[Ithinkiloveyoutoo]

Originally Posted by GypsyGoth

First one, can your god read your mind? Like does your god have the ability to tell what you're thinking.

How does the prayer thing work? Is it like if you want something, you pray x amount of times, or say certain prayers and your god grants you that wish.

I don't believe in gods at all and I struggle to get to grips with the whole concept.

1-yes

2-you should pray all the time not just when you need something. You should praise him (recognizing that he's bigger than anything "wordly")

3-God has a plan for you from before you enter your mother's uterus so no when you pray for something you might not get it. When they say god works in mysterious ways it's cause when you receive a blessing it's something better than you had imagined.

Sometimes of course you might get exactly what you want but for gpd 1 day might be a 50-1000 years that's why sometimes when people ask for things and don't get it they're like "god hates me. he doesn't exist" but they don't know that either what they ask for is not what they need or it's coming. Also those people that do what they want all year long then pray the one they need something and expect a result..god don't play that.

[fingers]

Originally Posted by smudgie

Yeah, just think of the bible as a glorified Aesop' fables.

which is exactly what it is, written/set down by rather illiterate/superstitious men and translated so many times as to have no real purpose but to bolster more superstitious beliefs.

[Ithinkiloveyoutoo]

this guy got famous for this video.

Youtube video

religion is not the same as believing. :no:

[Nemo123]

Originally Posted by smudgie

Yeah, just think of the bible as a glorified Aesop' fables.

That's what they are.
I've noticed there are quite a few Americans who read this website and contribute. What's remarkable about Americans is the number of them who believe in the word of the Bible, from whatever denomination.

[Ithinkiloveyoutoo]

this guy got famous for this video.

Youtube video

religion is not the same as believing.

[fingers]

Originally Posted by Ithinkiloveyoutoo

this guy got famous for this video.

Youtube video

religion is not the same as believing. :no:

you included the =

[Nemo123]

Originally Posted by Ithinkiloveyoutoo

this guy got famous for this video.

Youtube video

religion is not the same as believing.

Can't see it.
Give us his/her name.

[fingers]

Originally Posted by Nemo123

Can't see it.
Give us his/her name.

I do-ed it!

[Ithinkiloveyoutoo]

Originally Posted by Nemo123

Can't see it.
Give us his/her name.

Can you see it now?

[Nemo123]

Originally Posted by fingers

I do-ed it!

Yes.

[fingers]

Didn't watch it, though!

[Ithinkiloveyoutoo]

Originally Posted by fingers

Didn't watch it, though!

that's fine. It's not easy to believe , that's why if you going to do this you need massive strength and faith because with all the horror and pain going on the most obvious question is if he does exist or really love us all why all this pain and suffering? If he bloody well created everything cant he bloody well control the pain?

[Nemo123]

Originally Posted by fingers

you included the =

THat was great.

[Nemo123]

I love the notion of agnosticism just like I love Humanism. They have a lot in common. They are both religion free, one believes in a higher power, and one believes we are the highest power. But we all owe it to ourselves to be the best we can be, or failing that, to be the most caring we can be.

[GiRTh]

Originally Posted by Ithinkiloveyoutoo

this guy got famous for this video.

Youtube video

religion is not the same as believing.

Great poem. Agree with everything he says.

[Z]

I don't like talking about religion with religious people. I feel like it will only ever end in awkwardness, embarrassment and one or both of us will feel stupid.

[Ithinkiloveyoutoo]

Originally Posted by Zee

I don't like talking about religion with religious people. I feel like it will only ever end in awkwardness, embarrassment and one or both of us will feel stupid.

a religious will tell a person what you are doing is wrong, you will end up in hell, a christian will say it's not my place to judge. I am not perfect.

[Nemo123]

Originally Posted by Ithinkiloveyoutoo

a religious will tell a person what you are doing is wrong, you will end up in hell, a christian will say it's not my place to judge. I am not perfect.

Nearly right. Is that your picture? I'd go to hell for you.

[Natalie.]

Originally Posted by Stu

I'll have to ask my framed picture of Bradley Walsh.

I really hope you have one



As for the questions, I don't believe God can read your mind.I was an atheist until I was 18, I don't go to church or anything yet but I do believe in God.I pray in hope and to keep my mind at peace(try at least)

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by GypsyGoth

First one, can your god read your mind? Like does your god have the ability to tell what you're thinking.

How does the prayer thing work? Is it like if you want something, you pray x amount of times, or say certain prayers and your god grants you that wish.

I don't believe in gods at all and I struggle to get to grips with the whole concept.

..I'll answer this seriously...

..I was brought up to believe in God, that God could read your mind and see into your 'heart and soul'..the all seeing/all knowing God...so that's what I believed as a child..you prayed for things, which could be anything..maybe to wish someone well who was ill/to help solve a worry you may have had/to give you something that you wished for, like a certain Christmas gift..?..just anything..and those were very 'personalised' prayers, just tailor made as it were to fit the occasion....then there was the 'Confession' and that was a two weekly visit, whether you had done something 'naughty' or not, so sometimes you had to dramatise/elaborate on that, which thinking about it now was probably a sin in itself, while you were actually confessing ...you would be given a penance of a more generic, one size fits all type prayer, which usually involved volume and Rosary Beads to help you keep count....and a little bit of helping your mum out more with the chores as well sometimes, although it was mostly a prayer thing....

..I think there was the thing as well that you didn't quite 100% believe in God but were scared that if you admitted that even to yourself, you would burn for eternity, which was terrifying...

..anyway, when I hit puberty, I started to see the hypocrisies of religion and people who called themselves 'good upstanding religious god fearing people', who didn't seem that way, when in their daily lives, they could be quite mean, and then be 'good' because they went to church on a Sunday..?..of course, that was a black and white world, with very little grey..because there is positive and negative in everyone, so I was probably being too hard on them/judgemental...but it kind of made me go the complete opposite of turning away from faith/religion completely...thinking of it as nothing but a bad thing....

..I guess that now that I'm older and have the perfect grey world..I can see the good stuff in having a 'faith' and that faith doesn't have to be religion as such..you could have faith in a magic turnip and believe that turnip makes you a better person/makes you try to be better/kinder/more understanding and if you do become that, then that's a great turnip...I guess what I mean is that none of the things about my religion make sense, so I don't believe in those but the 'concept' of trying to be a better person is a good one...

..it is a bit of a tricky and complicated thing though..(in my opinion)..because I know many 'religious' people who in bad/sad times, cope with them so well because they have a faith and therefore don't worry so much because they believe that God will guide them and that things are 'God's Will'..that helps them to come to terms with the bad stuff more and so they are generally quite contented people/relatively stress free..and being so, makes them just nicer/kinder people etc...I sometimes think..oh, it would be nice to have a faith to get you through bad times, I wish I did..but then I stop and remember that I do have a faith, my faith is my family/friends/job and the people who I believe in and who inspire me...also, the 'down side' to that religious faith that some people have can sometimes be to 'judge' according to the Bible, which is a very negative to it....

[Livia]

Originally Posted by GypsyGoth

First one, can your god read your mind? Like does your god have the ability to tell what you're thinking.

How does the prayer thing work? Is it like if you want something, you pray x amount of times, or say certain prayers and your god grants you that wish.

I don't believe in gods at all and I struggle to get to grips with the whole concept.

I believe God knows everything. I'm not sure prayer really works, or all those devout Jews in Belsen and Dachau wouldn't have suffered the horrible death they did.

My religion is very personal. Not everyone will agree with what I believe but I would never try to change anyone's opinion because, let's face it... they could be right.

[Kazanne]

I believe in God but as Livia said it is a personal thing and I couldn't possibly describe how it works, I just know for me it does.

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Livia

I believe God knows everything. I'm not sure prayer really works, or all those devout Jews in Belsen and Dachau wouldn't have suffered the horrible death they did.

My religion is very personal. Not everyone will agree with what I believe but I would never try to change anyone's opinion because, let's face it... they could be right.

..how come your post is much smaller than mine..?..

..I believe that Jewish people have a much better gift with words...

[Z]

Essentially I think if you're not imposing your religion on other people then that's perfectly fine; just as I wouldn't impose my lack of religious beliefs on anyone else. There is nothing more annoying than a militant activist whether that be for save the whales or recruiting people to be Jehovah's Witnesses - I cannot stand people trying to aggressively change my views on the world. There is a right way and a wrong way to expose someone to something that they have not come into contact with before. I look at young religious people I know who have been given a strict set of standards for the way to live their life and then the constant turmoil they go through when they can't join in with other people; or if they do join in then they go through this grief of repenting...

[Glenn.]

I don't believe in God. To me God did not create the world or the universe. I'm pretty certain that God didn't kick start the universe. We will never know what did that. As for the world, science created it. Not the hand of god.

I don't mean that like I'm ****ting all over peoples beliefs, some people need their beliefs and I respect that. I just don't believe in the Almighty God creating the world, when scientific evidence debunks its