My Views, My Beliefs
Okay so I wanted to post this a while ago but I never got around to it.. so here it is.
This was originally posted in a thread on a discussion board in a facebook group. The subject of the group was, "Give me one logical reason to believe in the existence of God"...
In the end, such a thing is quite hard to express since I find God is not some generic definition that we can just hand out as "proof".. I do believe in maintaining a relationship, which would make each person's "proof" quite personal, unique, and difficult to express for some, like myself.
So.. my answer is below (it's quite long.. a lot of the people who posted in that thread made stupid little comments with no debatable value).
Thanks for saying that.. :) I quite agree.
Personally I do believe in God and it's regrettable that some people might see it as "weak".. perhaps nothing I say can change such a viewpoint but I suppose the very fact that there are people who constantly express such an opinion is something we have to face quite often even when we do not feel the same sort of... "condescending" views.
One logical reason to believe in God..? I suppose that's difficult, yes, simply because there's so much on the side of faith that's involved. I suppose the capacity for people to show such unrelenting love, wisdom, and compassion... the perfection of nature (which yes, can stem from a long LONG time of evolution, I do no necessarily refute such an argument)... and the fact that.. what is there to LOSE? Just because you believe in God doesn't suddenly make you some crippled imbecile. I feel I am rather open minded with many topics and concerns. You have a brain yes, so use it! You can have faith and still be an amazingly bright and insightful person. In fact the book of Proverbs encourages us to hold wisdom as one of our highest treasures.
I don't know why faith has suddenly been seen as a brain-inhibitor. I think it takes superb strength to retain one's faith in something physically unseen in the face of such criticism and negative bombardments.
I believe in God because.. well, my life hasn't been a pot of gold certainly, but my faith has never let me down so far.
I do admit that yes, there are certain churches that... "indoctrinate" their members (particularly the children), but isn't that sort of.. a segment of a lot of beliefs anyway? Muslims, Christians, etc.. they all have their "extremists" of sorts. Where there is passion, there is bound to be some abuse of such passion.
But there are the rest of us who are quite open with people and with theories and whatnot, and call my beliefs what you will but I know how God's presence has moved in my life and I can't just sum up my experience in a single "logical" reason.
To me God isn't something to be... to be "prescribed", I suppose. It's about a relationship, not a religion. I rather dislike using the word religion to define what I have, actually. I am a christian though, yes, in that I strive to be "Christ-like", as is the meaning of the word "christian". So.. I believe it's just up to the person to take that leap of faith into the unknown, and begin their own personal journey with God... and in time you will find for yourself in terms hard to describe, why one should believe in God.
That's all I have to say.. I guess. :) It's okay if you guys don't agree with me, who says you have to? But I thought I'd give my side of this whole thing.
Oh, and I read something about someone talking about the whole.. "you're missing out on life" bit. I find that is an assumption made by those who believe that somehow what the rest of the world is doing is surely considered "pleasure". For me.. things like chastity (my virginity or whatever) and whatnot.. it's not that I'm "sacrificing" it. I hardly see it that way. I view my body with the utmost respect and I see what I have as a gift to be given in love to the man I wish to marry and be with for the rest of my life, and I hope he views what I have to offer in the same way. Just because I don't choose to follow what most of the western world (I put emphasis on the word "western") considers "fun" or "exciting" or whatever, doesn't mean I'm "wasting" my life. I'm just looking at it through a different sort of lens, I suppose. Perhaps "missing out" on some of these things can actually benefit me in the long run (in the case of sex, through abstinence until marriage I can more easily avoid STIs, getting pregnant, etc, which would be detrimental in the long run). It's just my choice really, and I do not see it as a sacrifice. That notion is merely an assumption made by those who see things differently from some of us, I guess.
This was originally posted in a thread on a discussion board in a facebook group. The subject of the group was, "Give me one logical reason to believe in the existence of God"...
In the end, such a thing is quite hard to express since I find God is not some generic definition that we can just hand out as "proof".. I do believe in maintaining a relationship, which would make each person's "proof" quite personal, unique, and difficult to express for some, like myself.
So.. my answer is below (it's quite long.. a lot of the people who posted in that thread made stupid little comments with no debatable value).
Thanks for saying that.. :) I quite agree.
Personally I do believe in God and it's regrettable that some people might see it as "weak".. perhaps nothing I say can change such a viewpoint but I suppose the very fact that there are people who constantly express such an opinion is something we have to face quite often even when we do not feel the same sort of... "condescending" views.
One logical reason to believe in God..? I suppose that's difficult, yes, simply because there's so much on the side of faith that's involved. I suppose the capacity for people to show such unrelenting love, wisdom, and compassion... the perfection of nature (which yes, can stem from a long LONG time of evolution, I do no necessarily refute such an argument)... and the fact that.. what is there to LOSE? Just because you believe in God doesn't suddenly make you some crippled imbecile. I feel I am rather open minded with many topics and concerns. You have a brain yes, so use it! You can have faith and still be an amazingly bright and insightful person. In fact the book of Proverbs encourages us to hold wisdom as one of our highest treasures.
I don't know why faith has suddenly been seen as a brain-inhibitor. I think it takes superb strength to retain one's faith in something physically unseen in the face of such criticism and negative bombardments.
I believe in God because.. well, my life hasn't been a pot of gold certainly, but my faith has never let me down so far.
I do admit that yes, there are certain churches that... "indoctrinate" their members (particularly the children), but isn't that sort of.. a segment of a lot of beliefs anyway? Muslims, Christians, etc.. they all have their "extremists" of sorts. Where there is passion, there is bound to be some abuse of such passion.
But there are the rest of us who are quite open with people and with theories and whatnot, and call my beliefs what you will but I know how God's presence has moved in my life and I can't just sum up my experience in a single "logical" reason.
To me God isn't something to be... to be "prescribed", I suppose. It's about a relationship, not a religion. I rather dislike using the word religion to define what I have, actually. I am a christian though, yes, in that I strive to be "Christ-like", as is the meaning of the word "christian". So.. I believe it's just up to the person to take that leap of faith into the unknown, and begin their own personal journey with God... and in time you will find for yourself in terms hard to describe, why one should believe in God.
That's all I have to say.. I guess. :) It's okay if you guys don't agree with me, who says you have to? But I thought I'd give my side of this whole thing.
Oh, and I read something about someone talking about the whole.. "you're missing out on life" bit. I find that is an assumption made by those who believe that somehow what the rest of the world is doing is surely considered "pleasure". For me.. things like chastity (my virginity or whatever) and whatnot.. it's not that I'm "sacrificing" it. I hardly see it that way. I view my body with the utmost respect and I see what I have as a gift to be given in love to the man I wish to marry and be with for the rest of my life, and I hope he views what I have to offer in the same way. Just because I don't choose to follow what most of the western world (I put emphasis on the word "western") considers "fun" or "exciting" or whatever, doesn't mean I'm "wasting" my life. I'm just looking at it through a different sort of lens, I suppose. Perhaps "missing out" on some of these things can actually benefit me in the long run (in the case of sex, through abstinence until marriage I can more easily avoid STIs, getting pregnant, etc, which would be detrimental in the long run). It's just my choice really, and I do not see it as a sacrifice. That notion is merely an assumption made by those who see things differently from some of us, I guess.