Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Does God Exist? Part 1

Yes, I know, this is a very controversial issue and it's hard to write about it but I still want to do this because it's been around my mind yesterday (and many days before since i was like 10). I hope nobody is offended by what I write, and I don't expect this to be a Theology text or anything, it's just my thoughts about the great question, so there won't be irrefutable or great arguments, just things everyone can figure out. First, some relevant facts about me:
I live in a country typically christian catholic, I took some religion classes in primary school but my parents are atheists, and so am I. When I was 8 or so I decided to be christian because all other kids in my class were doing so, also because my grandma made me pray at nights and well, the media helped too. However, I became an atheist later.

I never really thought about the whole thing until I noticed how the world really is. "What a cruel God we have if it really exists"; that was my first atheist argument so I'll talk about it first.
If there is a God who can do anything, achieve anything, and is everywhere...why are we so fucked up? I mean, poverty, starving people, brutal wars, all of that exist. Furthermore, the concept of hell confuses me. God is said to love us humans, to want the best for us, but if you make mistakes in your "mortal life" which is like, let's say, 70 years long, you pay for it with an enternity of pain and suffering...I really don't get it. Also he has this senseless decision of giving us freedom to think and do what we want, only to then punish us for actually thinking and doing whatever we want.

Another argument is the idea of how religion's interests matches society's interests, and ultimately society leaders' interests and this has been like that for ages. Think of religious rules everybody knows like "You shall not steal" or "You shall not kill", or commit suicide, or you will have sex only for children. This applies to what a society needs from its members to survive and develop. Certainly we are going nowhere if everyone is a thief and nobody produces anything, or if we go around killing each other or if we spend the day in bed with our couple. Given this, you can think Religion is just another social control instrument someone made up long ago, and still exist nowadays "adapted" to our times. It's really sad to think about people being "good" only because they will go to hell if they aren't, but I guess this is true for millions of people, and to be honest it creeps me out thinking of how would they act like if religion didn't exist...

Well this is Part 1 of the entry, I'm splitting it so I don't miss anything and also I just realized I may use your comments for Part 2 so feel free to ask, discuss, criticize, whatever.



19 comments:

  1. God may exist, or it may not. I don't think it really matters.

    Personally, I think something like a creator of all things exist beyond the boundary of existence. Since it's not bound to anything, it can shape into anything. Thus, became anything and nothing at the same time.

    If you force yourself to think the god as a being, which is bound by existence, time, and space, you'll find it that life is simply unfair or bad. Yet it is not.

    Try not to cling your life to prayers and hope. Humans are born more than perfect enough to think for themselves and make changes in life.

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  2. God was invented to have an answer to all the questions who cannot be answered yet.

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  3. just because there is no scientific evidence doesnt mean he doesnt exist. Kind of like aliens. Just because "we" have no evidence of them existing (im talking mainstream evidence) doesnt mean they dont exist.

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  4. i think everybody has their own subjective notions of divinity. i mean, we're all people but we each have our own independent experiences which I believe ultimately shape who we are and who we become. i think, whatever it is, its good. check out the tao te ching, y'all!

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  5. Agreed. there are alot of inconsistencies with religion, good post

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  6. I my self believe in the possibility of a Higher being could be god could be something completely alien to us or could be highly advanced aliens who knows. Saying that how ever what people choose to have faith in is their business and as long as we all respect each others views all would be cool. Organized Religion on the other hand is in my view just pushing their own agenda and never thinks to consider their actions.

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  7. I belive in something bigger then us, but I can't say is it God or anything even more unknown to us

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  8. great post! As someone who has an avid interest in neuroscience it's hard to see where a soul could fit in with our understanding of cognition, and without a soul what good is god? But absolute certainty still eludes us, and it may do so for quite some time.

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  9. Extremely thoughtful post. Interesting comic at the end.

    Following!

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  10. Really interesting blog post. I'm looking to read more from you!

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  11. Thought provoking, definitely miles of discussion to be had. Personally, I don't believe in an anthropomorphic creator god-entity, but I don't think it's unrealistic to believe that there is something "more", than how we perceive the world.

    On that note, you may have inspired an article in me. Will follow.

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  12. Great topic to write on. I've been an ardent atheist since the get go, but I also agree that ideals from some religions can be applied to better people's lives.

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  13. i dont think theres a specific god defined in peoples religions but i beleive theres some higher power out there somewhere

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  14. I don't think he does but I hope he does.

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  15. I think god exists , in a strange secret way. thou.... who know, who care..

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  16. I don't know... i believe in Darwin!

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