Do you believe in God?

Nice

Love your Avatar Launa.......

Behold the countenance of God.........



Edit to add: This was post number 1111 - PROOF positive (x4) that Alanis IS God!

Quandry : I beleive Jesus was born and existed.

I don't beleive in God.
I don't beleive he was the son of god, voice of god, incarnation of god (choose whichever is applicable to the subcult of your choice).

And I don't beleive his last name was 'Christ' -- although I'm up in the air about the middle initial being 'H'.


I celebrate christmas for the holiday pay, and the food.

Siggy.

Many of Jesus' teachings were valid in the basic sense. But after all of the kings and leaders and whoever adding and removing whatever they liked and BURNING or otherwise destroying the past versions.... Who is to say what was really there in the first place.

I have no qualms with spirituality. But I do have qualms with organized religion.

please dont kill me

If I recall my "Catholic Church turns pagan holidays to their own advantage to convert the godless, naked heathens" history correctly... the current incarnation of Christmas is truly based on the older Roman holiday called Saturnalia (which was celebrated in late December). I want to say that Jesus Christ was actually born under the sign of Pisces or Aries, with a March birth, but I'm not entirely sure of that (and too lazy to look it up now). Pisces would totally make sense, given that the fishes is the Piscean symbol along with being the secret symbol that Christians used to identify themselves back when it was dangerous to practice the newly formed religion. I'm not sure if the Christian symbolism of the fish has to do with Christ being termed "the fisher for men's souls," but I do know it's "spawned" countless variations of vehicle bumper decorations.

It's truly amazing how religions come and go. Who knows, maybe the next century will see the rise of a new "god." We must wait and see, I suppose.

I have argued this point for years. Very well put Launa.

For me, it's the same reason I partake in St. Patrick's Day fun even though I'm not Irish.
Besides, many activities associated with Christmas - trimming the tree, for example, have little to do with Christ.
And as some other posters have said, it's not that I don't believe Jesus ever existed. My guess is he did. St. Patrick was probably a real guy too. It's their divinity (or the extent of their divinity) that I question.

The idea of a god is a human invention. If there were some all powerful omnipotent creator entity would it consider itself god? I would think not. If it did then it has some serious megalomania and control issues Commanding the less powerful to worship you is so tacky.

I celebrate christmas because my family is christian, but on years that I don't go to visit them I don't do anything christmas related at all.

(edited for typo)

I wish we could peer back in time and ask those folks what they would think of being made *divine*. I bet the preponderance would laugh it off, or maybe even frown.

Olympia is absolutely correct on most of the customs we engage in during *Christmas Time*.

Yule Log? Pagan
Christmas Tree? Pagan
Mistletoe? Pagan
Wassailing? Pagan
The date of Christmas? Changed

Why? Because the Romans finally realized they had to.

I could go on and on about Oester (Easter) and other things which were absorbed by Roman Catholicism. They realized they had to, in order to appease the northern and central europeans they were trying to force their will upon.

God, yes.
Religons, no.

No, but I believe in Santa, will that do?

A department store ruined that little slice of make believe for me when I was about 5, with the loudspeaker customer announcement "No waiting for the Santa's Grotto's! There is one on every floor!"

Bastages. *sniff*

I agree with Jauani ~~ I have too many questions to make a definative yes or no answer

Pardon the hijack, but if all these gods were

1. real
   
2. housed together
   

that'd be a reality show I might actually watch

Well Allah and Yawheh (Jehovah) are actually the same being.... (different names in different languages) so that wouldn't really be an issue.

Getting Zeus and Cronus living together would be.... interesting to say the least.

"Son.... great.... now that we're living together.... where did you put that sickle?"

If there is a "Supreme Being" that created everything.... what exactly are the odds that one and only one human created religion got it completely absolutely right, and all the others are completely absolutely wrong? The human mind cannot fathom that kind of power, so the idea that one religion is more correct or more wrong than any of the others is laughable.

One of the reasons why I don't like organized religion.... feel free to belive whatever you want to belive, if you belive in some kind of god, more power to you... I wish I had that kind of faith. But once you start telling other people that their beliefs are wrong, well...

*sighs*

Aw comeon Chip, guesssses! This is the problem with debating creation or existance and so on, one opinion is as good as the next. I have to lean towards the existance of a creator, and that we're just too stupid to understand "how and why". Why would you think "the creator" has control issues?

If anything I think it would be nice to see MORE stuff controlled (in positive ways of course), some of the stuff that happens nowadays, you have to wonder--if there's a "good" God--why some people don't get struck by lightining just before they do something that ends up in national news! That's the best argument for no-creator or at least one that doesn't give a damn. OR, maybe the "bad" stuff that goes on down here is insignificant, or it serves a higher purpose...we can go back and forth in circles like this forever! This is how I think...wonder why I can't decide between agnosticism and creationism?

Agnosticism is the only 100% correct answer, but we all have our "gut feelings" or upbringings and that's pretty strong for most people.

ding ding ding ding! We have a winner! This is exactly my point, Garoad. Even if there was a God, he is not worthy of my worship. The world is full of misery and suffering. If a kid had twenty kittens and treated them the way God supposedly treats mankind (drowns half of them, casts others into a fire, promises treats to the rest that he never delivers) he's be in therapy or juvenile hall. If god gave his only son to get nailed to a piece of wood to spare us from sin (instead of from something useful, like sparing us from pain, suffering, disease, hunger, war) social services would be banging on his door to take Jesus away into foster care. If the mythologies of most major religions were true, then God does things we would never accept from a human being, so why would we accept them from God? Simply because he's all powerful and will punish you if you don't? If that's true then why didn't we think Saddam was an excellent leader? He used the same tactics. If there is a God, he's obviously a prick. I'd sooner spit in his face than bow at his feet. But that's just me

Very good point.
To play devil's advocate (for fun, since I agree with you) , I could counterargue that things seem "bad" to us mere mortals only because we can't see the whole picture, and that God has reasons for the bad stuff. The same way a vaccination seems bad to a two-year-old who can't comprehend that it's protecting his health.

Good luck with that arguement in court:

"Your Honor, about drowning and burning the kittens... I know it looks bad, but..."

hehehe, the old "this is going to hurt me more than it's going to hurt you" line The only thing that kept me from openly laughing when my parents used to say that was the impending spanking.

So sad there is actually a billboard in my town that says exactly that.

"This hurts me more than it hurts you."
God
I may take god a bit more seriously if he/she/it/they actually came down/up here and hung out for a bit. It would make an interesting Daily Show interview at least. Hehe Imagine god looking into the camera and saying to the religious right "Stop hurting me"

I haven't seen that billboard, but that's hilarious (in a disturbing sort of way). I think perhaps what I object to most about religion is how bloody patronizing it is.

That Freud quote in your sig rocks!

Yeah I've seen that one and also the one that says "We Need to Talk" --- God

Big huge billboards on the way into work. There were others too, but I'm old and have killed off too many brain cells to remember them right now.

The heaven/hell replies brings up a metaphysical question that I've had for years..

Is there A heaven and A hell?
My point being is that my heaven would most likely be hell to my fourth grade english teacher.

My heaven: Talking animals, boundless forrests of the finest weed, everyone is nekkid and well endowed, keggers every 10 minutes, pizza appears at the mearest thought...

Her heaven: Books, order, cherubs with harps, clouds and robes, limitless pondering on the nature of man and his sin, choir practice every 5 minutes, correct grammer...*yawn*...etc.