Blog Catalog Discussion: Do You Think There is God?

dlowe on 'Do You Think There is God? '

dlowe — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:03:59 -0500

"I think that point is clear with how you are treating a fellow believer. It is making you come across as really arrogant and unconcerned about me in anyway whatsoever."

Exactly may point. You come across as Christians are bad people. Not me because I have all sorts of non-Christian friends. I am better than most Christians.

Get the chip off your shoulder.

gtcathey on 'Do You Think There is God? '

gtcathey — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:57:08 -0500

"Faith is just one of those things that bring out the worst in people, when it should be the opposite."

I think that point is clear with how you are treating a fellow believer. It is making you come across as really arrogant and unconcerned about me in anyway whatsoever. You act as if I'm not a true christian. I would never say that about you. I don't even know you, but just reading your blog, etc. I can tell you have a relationship with Christ. I'm sorry if I offended you in any way, I'll leave this conversation now.

dlowe on 'Do You Think There is God? '

dlowe — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:53:44 -0500

@gtcathey Sometimes one sentence is all you have.

"Faith is just one of those things that bring out the worst in people, when it should be the opposite."

This sounds like Christian bashing.

You can say what you want, I am just telling you how it is coming across.

gtcathey on 'Do You Think There is God? '

gtcathey — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:47:47 -0500

One sentence doesn't speak my faith. You perceived something totally different than what was intended by that statement. You disregard my other posts about my witness, and just focus on that one sentence. That one sentence doesn't define me completely, but the actual meaning of that sentence is part of what defines me (notice I said the "actual" meaning, not the meaning that you are proclaiming here). I will not nitpick your statements and turn them into something they aren't. I did misunderstand what you were saying, and for that I am sorry. I see you don't actually believe what I thought you did.

dlowe on 'Do You Think There is God? '

dlowe — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:36:42 -0500

This sentence "What I believe spiritually, shouldn't interfere with my personal life, and I don't let it." sounds like you are talking about a hobby like "Yeah, I knit and sometimes stay up till 2:00 am knitting but I still make it to work on time and I have friends that don't even know I knit because I never talk about it"

You somehow got the impression that I believe Christians shouldn't associate with non-Christians.

@braincatcher Very cute looking at the wikipedia definition of faith but it is wrong. Look at the Merriam Webster definition

Faith: allegiance to duty or a person. Loyalty.

DrowseyMonkey on 'Do You Think There is God? '

DrowseyMonkey — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:30:34 -0500

I can't beleive this thread is still going. Ah well, I guess I'll respond.

No I don't, and I don't have an explanation as to why I think that, it's just what I think.

braincatcher on 'Do You Think There is God? '

braincatcher — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:28:56 -0500

Now this is confusing. It looks were on the same side.
It is really pointless to argue about faith. Faith is a belief in the trustworthiness of an idea that "has not been proven". Therefore arguments in faith can not be proved and disproved like this topic. My answer to these questions is, "It doesn't matter. Would you change your belief if you'd know mine? I doubt that." Believe what you want to believe and I would believe what I want. Have respect on someone's faith. Just don't start a war because of our differences.

gtcathey on 'Do You Think There is God? '

gtcathey — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:28:43 -0500

I was under the impression from you that, my living day to day life the way I do with the "Unsaved" makes me seem like my faith is a hobby and also with that statement you say that i exhibit "empty sentiments". If you want to know what I truly believe, visit my blog. I also have a blog on your "Judge not" scripture that you have quoted.

dlowe on 'Do You Think There is God? '

dlowe — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:22:26 -0500

It was directed at you.

"I think I made my point as to I can associate with the "non-christian" in all of these followup comments."

Where did you get the idea that Christians couldn't hang out with non-Christians? Why would you even bring that up?

gtcathey on 'Do You Think There is God? '

gtcathey — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:19:41 -0500

@dlowe
Who are you directing that to? I think I made my point as to I can associate with the "non-christian" in all of these followup comments...
"What I believe spiritually, shouldn't interfere with my personal life, and I don't let it."
This is true..like is said before, I have MANY non christian friends...

dlowe on 'Do You Think There is God? '

dlowe — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:12:18 -0500

I have to ask this. Who said when you are a Christian you can't be friends with non-believers?

Is that what your spirituality tells you? If so, that sounds like a cult.

gtcathey on 'Do You Think There is God? '

gtcathey — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:12:11 -0500

Is there some sort of litmus test you do before you can befriend anybody? Like I said, I know sin is sin and is NOT tolerated by God, period. If you are a sinner and not brought under the Blood of Jesus (my personal belief) then you will go to Hell (my personal belief) But at the same time, how can I "win" someone for the Lord if at first I don't at least get to know them. To condemn a PERSON from the start is different than condemning their sin. If I from the Upstart condemn a person, I've already lost them. Why would they want to listen to me?

----edited---
And by "personal Life" I am referring to things like...
-existing friends
-bosses/work
-etc

Not personal life like
-secret sins
-I do what I want behind closed doors
-etc

Pretty much, I am in the world...I don't have to be OF it.

dlowe on 'Do You Think There is God? '

dlowe — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:08:40 -0500

Actually by NOT condemning ("Do not be judged lest ye be judged") you are being more like a Christian than Westboro Baptist Church. When you make a statement like "What I believe spiritually, shouldn't interfere with my personal life, and I don't let it." you make your faith sound like its more of a hobby than the foundation of your life. By "living your life as a light" you are letting your spirituality interfere with your personal life.

@braincatcher I know there is a policy in here against qouting scripture so if you want the exact bible verse private me. Jesus went to a party with a group of tax collectors and prostitutes (both a big religious no no back then) and was called out by the pharisees. He said to them "The well do not need a doctor"

Christians hang out with non-believers. You should do a little research into exactly what Christianity is all about before you judge it (Lest ye be judged).

There is a big difference between a Christ follower and someone who says they are a Christ follower.

braincatcher on 'Do You Think There is God? '

braincatcher — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:00:50 -0500

Does your spirituality also affects you in helping others? Can't you play golf or a computer game with an atheist. Or even talk to them?

I am not against of any faith. Because most of them teaches us to do good. In fact I'm more interested in their teachings, not the teacher. What I am against is when it became a prerequisite to do good to others. And when it prevents you from doing good to someone who does not believe in your beliefs.

gtcathey on 'Do You Think There is God? '

gtcathey — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:53:53 -0500

@dlowe . My comment is pretty much denouncing all of the tactics that people like the Westboro Baptist Church ( http://www.godhatesfags.com/ ) etc use. I live my life as a light. When I can, I mention Jesus...I don't go picketing and yelling in peoples faces. That isn't proper evangelism. This notion of condemning everyone you come into contact with is crazy. I have many atheist friends, they know I am a christian, but I can have a normal life socializing with them. I mention God. I mention their need for a savior. I mention the Bible (Atheists are good debaters). I have homosexual friends and family members. They know where I stand, but I don't let that interfere with any friendships I have with them. I'm sure I have friends that are stealing from their bosses. I disagree with that, but I can still maintain a friendship with them.
I am not disregarding my faith by not condemning others. I'm sure some of my friends might have porn addiction problems, but...same thing there. I can live my life the way I live it, as a light, sowing when I can, but still call someone friend.

dlowe on 'Do You Think There is God? '

dlowe — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:27:08 -0500

My spirituality influences every decision I make in my life. It affects my relationships with people. It affects how I see events in the world and how I react to them. I believe there is a God and I act accordingly.

If you believe there is a God and you profess that belief but make statements like "What I believe spiritually, shouldn't interfere with my personal life, and I don't let it." then basically your belief amounts to empty sentiments and not a true spirituality.

"For me, the religious wars era is a history."

Then move on, stop using it as a reason to rebuke people's beliefs.

braincatcher on 'Do You Think There is God? '

braincatcher — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:21:43 -0500

I agree with gtcathey and to you dlowe. It must not interfere with our personal life, and if it will, I would prefer not to have spiritual beliefs instead.
We don't have to hate people with another faith. For me, the religious wars era is a history. And, we don't have to repeat it, its done. I believe our generation can do better than that.

reasonablerobinson on 'Do You Think There is God? '

reasonablerobinson — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:00:51 -0500

I'm dyslexic and I think there is a Dog

dlowe on 'Do You Think There is God? '

dlowe — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:58:08 -0500

@gtcathey

"What I believe spiritually, shouldn't interfere with my personal life, and I don't let it."

Then why believe anything at all? Why have spiritual beliefs if they don't make any difference in the way you interact with other people?

voodooKobra on 'Do You Think There is God? '

voodooKobra — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:47:28 -0500

I'm writing the plot for a video game right now that involves magic. Heavily.

silentstorm314 on 'Do You Think There is God? '

silentstorm314 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:35:10 -0500

I thought I just said, "I CAN NOT." It would be great if I'd be able to at least even comprehend myself, but since this is virtually impossible, I might as well just let things be and focus on other things.

Should you however find the answers to your questions, what will you do next? Would you finally be at peace?

gtcathey on 'Do You Think There is God? '

gtcathey — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:12:27 -0500

Yea, I'm sure some people do take that and like to throw that in peoples faces and cause dissension. But me, You can be an atheist, and I'd still like to play golf with you or play a little Halo online or something. What I believe spiritually, shouldn't interfere with my personal life, and I don't let it.

voodooKobra on 'Do You Think There is God? '

voodooKobra — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:28:00 -0500

People like to assume that their religions is right, and their religion is exempt from criticism. The contents of some religions reinforce this (i.e. the "Have no other gods before me, death to the heretics" attitude).

gtcathey on 'Do You Think There is God? '

gtcathey — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:19:58 -0500

I don't know why I blog about religion.....Not too many people can have peaceful discussions about it, myself included. Faith is just one of those things that bring out the worst in people, when it should be the opposite.
But why does religion do this? If I asked you if peanut butter is good, surely the responses wouldn't be hateful. But if someone asks about God, both parties are ready to go to war. (notice I said both parties) I personally believe in God, but if you don't..Fine...I might want you to, but I don't believe that yelling, screaming, threatening, etc should be used to try to convince you. You won't convince me, so why should I try to convince you (hypocritical of me, being as I have a religious blog, I know)
If you have faith in something, great
If you have no faith in something, great
If you are hungry like me...eat.....I'm thinking Arby's

Tony Cathey
www.imablogger.net

timethief on 'Do You Think There is God? '

timethief — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:43:17 -0500

@dcg123
In the beginning God....
I encourage you to bring forward your scientific evidence, as at this juncture, no empirical evidence of the existence of god exists anywhere in the world. And, of course, I would love the opportunity to be the blogger who breaks the story of incontrovertible evidence of the existence of god being produced.

voodooKobra on 'Do You Think There is God? '

voodooKobra — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:36:14 -0500

Well, I think everyone knows where I stand on this issue by now. If not, http://www.kobrascorner.com/philo/not-antichrist-but-anti-christ.php

dlowe on 'Do You Think There is God? '

dlowe — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:35:59 -0500

Never better said.

GrayFoxDown on 'Do You Think There is God? '

GrayFoxDown — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:36:20 -0500

I doubt that an omnipotent entity (with hopefully a sense of humor, too), namely God, would be even slightly diminished by even a library-sized collection of opened-ended statements concerning faith and even less perturbed or confused by them. I do believe in God; however, I also leave some room for doubt and off-handed remarks because I accept that I'm only human and subject to human error.

TheBigRuski on 'Do You Think There is God? '

TheBigRuski — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:31:56 -0500

Or another way to look at it is that gender is not an issue.

dcg123 on 'Do You Think There is God? '

dcg123 — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:02:04 -0500

In the beginning God....

morgantj on 'Do You Think There is God? '

morgantj — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:55:58 -0500

basically, god is genderless.

morgantj on 'Do You Think There is God? '

morgantj — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:57:02 -0500

moved comment.

morgantj on 'Do You Think There is God? '

morgantj — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:54:31 -0500

and what do you hold responsible for that something?

GrayFoxDown on 'Do You Think There is God? '

GrayFoxDown — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:32:01 -0500

Yes...I hold someone or something incredibly responsible for all of this.

dlowe on 'Do You Think There is God? '

dlowe — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:36:01 -0500

Transformation. See below for a better explanation:

http://www.hackyoursoul.com/?p=11

TheBigRuski on 'Do You Think There is God? '

TheBigRuski — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:33:53 -0500

On the subject of why "He"?

This from http://www.apologeticspress.com/articles/162 :

There are other important factors to be considered as well. In an article titled, “Is God Female?,” Steve Singleton mentioned three of them (in regards to in the bible):

1. God is referred to hundreds of times with masculine names and with masculine pronouns such as “he,” “him,” and “his.”

2. God is never given a feminine name, or referred to with feminine pronouns such as “she,” her,” and “hers.”

3. This does not mean that God is male. The masculine pronouns have always had the second, generic sense, referring to both male and female, just as “Man” has been used for centuries to refer to both men and women.

Also, from same article:

God exists eternally, and in the eternal sphere there is no sexual differentiation. God has no gender. He is neither male nor female...” As Singleton concluded: “God is not male or female. God is God. Do you hear the answer which God gave to Moses on the mountain when Moses asked, ‘Who are you?’ God said, ‘I am that I am!’

morgantj on 'Do You Think There is God? '

morgantj — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:33:31 -0500

oh thank you for the thorough explanation. May I ask, what experiences have you had of god?

dlowe on 'Do You Think There is God? '

dlowe — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:29:00 -0500

Very true morgantj. In the book of Romans Paul addresses this very issue about where "the law" came from and how it is written in everyone's heart.

morgantj on 'Do You Think There is God? '

morgantj — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:27:49 -0500

braincatcher said, "Why can't we just be good not for God's sake but for the love of humankind?"

Because we have to all agree on what is "good," not only for humankind but for the totality of all things. When man speaks of "goodness" it is rather subjective and biased as it is being determined by "mans" standards, by how man thinks things "ought" to be. Create a being with ultimate authoritive power over everything, and say this being made these standards, then people apparently listen. If they think the standards came from just another man, they don't value it as much as if it came from a supernatural all powerful ultimate authoritive being.

dlowe on 'Do You Think There is God? '

dlowe — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:27:16 -0500

I began to seek an explanation to certain events in my life. Certain feelings I was having. I am a knowledge seeker like you. I read a lot of books growing up about different religions (buddhism, satanism, etc.) And in the context of "religion" they all were flawed and I could tear them all apart. As I began to seek Christ through reading the bible, payer, fellowship, I began to see things in the church that were just wrong. I called people out on this and once I got through all the "church" crap, I began to understand the true God. I began to experience changes within me and started to see changes in others.

I am by nature very cynical. You never met me before I was a Christian so you would never have seen the change in me. If you want you can read my blog and see some of the things I am talking about. I bash the church a bit. I hate religion, but I understand its place in God's plan. I live with a great peace I never had.

That is a small part of my God experience.

Edit: Oh, I didn't really catch that but just rambled on. I say He because in the Bible it refers to God as our heavenly "Father" as a reminder of our relationship with him. I do not believe God has a gender because he is not of this world..