do you beleive in God!!??

[looking_for_a_reason]

vickysdream44

I believe in God .
I also think you have a right to your own belief. Having said that, I dont believe any one has the right to tell me how to believe.
not the government or my mom. Be yourself.... be kind.. is there anything else. Proud to be a Geezer !!

I agree fully. Don't push others into what you believe. I believe in God and Jesus, but I also sometimes question why I believe and if it really is the truth. It can be refreshing or it can be a struggle, depending on what you are looking for.  

[Taxi Mama]

Sho Yuuki

I was born and raised Roman Catholic but when I turned 18 and joined the Army that all changed. I seen things and done things in the 8 years I was in that have me feeling shame full now ... almost 11 years later. I haven't been to church since I was 18 and I'm 38 now.

I believe in God and I know there is a higher power .... I just can't bring myself to step into church again. sad

Oh, Sho Yuuki, I want to hold you and rock you and love you back together! If you are truely ashamed of the things you did, confess to God in prayer (you don't need a priest, just say "in Jesus' name" at the end). He will forgive you and welcome you back. If you can accept the forgiveness, you can rejoin the family of God. Every church is full of recovering sinners; you will not be shunned for your past, if you are righteous now. If you are no longer comfortable with Catholicism, I suggest Presbyterian or Unitarian. Good luck!  

[MojinR]

God? Yes. Scripture written by man involving God, Word of God, etc... Not so much. I take it more as a "moral of the story" or a basic ideology to follow. Religion, for me, is something that is depressing when researched, fulfilling when participating, annoying when debating, but isn't for me.  

[Ultra Fabu]

God gave us all freedom of choice. He gave us the freedom to chose Him or not. He gave us life, he gave us his son so that we could have life eternal. To me, the choice is easy. I choose Him. heart heart heart  

[ShengYing]

Honestly, I think that everyone believes in a "higher being" or some sort of "higher beings". They however will only invoke such said being when in trouble though!!! smile

As for myself, I've been kicked in the butt enough by God to deny His existence... yes, at one point I wondered at His existence... argued with Him, saying such things as, if He really was there, then why did He allow me to get hurt so much... and so on and so on... now I realize that it was my own actions, stupidity, and stubbornness that was getting me hurt.  

[Lil-Jo]

ShengYing

Honestly, I think that everyone believes in a "higher being" or some sort of "higher beings". They however will only invoke such said being when in trouble though!!! smile

As for myself, I've been kicked in the butt enough by God to deny His existence... yes, at one point I wondered at His existence... argued with Him, saying such things as, if He really was there, then why did He allow me to get hurt so much... and so on and so on... now I realize that it was my own actions, stupidity, and stubbornness that was getting me hurt.

I have to laugh at that because of all the people that find Jesus when they end up in prision. My husband said that Jesus must live in prision for this same reason.  

[ShengYing]

Lil-Jo

ShengYing

Honestly, I think that everyone believes in a "higher being" or some sort of "higher beings". They however will only invoke such said being when in trouble though!!! smile

As for myself, I've been kicked in the butt enough by God to deny His existence... yes, at one point I wondered at His existence... argued with Him, saying such things as, if He really was there, then why did He allow me to get hurt so much... and so on and so on... now I realize that it was my own actions, stupidity, and stubbornness that was getting me hurt.

I have to laugh at that because of all the people that find Jesus when they end up in prision. My husband said that Jesus must live in prision for this same reason.

LOL!!! I never really thought of that... but now that you've said it... totally!!!  

[SpiritChangling]

Atheist - and lordy how hard was it to be an Atheist during the younger school years. Funny thing was, the people who hounded me about God the most during elementary school were some of the same people trying Wicca with me in my Freshman year of High School.

I'll admit, I have a bit of trouble with SOME religious people - I often wonder if they studied anything outside of what they were raised in to any real level and tend to be afraid of severe reject by them when they find out my "religion". Some people are cool and some seem to be rather knowledgeable about other religions - those people I can enjoy being around regardless of what they believe.  

[Demona_Darchanjel]

I believe more in the Goddess than in the God. The God is the Goddesses Consort.  

[DeZdecaydance]

I belive in god and that Jesus died for us all.I hate when ppl make crued sick jokes about jesus that arent even funny.The family guy jokes i must admit are funny though.PPl get so hurt when they go to those churches that have a congregation of JERKS!Ppl that act like they have no sin and that they are better than everyone else...thats why so many ppl choose to not believe in god.I found a church that so real and im glad to be a part of it.U dont have to dress up and nobody treats u like crap if u have a tattoo or anything like that.if u want to dye your hair purple well fine come on in.we will love u anyway.  

[DeZdecaydance]

Ultra Fabu

God gave us all freedom of choice. He gave us the freedom to chose Him or not. He gave us life, he gave us his son so that we could have life eternal. To me, the choice is easy. I choose Him. heart heart heart

biggrin  

[LoonamusPrime]

I don't believe in God. If there is a higher power, I doubt very much they requires us to worship them, as we'd be so insignificant in comparison.

But I also encourage free thinking.  

[BlueberryJoy]

I used to be big into religion, but after having years to think it over, I'm just not so sure anymore. I've never seen evidence of miracles, signs or wonders, and some situations in the world make me doubt there's any overseer. On the other hand, I can't say with absolute certainty that there isn't a creator.  

[Cyanna]

BlueberryJoy

I used to be big into religion, but after having years to think it over, I'm just not so sure anymore. I've never seen evidence of miracles, signs or wonders, and some situations in the world make me doubt there's any overseer. On the other hand, I can't say with absolute certainty that there isn't a creator.

Sometimes it isn't the big things...it's the small things.

Kinda OT but I'm reminded of a personal experience...

Years ago, my grandfather went into the hospital for a surgery that was supposed to fix his lungs and he ended up dying due to complications afterwards. One of the last things he said to me was to ask that I pray for him while he was in the hospital. So I did...every day, every time I thought to do it. Then he got really sick with infection. I still prayed every day that God would make him well. Then he died.

I was devastated. I just lost the most significant adult figure in my life other than my parents. In my grief and anger, I went through various phases from thinking prayer was an absolute joke to considering the possibility that there was no god out there after all. What good is praying to a loving Father if it goes unanswered?

I gradually came back to God...I found no sense of joy in being one. But prayer was still something I just didn't get and it was something I didn't do that often.

About a year and a half ago I was dealing with depression on a scale I had never known before. I accepted a job and agreed to start on graveyard shift with the understanding it would only be temporary. Well "temporary" turned out to be way longer than I anticipated and I was so miserable and lonely. I never saw my family (and I shared a house with them!), I hardly saw my boyfriend. I was working with the most cynical people I've ever met...like...emotional vampires...and it got to me bad. I would spend my commute there and back crying because I hated it so much and my efforts to find employment elsewhere were not working. The feeling that I was stuck in a hopeless situation that I couldn't do anything about was terrifying.

I think that's when I started praying again. But I wasn't praying for a new job. I was praying for the inner strength to deal with my current situation since that was the immediate problem. I eventually did stop spontaneously crying during my commute. And I was able to turn out the griping of my co-workers. I think I just became more patient with it. I stopped feeling like I was going to be stuck on the shift forever. My depression went away...

Since then my prayers have shifted more from "change something else" to "change me" approach. Bad things are going to happen to me in the future. I'm going to lose more loved ones. I'm going to feel more pain. I can't avoid being tested. But I can try to pass.

Go figure...once I made my peace with it, I got switched to days.  

[charamath]

I've probably spent more time pondering this question then most. I was raised Catholic with a fanatical grandmother who once had me spend the night with her to tell me how an inter-racial relationship would send me to hell after she found out one of my best friends was a half-hispanic. I was six.

I began researching all religions, and was appaled at events like the 'Rose Wars' and decided no god could condone such actions. So, I ended up going atheist. Went through hell for that with my family, but I had made up my mind. If anything, I loosely followed buddhist ideals. Stayed that way until two years ago.

Two years ago I died...for 10 minutes. If anyone here knows the basics of dying pertaining to coming back, five minutes is the cap. They figured I'd be a vegetable. Then I woke up less then a day later. Then they said I'd have total memory loss (think 10 second Tom from 50 First Dates). A week later, I was totally back to normal. Modern medical miracle, though it's not somthing I like to talk about. Anyways, I remember the light, but unlike most, I remember a little of what came AFTER it. I remember green. Sort of like the lowlands of Swizterland. And I remember a voice telling me why I was going back. So do I believe in a higher power- heck yah! Just who that higher power is, IDK, but I do know there's someone watching.