Does God Exist?

[Solin]

I believe in God because I want to believe in something greater.
I have noticed also that the majority of the atheists do not WANT to believe in God not because they think it's a rational thing but simply because they want to to be different and over the years they convinced them that it is a rational thing to be an atheist. In fact they want more to persuade people to think like they rather than we become an atheists.

[Graham]

I don't need your pity, and I doubt any other Atheists do as well. I see the universe and Earth as it is, and that's magnificent enough.

Religious people seem to think that you need a god or gods to get in touch with something greater than yourself, when the truth is that every time you look up at the stars in heaven you are in touch with the vastest greatness of all: the universe itself.

Everything is connected. All living beings are distant relatives, and taking some poetic license you could say we were all born from the stars. The universe is the most ancient entity of all and we all came from it.

We are but a humble speck in this grand expanding universe and to appreciate Science, where everything is questioned.

[rhiannon]

Whether any of us are religious, believe in God(s), atheist, or agnostic....the fact is not a one of us are gonna know jack squat until the day we kick the bucket, lol.

Only then, will the truth make itself known to all of us.

[Hevneren]

Lagergeld pretty much covered it as far as I'm concerned.

It's probably why I call myself Agnostic, rather than Atheist.

I don't mean to nitpick, but it's a common misconception that there's somehow a contradiction between Atheism and Agnosticism, when in fact the two positions are answers to two different questions. Agnosticism answers the question of knowledge, and Atheism the question of belief. So, if you neither believe nor know, you can be both Agnostic and Atheist.

Obviously, you can not know something yet still choose to believe, or you can believe something yet state that you do not know.

Here are the four main positions in relation to the Agnostic/Gnostic and Atheist/Theist positions:

Gnostic Atheist = "I know that a god or gods do not exist."

Agnostic Atheist = "I don't know whether a god or gods exist or not, but I choose not to believe due to the lack of evidence." <--- my position

Agnostic Theist = "I don't know if a god or gods exist but I choose to believe in something."

Gnostic Theist = "I know that a god or gods exist."

[Drawing-live]

If we're such small creatures asking these big questions and contemplating the vast complex universe in our tiny little heads with our imagination, i think its only fair of whomever this guy God may be, to grant us a chance at the end, just a peak at least

A brief moment to see how everything works, and to let us know how badly we've fucked up, then slap us to eternity of nothingness, whatever, just a peak:d

Because seems unfair otherwise

[rhiannon]

I don't mean to nitpick, but it's a common misconception that there's somehow a contradiction between Atheism and Agnosticism, when in fact the two positions are answers to two different questions. Agnosticism answers the question of knowledge, and Atheism the question of belief. So, if you neither believe nor know, you can be both Agnostic and Atheist.

Obviously, you can not know something yet still choose to believe, or you can believe something yet state that you do not know.

Here are the four main positions in relation to the Agnostic/Gnostic and Atheist/Theist positions:

Gnostic Atheist = "I know that a god or gods do not exist."

Agnostic Atheist = "I don't know whether a god or gods exist or not, but I choose not to believe due to the lack of evidence." <--- my position

Agnostic Theist = "I don't know if a god or gods exist but I choose to believe in something."

Gnostic Theist = "I know that a god or gods exist."

I did not realize there were different categories of Agnosticism lol. Well, that's not entirely true....but seeing as you laid them all out here, if forced to choose....I fall somewhere in the realm of the highlighted options....perhaps a wee bit more in the direction of Agnostic Atheist

Hell, I WISH someone or something would show me definitive proof there really IS a God. Until then, I just don't buy into anything and leave myself open to all possibilities

[Solin]

I don't mean to nitpick, but it's a common misconception that there's somehow a contradiction between Atheism and Agnosticism, when in fact the two positions are answers to two different questions. Agnosticism answers the question of knowledge, and Atheism the question of belief. So, if you neither believe nor know, you can be both Agnostic and Atheist.

Obviously, you can not know something yet still choose to believe, or you can believe something yet state that you do not know.

Here are the four main positions in relation to the Agnostic/Gnostic and Atheist/Theist positions:

Gnostic Atheist = "I know that a god or gods do not exist."

Agnostic Atheist = "I don't know whether a god or gods exist or not, but I choose not to believe due to the lack of evidence." <--- my position

Agnostic Theist = "I don't know if a god or gods exist but I choose to believe in something."

Gnostic Theist = "I know that a god or gods exist."

This is an excellent post. Good to know.
I think that Gnostic Atheism and Gnostic Theism is not that common

[Sinbad]

I don't know. I don't even think about it anymore... Base life on humanity, love, friendship and positive things, and don't worry about things that can't be proven. I do have inner, spiritual life, but it doesn't have to do anything with God or religion... Some power probably exist, but it's all energy, we are energy too.
I would say i am agnostic.

God is within...

[Argyll]

I don't need your pity, and I doubt any other Atheists do as well. I see the universe and Earth as it is, and that's magnificent enough.

Religious people seem to think that you need a god or gods to get in touch with something greater than yourself, when the truth is that every time you look up at the stars in the heavens you are in touch with the vastest greatness of all: the universe itself.

Everything is connected. All living beings are distant relatives, and taking some poetic license you could say we were all born from the stars. The universe is the most ancient entity of all and we all came from it.

The need for a personal deity or deities to watch over us and connect with us, seems so provincial and desperately human, when the vast expanse of existence is out there beckoning us to explore it.

You atheists do need pity. But one other problem I have with atheists is their arrogance in that they think that they can choose their own fate and shirk the gods, who they owe everything to.

[Teyrn]

What exists about God can be broken down into:

Speculation, like what the philosophers used to do about the gods in ancient times.

Hearsay, or so-called revelation.

Denial, or refusal to even consider the idea of the divine.

I think that the best that any honestly thoughtful person can say who isn't a dogmatic of some kind (atheist, Christian, etc.) is that "the truth is out there" to use the X-Files slogan. Great claims require great proof and neither atheists or theists offer very convincing evidence from my point-of-view. It's a nice idea to think about God but assuming you accept the proposition of God's existence who do you believe then?