Do you believe in (a) god(dess)?

[Xithras]

Try not to get this one locked, and no flames please. The locked thread got me wondering what people here actually believe. Where do you fall in the great pantheon of human dieties? Are you certain of your beliefs, or still exploring? When you look at the stars at night, do you see a wonderous display of the physics and science that defines our universe, or do you marvel in awe at the inspirational work of a divine creator?

[Maat]

1. I picked 'we create our own God."

My option really isn't there.

I'm a Religious Scientist ( www.rsintl.org ).

We believe that Spirit is both within and without. Spirit is available to all through mediation/prayer. We are each equally divine, and equally a "piece of God." Spirit is impartial, and encourages each one of us to forge our own path. In my faith, we believe in all paths. So, a Religious Scientist is no more a valid person to me than an atheist, or a progressive Christian.

My God is no huge, deep-voiced external punishing being that I must beg for forgiveness.

My goals are what are relevant, as are yours.

I also go to a Unitarian-Universalist church.

I need to get the message across that there are many, many valid paths.

Generally, we don't believe in a Devil; George W. Bush tempts me to believe in a devil, as does Dick Cheney.

[Xithras]

12. I thought the fourth option covered that.

Sorry, I did my best to include as many options as possible. I thought the fourth option covered a belief in a universal spirit.

[Maat]

15. Got you.

Each one of us gets to name 'God' in our faith; my personal favorite is 'Spirit,' signifying the unity of the 'female' and 'male.'

[Taverner]

2. How about "I beleive in a God"

And that God can manefest in many forms, including trinities, multiple gods as well as forces and spirits....

[Maat]

4. I agree Taverner.

Spirit can manifest itself in any number of ways. Ultimately, there is a connectedness.

[donheld]

3. Say what?

I can't believe in God and that Bush is the devil :shrug:

[Maat]

5. If there is a devil ..

to me, it is a toss-up between Dubya and Cheney; they have no empathy whatsoever for the suffering or struggle of others.

[caty]

6. I believe

that god is a force of goodness that we project every time we say, think, or do a good thing. Evil is a force that we project every time we say, think, or do something that is hateful or mean spirited.

[DuaneBidoux]

7. No category for agnostics? i.e., I don't have a clue.

[Xithras]

14. Fixed.

Since we apparently don't have any alcoholic atheists here at DU, I removed that option and replaced it with an agnostic option.

[Guaranteed]

8. Well, it kind of depends on what you mean by "interacts"...

I don't think that God does anything special with the world as it already exists. But I think that everything that happens is a product of God and/or human will. We have to live by the physical rules set by God.

I also believe in heaven- actually, I believe that everyone goes to heaven. Kind of an odd view, I realize, but it's a consequence of my belief in justice.

[Shell Beau]

9. I believe in one God. And I do marvel in awe at my divine

creator.

[In_The_Wind]

10. souls and spirits

I don't worship deities.

[Chovexani]

11. I believe in many gods

I guess you could call me a polypananimist. My beliefs about divinity are pretty much a blending of the three.

[Spider Jerusalem]

13. I believe that what people call "god" = the universe...

and the natural laws and forces that shape and govern it. "God" is mathematics and physics; gravity, inertia, the Big Bang and evolution, the whole great bloody mess...a clock with no maker, a force with no direction. I don't believe in bloodthirsty, invisible sky-men dreamed up by Israelites hallucinating in the desert for lack of water 3500 years ago, nor in incarnate manifestations of aspects of the physical world. I suppose you could call it "materialistic pantheism", or "enlightened atheism", or something like that.

[jobycom]

20. Pretty close to me. I believe that gods are useful metaphors

That point out how to behave, how to live in the world, etc. But the metaphors are just tools. Like the hindu analogy, that gods are like ladders that we use to get us to a place, then no longer need.

I believe there is no literal being or entity, only the reality of the universe, but that universe and all its laws are so complicated and overwhelming that metaphors (gods) are a good way to get a grasp on it, for some people. Jesus was a good metaphor for why we should love our enemies and exist to help others. The Hebrew God was a good metaphor for the cohesive identity and rigid law code that this nomadic people needed to survive. The multitude of gods in Hinduism and modern pagan variations are metaphors for nature, for abstractions, for behavioral guides, etc.

"Metaphor" doesn't mean, necessarily, that these "gods" don't exist. It really means that the whole question of "existence" or "Being" is both irrelevant, and meaningless, since our concept of existence is too limited to grasp this type of existence, anyway.

If any of that makes sense. When asked, I say I'm an atheist, since most people are really asking if I believe in some being, and I don't.

[Spider Jerusalem]

26. That's all any organised system of religious belief is, really...

a blueprint for how to exist with other humans as a society, once stripped of the supernatural aspect. And the "fear of god" was a good way to get people to follow the rules (including some that were for their own good)...for instance,it made good sense not to eat pork or shellfish in a desert community with primitive hygiene and no understanding of what caused disease; it'd probably kill you or cause a nasty epidemic. I agree that religion has been, for much of human history, the lens through which the average person understood and made sense of the world; now, though, we're looking through microscopes and telescopes, rather than bubbled, cracked, and filth-rimed panes of glass...but the old way of seeing things still works for a lot of people.

[jobycom]

28. Yeah, we're in the same place.

The only thing I would add is that science to most people is simply a new religion. Instead of the Bible and preachers, most people listen to scientists and read textbooks with no real understanding of it. By the same token, a lot of religious leaders at the highest levels see gods as metaphors, but know that's just too complicated to explain to people.

I'm not claiming science is wrong, mind you. It's a good way to understand the observable world, and of course it leads to really cool technology. But when it comes to things like carbon dating, and theories of the distant universe, there's a lot more faith than we like to admit. The faith is tested through logic and observation, but some things aren't observable, and are only measured by their effects on other things, or by an assumption that the rules in place now have always existed. I mean, at the heart of it, there's no way to really be sure that some practical joker Matrix god didn't create the universe 100 years ago, complete with artifacts, history books, and fossils. We just have faith that they didn't, because it works so well with out understanding of life, the universe and everything.

Sorry. As the Human League once sang, I'm only Humean.

[lapfog_1]

16. I believe there is a "god"

and that we are here to entertain and amuse it.

Founding member of the "Laugh along with God(tm) Church of the Revisionist Latter Day Science Based Holistic Theology"

[Maat]

18. What is your sacred beverage, beer or wine? (n/t)

[Maat]

17. The results here are similar to past DU polls.

What I always find fascinating is how diverse DUers are.

It's a good thing.

[Xithras]

23. I missed those polls.

I didn't know what the breakdown was and am genuinely curious. It is an interesting and diverse mix :)

[Maat]

27. Yep. Your results are entirely consistent.

To diversity!

[catbert836]

19. Other, really

I'm a pantheist, which means I think all life makes up god, similar to the way individual cells make up a body. I have no clue if we go on after this life or not. I think it's wrong to think about the life after this one, too, because we should be making the best of this one.

[everythingsxen]

21. Other -

At it's my most basic level, my belief is that God is essentially something like The Force of Star Wars. God is eveywhere, God is everything, God is everyone. Furthermore, I also think that God does have a sort of over conciousness which keeps track of what we do. I think if you are a good and honorable person God notes it and I am not sure what God does with the note --- God may lose the note for a few centuries or so --- anyway, I also believe in reincarnation and that eventually, if your good deeds have brought you nothing but pain and misery, God will remember the note and let you have a good life.

[no name no slogan]

22. God is Love

...which is the greatest power in the universe

God Is Love
Love Is Blind
Ray Charles Is Blind, therefore

God Is Ray Charles

[Crazy Guggenheim]

24. Agnostic! And proud of it!

[Left_Winger]

25. When I look at the stars at night

I see no right or wrong, just beauty.

[Dukkha]

29. don't belive in fairy tales

that is all

[two gun sid]

30. Total atheist.