How many people here believe in God, Heaven and angels, Hell and Satan and his demons

[jeremywilhelm]

God = Sutter
Heaven = Calgary
Angels = Iggy and Pals

Hell = Edmonton
Satan = Kevin Lowe
Demons = Hemsky and the ######s

?

[mykalberta]

Then the answer is NO, I dont believe in God, Heaven and angels, Hell and Satan and his demons

I believe in God - but dont believe in Angles or Demons - they dont exist.

I assumed you wanted a truthful answer to the question you were really wanting to ask, my mistake.

[peter12]

I'll answer, I suppose. I don't "believe" in any of the above as they are literally represented by religion. Metaphysically, I suppose anything can exist, but I am more inclined to read the Bible as myth, literature, or historical propaganda.

I'm either an atheist or a conditional theist/deist, depending on which grounds the argument takes place.

I can also personally attribute to the claim that religion has the capacity to be the greatest force for social morality.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Then the answer is NO, I dont believe in God, Heaven and angels, Hell and Satan and his demons

I believe in God - but dont believe in Angles or Demons - they dont exist.

I assumed you wanted a truthful answer to the question you were really wanting to ask, my mistake.

Can I assume, since you didn't say so, that you do believe in Heaven and Hell? ... and I'm not talking about Calgary and Edmonton...

[MelBridgeman]

Originally Posted by Traditional_Ale

Okay, okay, I'll play serious here for a second.

I think Religion is the most obsolete and terrible form of social programming/control. I hope that one day humanity is free of its petty BS and the endless death, carnage, hate, and bigotry it has plagued us with for thousands of years.

God is only words.

Once religion is completely obsolete, HUMANS will find another form of social programming/control,endless death, carnage, hate, and bigotry that will plague us for thousands of years to come.

[alltherage]

I'm totally unsure. I guess because I've been raised Catholic by generations of my family, I feel a strong bond with certain doctrines of the Church. Mind you, there are some teachings that to me are flawed because they don't allow for individuality, modern science, etc etc to be factored in.

[peter12]

Besides can anyone really answer what religion is anyway?

[Ford Prefect]

Originally Posted by Traditional_Ale

Okay, okay, I'll play serious here for a second.

I think Religion is the most obsolete and terrible form of social programming/control. I hope that one day humanity is free of its petty BS and the endless death, carnage, hate, and bigotry it has plagued us with for thousands of years.

God is only words.

I think the question here is about a lot more than just religion. In fact, I don't think religion has anything to do with it. Religion is merely a a narrow, artificial, manmade construction that really has very little to do with spirituality for a lot of people. In practice, religion is fundamentally a tool for advancing man's political and material agendas as far as I can tell.

I think what Rerun wants to know is whether people hold some sort of spiritual belief system, likely of a conventional monotheist form.

Personally, my level of belief depends on how much I've been drinking. I drink religiously you see.

[Ford Prefect]

Originally Posted by jeremywilhelm

God = Sutter
Heaven = Calgary
Angels = Iggy and Pals

Hell = Edmonton
Satan = Kevin Lowe
Demons = Hemsky and the ######s

?

I know you're being facetious, but that's pretty much the same as the foundation for most religions ... Us vs The Anti-Us. God, demons and angels are mostly just a construction to elevate us and them to Us and Them.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Then the answer is NO, I dont believe in God, Heaven and angels, Hell and Satan and his demons

I believe in God - but dont believe in Angles or Demons - they dont exist.

I assumed you wanted a truthful answer to the question you were really wanting to ask, my mistake.

That's interesting. I'm an agnostic atheist (don't believe in God, but know that I can't prove he doesn't exist), but I'm always surprised how many people have bought into the whole angels/demons/satan/heaven/hell structure, which seems to me to owe more to the writings of Dante and Milton than any actual prophet. I have respect for people who make that distinction and separate the original biblical writings from all the mythology that has been added on after. Although I'm sort of putting words in your mouth here; what makes you believe in God but not the other elements?

[Phaneuf3]

Personally, I believe that Heaven and Hell put on an awesome show last time they were in town. Then again, I'm a huge Geezer Butler fan so...




I also believe that Angels and Demons was a terrible movie.

[edn88]

Hard to believe in mythological creatures, and by default big "G" god seems to be flawed as well.

Spiritually, I think that there has to be an explanation for consiousness - its all fine and good to have biological and chemical reactions, but that does not explain 'existance'.

I totally understand why organized religion evolved, why it as a social tool was effective, and why a lack of some sort of religion for the 'masses' would be anarchy. That being said, extremism in religious doctrine has led to more death, misery etc.

In some ways, it is not surprising to see a religion like scientology arise to help ease the social consience of the fabulously rich and famous.

But then again, I could just feel this way because the Devil has twisted my soul and is keeping me from seeing the glory of big "G"

[Itse]

I believe that God exists in the same sence than say, capitalism or feminism.

So that would be yes and no.

[photon]

Ok added a shot at a poll, check all that apply.

I don't believe there is an all-mighty being that decides the future of everything.

I think that the universe is too random/chaotic to have one entity sitting at a huge control panel flipping some of the switches that he/she does. Why would a god let there be crimes, natural disasters and hate in general. It just doesn't make sense to me.

[alltherage]

Originally Posted by Puxlut

I don't believe there is an all-mighty being that decides the future of everything.

I think that the universe is too random/chaotic to have one entity sitting at a huge control panel flipping some of the switches that he/she does. Why would a god let there be crimes, natural disasters and hate in general. It just doesn't make sense to me.

Think about it like this:

One person makes a really cool waterfall in sand toward the ocean, Turns, bumps, moats, lakes, etc etc etc. When he allows the water to flow, it follows his exact path to the water. Every time he pours it, it goes the same way.

Another person just pours the water and lets it make it's own unique path to the water. After each time, he "resets" the sand, and pours again, waiting to see which way it goes.

God doesn't want a bunch of worshipping drones. He wants us to find our own way to the water. Some take longer, some may never get there. Some go straight, others make big turns and pool in certain areas. It's freedom of choice, and its what makes us unique and in God's image.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by photon

Ok added a shot at a poll, check all that apply.

Holy Mother of ....


What a complicated poll!

[photon]

If you're going to do so something, you might as well make it so hard to do that no one will want to do it is what I always say.

[LChoy]

^It's working

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by photon

If you're going to do so something, you might as well make it so hard to do that no one will want to do it is what I always say.

Kind of like taxes