Is there a god? <dramatic music>

Well since the last controversial topic went down with some fairly intelligent discussion as well as minimal flaming. The controversial topic being the 9/11 and Pentagon attacks, discussing the possibility of it being and inside job or just some terrorists with sharpened pieces of metal. However this topic is to discuss whether or not there is a god and if he exists, whether that is good or bad for humanity, also keep this more about god's existence as opposed to religion.

Anyhoo, discuss.

The debate on this is pretty redundant because we can never know either way. People can claim to believe either way, but really believing is invalid as disbelieving and vice versa.

Personally, I don't believe in a god, people say that god helps them with life etc etc. Well I've never found he has for me, I deal with my problems, I don't have to look for divine intervention. But that's just me, If people believe in a god and feel he helps them, I have no problem with that.

I shouldn't need to say this but I know how some of you are. So; Respect other peoples views without resorting to flaming them. It's a controversial issue that many of the staff don't believe the community can discuss without resorting to flaming. Prove us wrong.

In my opinion, Man created God. I don't feel like elaborating as of now, so that's what I think, in a nutshell.

Yeah, I'm inclined to agree. The phrase 'God of the Gaps' fits well - people decide that anything we dont understand, God did. A gap in our knowledge must be divine intervention, which is a bit of a rubbish idea, I think.

No, I dont think there is a God. A phrase I love to quote on this issue is this:



To me, there isnt really a difference between the two - the idea of God is a delusion, as Richard Dawkins powerfully states in the title of his bestselling book.

When it comes to the various arguments for God's existence, many of them are flawed and a bit terrible. For example the argument from morality, which states that God gives us our morality and sense of right and wrong, I consider simply wrong. We are given it by society and through pain and reason - seeing other people in pain is something that evolution has developed to bring strong emotions that we should help them. The complex morality of human beings is simply a more complex version of this.

Another example - the Cosmological argument. This argues that something must have been the original cause of the universe, and that was *obviously* God. 1) What caused god? 2) Who says the universe needs a cause? 3) Quantum physics has gone and proven that, though completely illogical, it is possible to have an effect without a cause.

I think that rational thought and faith are two completely contradictory things. This is not just a view held by atheists, either - some old members of the church believed this too. Martin Luther (not MLK, Martin Luther is a different person to Martin Luther King) said:



I like to reason and to think, rather than blindly follow like so many people do, and frankly I think the idea of God is rubbish. If anyone can reason their way to God, I'd like to see how.

I believe in a God.
I'm not even going to try to explain why.

Sorry, this sort of topic just doesn't work on RSBandB. People who believe just get insulted.

I believe in a god, or a force created the universe. But who am i to say that Buddhism or Muslims gods are wrong....to many gods.

Does being a Libertarian Atheist say anything? I know Penn and Teller are.

Yes, I am fine with people who don't believe in God. That is their choice. But I don't want to get insulted because I do. What's so wrong with believing in God and Christianity? Even if it is all fake, what is so bad about preaching that everyone should be nice to each other?

And as for the origin of the universe, wouldn't it have to be an ultimate being (ie. God)? Sure, the big bang created the universe. Ok, what caused the big bang? A bunch of gas and dust and w/e all getting tightly packed together and super heated and exploding outward (or however the theory goes). Fine. Where did all the gas, dust, ice, etc. come from...?

Nobody on this thread so far has 'insulted' anybody who believes in god. If anybody did they'd get punished. We're trying to give intelligent debate on a very controversial issue a chance here, and you're just saying it can't happen.