Ever question your faith at times?

[fhansen]

Hi Chaz,

It is wonderful to see so many people being honest about their doubts. I remember having such doubts at your age. Now I look back and can’t understand how I was ever hoodwinked into thinking that it is somehow a virtue to try to believe or claim to believe things that I doubt to be true. Of course it’s a good thing to doubt. In any other area of our lives it would be an extreme liability to claim to know things that we don’t actually know. What I can’t understand is how anyone ever convinced me that I ought to make a special exception for religious beliefs. Well, yeah I do, they started at a very young age when I was very susceptible to arguments based on authority. But like you, since then I’ve learned about other religions, and recognized that we simply do not have the sort of evidence for the truth of any of the world’s religions that we would need to be convinced of far more mundane and far less extraordinary claims about history or science or anything else but religion. And I can see no reason why religion should get a free pass. Plus, even if I were going to believe one of the religions of the world, it would be hard to make a case that any one of them is based on more convincing evidence than any other.

Best,
Leela

We experience that God does the convincing, if we give Him the benefit of the doubt by seeking Him on our own at some point after we’re past the young age where we’re “susceptible to arguments based on authority.” You’re right about doubting being good, though. I’d have never come to believe if I’d never questioned my faith. It would’ve remained someone elses’ faith instead of mine.

 

[jpm1977]

Absolutely I do, and I am getting confirmed at Easter this year. I wrestle with a lot of doubt, but as a converted agnostic, the alternative is much worse. Nietzsche (I think) said that it takes the most courage to be an atheist. I think he phrased it, the courage to “stare into the abyss” or something like that.

If there is no God, there is only nihilism and hedonism to guide us. Atheists today like to dress up that horrifying reality with all sorts of wishy washy moral codes about doing the right thing (??) or seeking knowledge or social constructs to protect our right to unfettered choices, but it all has no underpinning if there is truly nothing but material. We are so insignificant that nothing we could do could possibly matter. The only reason not to murder, rape, steal, take drugs, or do anything else is the fear of prison, (social might of the majority), and the fear of death.

But, the fact that man can murder, rape, and steal, and know *somehow * that it is wrong, or against reason, came to me to be proof enough that there is a God and there is a right and wrong that is innate to our unique ability to reason, and know that there is a right and wrong.

That realization lead me quickly to Catholicism. If God is rational, I am fairly sure the Catholic faith is as close to God as humanity has gotten. The arguments against it are usually only resistance to any restriction on the ability to have sex without consequences, which is a desire to surrender reason to animal instinct.

Of course, if I had been born somewhere else would I be a Hindu or Buddhist or something and think and truly believe that Catholicism was just a relict of Greek rationalism and a cultural creation? Maybe so… And haven’t non-Christian civilizations gotten on fine for thousands of years without rampant crime or social disintegration? Yes. So back to square one… At least that’s how it is sometimes.

Other times, I feel very certain. I think that’s the nature of faith. Hopefully those who persevere in faith despite doubt will be rewarded most.

 

[tabsie3210]

I have doubts, which is odd because I know that there are ghosts in the world, and strange things happening, and there are miracles daily. It’s the way we live, it’s the way we are. Well, now, the issue is, what are we to do about those doubts?

We are to grow from them, and find our path. I honestly believe that God put doubts in my heart becasue they turned me away from something that now I belive is wrong.

Let me explain - I grew up a Catholic around a bunch of pagans. Wiccans, most of them. And I could see in them the same thing I felt, which is that there is a higher spirituality, a God, but their version seems somehow less than it used to.

Anyway, I believed that God was there and that being Catholic was the right way for me to love Him. And then I had a nervous breakdown, about the whole “there’s no life after death” theory. Odd, isn’t it? It’s not the feeling of, “My life will be wasted if there’s nothing else and I just cease to exist.” It’s not the feeling of, “My family and friends will be gone and I will never have them at all again in any way, they’re dust.” It’s, “What will it feel like to die and to stop existing?”

That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard of. If you’re going to be afraid of death, shouldn’t you be afraid of the nhilistic view of the pointlessness and absurdity of life? Shouldn’t you be weighing the horror of existance against the depression of non-being?

Nope, none of that for me. I’m scared to feel myself snuff out. That’s it. That’s what bothers me. I’m afraid of there not being a God for that one reason only.

In every other angle of life I see purpose, understanding, sin and redemption. I saw on the evening news one night several years ago about how a family had been in a car accident and the only survivor was the two-year-old. Her parents had died. The rest of the family honestly believed that the spirits of her parents stayed to guide the baby away from the accident and to safety, and I totally agreed with that.

I believe in life after death. I’ve seen ghostly things, I’ve felt strange things, I’ve heard my name called when there’s nobody around to call my name. Always I had the same feeling - that I’m being called because God wants to remind me that I’m loved and that He has His eye on me.

I understand evil and accept it as part of the Fall, and I know that we have to combat it. I know that feeling there are good and evil things is all the evidence that I need to see there’s a God, because there has to be some kind of yardstick to measure against.

I note that most of the world’s religions are monotheistic. Most Native Americans had basically monotheistic religions with some sub-deities who were controlled by a greater deity, what we could equate with our angels and God. Hindus are monotheistic - they believe that Bramah is the Eternal and Unknowable, and that the other gods are just representations of Bramah, so that we can fathom Him. The Egyptians were quasi-monotheistic, having one primary god and then branches off, mostly for the sake of king worship. They sort of evolved into polytheism. The Greeks and Romans both were a conglomeration of deities thrown together to keep the peace among the various peoples they took over. The Norse were polytheistic, and some Native Americans, and the Japanese and Chinese were both inclined to worship both nature and various gods, but they all felt that there was something worth worshiping.

So, you see, my fears are all totally irrational. I don’t want to disintigrate into nothing. I feel no fear or worry or excessive grief over the death of my human family (I admit to still worrying and being sad about my animals at times, though), because I have no real fear of what’s happened to them.

Mostly I’m afraid that there’s no God for the sake of there not being a God - how can the world be good if there’s nobody to share it with? We need God just because we need His perpetual love to keep us going. And we need to love Him. It’s what powers us. So I do have doubts but they’re mostly fear-driven.

And I’m afraid of my own extinction, which again, is fear-driven.

And the thing is, it wasn’t until I was plagued by these doubts and fears that I realized nothing in other religions held any kind of answer for me, especially not Wicca. Then I started reading more about Christianity, and there I was, back at the Church. So, eh. I live with my fears, because they’re what I need to keep me growing. But I don’t let them rule me.

 

[joanmo42]

Never!
My faith is the greatest gift God has given me, second only to life itself.

 

[Methodi]

Do you ever question your faith? I know I do every so often. Like tonight I was just wondering stuff like what if nothing happens after we die? What if our conscience and mental thinking die when our brain dies. What if all these athiests and scientists that are around are right.

What if what we see in this world and reality is all there is. What if religion really is man made despite the good things that come from it at times. What if it serves to merely comfort us. What if the Jesus we know was just a man and scriptures were altered ages ago or something.

These are questions I’ve been asking since I was young and sometimes revisit. Through growing up I’ve grown a lot in the Catholic faith and I just feel in my heart with love and feeling that there must be a God and Jesus was really divine.

Sometimes I just revisit those questions and ponder them. If you think about it, there really is no reason to believe for certain that any of this is true. I guess that is what faith really is. There is no visual proof for anything. I hear of people close around me and on television dying everyday and wonder where they go. If anyone could possibly come back and tell us what happens.

Nothing has ever been verified. I see the world everyday as just a bunch of matter some things wonderfully beautiful and some things utterly disgusting. I see the world full of good and evil at the same time although lately more evil going on than good although that may be the effect of the media.

I know nothing needs be proven or verified in our faith for that is what faith really is but do you ever ponder the same questions? I have yet to actually one on one talk to God even though I speak to him everyday and pray. How do I know I’m not just talking to myself?

I guess for those of you who have experienced miracles first hand or have seen a divine apparition or had some sort of divine experience its easier than others to believe but I have yet to have any of that even though I’m only 20 years old.

These are valid questions and I’m not doubting anything but I often run through those questions time to time I guess.

Can anyone relate? What do you think?

I truthfully think that what U posted is true, I have doubts at times also, I also think that is why so many Catholics straddle the fence, they want the best of both, they dont want to take the chance & miss anything, in case all of what U mentioned is not true. When I do get doubts against faith, I quickly try to put them out of my mind

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

Do you ever question your faith? I know I do every so often. Like tonight I was just wondering stuff like what if nothing happens after we die? What if our conscience and mental thinking die when our brain dies. What if all these athiests and scientists that are around are right.

What if what we see in this world and reality is all there is. What if religion really is man made despite the good things that come from it at times. What if it serves to merely comfort us. What if the Jesus we know was just a man and scriptures were altered ages ago or something.

These are questions I’ve been asking since I was young and sometimes revisit. Through growing up I’ve grown a lot in the Catholic faith and I just feel in my heart with love and feeling that there must be a God and Jesus was really divine.

Sometimes I just revisit those questions and ponder them. If you think about it, there really is no reason to believe for certain that any of this is true. I guess that is what faith really is. There is no visual proof for anything. I hear of people close around me and on television dying everyday and wonder where they go. If anyone could possibly come back and tell us what happens.

Nothing has ever been verified. I see the world everyday as just a bunch of matter some things wonderfully beautiful and some things utterly disgusting. I see the world full of good and evil at the same time although lately more evil going on than good although that may be the effect of the media.

I know nothing needs be proven or verified in our faith for that is what faith really is but do you ever ponder the same questions? I have yet to actually one on one talk to God even though I speak to him everyday and pray. How do I know I’m not just talking to myself?

I guess for those of you who have experienced miracles first hand or have seen a divine apparition or had some sort of divine experience its easier than others to believe but I have yet to have any of that even though I’m only 20 years old.

These are valid questions and I’m not doubting anything but I often run through those questions time to time I guess.

Can anyone relate? What do you think?

All the time LOL. Religion is fine for those who need it - but not everyone does. That is surely to be expected, because people are different. ​

If Christianity is Divinely revealed - why is there such uncertainty about it ? That does not make sense

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

Constantly. The Christian view of the world is extremely implausible.

But then, I start thinking about the ramifications of a godless universe, and that’s even worse.

Why ? ​

 

[Leela]

I have doubts, which is odd because I know that there are ghosts in the world, and strange things happening, and there are miracles daily.

This is interesting. What is the Catholic view of ghosts? Do Catholics believe that the dead haunt the living?
tabsie3210;4958112:

… I’m scared to feel myself snuff out. That’s it. That’s what bothers me. I’m afraid of there not being a God for that one reason only.

Of course, how we may feel about the the claim that God exists has nothing to do with whether or not it is true, so the doubt remains.

Best,
Leela

 

[judechild]

I have a complex thought on this. I was born an atheist, but thanks in large part to my grandmother, God gave me the gift of faith at age 6. That experience was very commonplace; there were no fireworks or anything, but I definately felt a “movement” in my heart that didn’t come from me. If the experience had been something more fantastic, I probably would have ended up doubting; I could have written it off as youthful imagination. Anyway, at that point I made a promise to God - my first prayer - “God, I’m gonna think about you everyday.” It’s a promise I’ve kept. Years later my thinking about God led me to Christianity, but when I got there I was afraid to question, thinking it would offend God. Then I realized I’m not nearly smart enough to completely figuare Him out (uh, duh?), so He led me to the Catholic Church. Now I have no fear of questioning, because I know the Church does not teach error (if anyone reading this doubts that, pray about it if you want to, and look in to some of the forums on that). I have an image in my head that the teachings of the Church are like the guardrail that runs along the outside edge of a mountain; it’s there to protect and guide a person’s free will and thoughts so he doesn’t do something dangerous. Both guardraisl are not oppessive, their intention is entirely friendly. But though I question, and often have difficulties:** I do not doubt**. I don’t think I’ve doubted since that first prayer I made as a little boy.

I would never be where I am today if not for God’s gift of faith to me; sometimes, in the heat of difficulties, the only prayer I can say is “Thank you, God, for faith! Thank you, God, for faith!” **Don’t **worry about honest questions, but **do **try to avoid doubt! God bless us all.

 

[rotlex]

Although I posted earlier in this thread as well, I wanted to write again and state that it is very interesting, and in some ways reassuring, to see that others really DO face the same issues I do from time to time.

I hate the fact that I struggle with my faith. At times, on a daily basis. I’ve told my “story” before, but for a good portion of my 40+ years, I had almost no connection with the Church, or God, other than the occasional wedding, funeral etc. etc. Going back a ways, I had a sort of calling, more like a pull, to return to my faith. So much so that I enrolled in my diocese 3 year lay ministry courses in order to become more involved. I am involved, and want to be so even more. I have felt God pulling me back, helping me, and conosling me in times of need. Yet STILL, I have times when I doubt. It drives me to the point of insanity at certain times.

I wonder how I can have so much belief, and then read something that gets me thinking in a negative way, and begin to almost immediately question the very existance of God. An example might be reading about all the other religions in the world. Why so many? Why do they know, as we supposedly do, that theirs IS the one true religion, worshipping the one true God? I think to myself, am I really a product of my parents beliefs? If they were atheist, or budhist, or hindu, whatever, is that what I would be? I always answer the same, that yes, that is most likely the case, leading me to believe that all religion really is simply man made, and made to control man, as well as explain away natural phenomenon.

It doesn’t help that most of what we believe today, was written by people who still thought the world was flat, and had no means of explaining anything, so there HAD to be a higher power.

Even with all that said however, I still return to the Catholic Church. I still return to praying, and asking God for guidance, forgivness, and faith. It can be very, very confusing, as well as frustrating at times.

 

[tabsie3210]

Leela,

Well, we usually use the term “spirits” but we belive in ghosts. They’re the souls of the departed who don’t have their bodies back yet. That’s all. Hauntings would either be by demons or evil people in hell, for the most part. Other ghosts, benevolent ones, would probably be people in Purgatory, who are being cleansed but who may need to work off their sins before gaining access to heaven. Occasionally we see ghosts who are heavenly, the saints, and they do make appearances mostly when someone is desperately in need of divine intervention. Like the voices that St. Joan of Arc heard. God wanted to use a young, inexperienced and very feminine woman to battle against old, experienced, masculine men. God often uses the weak and the foolish to one-up the “wise” and the “strong.” To show that all people are equal in His eyes, and to teach the proud humility.

Like, the appearace of the Virign of Guadelupe to St. Juan Pedro in Mexico. The Indians were oppressed by the Spanish. The Bishop wasn’t doing his part ot ensure that the Indians were getting fair treatment. A humble Indian man is approached by Jesus’ mother, not as a blond woman with fair skin dressed in the typical garb shown in European panintings, but as an Aztec woman, dressed in the Aztec royal colors, to show her status as the Queen of Heaven. But, her skin is dark, and her hair, and her features are mongolide, like the Indians of Mexico. She tells Juan Pedro she wants the Bishop to build a church and dedicate it to her. And the Bishop has to comply, to humble himself and admit that a mircale happened to a simple Indian peasant, that the Bishop isn’t top dog anymore and that he has to do his job securing justice for the native people.

Yes, we believe in ghosts, and they are what we need them to be, by the grace of God. But we don’t treat them the same way that you see in movies like Polterghist or however it’s spelled. They are people, part of the living community of Christians, no different than the rest of us except that they haven’t got bodies and we do. Life and death aren’t sides of a coin, but are one, that flow into and out of each other.

See, things like that make me certain there’s a God, because of the perfection of the way things work in just that one instance. So my doubts are generally induced by miss-fires of the brain, so to speak.

Oh, about your second comment: if I understand you correctly, you’re suggesting that there is no real need for God to exist for life after death to exist. There’s an entire society of atheists who think that it’s ridiculous to belive there’s no life after death. They believe in it for scientific reasons, and they think that anhilationists are wishful dreamers. So you’re very right, it’s not necessary for God to exist for there to be life after death.

My thing is, without God there might be life after death, but with God we know there is. Anyway, life after death wouldn’t matter much without God to make things make sense. Just my humble opinion.

 

[FightingFat]

Even with all that said however, I still return to the Catholic Church. I still return to praying, and asking God for guidance, forgivness, and faith. It can be very, very confusing, as well as frustrating at times.

Even in my darkest days, when I questioned the most, when I was angry and bitter and turned away from God, I could feel his eyes on me, his love enfolding me. It’s like He gently took my head in His hands, hands scarred by nails, and firmly turned my face to His…And smiled me into smiling…Loved me into loving.

 

[MindOverMatter]

I have doubts, which is odd because I know that there are ghosts in the world, and strange things happening, and there are miracles daily.

I get this too. I call it irrational doubt syndrome. Its similar to suffering from paranoid delusions (no disrespect intended).You can have all the evidence in the world, but you will still doubt. In actual fact, it stems from an extreme fear of losing that which fulfills your existence. I think that allot of atheism is caused by people having negative views about their own existence. Its easy to believe that our lives are rubbish, but the idea that there is a purpose, meaning and value to our lives which could actually end in something called heaven, is so positive that it is difficult for some people to accept. They are so negative that they don’t realize the amazingness of existence in itself. Its far too amazing; and so they stop looking at the stars and their life becomes mere routine. They just become the chance offspring of apes, instead of the chosen children of a amazing and wonderful existence. Its sad. Because of their negative view of themselves they resign themselves to a pointless existence; but if your prepared to believe this, then whats point of living? Read my signature below.

 

[Alkrod]

At one time I questioned my faith. When I was younger I attended Catholic grade schools and I was shocked when I went to university and discovered that there those who were faithless! I am upset to hear atheists make fun of religious people and to hear their arguments as to why there is no God. I hate to admit it but for a time I even believed them (God forgive me). I was depressed and felt as though I was rejecting my very essence, like a blood transfusion gone wrong…

So what happened? Why did I return to God? Because it is obvious that my life, a roller-coaster of hardships, is going somewhere. Where? Don’t know yet. I just know that God is inside of me, guiding me down the right direction. I feel such light when I pray and think of God that it is creepy… And sometimes I’ll ask God to help me and he always provides me with a solution…God hasn’t failed me and I swear I’ll never fail to serve him.

It is important to question your beliefs for it only strengthens your resolve. I pray you are able to renew your faith in God and that you don’t let your confusion cause you to become depressed, like I did. God Bless you!

 

[multitude]

I’ve questioned my faith more times than I can count. I’m doubting even now. Mainly from my own experiences. Even more so since I have graduated from uni and still have not found a permanent job, most of the time it feels so hopeless, sending application after application. And even then I question why I even want to make it in the corporate world, I don’t really want anything to do with secular society and their broken values.

But there we go. That’s probably for another topic. But of course, I’ve often doubted God is ever there for me. It actually amazes me why I still continue to try to pray, go to Sunday Mass and pay attention at the priest’s homily and bother to genuflect, even when I don’t feel like it and/or not entirely convinced.

 

[geometer]

I know nothing needs be proven or verified in our faith for that is what faith really is but do you ever ponder the same questions? I have yet to actually one on one talk to God even though I speak to him everyday and pray. How do I know I’m not just talking to myself?

I guess for those of you who have experienced miracles first hand or have seen a divine apparition or had some sort of divine experience its easier than others to believe but I have yet to have any of that even though I’m only 20 years old.

These are valid questions and I’m not doubting anything but I often run through those questions time to time I guess.

Can anyone relate? What do you think?

If you really have faith that God exists, you really should ask him to help you, and he will…

My younger brother and one of my cousins were very good friends, and they came to me, when they were teenagers, saying that they had no reason to believe in anything that is spiritual. They said that they did believe in science.

I told them that we know reality through experience, and spiritual things are no different, we know spiritual things through spiritual experience. So, I told them that they simply needed to do spiritual experiments to prove spiritual things.

They accepted my advice, but unfortuately they made a death pact to prove that the soul survives death. A few years later my cousin died, and a few months after his death was able to communicate a dream to someone who did not know anyone in my family. When this person met my brother he told him the contents of his dream. My brother and cousin had designed all of the events of the dream when they made the death pact.

But here is the rub, most people are very much like Darren, the husband of Samantha in the Bewitched TV series. My brother is no exception. Even though the dream was very elaborate and filled with unique details that no one else could possibly have known. My brother could not believe that my cousin had communicated the dream from beyond his death. He simply said that the events of the dream were not in the correct order, even though the man had described all of them…

My brother and my cousin were not very practical in their choice of a spiritual experiment. Be very practical, ask God to help you do something directly. It takes greater faith, but it is well worth the effort.

In His yeshua,

Vincent

 

[anabelleraine]

I think it is perfectly natural to have doubts. If fact I think that is Gods way of making you turn to him in times of crisis and need. I am a mother of two and love my children like no other. There are times when they want something so bad that I can see the anguish in there eyes, but as their mother I am the one that knows best. They don’t understand that they can’t have cake for every meal and out of love for their health and them it is my job as a parent to guide them. Just like God is our Father to us. We plead and beg and have anguish in our eyes for things too. We just don’t understand why on so many things in this life. There is a story about a dog and his master. The dog was injured and had to have a cone put around his neck so he wouldn’t scratch at his wound on his back. He wanted to scratch it so bad. He would look up at his master with eyes of anguish as if to plead and say “please take this burdensome cone off my neck so I can scratch my wound”. The master sees the pain and tells the dog “I know you don’t understand, but you must trust me that I know what is best for you”. “If I take the cone off you will not heal”.
I was also attending a bible study at our Catholic church. It was wonderful but we had to move out of state soon after we started the class. I was disappointed because I learned so much about God in just the first few books of the old testament. The same things happened back then as they do now. The Isrealites doubted God on so many levels. He told Moses to lead them out to the desert. They didn’t understand/trust what God had in mind for them. They were slaves to Pharoh. They worked their fingers to the bone with Pharoh with no compensation, yet they prayed to many gods and still no relief. They left a life they knew and went to the desert where they had to eat manna and that is it. They wanted to kill Moses for taking them out of their comfort zone and into this unknown wilderness. The thing is, they were free but depended too much on Pharoh and wanted a life that made sense to them, even if they had to go back to slavery. It took 11 plagues on Pharoh to let the Isrealites go. Moses told Pharoh exactly what was going to happen with the plagues and they happened exactly as Moses said but Pharoh just didn’t get it. Gods plan is miraculously laid out in the bible. It is amazing that if you read it(with the help of a study guide) it will help you understand how God works and that people, even thousands and thousands of years ago went through the same problem.
Once I was settled in our new town, I kept reaching out for God and felt a yearning for Him. I felt like I knew Him when I was studying His Word. I wanted to attend that same bible study but the local churches were not offering it at that time and to go buy it myself was $500 for the dvd set. I had come into a little bit of money and promised God that I would take that money to buy the dvd set. I ended up spending it all and none was left for the bible study. It was Christmas day and I was at Mass. I had spent my money on frivolous things and apologized to God that I has spent all my money. I thought to myself the only way I could afford it now is if it falls out of the sky or miraculously appears. I got home from church an my husband had not checked them mail in several days. He laid the mail on the counter and I started to go through it. In that stack of mail was a check for an overpayment of some insurance i had. It was in the amount of $500! Needless to say I went and bought the bible study. It is the Great Adventure by Jeff Cavins. Just reading the bible will help you understand that there is a God and there is meaning behind it. You are not alone.

 

[Leela]

I think it is perfectly natural to have doubts. If fact I think that is Gods way of making you turn to him in times of crisis and need…

Does anyone else see a problem when doubting certain beliefs are viewed as confirmation of those beliefs?

 

[anabelleraine]

If you are at rock bottom and yearning for answers to life’s mysteries your mind will make up many possible explanations. Reading the bible helps explain much and why God allows thing to happen so as to turn to him. But, if you are one that doesn’t believe in God, then no need to read because nothing should matter anyways. Just live for yourself and die. No consequences should be paid because you won’t experience anything when you die. You will have no knowledge of your consciousness when you are dead so why do good here on earth?

If God doesn’t exist, it doesn’t matter if you’re good or bad, if you help in emergency efforts or are one of those people who fly planes into buildings. It doesn’t matter, if there is no God, whether you donate selflessly to a Pro-Life organization or if you are an abortionist. It just doesn’t matter. If this is all there is to life, if no one ever has to give an account of what he’s done, if there is no one who rewards and punishes, what’s it all matter? Why not just look out for yourself, maximize the pleasures and minimize the pains of life? Why not have fun and let everyone else suffer? Who cares if someone is being treated unjustly, as long as you’re feeling great? I mean, if there is no God and I simply cease to exist after death, whether I’ve been a Mother Theresa or a Howard Stern, a St. Nicholas or a Mao Tse-Dong, why not be totally selfish and leave everything and everyone else behind?

The main thing, then, is that when an atheist recognizes, as most do, that there is a real right and wrong out there, that some things really ought to be done and others avoided, this should lead him to conclude that there is a God, that God exists. There is no rational way out of this conclusion. I again challenge anyone who disagrees to prove the opposite to me. Our very own conscience, the law that God has written on our hearts, so to speak, points towards the existence of God. (Mario Derksen)

 

[Leela]

If God doesn’t exist, it doesn’t matter if you’re good or bad, if you help in emergency efforts or are one of those people who fly planes into buildings.

But only people who believe in God fly planes into buildings, right?

It doesn’t matter, if there is no God, whether you donate selflessly to a Pro-Life organization or if you are an abortionist. It just doesn’t matter. If this is all there is to life, if no one ever has to give an account of what he’s done, if there is no one who rewards and punishes, what’s it all matter?

I can’t see how it gives your life meaning to think that all that the whole point of life is reward or punishment after death. It sounds to me like you’ve taken the beauty, wonder, and complexity of life and boiled it all down to God’s great multiple choice test to see if we pick the one true religion. I’d rather try to create the best life I can than to spend my time worrying about what may or may not happen when I die. Good luck with your death, but I’d rather see you try to life a good life.

Best,
Leela