Do you believe in a higher power?

[dmacfour]

Higher power meaning: god, gods, life force, etc.

I am an atheist myself. I was Christian at this time last year, but slowly transitioned into a deist, then agnostic atheism (Meaning I think that there probably isn't a god, but don't know for sure).

What do you guys believe?

[NickH]

I believe that it is better to believe in God and heaven so that when I die, if its true, then I will hopefully have a place up there, than not believe and not be in heaven. Thats just how I see it, with that said, I am roman catholic, but I do not practice. I did the whole process growing up, but havent been active in the church for many years.

[Sloaner92]

I don't want there to be a higher power. What's important to me is that I believe in myself and live the best life that I can. I believe in making other people happy and in making myself happy.
If there is a God, I think that God would agree with this because I'm trying to be a good person whether or not I believe in the higher power. If there is a Heaven, I have the utmost conviction that I would be admitted if I lived my entire life without believing in it as long as I did all of the above.

[dmacfour]

Originally Posted by Sloaner92

I don't want there to be a higher power. What's important to me is that I believe in myself and live the best life that I can. I believe in making other people happy and in making myself happy.
If there is a God, I think that God would agree with this because I'm trying to be a good person whether or not I believe in the higher power. If there is a Heaven, I have the utmost conviction that I would be admitted if I lived my entire life without believing in it as long as I did all of the above.

I have a hard time believing that there would be a "loving" god that would send a genuinely good person to hell if they didn't believe.

[Sloaner92]

I guess we can't really ever know until we get there, can we?

[tonatiuh8]

I believe there is a Higher Power I'm just pretty clueless right now.

[Nicholas Fahrenheit]

Originally Posted by dmacfour

I have a hard time believing that there would be a "loving" god that would send a genuinely good person to hell if they didn't believe.

Man, my thoughts exactly. I believe in something, but I think the christian god, is a very flawed belief and is overinflated by faith. 'Faith' is one of the most destructive and deadly words in the english language, the very act of ignoring it, is a paradox. It allowes people to, without a solid evidence base to recruit followers and judge those who dont because they have no 'faith'

Traditional requirements of higher powers, locates the human god to an allignment of lawful evil. Using terrible evil in the name of good. This is a facade. Coming round to your initial statement, any god that would punish a genuinely decent person, whom he gave the intelligence to think for himself thus denying god, is flawed moreso than the man he/she is sending to hell.

[Chikito]

I am an agnostic.

If there is a god I hardly think the bible is true or any other surprisingly similar religious books. And I don't really believe its a simple thing of good and bad. People have been 'bad' since the beginning of time. The Roman's had slaves and watch gladiators fight to the death for entertainment but I hardly think all of them were 'bad'. Good and Bad are labels for naturally occurring things. You will always hate someone. Its just because of our current culture that murder, promiscuity, lying and what not are 'bad' in other cultures or in the past those things could equally be seen as normal and necessary.

If there is a god I hardly think we are the center of his attention. We are smaller than atoms when compared to the whole universe.

[Nick Krygier]

I believe in the divine. And I'm thankful for the grace I've received.

[daredevil15]

I Believe in god that is why there is an existence of higher power.

[rjmlvv]

I believe there is a higher awareness, something that connects us all.
I believe in an after life, it's a place where you come to, to rest, heal and set goals for your new life. And when you start your new life, your memory is erased.
I believe every one is here with a purpose, something he/she has to learn. And when you've learned it, you go back to the source.
I believe you don't always come back as a human being, also as an animal or a plant, even a mineral.
I believe in soulmates, people that you have a better and quicker connection with in all varieties of ways.
I believe you don't have to limit yourself to "the one" soulmate, there are a lot of people you can connect with.
I believe in guardian angels, guides and helpers. I also believe in demons, entities that live off our negative energy.

[Sloaner92]

Originally Posted by rjmlvv

I believe there is a higher awareness, something that connects us all.
I believe in an after life, it's a place where you come to, to rest, heal and set goals for your new life. And when you start your new life, your memory is erased.
I believe every one is here with a purpose, something he/she has to learn. And when you've learned it, you go back to the source.
I believe you don't always come back as a human being, also as an animal or a plant, even a mineral.
I believe in soulmates, people that you have a better and quicker connection with in all varieties of ways.
I believe you don't have to limit yourself to "the one" soulmate, there are a lot of people you can connect with.
I believe in guardian angels, guides and helpers. I also believe in demons, entities that live off our negative energy.

I like that a lot.

[rjmlvv]

All Things, material and spiritual, originate from one source and are related as if they were one family. The past, present, and future are all contained in the life force. The universe emerged and developed from one source, and we evolved though the optimal process of unification and harmonization
- Morihei Ueshiba O' Sensei

[chris toms]

The thing is though, we each have our own interpretation of what god is, therefore how can we ask one another if they beleive in a god.

[tonatiuh8]

Chris: That is why the question is Do you believe in a higher power?

[BenjaminChin]

That is the one thing that is always evident in my experience of life, that there is a Higher Power who is always present in all things in all times. What an individual chooses to call this Higher Power: God, Allah, Spirit of the Universe, Truth, Supreme Self, Divine Consciousness, Cosmic Vibration, solidified light, I feel is unique to each persons journey. I strive for spiritual growth and conscious contact with my Higher Power on a daily basis. What I believe takes place these days is that the each of our paths to our own Higher Powers is buried under the cultural conditioning and dogmatic thinking that permeates 99.98 % of our global culture. We don't exist only in the physical plane, there is also the spiritual plane or astral plane, I believe we can even transcend that those planes. Connections made to others through these planes open us to a whole new experience and ultimately bring us closer to whatever force brought us all into being. Peace to All

-Ben

[conda]

i believe we are almost like a computer program... we are all playing our part in the system... who knows if their is a g-d we will never be sure if there is a g-d why think about it, from someone who has seen both sides of the coin good and bad, just be a good person be able to live with yourself and make others around you want to stay around you live your life to the fullest. on the small chance their is a g-d or a higher being so be it if something did put us here it was not to worship him otherwise he would come down and ask for our praise, do you, worry about your future everything you see in front of you. A lot of the Bible and Religion was made to help people become better people and live in a world were chaos did not reign supreme. Religion is a crutch so people can believe that they will be rewarded for being a good person. If you just are a good person you will be rewarded in life, if there is an after life and a merciful g-d he won't care if u praised him or believed in him he will care that you better man kind and were a benefit to the system instead of a menace on it.... just be able to live with yourself, if your happy then you have succeeded more in life than most people...