p>but after all of that i still find myself praying to god whenever i feel like there is no hope, even though i am not sure if I believe it all yet.. I want to read about many religions, and hopefully find one that i can fully support...</p>
<p>wow i also just wrote that without really thinking (sorry if it doesn't make sense) but it feels kind of nice to express what i am thinking... :) excellent thread!</p>
<p>I agree with you blythe. The first time i started to doubt islam was when i learned that muslims think that they are the only ones that can go to heaven. I couldnt accept that. I knew so many christians who were better people than the muslims i knew and i couldnt comprehend the idea that they were all going to hell.</p>
<p>religions seem to be the products of humans to me, and i dont want to be a slave to the ideas of people who lived 2000 years ago and didnt know much about anything. </p>
<p>has anyone wondered about this:
at judgement day, god is supposed to turn the world inside out right? so what if there are people in space, on the moon, or on mars or something? they will be pretty safe wont they. unless god will destroy the whole universe, but i dont think thats ever mentioned by any religion. seems like a flaw to me that reveals that whoever created relgions had little understanding of what lies beyond the earth.</p>
<p>I wonder the same thing about religion. i feel guilty when i question the existence of God, because I think about the people who have practically nothing else besides their faith to keep them going.. i'm also reminded of the people in this neighborhood who work so hard to get by and who rely on their religion to find inner peace. for this reason, i felt iffy about my opinion article last month. i'm not concerned about my reputation as much as the thought of insulting the people I know and respect, even though I made sure my article didn't sound offensive in the slightest (i still had the right to express my opinion). still, there are people here who think I'm going to hell for ever questioning God's existence. they probably think that I should be pitied, forgiven, and shown the light.</p>
<p>Other stuff I think about:
How would my life be any different if I hadn't met the people I met? </p>
<p>How different would I be if I chose to stay in boarding school? How is so and so doing now? It's been years since we last talked to or seen each other.</p>
<p>When I'm bored, I start to think about my physical existence. How could I have grown so much without noticing it? What would I look like 10, 20, 30 years from now ? </p>
<p>How am I able to lift this object? What if I just.. drop it? In my head, I tell myself to drop it, but a different part of my brain (my frontal lobe?) instinctively knows that I should hold on to it. I think about this, especially when I'm lifting or carrying something potentially dangerous if dropped (i.e. a bowl of hot water).</p>
<p>I think about how every passing second is history, though I prefer not to linger in this thought because it makes me uncomfortable.</p>
<p>When I see a star in the sky or any heavenly object, I wonder who else is looking at the same star or heavenly object and from which part of the country or the world.</p>
<p>Why does money keep me from getting places, even though it shouldn't? most of the time, the money system makes sense to me, but i can't help think about how foolish it can be sometimes. you earn money, exchange it with a product that's supposed to make you happy, and then everything goes away when you die? sure, you might pass it on to the next generation, but you are still bare and naked when you die. i'm sure i'm not the only one who thinks about this.</p>
<p>So, I actually came from a single cell- a merging of a sperm and an egg? Wow.</p>
<p>What if my would-be brother, an embryo at the time, had survived?</p>
<p>blythe... that is precisely the reason why I don't identify with any specific reason. Who am I to condemn people? If a religion dictates that certain people are condemned then I won't be associated with it. I suppose this is all came about when my best friend decided to condemn the Jewish side of my family for not thinking Jesus is the saviour. He doesn't even know them! I mean come on. This also brings up another point... people who use their religion and contradict themselves. That is one huge reason why I don't identify with Christianity. I have cousins (not on the Jewish side) who are so high strung Southern Baptist it's insane, but without fail, they'll be the first to talk about someone who is overweight, gay, or a different race. To me it's all just so phoney, like if you're going to say you believe in something (despite how illogical) then you might as well hold true. I mean these selfish views are mainly why we have so much religious conflict in the world today.</p>
<p>also, gianscolere1, what you said about every passing second being history. I wonder the same thing. Or at least something similar. Every now and then it occurs to me that everything I'm doing right now will just be a memory. Like the first line of this reply. That's in the past. And that. It's understandable how it makes you uncomfortable because it almost feels like you're living in the past. And that the past past is fading and it's scary because that's your life. You live in the moment but your life is in the past.</p>
<p>My dad always tells me that religion is people controling people...I guess he is right in a way. There is nothing wrong with people being comforted with the idea of an afterlife, but there is no need to push their beliefs on others. But actually, they probably only do this because they love that person because they don't want to think of them going to hell. And this is the brilliance of religion. You have to believe it to go to heaven, and if you do believe you should want to force it on others because it would be in their best interest to have the same beliefs as you....which has helped to increase the number of religious people. This makes it difficult for religious and non religious people to mingle....creating a cult-like group of holy people--which is a force to be reckoned with. </p>
<p>I don't mean to offend, so please don't get upset. If you have opposing views, I owuld love to here them because I am still trying to figure out what I think is real. </p>
<p>. And isn't kind of selfish to believe in god just because you are worried about what will happen after you die? I know that many people go to church for precisely that reason, and that is no way to thank God for all that he has done...it is a way to suck up to him so you will be repayed in the end. It just isn't right. I don't think that everyone does this, but A LOT do...</p>
<p>sorry if I am making everyone upset but this is just how I feel right now..</p>
<p>"I wonder the same thing about religion. i feel guilty when i question the existence of God, because I think about the people who have practically nothing else besides their faith to keep them going.. i'm also reminded of the people in this neighborhood who work so hard to get by and who rely on their religion to find inner peace."</p>
<p>i agree with you.. it is one of the reasons I do not give my mother a hard time when she makes me go to church even though i really dont want to. i think she has "the faith" because her father died. i think that is one of the reasons a lot of people believe in god... to seek comfort after something has happened, usually if a loved one dies (they want to believe that the loved one is in a better place). and actually religion can make people optimistic. and i bet it does a world of good for those who have sinned but who really really feel guilty and want to start over. so i am not ratting on people for believing it if it makes them feel better... but i am just confused about whats going to happen to me since i do not believe in god. what if god IS real? i dont want to suffer for not believing, yet, what blythe said, i dont want to "believe in god just because [i am] worried about what will happen after * die"</p>
<p>also
"How am I able to lift this object? What if I just.. drop it? In my head, I tell myself to drop it, but a different part of my brain (my frontal lobe?) instinctively knows that I should hold on to it. I think about this, especially when I'm lifting or carrying something potentially dangerous if dropped (i.e. a bowl of hot water)."
oh my god, i think the exact same thing! I sometimes subconsciously think about dropping things... i thought i was the only one... this is so cool</p>
<p>here's something i wonder A LOT:
what people really feel about me. for some reason i am a very paranoid person so usually, no matter how others act towards me, i believe that they think i am slightly annoying, or they dislike me or something</p>
<p>i think this stems from a time long ago, when my mom and her friend and i were eating lunch. and this lady came to eat with us. and she was kind of annoying, always talking, and plus she wasnt wanted since my mom and her friend didnt really know her that well. but still my mom and her friend were polite and friendly. the next day my mom and her friend ate in a different place, to avoid the lady because they disliked her. i think that made me very upset. because the way my mom and her friend were interacting with the lady, (nicely, even though they disliked her), reminded me of some times when i am with people). yes it was very traumatic... so now i am paranoid lol (thanks a lot mom)</p>
<p>I think you guys are just bored...</p>
<p>hence the title of the thread.
its when i am bored that i wonder these things... and then i go on to think a lot about them</p>
<p>And hence, a waste of time? Or will this contribute to society in any way, directly or indirectly?</p>
<p>and what are your useless comments contributing?</p>
<p>I wonder what atheists believe about life after death. Do they believe that there is a heaven? I am not trying to be mean but being a christian certainly gives me peace.</p>
<p>well maybe I see the world in more black and white and thus beleive that either you believe God or you don't. Or atl east you believe in some higher authority or you believe in yourself. </p>
<p>And I doubt atheists beleive about life after death. Many just think that life ends when we die and inherently we are just biological beings taht turn into dust after a while. There is no "life after death" for them.</p>