by tepidpoultry 27 Replies latest jw experiences
Meant to hopefully get your mind off the craziness which we sadly refer to as the news these days,
So
We'll call this one
FUN FOR SECULARS
I am providing a 1-7 chart that might help you place your position on the
"Belief/nonbelief Scale"
If you would like to share please comment on where you are and how you got there
Have fun!
:0)
# 7 I am 100% sure there is no God as defined by the Oxford dictionary " Superhuman being worshipped as having power over nature & human fortunes "
My post includes all of the Gods that the human race have invented.
I was brought up to believe in God by parents who were not practicing christians themselves but believed their children were to go to sunday school , I ceased attending before I was a teenager & converted to the JW`s at 19.
I left them 33 years later for many reasons that led me to believe it was just another man made religion.
When I got a PC came on this site about ten years ago along with other sites like this which led me to do my own research I came to the only conclusion I could God does not exist.
He/she is a myth invented by humans for control over the masses.
No God has ever stepped forward and defended his or her self.as to their existence its always a human who jumps to there defence with no evidence for their claims.
Thanks Smiddy,
Something you wrote reminded me of the story of Elijah on Mt Carmel
for the big test of Godship,
Pretty impressive what happened,
I would be happy if he'd just say Hi
:)
If I can define god as a theist one who created the world and who is involved in human affairs - the god of Jesus for example - then I am a 7.
Thanks cofty
For me it's a 7 for the God of the Bible
created by man in his image
A rather vicious personage softened later
by the appearance of Jesus Christ
Other than that a 6
I like to operate with a margin of error
As I don't know everything (yet)
:0)
A very strong 1. I believe in God and I am extremely spiritual. Do not believe in Religion. Was raised Lutheran and walked away at age 50. I believe that all Religions are man made. I was done with men of the cloth lying.
My faith in God and knowing that he was there watching over me has gotten me through many trials in my life.
I ask myself what a world without god/s would be like..................and here we are in it.
If 8 doesn't exist, I'll settle for 7.
Put me down as an 8 ... hoping all the 1's & 2's become extinct before they kill everyone else.
When I left the WT in 2007 I was at 5; now, after reading lots of threads here and going to uni, I'm at 6.
Theism
They say that God didn't create man but man created God. I feel there is motivational and political psychology at work in theism, and I sense a little bit of human narcissism. Why is God anthropomorphic, the "Grand Man of the Universe"? Is there a god for lizards and whales and chimpanzees too?
"Well there is one god and he created us in his image." Why did he create us as apes then? Why not something else entirely?
And like any other spiritualist matter, why is it that the magic spell of creation is explainable through science WITHOUT a magical anthropomorphic deity?
Deism
Okay, so the God of the Bible doesn't exist. That still leaves it open for deism, right? Perhaps there was a deity who directed evolution to some degree and then left entirely. Well, in that case, you'd have to prove that intelligent direction was really needed at any point, which it evidently wasn't. And my contention with deism is... Who should care? Why care about deism? What does this deity matter at all? Even if it were true, it would be like, "Wow, cool. Well I'm glad this deity doesn't require us to worship him, now let's move on with life."
Conclusion
I'm a 7. I'm fine with gods as psychological/political/universal metaphor, to the extent that it is understood that we aren't talking about an actual intelligent designer in the sky. The Stoics referred to nature as Zeus, Einstein referred to God, and none of them believed in an actual god or pantheon. The problem, of course, is when all the 1s and 2s confuse their expression for sincere belief.
TL;DR Prove to me that the Invisible Pink Unicorn doesn't exist and I will use your method.
