# Do you believe in a God/Goddess?



## moonford (Jan 23, 2017)

I've found myself thinking about this once again and my thoughts are the same, there is no God/Goddess.


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## Envy (Jan 23, 2017)

No. When I look at the world and universe and everything around me I do not see any reason to believe in any kind of deity whatsoever.


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## Suhono (Jan 23, 2017)

I do, but saying I "believe" in God is somewhat akin to me saying I "believe" in gravity. I "believe" in gravity because I've experienced it. My "belief" in God is the same, something I root in experience. Other people have different experiences which are no more or less valid than my own, regardless of their outcome. It's not my place to dismiss or question something that intensely personal.

In general, I tend to agree with Marcus Borg, who wrote that what one believes is not as important as what one does with those beliefs. One can believe in all the "right" things and be a mass murderer, or in all the "wrong" things and be a saint.


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## nintendofan85 (Jan 23, 2017)

Yes, I am a Christian.


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## Akira-chan (Jan 23, 2017)

I am Catholic! :U


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## Bowie (Jan 23, 2017)

I'm very agnostic. I believe in the possibility of a creator, but I don't necessarily think it's one we have any knowledge of at all. I believe in the afterlife as well, but I like to think of it as another "layer" of existence, with no more knowledge of a creator than what we have now.


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## tumut (Jan 23, 2017)

Yes but I'm not religious.


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## N a t (Jan 23, 2017)

I don't really care at all. Religon has never played any kind of role in my life. I think the majority of my relatives are christians though.  I sometimes think that there may very well be some sort of god like figure, because I wonder what created the universe, or what started all of existence.  I wonder where the very first organisms came from or how they came to be. And everything after that is evolution to me, really.


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## seliph (Jan 23, 2017)

Gabe the dog is my god


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## moonford (Jan 23, 2017)

gyro said:


> Gabe the dog is my god



Dog backwards = God 

So it only makes sense.


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## Romaki (Jan 23, 2017)

No.


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## Scynessaa (Jan 23, 2017)

i was raised in a very kind and amiable christian environment. it wasn't cutthroat like some people might describe their christian upbringing and it wasn't corrupt like some others, but around seventh grade i started realizing that i was believing in 'God' for the sole reason that i didn't want to go to 'hell'. i suppose it was at about that time my critical thinking emerged properly and i figured that if 'God' didn't make sense and i didn't care for all the things  encompassed in Christianity, then i should simply... stop following. i just bluff the believe these days whenever i talk to someone from that school.

despite that, i'm open to the idea of there being a creator, i just don't find it feasible... but one can't be totally narrow-minded.


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## ams (Jan 23, 2017)

I heard this quote once "I'm an atheist on my good days and an agnostic on my bad days" and I feel like it's pretty accurate. I believed in God when I was a kid, but those beliefs just aren't congruent with my adult worldview.


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## DJStarstryker (Jan 23, 2017)

Nope. 100% atheist. I don't think that we were created by any being, and that when we die, our bodies just rot.


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## Soigne (Jan 23, 2017)

Open to the thought. If you'd asked me a few months ago my answer would have been no. I was raised in a terrible Christian community and it spoiled my outlook on the entire religion, but now that I'm mentally (not yet physically, but hopefully soon) removed from the community I'd like to believe something is out there.


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## Cynicat (Jan 23, 2017)

I used to identify as agnostic but nowadays would call myself an atheist.


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## Licorice (Jan 23, 2017)

I have common sense so no.


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## P. Star (Jan 23, 2017)

Yep, I'm a proud Christian.


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## cIementine (Jan 23, 2017)

if this is a way of asking me if i believe in myself, then yes


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## King Dorado (Jan 23, 2017)

Akira-chan said:


> I am Catholic! :U



heh, that reminds me of a scene from a movie called _She's the One_:

(the Dad was scolding his adult sons about taking the Lord's name in vain at their house}

Mickey Fitzpatrick: Why are you getting so upset Dad? You don't even believe in God.

Mr. Fitzpatrick: That doesn't mean I'm going to stop being a good Catholic.


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## uwuzumakii (Jan 23, 2017)

My experiences with the Catholic church and religion in general has pushed me very far away from it. I'm an atheist and I don't ever see myself becoming religious again.


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## Paperboy012305 (Jan 23, 2017)

You mean THE God from Heaven? If so, yes. But I have never heard of a Goddess.


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## moonford (Jan 23, 2017)

Paperboy012305 said:


> You mean THE God from Heaven? If so, yes. But I have never heard of a Goddess.



You have never heard of a female equivalent to a God? That's something you should probably be told about in school. =/ 
How do you know that the biblical Deity is male? Or if it even has gender?


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## lostineverfreeforest (Jan 23, 2017)

Technically agnostic but feel it's extremely unlikely there is any kind of higher power.


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## Locket (Jan 23, 2017)

I honestly don't really care. I mean, we don't really have enough evidence to believe in it, and thats just too much to worry about. Just don't shove; GOD IS REALLLLLL 
into my face then yeah, go ahead, I don't care if you believe or not.


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## Corrie (Jan 23, 2017)

Eh I dunno. I think there is some sort of God-like thing but I don't believe in a specific one, in terms of the ones in religions.


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## nintendofan85 (Jan 23, 2017)

Whiteflamingo said:


> You have never heard of a female equivalent to a God? That's something you should probably be told about in school. =/
> How do you know that the biblical Deity is male? Or if it even has gender?



In my church and in the Bible, God is referred to as "the Father", which explains the connotation.


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## moonford (Jan 23, 2017)

nintendofan85 said:


> In my church and in the Bible, God is referred to as "the Father", which explains the connotation.



It's all assumptions due to the male supremacy which was prominent thousands of years ago and continues today in multiple countries.


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## Mink777 (Jan 23, 2017)

I have common sense so YES. Not a god, I'm talking about the one true God.


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## DarkDesertFox (Jan 23, 2017)

Yes I'm a Christian and I believe in the one true God.


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## N e s s (Jan 23, 2017)

I don't believe in god, but I am buddhist


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## Zireael (Jan 23, 2017)

Nope. I've never been religious, nor has my family, but as far as I know my sister believes in God now after moving in with her religious partner. It doesn't bother me but I could never believe in it personally, though I do wonder sometimes if there is a greater being out there. Not necessarily a God, but something else. Either way I doubt we'll ever find out. I guess that makes my views on the subject more agnostic.


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## piichinu (Jan 23, 2017)

i believe in god but im not religious i wish we had a goddess tho


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## nostalgibra (Jan 23, 2017)

I'm a bitter atheist. I was lied to as a child about how great god is and I was given so much false hope. Now that I know better I'm angry because I want to believe. I want to have that comfort that religious people have of an omniscient friend who helps guide your life. But I know that's balogna and I wish I could go back to believing.


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## Haskell (Jan 23, 2017)

If Christianity was real, I would side with Satan. In my perspective, God is immoral and unethical.


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## Scynessaa (Jan 23, 2017)

after looking through this thread and contemplating my own upbringing, it's shocking to me the amount of people that feel their christian childhoods were so... aggressively unreasonable. i was raised in a christian household in which my mother was the main source of religious input, my father more so being there for the ride. after she died of an OD brought upon by her extreme bipolar, my home became much less religious, we stopped going to church, and i grew up a little bit. after her death, i moved a fair ways away and began attending a private christian school. oklahoma is the buckle of the 'bible belt', so christianity is almost universal in these parts. it's just that as i began reasoning about god, i dropped the belief.

i understand that some might have bad memories or perhaps even emotional scarring, but it is truly worth it to hold such bitter contempt for those which you no longer align? i suppose this does not include those who feel persecuted by those who force their beliefs upon them, but regardless... it just makes me a little melancholic, is all.


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## Envy (Jan 23, 2017)

Scynessaa said:


> oklahoma is the buckle of the 'bible belt', so christianity is almost universal in these parts.



Living in Oklahoma, I'm actually shocked how many nonbelievers I have found. We're increasing in numbers exponentially.


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## Scynessaa (Jan 23, 2017)

Envy said:


> Living in Oklahoma, I'm actually shocked how many nonbelievers I have found. We're increasing in numbers exponentially.



that's true. though where i live you can find a church around nearly every corner, haha. it's a nice place to live though, the people are very kind.


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## nintendofan85 (Jan 23, 2017)

Scynessaa said:


> that's true. though where i live you can find a church around nearly every corner, haha. it's a nice place to live though, the people are very kind.



You should see what Mississippi is like. There are churches everywhere.


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## Red Cat (Jan 23, 2017)

Nope. It amazes me when something tragic happens to someone and people say it's part of God's plan. Like what kind of God would just randomly take away an innocent person? Or maybe God's plan is to rescue the faithful and leave all the sinners and nonbelievers stuck here with Donald Trump...


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## Envy (Jan 23, 2017)

Scynessaa said:


> that's true. though where i live you can find a church around nearly every corner, haha. it's a nice place to live though, the people are very kind.



There are plenty of churches around, there are a lot of Christians. However it is interesting to observe the group I graduated from high school with (the ones I know, anyway!). Quite a few of the people I knew/were in band with turned out to be atheists. Many seem to be at least on the questioning side.

I even saw one of my friends go from Mormon to a nonbeliever (to exactly what extent, I'm not exactly sure).

One of the kindest people I know is a very strong Christian. She is so deeply religious that she can't see her kindness as a positive quality of herself and instead sees it all as God working through her. It makes me sad because she changed my life, and I know it was _her_.

I don't like Oklahoma, though. Even my mom is telling me to get out of the state when I go into teaching.


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## Red Cat (Jan 23, 2017)

Envy said:


> I don't like Oklahoma, though. Even my mom is telling me to get out of the state when I go into teaching.


Don't do it. If all the smart people leave Oklahoma, then the kids growing up there will become even more stupid.


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## Tao (Jan 23, 2017)

No, and if there is a god, I hope a ragtag group of unlikely comrades (and an animal mascot) end up going on an adventure with an array of weird impractical weaponry to destroy that god via the power of friendship, because if a god exists then they've proven to be a proper **** as far as I'm concerned.

- - - Post Merge - - -



Red Cat said:


> Nope. It amazes me when something tragic happens to someone and people say it's part of God's plan. Like what kind of God would just randomly take away an innocent person? Or maybe God's plan is to rescue the faithful and leave all the sinners and nonbelievers stuck here with Donald Trump...



Made me think of this:


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## Envy (Jan 23, 2017)

Red Cat said:


> Don't do it. If all the smart people leave Oklahoma, then the people there will become even more stupid.



Oklahoma voters gave a large middle finger to teachers this last election (and I'm not even talking about electing Trump, which is also a middle finger, but one we already expected). In a state where the legislators won't do anything about it, this is grave. I remember the teacher of the year for the whole state made a video saying he felt like he needed to leave the state. It's that bad.

Plus, I officially hate Oklahoma for its climate as well. Summer now takes up 85% of the year. We don't get winters. And there's that whole deal with tornadoes and severe thunderstorms. I've had enough. I want to live somewhere with four seasons and less severe thunderstorms.

On another more on-topic note, I don't really like equating religiosity or the like with stupidity. Make no mistake, religious people are not stupid. Religions like Christianity weave very elaborate webs that catch even the most intelligent people. That's just in their very nature.



Red Cat said:


> Nope. It amazes me when something tragic happens to someone and people say it's part of God's plan. Like what kind of God would just randomly take away an innocent person?



"God works in mysterious ways".

I get so mad when I see news of tornadoes. Tornadoes that ran through schools and killed a bunch of children, and someone who wasn't effected or survived the storm enthusiastically thanks God. It's so twisted what this idea does to people's minds.


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## Licorice (Jan 23, 2017)

Envy said:


> Living in Oklahoma, I'm actually shocked how many nonbelievers I have found. We're increasing in numbers exponentially.



Hello from oklahoma too lol


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## Halloqueen (Jan 23, 2017)

I suppose I'm agnostic. I was raised into the Catholic church and attended Catholic schools, but the hypocrisy I witnessed from my peers and others pushed me away from organized religion. Probably due to the influence of being exposed to religion at a young age, I don't rule out the possibility of there possibly being a creator of some sort. If one does exist, science and study of the ancient past of our planet shows at the least that such a creator doesn't align with the stories of creation.

I don't necessarily follow any particular deity. I was exposed to the Judeo-Christian concept of God. If I were born elsewhere or in another period of time, I would have been exposed to other concepts of gods and/or goddesses or not exposed to the concept at all. Since we cannot prove any of them exists, I don't care to sift through all the possibilities. All I can do is live a good life and spread happiness and love and let whatever god/goddess/entity, if they exist, judge me on those merits.

Most likely, there's nothing out there and nothing to look forward to. That thought is terrifying to some and it's understandable why religions give comfort to their believers. I won't say whether there is or isn't because I'm just an ordinary human and I have no idea. 

Whatever the case may be, I hope there isn't a higher power, nor a heaven or a hell and we just cease to be after death. The human species doesn't deserve everlasting life and if we had any sense we would strive toward peace and prosperity on Earth since it's the only existence we can be absolutely certain of.


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## Dawnpiplup (Jan 24, 2017)

I'm Roman Catholic, and I believe in one true God.


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## Hopeless Opus (Jan 24, 2017)

yes i believe in god


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## Goshi (Jan 24, 2017)

LeVeyan Satanist here so... nope.


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## visibleghost (Jan 24, 2017)

not at all. i'm an atheist. i dont believe in any god and i get reslly uncomfortable if i have to go to churches and stuff. i try to keep it to myself because i know other people have different opinions and religions, but i get creeped out by christianity. (i have the most experience w/ christianity and being forced into christian things but i'd probably be as uncomfortable w/ being forced into another religion)

for me personally religion has always been reslly uncomfortable and every encounter i had with churches and christianity just made me dislike it even more. i have never been religious but my parents are kind of maybe idk christians. (kind of agnostics but also they do religion things sometimes..?)
 as a kid my mom used to pray and make me pray sometimes. i remember her saying an aftonb?n (??? evening prayer???) sometimes before i went to bed. i also got a children's bible and was taught about christianity, sometimes i was made to go to church with them. (not on sundays usually but on special days like easter or w/e.)

i am the only one in my family who didnt go through with a confirmation but i think my siblings mostly did it because you go on a trip with the people you do it with hahah. none of us are very religious but i am definitely the most uncomfortable with religion of us.

idk exactly why christianity creeps me out so much. christians are fine but if i have to pretend to be christian or if i have o do christian things im going to be really uncomfortable.


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## seliph (Jan 24, 2017)

In all seriousness I'm agnostic. I guess I don't really believe in a god but I like to (try to) believe in spirits and ghosts and people's energy and stuff, makes me feel better.

I did go to a church recently for the first time in like 10 years (it was my mom's friend's kid's communion or something) and it gave me super heebie jeebies, 0/10 would not recommend.


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## toadsworthy (Jan 24, 2017)

Eh I'm iffy on religions and labels overall. I grew up in a very religious town and having it shoved down my throat made me super against it. Then I went to college and learned about all the needs each person has, one of which is spiritual. People fulfill that spiritual need with their religion, so I understand religion now but I don't care for it for my life but see why other people value it so much.

The whole judgement thing I hate, I shouldn't need a religious reason to be a good person. And so if there's a judgement day at the end of life I will be fine.

However, the creationism/ intelligent design and evolution discussion is one I'm more heated about


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## LinkToTheWorld (Jan 24, 2017)

Not at all. I'll never understand the idea that there's a God somewhere who allows children to be abused or suffer horrific lives/deaths.


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## 1milk (Jan 24, 2017)

im not religious, i worship the whole kardashian family though. i dont believe there is a person in the cloud looking over us and protecting our people HOWEVER im different from the rest of my family because i believe in ghosts, mermaids, aliens and all that story ****


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## deSPIRIA (Jan 24, 2017)

i've been raised in a c.o.e suburb for about 8 years now (not that my mom is religious) and my primary school is in that place, so i've grown up near a church that, every hour goes BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE and it starts at 4 am and ends at 1 am. but i've never been religious


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## Aquari (Jan 24, 2017)

im neutral to the thought of there being a god, there might be one, who knows. for now im leaning more towards the side of science.


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## Capeet (Jan 24, 2017)

I'm open to the thought that there's a deity or multiple deities out there, but I don't take the views of any religion as an absolute truth that prevents me from considering other options. I try to respect the deities of different religions the same. Maybe the beliefs of different groups are just different sides of the same coin in some way. Even if a deity a group believes in doesn't exist as such, there might still be a shred of truth behind its belief.

I honestly just want to keep an open mind. There might not be a deity out there but it's more fun to not exclude the possibility.


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## Nightmares (Jan 24, 2017)

No, I don't believe in God... I spent a couple years as a younger kid believing in him because of my grandma (she's a Jehovah's Witness) but I've lost faith lmao

Now I'm pretty sure this is no God. 

Apparently God is omnipotent and omnibenevolent
but "evil" exists so obviously he's not lmao 
Also there's some really ****ed up **** in the Bible that I don't want to go into 

- - - Post Merge - - -

Other religions I don't know much about / haven't been brought up around, so I can't really comment on them


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## namiieco (Jan 24, 2017)

I usually don't think about it. I don't deny the existence of Gods/Godesses, though, I just don't care.


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## ams (Jan 24, 2017)

Nightmares said:


> Apparently God is omnipotent and omnibenevolent
> but "evil" exists so obviously he's not lmao
> Also there's some really ****ed up **** in the Bible that I don't want to go into



This is something I had to come to terms with as I got into my teens and realized that popular conceptions of God didn't make sense. There's no way that God could be both all powerful and all good. In this way polytheistic religions make more sense since their deities don't have to have conflicting traits.

I found this little quiz to be an interesting way to challenge some of my previous illogical beliefs: http://www.philosophyexperiments.com/god/

If anyone is interested it's kind of fun even if you don't take it too seriously (i.e it's definitely biased towards atheism)!


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## KaydeeKrunk (Jan 27, 2017)

Nope, I'm a secular witch so I don't have a god, goddess, or deity to worship. 
I worship the Earth and myself. =D 
Others can worship me too. ;]


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## Bowie (Jan 27, 2017)

KaydeeKrunk said:


> Nope, I'm a secular witch so I don't have a god, goddess, or deity to worship.
> I worship the Earth and myself. =D
> Others can worship me too. ;]



I can confirm that you make a _really_ good witch.


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## MorningStar (Jan 27, 2017)

My parents are both Wiccan, and they flat-out refused to talk in-depth with me about religion until I was old enough to truly understand what it meant to believe in a god or goddess, or any number of either. Now, to the dismay of my father, whose patron deity is Odin, and the amusement of my mother, whose matron deity is Bast, I identify solely as R?kkatru. My patron deity is Loki.

I believe all religions are right in one way or another. A god will show Him or Herself to a believer if they see fit, and if someone is a non-believer, no god appears and they are free to live as a non-believer. I believe whatever afterlife a person believes in is the afterlife they'll go to, or if they believe in nothingness or reincarnation, so be it.

In a sense, however, I don't believe in a traditional Heaven or Hell. I believe with death comes a refining period, the calcification that comes with transformation. I don't believe you can scare someone with Hell, so that they'll be good and thus go to Heaven. People don't work that way.


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## NicoShaytan (Jan 27, 2017)

I believe in all the interesting gods and goddesses, spirits and sprites. So...Greco-Roman, Norse, Native American and Celtic folklore, etc. I'm a son of Hades, and I have a shoulder Loki, so I primarily stick to the Greeks and Norse. But I'm always fond of the fairies in the walls
..

Honestly, the one god I don't believe exists is the Christian god. Aslan's cool, though.


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## Twisterheart (Jan 27, 2017)

Yes I am a Christian


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## Rasha (Jan 27, 2017)

yes


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## ApolloJusticeAC (Jan 27, 2017)

Dixx said:


> Yes but I'm not religious.



this


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## Irelia (Jan 27, 2017)

agnostic should be an option
but I guess if it comes down to yes or no, I'd say no


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## moonford (Jan 27, 2017)

Shiemi said:


> agnostic should be an option
> but I guess if it comes down to yes or no, I'd say no



I forgot to put that option down, I guess 'I don't care either way' could be the agnostic option...


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## Soda Fox (Jan 27, 2017)

I think if anything is god it would be the entire universe and everything in it. But do I believe in a god or goddesses that specifically created anything or cares about what any of us do? Definitely not.


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## N e s s (Jan 27, 2017)

The thing that really upsets me about Christianity (no offense at all, this is just something that makes me feel a bit powerless and depressed) is that even if you're a good person, you still go to hell for making the choice not to believe. I'm a cynical person and I can be rude sometimes, but I love the people around me and I'm always trying to be on my best. I think this is why older people convert to Christianity at such a late age, because they're too scared about what happens if they die. And when I think about it, I genuinely can get really scared to think about what will happen to me, because apparently I'm a sinner for not believing.


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## Envy (Jan 27, 2017)

N e s s said:


> The thing that really upsets me about Christianity (no offense at all, this is just something that makes me feel a bit powerless and depressed) is that even if you're a good person, you still go to hell for making the choice not to believe. I'm a cynical person and I can be rude sometimes, but I love the people around me and I'm always trying to be on my best. I think this is why older people convert to Christianity at such a late age, because they're too scared about what happens if they die. And when I think about it, I genuinely can get really scared to think about what will happen to me, because apparently I'm a sinner for not believing.



I understand, but if you think about it rationally it might help. Christianity was just _one_ religion that formed in ancient times, and it is one of _many_ that exists today. There's absolutely nothing special about its claims. If you think about it, if its claims were true, the majority of the world's population is going to go to Hell. Why? Because they were raised in the "wrong" culture, the "wrong" family, or whatever circumstance led them to believe in a different religion. Those people who follow other religions have the same exact conviction and reason to believe in their religions. They have the same personal experiences, the same 'miracles', that they believe lead to _their_ deity.

Christianity and its claims are not special in any way whatsoever. So try not to worry about it.

I feel like my point actually got lost somewhere along the way there. Sorry, I had a point I was getting to there and I'm not sure I properly conveyed it. >.<


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## forestyne (Jan 28, 2017)

I don't believe in a God. Science disproves a God, or an afterlife, though I don't think there's anything _wrong_ in believing in those things.


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## kayleee (Jan 28, 2017)

yeah I believe in myself


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