<< Lol, put in a topic about religion and you get a 2 page long thread in just a day 🙂
Anyway, here's my 10 cents. This thing we call morality is something that only applies (that I know of) to humans. Whether "God" and the religions that worships it exists or not is irrelevant. The inate urge to perform harmful or helpful acts is apart of humanity regardless of whether religions exist or not. If it's not for "God", then it's for one's Country, or for whatever other organization that demands loyalty and, at one time or another, will make some feel that violent and "immoral" acts are justified. Mob mentality, hatred, jealousy as well as kindness, companionship and compassion existed long before any specific religion. I see no reason why it should disappear or even minimize without religion. Whether "God" and its religions cause more harm than good, I cannot say. However, I think it somehow evens up.
As for myself personally, being agnostic (and somewhat atheist), I would be pretty happy if someone dispelled this "God" thing. No more damn missionaries at my door 🙂 >>
It is correct that this innate sense of right versus wrong is a part of humanity. But you must also think about why do we have this sense of right vs wrong? How did we get it? Why do we have to follow it? Christianity, for example, isn't just some organization ("fabricated" by human minds) that people belong to that's here to simply define right versus wrong, but rather, it's an actual reality of our existance and is part of our lifestyle. Believing there is no God is also a religion as is believing there is a God. Likewise, all religions require faith to believe in including believing there is no God. I think that given our experiences and evidence out there, it is more reasonable to believe that God exists. It takes more faith to believe in the chance of the world being created by accident, than simply swallowing our pride and accept a divine creator who is beyond the scope of human understanding. This is the only way there can be absolutes in our world. Because we were created in the image of God, we possess certain God-like qualities such as an innate sense of right vs. wrong, an innate sense of justice, and free will in our choices in life. These are unique qualities we cherish as humans.
God and religion are very relevent to our sense of right and wrong. If there was no God to provide this innate sense of right and wrong, then this moral code would be nothing more than a human standard arbitrary to each individual. To say so would justify the attack on 9/11 because in the terrorists's mind, they were doing "right." I truly hope no one here believes what they did was justified.
Anthropological studies have shown that cultures around the world, from primitive to advanced, all began historically believing there was one God who created the universe and who was the moral law giver. This is not a new concept. Of course, over time, these cultures looked away and began to believe other things.
<< Well, you can't prove that God doesn't exist. The only way that you can definitively say that no God exists is if you know everything there is to know about the universe, and no one can possibly know that. For example, if you were to say that you are absolutely certain there are no nails in your house, the only way you can say that is if you've searched every bit of your house and definitively know there are no nails in your house. There's no way that we can know everything about the universe.
Likewise, it takes much more faith to believe there is no God (or no intelligent designer) and everything was created by mere chance than it does too simply accept that there must have been some intelligent designer who created the universe and is in control. I admire those people who say there is no God because they must have incredible faith to believe that. I think the problem is that people don't want to relinquish their pride and their belief that they are completely independent and in control. Which choice is more reasonable? A belief that everything occurred by mere chance, or that God created the universe. A physicist one said, "If we need an atheist to debate, I go to the philosophy department. The physics department isn't much use." >>
If you've heard the following before then don't take it as an insult, don't read it, don't get angry. If you haven't heard of this before and are interested, then simply read it and think about it.
If you can accept the thought of a divine entity, God, then you realize that the issue of good and evil demands a response on our part. We could either throw it aside, not believing, and say there really is nothing wrong with the world and life is perfect. OR choose to say that I realize that evil in the world is a serious problem, and it requires a response. The evil in the world is the consequence of sin, which is simply us not living up to God's standard of right and wrong. Everyone in the world has sinned and do not match up to God's standard of right versus wrong. This includes you, me, Christians, and non Christians alike. The evil in the world is not the consequence of God Himself "punishing" the world, but rather the consequence of our sin in the world. Bin laden and his goons let their anger turn into rage and the result is 9/11. This is a clear example of the evil that exists in the world as the consequence of man's sin.
God is a just god which means that, like us, He requires justice for the wrongs that we have done. The punishment of our sin is that we are torn away from a relationship with God. This separation from God eventually leads to death, in particular, eternal death which is forever separation from God. Because He cannot allow sin to exist in His presence, we are separated from God. Although God is just, He is also a loving God. He loves us deeply without any conditions. It is God's desire that we might have that community and loving relationship with Him. What other being would desire to have such a relationship with us? God is a personal God who loves us all individually (with a love that is even deeper than the love of our parents, family, or friends).
This being the case, God offers a solution to the problem of sin in the world in order that we might have a personal relationship with Him. He offers His son Jesus Christ who gave His perfect life, by crucifixion, in order that we might be forgiven of our sin. He died on the cross taking our sins with His death. He then was resurrected from the grave demonstrating His conquest (triumph) over sin and death. The only way to have a relationship with God is to somehow get rid of the sin that is keeping us from God. God offers His forgiveness which was paid for by Jesus Christ. However, this forgiveness must be accepted also. If I hurt my friend by doing something wrong to him like stealing from him, then our friendship is broken. The only way to restore that friendship is if he forgives me for stealing from him as well as I accepting his forgiveness. If I brush off his forgiveness saying that I did nothing wrong by stealing from him, is the relationship going to be restored? No, of course the relationship is still broken. Forgiveness of sin requires both parties to respond; one to offer forgiveness, and the other to accept forgiveness. Likewise, God is offering his forgiveness for our sins, but we must also accept His forgiveness by saying that [/i]"we are sinful and we require Your forgiveness"[/i]. None of us is perfect, neither I nor Christians nor anyone else. We all stumble at some point in our lives. This is God's gift to us, to have our sins forgiven so that we might have that relationship with Him. It costs us nothing, it is a free gift. There is nothing to lose, and everything to gain.
References: John 3:16, Romans 3:23, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 5:8, Romans 10:9-10
So what do I have to do? All I need to do is simply pray and accept that I am a sinner. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins and rose again conquering sin and death, and I accept Your forgiveness for my sins. I accept You as my personal Lord and Saviour of my life. That's it!
