Are you religious ?

(this is not a dig at any one at all)

Are you religious ? if so/not why ?

the reason I ask is because- In my opinion if their was a God why would we have evil in the world ? Surely life would be simpler if their was a god ? I understand there is a need for necessary evil in order for the world to move forward but surely things like young girls having cancer and men who have worked all their lives in order to support their families who die young and people who are born with M.S and autism. Surely a god wouldn't want people to be in pain. In my opinion religion is a made up story to keep people from straying from the path and to be used as an excuse when people think the chips are down.

sorry if iv'e offended anyone just want to hear peoples opinions.

fairytales for adults.

After the week ive had, I seriously doubted the existence of a God before, after this week I doubt it even less for all of the reasons you have stated

fairytales for adults.

If there was a god then surely all these Muslim terrorists would be hit by lightning.....
No I don't believe in god. I believe in Santa through

If there was a god then surely all these Muslim terrorists would be hit by lightning.....
No I don't believe in god. I believe in Santa through

I wasn't going to say anything about this but.. I hate Islam and always will, how can a religion be so evil and outdated. Muslims are petrified to live life imo all religion is just a way of keeping order on the masses and an excuse to cause war.

religion is whats caused this world to be a fucked up place

Hmmm....A difficult one this.

No one wishes cancer on a 12 year old girl, and I will tonight pray for Alice.

But, everyone has their own beliefs and religions. I believe in a devine creator, not one single god.

I still can't get my head round the constantly expanding universe thing, not many can.

Because of this ,I gain comfort in the unity of man , especially us.

There is something there, I just don't know what it is!

Hmmm....A difficult one this.

No one wishes cancer on a 12 year old girl, and I will tonight pray for Alice.

But, everyone has their own beliefs and religions. I believe in a devine creator, not one single god.

I still can't get my head round the constantly expanding universe thing, not many can.

Because of this ,I gain comfort in the unity of man , especially us.

There is something there, I just don't know what it is!

I respect any one who has a belief I believe everything happens for a reason its just sometimes hard to find that reason

If there was a god then surely all these Muslim terrorists would be hit by lightning.....
No I don't believe in god. I believe in Santa through

I wasn't going to say anything about this but.. I hate Islam and always will, how can a religion be so evil and outdated. Muslims are petrified to live life imo all religion is just a way of keeping order on the masses and an excuse to cause war.

No religion justifies violence, its just hijacked by a few to put forward their own agendas. Christianity never justifies violence, yet in N.Ireland we see Protestants and Catholics trying to kill each other on a daily basis.

The New Testament or Christian beliefs never justify violence against anyone; yet the KKK lynch black people and have a anti catholic stance. If people actually followed their relgion properly we wouldnt have any world violence.

Sadly when you mix politics and religion together you get a deadly mix.......I can never believe any religion justifies violence. Jews were victims in WWII, but now hell bent in securing their own homeland at any cost. Muslim countries have been attacked for oil and gas and are looking for revenge against the West.

If no one interefered with anyone, none of this will be happenning.......sadly extremists have been given a propaganda tool to recruit and put forward their ideology.

But I believe FOOTBALL can heal all wounds and CCFC is my religion

Since you asked, yes, I am religious, but that's my business. Don't force it on anyone else.

Since you asked, yes, I am religious, but that's my business. Don't force it on anyone else.

and as i said it's not a dig and i also respect your beliefs

(this is not a dig at any one at all)

Are you religious ? if so/not why ?

the reason I ask is because- In my opinion if their was a God why would we have evil in the world ? Surely life would be simpler if their was a god ? I understand there is a need for necessary evil in order for the world to move forward but surely things like young girls having cancer and men who have worked all their lives in order to support their families who die young and people who are born with M.S and autism. Surely a god wouldn't want people to be in pain. In my opinion religion is a made up story to keep people from straying from the path and to be used as an excuse when people think the chips are down.

sorry if iv'e offended anyone just want to hear peoples opinions.

Yes, I'm a Christian. The points you raise are difficult ones, even cor someone with faith, but that's basically why it is a faith; you hold strong to the belief I something far greater beyond what yoh can physically see which gives you hope, strength and even joy.

Religion was, at one time, useful for sensitising humans to violence - i.e. it is when organised religions that primarily taught peace, that humanity started to realise that murdering each other isn't ok. Essentially religion was the catalyst to stopping brutal violence and making the advancement of society possible. It was a tool. Now though humans have that sense of morality engrained in them - you don't NEED to be told that killing someone is bad, you already know it. Religion has outlived it's use and is now a way for the arseholes among us to get what they want, while professing faith. I disagree with you that Islam is an evil religion. The basis of Islam, like Christianity, is peace and goodwill to your fellow man. The difference is that Islam has come under the control of those who would use it to meet their own, unsavoury ends. There are examples of this among Christianity aswell (ever heard of the Westboro Baptist Church?) Religion, to me, is based in fiction, and was devised as a way to unite the tribal groups under one banner.

In a nutshell - religion was once useful for the advancement of society, but has outlived it's purpose and now serves only to stiffle the forward progress that we have enjoyed since practised religion started to die out.

(this is not a dig at any one at all)

Are you religious ? if so/not why ?

the reason I ask is because- In my opinion if their was a God why would we have evil in the world ? Surely life would be simpler if their was a god ? I understand there is a need for necessary evil in order for the world to move forward but surely things like young girls having cancer and men who have worked all their lives in order to support their families who die young and people who are born with M.S and autism. Surely a god wouldn't want people to be in pain. In my opinion religion is a made up story to keep people from straying from the path and to be used as an excuse when people think the chips are down.

sorry if iv'e offended anyone just want to hear peoples opinions.

Why would any of those arguments mean that there isn't a God?????

They are some of the good arguments against there being a good God, but there still may be a God, but he may not be good - surely that's a sensible possibility?

None of the religions in the world would acknowledge that, but I think its the most likely situation.

(this is not a dig at any one at all)

Are you religious ? if so/not why ?

the reason I ask is because- In my opinion if their was a God why would we have evil in the world ? Surely life would be simpler if their was a god ? I understand there is a need for necessary evil in order for the world to move forward but surely things like young girls having cancer and men who have worked all their lives in order to support their families who die young and people who are born with M.S and autism. Surely a god wouldn't want people to be in pain. In my opinion religion is a made up story to keep people from straying from the path and to be used as an excuse when people think the chips are down.

sorry if iv'e offended anyone just want to hear peoples opinions.

The first thing to state is that you've made a massive assumption. Every single argument you have comes from a humanistic standpoint where you automatically think that humanity is in the right, I don't blame religion for wars, I blame humans, after all, it's not the gun that kills people is it? The reason that you've made this assumption is because you don't want to admit that you're bad. Why do you think we constantly find someone worse to compare ourselves with? That's right, the chief of all problems is pride, when I read about serial killers, I don't ask why they did it, I'm destroyed to know that there's a part of me that could do the same thing. No one is good enough to not deserve trials, we all have an inherent problem that to ignore is to build a facade, to find a 'good' purpose in your life to convince yourself otherwise, to convince yourself that you are worthy of better and you blame god if that doesn't happen. This is evidence of your rebellion from which no man can escape and therefore is testament to your condemnation. If you grapple with these philosophies then they will destroy everything anyone has ever told you about life but all of your arguments will suddenly shift into perspective.

If there was a god then surely all these Muslim terrorists would be hit by lightning.....
No I don't believe in god. I believe in Santa through

I wasn't going to say anything about this but.. I hate Islam and always will, how can a religion be so evil and outdated. Muslims are petrified to live life imo all religion is just a way of keeping order on the masses and an excuse to cause war.

Oh please, all religions cause wars, Christianity is the worst.

RELIGION NEEDS TO BE OUTLAWED!

I'm not but my brother is.

Whatever is best for each individual

Religion was, at one time, useful for sensitising humans to violence - i.e. it is when organised religions that primarily taught peace, that humanity started to realise that murdering each other isn't ok. Essentially religion was the catalyst to stopping brutal violence and making the advancement of society possible. It was a tool. Now though humans have that sense of morality engrained in them - you don't NEED to be told that killing someone is bad, you already know it. Religion has outlived it's use and is now a way for the arseholes among us to get what they want, while professing faith. I disagree with you that Islam is an evil religion. The basis of Islam, like Christianity, is peace and goodwill to your fellow man. The difference is that Islam has come under the control of those who would use it to meet their own, unsavoury ends. There are examples of this among Christianity aswell (ever heard of the Westboro Baptist Church?) Religion, to me, is based in fiction, and was devised as a way to unite the tribal groups under one banner.

In a nutshell - religion was once useful for the advancement of society, but has outlived it's purpose and now serves only to stiffle the forward progress that we have enjoyed since practised religion started to die out.

Humanity killing eachother is animal nature. After all we are animals. All animals fight for territory, as do humans (Argentina vs Britain, China vs Japan soon, Japan vs russia possibly).

Religion was invented to control people and to think it's worked after all these years is really startling. People may call me narrow minded, bigoted or what ever.

But I despise ALL religion. They've caused nothing but problems, yes there are good religious people whom have set up charities, but there are plenty of non religious charities.

I'm athiest but I have nothing against people believing in whoever they want to. Its not up to me to tell them what they believe in is wrong because I think it is. It's their choice.

My only problem is with some people taking religous texts and books and key leaders words for gospel. And do not logically think about what they are reading. I don't see why you can't believe in a god and worship without needing to be spoonfed by what others have told you thousands of years ago. But its each to their own

Agnostic.

I fully respect those who believe and those who don't - it's up to them. As long as both sides don't force their opinion on me, all is fine.

I'm athiest but I have nothing against people believing in whoever they want to. Its not up to me to tell them what they believe in is wrong because I think it is. It's their choice.

My only problem is with some people taking religous texts and books and key leaders words for gospel. And do not logically think about what they are reading. I don't see why you can't believe in a god and worship without needing to be spoonfed by what others have told you thousands of years ago. But its each to their own

This.

No problem with SOME religious people but hate religion. I love it when some religious prats try and tell you how the bible is factual and yet it was written about a millennia ago but won't read a science text book which is constantly being updated and backed up by proof.

Ahwell live and let learn or what ever the saying goes.

Yea I'm religious - when my daughter died 16 years ago I learnt that religion is true

Time has proven that too - until then to be honest u probably was a non believer

Yea I'm religious - when my daughter died 16 years ago I learnt that religion is true

Time has proven that too - until then to be honest u probably was a non believer

Sad to hear of your loss.

However, are you claiming that to prove god exists one must experience some one very close passing away?

People blame religion for loads of violent acts but forget that it prevents violence from many as well. Loads of people are religious to try and stay on the straight and narrow and keep to a set of rules to help them get by. Religion is never the tool for violence but the person who uses it for that intended purpose or an excuse to carry out such an act. We should stop blaming religion and start blaming the individual and allocating personal responsibility. Its easy to blame a way of life, a set of beliefs or an inanimate object such as a gun but deep down its just because some people are evil or have something wrong with them.

Guns don't kill people, religion doesn't kill people, knives don't kill people, cars don't kill people, people using them as tools kill people. There are plenty of other tools to carry out violence/methods of killing - poison for example. If people are that way inclined or sick they will find a method to do so. That doctor in England didn't need a gun or religious excuse did he? No he was just a sick and evil person.

(this is not a dig at any one at all)

Are you religious ? if so/not why ?

the reason I ask is because- In my opinion if their was a God why would we have evil in the world ? Surely life would be simpler if their was a god ? I understand there is a need for necessary evil in order for the world to move forward but surely things like young girls having cancer and men who have worked all their lives in order to support their families who die young and people who are born with M.S and autism. Surely a god wouldn't want people to be in pain. In my opinion religion is a made up story to keep people from straying from the path and to be used as an excuse when people think the chips are down.

sorry if iv'e offended anyone just want to hear peoples opinions.

Im rather religious

Right if God really existed why would we have evil in the world? This is a question that is asked all the time. When God created the world it was perfect and it was paradise. When he created man he gave us something called free will, where we are free to make our own decisions and it is us who create this evil not God. It is one of the best gifts God has ever given us.

Ok the more difficult question why does a young girl die of cancer and all your other examples. Ok nobody wants to see young people die of cancer, it is unfair. Have you heard the phrase 'God works in mysterious ways', circumstances you meet in life can unite people or split them apart (thats where free will comes into play). Tragic circumstances occur and these are upsetting, though the lasting effects can be good, such as a family re-united after tragic circumstances, this I believe is Gods work.

Yes I agree people turn to God when the chips are down. I find myself praying more when things are hard than when things are good.

I have a story for you, you may have heard of it before, its called footprints.

A person dies and goes to heaven and meets God. God shows this person a beach with footprints on it. The person asks what is this and God says this is your path through life from your birth to your death. The person looks at the sand and notices two sets of footprints and asks who is the other set of footprints, God answers those footprints are mine walking along side yours.

Now the person studies the trail in more detail and in difficult times in his life notices the two sets of footprints become only one set of footprints. The person asks God, why is there only one set of footprints, where were you. Then God answers, my son these are the times where I have carried you.

I stopped believing after the Play-Off final versus Blackpool.

Bit heavy for a city forum

Having said that though youv'e only got to spend a few minutes researching to see that science pretty much disproves religion. I believe wer'e now at a time where wev'e surpassed religion and there is no real need for it, apart from those who use it as a reason to justify their racist, homophobic, violent actions.

I wouldn't say i'm religious myself, I believe your born, you live, you die, as crude as that sounds. Some people can't face the fact of this so they turn to religion (with the whole afterlife, seeing your family again side of it) as a comfort to themselves.

I honestly don't know. I used to believe in their being a god. After seeing so much suffering recently I am now in the camp that thinks maybe there isn't anything. The only way to find out is to die and as I'm only 40 I don't want to know

I am also a Christian and in answer to the question RE: suffering in the world...

If God was to remove suffering from the world, then he would have to remove us because we are human beings - sinful, imperfect human beings. Our imperfection leads to sin and thus leads to suffering.

However, God really does love us imo and has PROMISED us eternal life if we humbly approach him acknowledging our faults and asking for forgiveness from the one who can forgive: Jesus.

And Jesus is and always will be the only way to clean us from suffering. That he died an extraordinarily disgusting death as a perfect man (death being the "wages of sin") doesn't quite make sense because he was perfect...instead he died for us, and died as a ransom for humanity, that we all may now enter a relationship with him and be considered "righteous". So, by Jesus dying for our sins, we aren't viewed by God as average (not sinners, but not perfect either). No, we are viewed as perfect by God, allowing us for entrance into heaven, which, tbh I cannot wait for.

After all of that, I can completely understand everyone who is agnostic/anti-religious etc because I have been there in that situation. However, I have been CHANGED. And it's a bloody good feeling.

I have respect for everyone and their beliefs here just in case it didn't appear that way.