God

[Oni]

This is a topic that i like to hear from others about and discuss.


How do you view god?
Who is god?
What is god to you?
Who is your god?

[London_Fox]

How do you view god?  Multiple/Committee  We are all so different and diverse and our entire planet holds a wealth known higher powers than just us human kind. 

Who is god?  People whom are far wiser than we and time just isn't a cruel mathematical nightmare.

What is god to you?  Family and best mates.  Ever wonder how someone close to you just knows when something good or bad happens and yet they aren't with you but still know.

Who is your god?  Inari   

[Kritter]

How do you view god? I view god as a parent both loving and vengeful. A parent who will award for the good and dicipline for the bad. A parent who sometimes does nothing but watches and hopes his children learn from the mistake ourselves.

Who is god? Neither male nor female.

What is god to you? An entity and not as a person/being.

Who is your god? You know that is a good question. I thought I knew who my god was, but the image I had before is no longer exist. However, if I have to say something on the matter then it will be a similar god to the Christian beliefs.

[Oni]

Come one guys I know others think about god or Gods I want to hear from all of ya

[Oni]

God,
     Could God be Man? As in could man have created God to allow them to stive to become something better then they already are?

[Kritter]

That is a very good topic --> "Did men created God?"

I witness a debate of this topic once before and both sides had very good and strong points. Sadly, I could not recollect the whole debate .

In a way I do believe that men created and gave "God" the power to be who he is today. To me, it seems only in ill times or in dier need are when men goes to "God". Reason being is because men needs some sort of HOPE to keep confronting his/her ordeals. With out it, the emotion and will power of the person would be lost.

[Rachael]

How do you view God?  I view God as an all-knowing Being who loves His creation unconditionally.  He's more like a parent.
Who is God?  God is God.  There's nothing else quite like Him.  He is the one who created the universe.
What is God to you?  God is everything to me.  If He told me to stop doing something, even playing Valkyrie Profile, I'd stop it.
Who is your God?  My God is God.  I believe that most, if not all of us, believe in the same God; He just goes by different names.

[Eternimus]

How do I view God? The creator of all things, maybe the muse of a poet, the inspiration of an inventor, but first and foremost, all knowing.
Who is God? A supreme being. Takes on many names in many religions.
What is God to me? I don't look at gods or goddesses in the submissive way many religions do. I believe they deserve respect, in any religion. And they deserve to be looked at in the eye or not at all. A god should not be a ruler of all things that we fear. A god should be a thing we derive hope and inspiration from, something we strive to become more like. Not something one should cower before.
Who is my god? I admire many. But if I had to pick just one... probably Odinn, Thorr or Heimdallr.

[Oni]

I suppose I should comment on this. I created this board. LOL, and I am glad that so many people have posted, and hope that it keeps happening.
How do you view God? I view God as a some one who should not be feared but respected. Some one who you look up to. Much like in the last post. A guide at times, but not some one who will tell you what to do. One who gives advice when needed. A teacher. A balance of chaos and order. Both good and evil, knowing when to act in an evil manor, and when to act in a good manor. Though I don’t call God... God. I have no name for God. God is nameless and timeless. Existing in a form of thought and energy, out side of time and space.
Who is God? Who ever you need him to be. Be it Zeus, Odin, or some thing found in yourself.
What is God to you? A dream, a hope, a reason to aspire to be more than I am.
Who is your God? All and none of the God’s that have existed over time.
Though really for me, non of those questions can I answer with words.

[Goman Fox]

As an athiest, I can't really answer this question the same way other people can.  So instead, I think I'll point out the different ways I've seen people believe in God, both positive and negative.  Before reading on, I'd like to point out to everyone that these are just my observations.  They may not even be completely accurate and differing view points on anything I post here is very much welcome (and encouraged).  I'd also like to point out that it is not my intention to offend anyone and I am in no way pointing fingers at any individuals or groups in what I'm saying.  And also, my comments are mostly on the Western religions (Christianity-based) because my knowledge of Eastern religions is pretty weak.

First the positives.

• In one way, people use their belief in God as a way to get through difficult times.  When they don't feel they can turn to anyone, they feel they have this higher power that will care for them and make things right, or give comfort that bad things that happen (like a lost loved one) happened for a reason.
• Another positive way that the belief in God is used is how people find a sense of belonging in a community.  This of course isn't exclusive to religious beliefs, as this belonging can be found in many non-religious groups as well, but it is one way that people can find this.
• Spreading good ideas is another positive side to the belief in God, I think.  Although there are religious groups that have some questionable ideas (I doubt any group is perfect though), most, if not all of them, at least have a few good basic ideas.  "Treat others as you would want to be treated yourself" and things like that.  Although there are people out there who seem to use their religion as the only reason why they should act "good," which I don't really believe is right.

That leads me into one of the negative ways the belief of God has been used.

• Controlling the masses.  Throughout history and even today, large organized religions have been used as a way to control large groups of people.  From my understanding, this was mostly done through the usage of fear.  Getting a person to believe that they must follow a specific way of life or be damned for eternity.  This was probably a lot easier to do farther back in history when most people were uneducated.  Today it is probably less likely for this to happen, since most people (in this country at least) are able to read.  So rather than the "Word of God" being limited to only what one is told (which may be skewed based on individual beliefs), people can now read holy books themselves and form their own ideas.  Although it could be debated that what is said in holy books today is different from what they said originally, I'm not going to get into that.  Illiteracy made it easier to control people in the past, although even today there are still groups that manage to instill fear of Hell (or other bad things) into their group, to get them to believe what they want them to believe.  Even if groups get their people to be "good people" this way, I don't believe fear is the best way to spread ideas.
• Another negative way God has been used in history has been an excuse to hate.  I'm not religious and definitely nowhere near an expert, but it's my understanding that one of the basic ideas behind the Christian religions is that God is a loving being.  Yet still there are holy wars "In the name of God" throughout history, and other religious groups who openly discriminate against others based on their race, sex, sexual orientation, opinions or anything else.

Of course, on top of that, "God" has been used in ways that I don't really see as positive or negative.

• Explaining the World.  Before science developed in the way that it has, there was a lot of unexplainable natural phenomena.  People didn't know what caused the tides, what caused volcanic eruptions, what made lightning strike, or even why it went from day to night.  So quite a few groups created a number of gods and goddesses, as well as a large number of stories/myths to explain these things.  It was probably the best explanation they could come up with at the time.  A lot of these ideas have been mostly tossed away as "just ancient mythology" nowadays, but who knows, maybe there is some truth behind them.  Who is to say that these other deities don't exist?  They may not exist in the way that was once believed, but they could still exist in some form.

I've always been interested in the lesser-believed ideas of what "God" is.  Whether they were real beliefs sometime in history, or if they are beliefs that were created as part of a story for a movie, TV show, or video game.  I may not necessarily believe in them, but I think it is fun to hear other ideas on the subject.  I'm an athiest, but I keep a very open mind about things like this.  I don't believe in any God because I'm not really strong in the faith department.  I need proof to believe something and when it comes to a topic like God, proof is hard to find.  But it's still fun to hear different ideas on the subject.  It will either help me develop my own ideas of God, if I ever believe in one (or more), or it will help back up my own idea of the lack of God (or gods).

[Oni]

What makes a God?
How do you define a God?
Can a person be a God?

[chuckhart]

How do you view God?

God created the universe.  I don't think the story of one week in Genesis should be taken literally.  I think the process has taken millions and billions of years and will take many more, even if we blast this planet away with weapons of mass destruction (I've been to Hiroshima ten times) or with pollution.  I think She/He listens to us, but pretty much lets us make our own mistakes.  I think He/She does carry us through the rough parts.


Who is God? 

God is our true Parent.  He/She is omnipresent but gives us (and our enemies) free will.  She/He is especially fast with forgiveness as soon as we ask for it.  As angry as I have been with God, and as much as I've railed against God, I never once felt His/Her condemnation.  I have felt Her/His love more times than I can begin to count.


What is God to you? 

God is a genderless indescribable benevolent being that brought all life into existance. 


Who is your God? 

My God is my best friend, my mentor, and my guide.

[Oni]

What if when you die you find out that you have been worshiping the wrong god?

[chuckhart]

I would hope the other God would be as forgiving as the one I have been worshiping.

[Eternimus]

If I died and found out I wasn't worshipping the right god, I wouldn't care. The way I followed in life would have been the best way I knew how. It helped make me a strong, just, and wise person. And I won't apologize for that.

As for accepting him then... I probably couldn't. I'm not gonna follow one thing for so long, then spin around and change. That would go against so much I believe in, I'd always be tormented, no matter where I was sent. I would also mention it should be enough that I was a good person, no matter what I believe. And I believe that's how is should be.