View Poll Results: According to your beliefs, what is the probability that God exists?
1. 100 per cent probability of God.
23
11.98%
2. Very high probability, but short of 100 per cent.
9
4.69%
3. Higher than 50 percent, but not very high.
2
1.04%
4. Exactly 50 per cent.
2
1.04%
5. Lower then 50 per cent, but not very low.
6
3.13%
6. Very low probability, but short of zero
41
21.35%
7. 0 per cent probability of God existing
109
56.77%
Voters: 192. You may not vote on this poll
Does God exist?
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From: God's promised land
Re evidence you see I would contend that in nature the evidence is there on a daily basis for all to see. Every time a bird sings or a baby is born that is the evidence that things happen far beyond the capabilities of mankind. The agnostic or atheist just says it all developed at random from molten rock. To me that is an even more ridiculous concept.
So if we humans demand "evidence" that we can fully understand that will never come about. dl
So if we humans demand "evidence" that we can fully understand that will never come about. dl
To me the only real imponderable is infinity. That's the one concept i struggle to come to terms with. Explain infinity and i'll die a happy man.
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From: Pleiades
Its very interesting that when a thread like this comes up, there is such a big reaction to it. It is obviously a matter which is far stronger in peoples' minds than one might expect and the strongest reaction always come from those who profess that there cannot possibly be a God.
That's all well and good, we are all entitled to believe what our own consciences tell us and as was mentioned it is unnecessary to be insulting to those who do believe in some form of superior being. Doesn't seem to happen much the other way round by the looks of it. Wonder why, is there some kind of a niggle in the back of the mind when denying God's existence,and is it necessary to try to justify it even in one's own mind?
Stating that religion is the cause of the World's troubles is no excuse at all. It is not the religions which cause all the wars, it is always down to people, either those who go over the top with their interpretation of their religion, or those who are using that religion to their own ends, or just the good old politicians! Not
People who do believe there is a God, who or whichever one that might be, do so because they have a feeling that there must be someone like that who set it all going in the first place. They follow a religion because of that feeling and also that they have a personal faith in it. I personally don't think that the particular religion is important, just that it encourages one to live a good life as in fact most of the established ones do. That cannot be criticised.
No one can prove that a God exists or not. No point in even trying. And the old excuse that those who do believe have to prove it while those who don't believe don't have to just won't wash! Its a standard reply from non believers who are unable to prove their beliefs. I get the impression that it is yet another excuse from non believers to bolster themselves up more than anything else. Any excuse.
I personally believe that there is more likely to be a superior being than not. I also believe that if you don't believe in God, that would not deny you a place in Heaven or whatever you want to call it if you have lived an essentially good life according to the dictates of your conscience and natural law.
I am of course perfectly entitled to think that way and I don't see why I should be insulted for it.
Les
That's all well and good, we are all entitled to believe what our own consciences tell us and as was mentioned it is unnecessary to be insulting to those who do believe in some form of superior being. Doesn't seem to happen much the other way round by the looks of it. Wonder why, is there some kind of a niggle in the back of the mind when denying God's existence,and is it necessary to try to justify it even in one's own mind?
Stating that religion is the cause of the World's troubles is no excuse at all. It is not the religions which cause all the wars, it is always down to people, either those who go over the top with their interpretation of their religion, or those who are using that religion to their own ends, or just the good old politicians! Not
People who do believe there is a God, who or whichever one that might be, do so because they have a feeling that there must be someone like that who set it all going in the first place. They follow a religion because of that feeling and also that they have a personal faith in it. I personally don't think that the particular religion is important, just that it encourages one to live a good life as in fact most of the established ones do. That cannot be criticised.
No one can prove that a God exists or not. No point in even trying. And the old excuse that those who do believe have to prove it while those who don't believe don't have to just won't wash! Its a standard reply from non believers who are unable to prove their beliefs. I get the impression that it is yet another excuse from non believers to bolster themselves up more than anything else. Any excuse.
I personally believe that there is more likely to be a superior being than not. I also believe that if you don't believe in God, that would not deny you a place in Heaven or whatever you want to call it if you have lived an essentially good life according to the dictates of your conscience and natural law.
I am of course perfectly entitled to think that way and I don't see why I should be insulted for it.
Les
From a personal point of view why would me being a Christian bother anyone else? I am not clappy-happy, I don't knock on doors, I don't (usually) post propaganda on car forums
, probably 90% of my friends don't even know what my beliefs are.It is just something I believe in, same as I believe Liverpool FC is the greatest football team on the planet - it doesn't matter if they fail to win anything - I still believe it.
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From: God's promised land
Nobody is denying your right to believe in it. What we're doing is saying that you're believing in something which you can't prove exists - a concept in today's world of provability that the majority - in the Western world at least - see as illogical at best, and actually detrimental at worst. If i thought for one second that believing would in some way benefit me, don't you think i, and many others like me, would sign on the dotted line in an instant? There you go then.
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From: Derbyshire
No one can prove that a God exists or not. No point in even trying. And the old excuse that those who do believe have to prove it while those who don't believe don't have to just won't wash! Its a standard reply from non believers who are unable to prove their beliefs. I get the impression that it is yet another excuse from non believers to bolster themselves up more than anything else. Any excuse.
In the abscence of evidence for existence, the default position is that it does not exist. The same applies to the bogey man and the easter bunny.
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From: Derbyshire
Re evidence you see I would contend that in nature the evidence is there on a daily basis for all to see. Every time a bird sings or a baby is born that is the evidence that things happen far beyond the capabilities of mankind. The agnostic or atheist just says it all developed at random from molten rock. To me that is an even more ridiculous concept.
So if we humans demand "evidence" that we can fully understand that will never come about. dl
So if we humans demand "evidence" that we can fully understand that will never come about. dl
Abiogenesis is a whole different ball game and far better understood that you misguided post above. Do some reading and you'll find they have been able to create what are considered examples of the first self replicating ploymers in the lab.
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From: Pleiades
Good job I didn't say they did then.
So, if you personally witnessed something that there was no possible logical or scientific reason for, something that could not be explained in any way at all except that some sort of higher being had some part in it would you then believe in a God/s?
So, if you personally witnessed something that there was no possible logical or scientific reason for, something that could not be explained in any way at all except that some sort of higher being had some part in it would you then believe in a God/s?
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From: Northamptonshire
Of Course there is a God, just send me £10,000 via paypal and I will ensure that when you die you can go and have a beer with him, if this does not happen you may come back to me for a refund
Special offer at the moment is to meet the fairies and pixies too!
Special offer at the moment is to meet the fairies and pixies too!
I think a lot of this is similar to the alien arguements.
For those refusing to believe in something that can't be proven to exist - do you believe in aliens? Are we alone in the universe? There's no proof that they do but a lot of people who refute the possibility of (a) God will still believe in them - and ghosts!
Essentially even science can't tell us how we got here. We believe there was a huge explosion but we don't know. It is called the Big Bang Theory because it is exactly that, a theory but no one can say what it was that went bang in the first place.
We're dealing with things that are very difficult ro comprehend and until anyone can prove anything one way or the other i have to say each one has just as much potential to be correct.
5t.
For those refusing to believe in something that can't be proven to exist - do you believe in aliens? Are we alone in the universe? There's no proof that they do but a lot of people who refute the possibility of (a) God will still believe in them - and ghosts!
Essentially even science can't tell us how we got here. We believe there was a huge explosion but we don't know. It is called the Big Bang Theory because it is exactly that, a theory but no one can say what it was that went bang in the first place.
We're dealing with things that are very difficult ro comprehend and until anyone can prove anything one way or the other i have to say each one has just as much potential to be correct.
5t.
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From: God's promised land
Good job I didn't say they did then.
So, if you personally witnessed something that there was no possible logical or scientific reason for, something that could not be explained in any way at all except that some sort of higher being had some part in it would you then believe in a God/s?
So, if you personally witnessed something that there was no possible logical or scientific reason for, something that could not be explained in any way at all except that some sort of higher being had some part in it would you then believe in a God/s?
To answer your question, yes i'd probably give it a lot of thought, i'm certainly not a "doesn't exist couldn't possibly exist" sort of person, and the reason why i believe either box at the top and bottom of this poll is impossible to tick. But i cannot think for the life of me what sort of event that could/would be.
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From: Derbyshire
I think a lot of this is similar to the alien arguements.
For those refusing to believe in something that can't be proven to exist - do you believe in aliens? Are we alone in the universe? There's no proof that they do but a lot of people who refute the possibility of (a) God will still believe in them - and ghosts!
For those refusing to believe in something that can't be proven to exist - do you believe in aliens? Are we alone in the universe? There's no proof that they do but a lot of people who refute the possibility of (a) God will still believe in them - and ghosts!
Essentially even science can't tell us how we got here. We believe there was a huge explosion but we don't know. It is called the Big Bang Theory because it is exactly that, a theory but no one can say what it was that went bang in the first place.
We're dealing with things that are very difficult ro comprehend and until anyone can prove anything one way or the other i have to say each one has just as much potential to be correct.
5t.
5t.
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From: God's promised land
God and aliens are completely separate arguments, except in an arbitrary conceptual basis that they're things we've never physically seen or experienced. Apart from that the similarities are almost non-existent.
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From: God's promised land
See, therein lies another irony, the God believers can't even decide whose God is the "right" one.
It does make me smile how otherwise rational people can't see through all these inconsistensies. But no, my offer stands for any God you care to mention.
It does make me smile how otherwise rational people can't see through all these inconsistensies. But no, my offer stands for any God you care to mention.
We're here, that's pretty good evidence that life exists. It's not too hard then to imagine that other life "may" exist on other planets, there are a lot of them out there. There's no proof to date, but I wouldn't be surprised if other life was found as we know it exists here, we have a comparitor.
"It is known that there are an infinite number of worlds, simply because there is an infinite amount of space for them to be in. However, not every one of them is inhabited. Therefore, there must be a finite number of inhabited worlds. Any finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all planets in the universe can be said to be zero. From this it follows that the population of the whole universe is zero, and that all people that you may meet from time to time are merely the products of a deranged imagination."
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Great point i think!
Exactly!
5t.
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STI Wanna,
You are quite entitled to laugh of course, if you find it an amusing expression. It is just a way of referring to an afterlife which has been used from time immemorial. Just imagine if you find that its true though!
Telboy,
I would be surprised if the numbers you quote would be anything like that low. It does not bother me because those who disagree do not want the trouble of having to try to disprove it, or could not anyway of course.
It is of course nothing to do with the logical argument how many people do or don't believe it anyway. You cannot use numbers in that way to prove a fact, to state a theory maybe!
Your point about infinity is a good one. How about infinity with respect to the beginning of everything? Where did the matter which cannot be created nor destroyed come from?
OllyK
Yes of course I will state that Olly, because I believe it to be correct. Why else? You might call it a superstition on order to decry it, it isn't of course even if it suits you to think so.
Lydia,
You are talking about faith in your beliefs which is perfectly valid. And why should you be or be expected to be "happy clappy" about your Christian beliefs. You are entitled to believe what you want and to respect that of others to do the same. All anyone can ask for is a bit of tolerance without all the all too often unpleasantness.
Les
You are quite entitled to laugh of course, if you find it an amusing expression. It is just a way of referring to an afterlife which has been used from time immemorial. Just imagine if you find that its true though!
Telboy,
I would be surprised if the numbers you quote would be anything like that low. It does not bother me because those who disagree do not want the trouble of having to try to disprove it, or could not anyway of course.
It is of course nothing to do with the logical argument how many people do or don't believe it anyway. You cannot use numbers in that way to prove a fact, to state a theory maybe!
Your point about infinity is a good one. How about infinity with respect to the beginning of everything? Where did the matter which cannot be created nor destroyed come from?
OllyK
Yes of course I will state that Olly, because I believe it to be correct. Why else? You might call it a superstition on order to decry it, it isn't of course even if it suits you to think so.
Lydia,
You are talking about faith in your beliefs which is perfectly valid. And why should you be or be expected to be "happy clappy" about your Christian beliefs. You are entitled to believe what you want and to respect that of others to do the same. All anyone can ask for is a bit of tolerance without all the all too often unpleasantness.
Les
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From: Derbyshire
I'd ask for a definition of "god" before you widen it! Some people believe that David Ikes is god, while I agree he exists, I don't know that he fits my definition of a god!!
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From: Derbyshire
Bible Dictionary
Superstition: belief in something not justified by reason or evidence.
Superstition: belief in something not justified by reason or evidence.
So you take the position that everything imaginable, no matter how ridiculus exists until somebody can prove it doesn't? If not why is god a special case?
Thread Starter
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stop
OllyK. I find your position of wanting to convert believers to non-believers just as offensive as the someone trying to do it the other way around.
I guess that makes you a God botherer botherer
I guess that makes you a God botherer botherer
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Les
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From: Derbyshire
I have no interest in conversion, I just get fustrated that those who believe in god want to have god put aside as a "special case" that can't be discussed in an open and frank manner that would be expected of other subjects. The rules suddenly have to be changed so the onus of proof is no longer on the claimant (as would normally be the case) but it's now down to the sceptic to try and show that something that we don't believe exists doesn't exist. We'll we've don't it and funnily enough we didn't find anything, but if you come along with some new evidence and actually show we were wrong, I'll happily put my hand up and admit it.
lol