Thursday, November 10, 2011

Post 7: Religious Philosophy

Thursday, 10/10

(The purpose of this journal entry is NOT to promote any school of thought or to make you feel uncomfortable. If you are concerned about the content of this journal entry either journal about that or speak to me. Thanks.)

Choose the statement which best applies for yourself:
* As a believer, I argue that God exists using the following type of arguments....
* As an atheist, I argue that God doesn’t exist using the following type of arguments...
* As an agnostic, I argue that God could exist, but that we don’t have conclusive evidence using the following type of arguments...

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

As an atheist I believe that God is not real because there is simply no proof. No matter the amount of 'miracles' that are done by the followers of God, I will never place my faith in a person that is not concrete. The fact that you have to ask if God is real in the first place shows how much we really know about what God is. I have placed my faith in God before, and it never really turns out. I believe that the Christian faith may be good for the teaching of life lessons, but I don't think their belief is placed very well.

Sam Heutmaker said...

As an agnostic/skeptic I believe God could exist, but we don't have proof. God could exist because there are many good things in the world, but the other side is that there are a lot of bad things in the world so there can't be a god. Personally I believe that "god" works in phases. I think that God, if he exists, that he does thing when he wants, not by how much good someone does or how much they pray. I think it is more luck than faith, but he might not exist too. So I do good things just in case god does judge on that if he is real. But he might not be and I honestly don't think he does, but you never know.

Anonymous said...

As a believer I believe some kind of God exists simply because I believe that when people die there has to be another world and that we cannot simply disappear. I do not believe in much of the bible and instead I believe that their is no Hell and God can fix people who have strayed. I do think many believers try to convert their loved ones for the fear of losing them to the underworld, as my relatives have tried to convert my grandparents, but I think that God and religion are the kinds of things that either you can believe, or you never will believe. I also believe because it is much more comforting when losing a loved one to believe that you will see them again in another life.

Anonymous said...

As an agnostic, I argue that God could exist. I think that that there is evidence for people who do believe in God and that it's justified. However, I believe in higher power but I'm not sure that its necessarily God. I think that too much of the world is unexplainable to not believe in any kind of spiritual power. I think people find it comforting thinking that God is watching over them. I agree with this, but am not sure if it's God that's watching over us.

Anonymous said...

As an atheist, I argue that God doesn’t exist because, for me personally, in order to believe in something, I need to have a certain amount of evidence. Religion was not something I was not raised on, therefore it is somewhat of a foreign subject to me, in terms of faith that is. I believe that in order to have any sort of affiliation with a religious group you have to have a tremendous amount of faith, or the "leap of faith" that we talked about. To me, there is no actual evidence that religious events occurred other than the writings of that particular group. I am a person that needs to see to believe, and unfortunately, religion is not a topic that can provide that. However, that does not mean that I do not believe in the moral and ethical concepts that religion tries to provide for people.

Anonymous said...

As a believer, I argue that God exists. I have been influenced by religion from my family for as long as I could remember. My family has always been a religious one, who goes to church on Sundays and tries to live their lives in a good way according to our religion. I take after the rest of my family with these traits and I believe that God does exist.

Anonymous said...

As an agnostic, I argue that God could exist, but that we don't have conclusive evidence, such as physical or visual evidence. If God could be shown, so that everyone could see him, and could prove that he was God in some miraculous way, it would prove that he existed. These days, it'd be hard to convince someone with just video evidence because of how easily video can be faked. I would just need some kind of concrete proof, something that doesn't require any faith to believe in, for me to be able to say that God is real.

Anonymous said...

As a believer, arguements do exist for God. The world is so complex that it have to be created by some all-knowing divine creator. I believe that the Creator used evolution as his tool. When people argue about the Big Bang theory, they always agree that two atoms started the whole universe. However, they never agree on how that atoms got there. To me, the only logical explination is that God put them there and let science and nature take care of almost everything else. It's a reasonable explination for something that is impossible to prove.

Anonymous said...

I am a believer because that is the way I grew up. My family is Catholic, and we go to church like people who believe in God do. I argue hat God exist because we have witnesses that passed down stories of seeing him and him being this great man that he was. Although sometimes when things go wrong, we ask God why that happened, but in all reality we did it to ourselves. We have to take responsibilities for what has happened. Yes we believe God is the reason for everything. He is the one that lets us start over, and is there even when no one else is there to give that little push that we need to move on. The bible talks about how God exists, where he came from and where he has been. People who grew up believing that God exist pass that down to the further generations because that is the way we were taught. It is a passed down belief that most people keep.

Anonymous said...

I personally believe in God. I believe in God, I believe in Jesus, and that's the best I can explain it. I was raised as a pastor's daughter, and that probably influenced me a very great deal. But as I grew up, I realized that it was also within me that I believed. I'm probably the least complex Christian there is- as I see it: Love God, Love people, period. And that sums up my views perfectly.
I believe God does great things, and although I don't believe in EVERY aspect of the bible or with a lot of Christians, I believe that's enough.
I don't think there's a way to 'prove' per se that God is real, but I think if you know it in your heart that he's real, and you have faith in him, you can leave it at that.

Anonymous said...

I am an agnostic because I believe there is no conclusive evidence to support that god exists or that god doesn't exist. I would tend to believe that if you could never prove something through observation then it most likely doesn't exist.

Anonymous said...

As an agnostic, I argue that God could exist, but that we don’t have conclusive evidence using the following type of arguments...
We have no proof of any sort. No one has seen him, talked to him, or interacted with him in any way. Another point that comes to mind for me is the bible was written by people, and people are flawed, therefore it cannot be used as the be all end all argument for gods existence. All of that being said, I think if there was proof then faith would be irrelevant. Because of that, I completely respect those who believe in God and do not attempt to prove his existence.

Anonymous said...

I believe in God. I'm a Lutheran and I have been brought up as a Lutheran my whole life. Also, I don't need to prove that God exists because it has already been proven. It was proven 2,000 years ago on the way to Damascus, 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem, years before that in Eqypt; and years before that anywhere. I believe that God exists because the things he has done are written down in the Bible. I believe that God exists because he came to us 2,000 years ago. I believe in God because he is God.

Anonymous said...

As a believer, I argue that God does exist using several different types of arguments. It all starts with the world we live in today. Everything around us was created by God, and if we didn't have God to create this world for us, one can only imagine where we'd be today. Another argument I have to show that God does exist is everyone goes through hard moments in their life that they don't know how they will overcome, but they do. The person that see's what they are going through and helps them get through it is God. Those that don't believe in him, won't think he has anything to do with it but I feel if they paid attention and were open to it, they could see his presence and the impact he can have on ones life.

Anonymous said...

As an agnostic, I argue that god could exist, but we don't have evidence that supports god's existence. We are able to explain almost all things that have happened in the past with logical findings and scientific theories. There is little that is still only explained by "It was a miracle." God may exist, but has done nothing to make it so that we can say that he exists 100%. This makes it unlikely that he exists, but no evidence can be given to perfectly disprove or prove the existence of a higher power. All evidence so far given points toward the lack of a higher power. This makes it so I do not believe in god.

Anonymous said...

I believe in a higher power. I wouldn't necessarily call this power God. I can't really put my belief into a blog post because it would take a novel to explain my religious views. I try not to argue my religious beliefs because I believe everybody is going to see religion differently.

Anonymous said...

As an agnostic, I argue that God could exist, but that we don't have conclusive evidence by stating that the creator of the universe is an all powerful, all omniscient being. Scientific reasoning to me seems to be the more actually believable theory considering it gives actual evidence based on scientific testing. The big bang however, i won't ever fully understand unless i choose to take like.. Some form of prehistoric science class in college. If that even exists. But to me god doesn't feel believable, and I believe with Sigmund Freud when he said that "Religion is a father figure" because to me all it seems to do is keep people happy and not worrying.

Anonymous said...

I believe that God exists. I believe God exists with one because of the bible where he shows up and all these different type of of miracles occur from his son Jesus. And the story of Noah was somewhat proven when scientist said that at one point in history there really was a huge flood. A personal example of mine is that when my grandpa died during my spring break in 5th grade while he laid unconscious I asked him to send a hummingbird as a sign that he was okay and in heaven. Hummingbirds are mine and my moms favorite bird but we have never seen one but the day after my grandpa died I saw one. And then when my grandma died during spring break of my freshman year I asked her to send a hummingbird if she was okay and with my grandpa. And since my grandpa died I didn't see another hummingbird but then the day of my grandmas funeral I saw two hummingbirds a boy and a girl. To me this is a personal way of them telling me that their okay and that their in heaven. And since my grandmas funeral I have still yet to see another hummingbird. So for people it might be hard for them to believe in God unless they have had an actual moment like this maybe. But I believe God exists not just from this experience but from going to church every sunday, to being a sunday school teacher, and reading the bible every sunday during the church service because its more interesting then my pastor.

Anonymous said...

As a devout follower of his noodley appedidges the flying spaghetti monster exists using the arguments that it gives sound explanation for the reason of why this world is imperfect and that is that the flying spaghetti monster had a late night and therefore wasnt in the right mindset for making the world. It also provides a good explanation of what heaven and hell would look like and how you get there. This is also the right way because unlike many other religions that have strict laws like the ten commandments and the koran this religion is a little more forgiving of people not knowing the right way because it has the Eight I Really Rather You Didn'ts.

Anonymous said...

As an athiest, I argue that God doesn't exist using the following type of arguments. I have been through private school and church, and I wasn't buying any of it until I came to realization that this stuff just doesn't add up or make sense. I think religion and believing in God is more of a social and moral thing that people do so that they don't look different. People may call themselves Christians, but they may not do anything about it, but devout Christians righteously call themselves a follower of God.
Prayer: Prayer doesn't work, simple has that. There is no proof for it but only proof against it. There have been studies of people praying for people going through heart surgery and there were no effects of how they recovered. This was a large study, too, making this even more credible. People rely on prayer for comfort, but that doesn't justify the existence of it. It's a superstition.
No scientific evidence of God:
God has never spoken to modern man, the bible is provably incorrect, making it out to be written by man, ressurected jesus never appreared to anyone, and disasters such as the Holocaust and Aids happen...where is God in all of this?
If there was scientific evidence for God, people wouldn't need faith, and people would study him scientifcally rather than theologically . There are also anciet Gods before christianity which have the same aspects to how Jesus was born, proving the bible wasn't original.

kyle said...

As an agnostic I believe that there may be a god of some sort, I did believe at one point that god existed but no matter how much I prayed and hoped for the outcome I wanted it never seemed to me that it did anything at all. I felt like I was praying for something that wouldn't happen and it was simple me talking to myself and thinking someone/something would be listening and maybe show in someway that it was real. We have no proof of a god even existing except for the bible and even then I don't think much of it was true. And if a god really existed why wouldn't it let anyone know?

Anonymous said...

As an agnostic, I argue that God could exist, but that we don’t have conclusive evidence using the following type of arguments...

I chose agnostic because I think it would be cool if there was such thing as a higher power. And if there is... awesome. I feel though, that if there was a scale: to the far right-believer, middle agnostic, far left-atheist. I would be in the middle of atheist and agnostic. I say this because it would be cool to have a higher power, but I'm not going to make choices based on God and his rules just if there is a 'possibility'.
I believe in science and evolution. I think that there is more proof in evolution, than there is proof that God exists.

Anonymous said...

As a devout follow of His Noodly Appendage, I believe in the Almighty Flying Spaghetti Monster. There need not be mountains of evidence for His Saucy existence, for He does not care if you worship Him or not. He created this world in order for all to appreciate His loves, those of Pirates, Spaghetti, Wine, and grapes. But because He is all-knowing, He knew some would follow Him, so He gifted Captain Morgan the Ten I Really Rather You Didn't s, but he lost two of them, which accounts for His follower's rather clumsy nature and flimsy morals.

Anonymous said...

I wish I could write exactly what I believe, but I haven't completely figured it out. I suppose a part of me is agnostic, but another is atheist. I think there's maybe a possibility that there is some sort of a higher being, but I don't think that there is an all powerful god looking over our lives and trying to make us do things and promote him. I'm not against anyone who wants to believe in a god, but I don't really think there's any difference from the old religions where people worship the sun and moon, etc that people see as "crazy" and the religions we have now. Religions can really help some people, but I'm grounded enough to be completely happy without someone / something always looking out for me and trying to make me follow the path that they want.

I don't believe in a god right now, but I'm not against the idea at all. I believe it's possible, but currently I don't think it's anything but a story that people wrote to give life purpose.

Anonymous said...

I believe God does exists,not as a man in a white robe with a beard.But the very web of life and energy that connects us all.That its more of a conscious force than something we can claim to be "in its own image".As human beings we are flawed but,this force is pure while we search our entire lives for it.I think we use rational thought (in most cases) and are indeed fueled with the incentive of just rewards or fear of hellfire and brimstone in others.What lies beyond the borders of death is different for everyone but,the force behind it all is the same.I once heard the quote of Voltaire saying that “I cannot imagine how the clockwork of the universe can exist without a clockmaker.”And I agree,I don't think that our existence is meaningless but,I don't think its up for us to say that the proof or lack of proof of god is there but,to know that each truth we find is different.

Anonymous said...

I believe that god exists. Just by looking at the world anyone can tell that it is a beautiful and complex place and i believe that god created it. It is human nature to believe in a higher power so humans must have that tendancy for some reason and i believe that god made that a natural human trait to help guide us through life and be able to find others who believe the same.