Is it normal to be undecided on the existence of a god?

79% Normal
20 Comments

I was raised in a family that was supposed to be christian. That is, all of my grandparents were. Slowly, my direct family has been losing their faith, one by one. As for me, I am not sure what to believe, but I identify most as a Weak Agnostic Theist. That is, I DO NOT know whether there is some form of god, but I choose to believe there is. I also think that, with sufficient evidence, either side could be proved. (please don't try to convince me) I have these beliefs because of both family influence and Pascal's Wager. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal's_Wager] Is this belief normal?

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79% Normal
Based on 24 votes (19 yes)
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Comments ( 20 )
  • otaku1105
    10 years ago

    One day we will all know the truth.

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  • Avant-Garde
    10 years ago

    Normal. Believe in whatever makes you most comfortable.

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    • shuggy-chan
      10 years ago

      Yes, I've always be an advocate of individual spirituality. Just use the parts of religion that resonate with u, doesn't matter if it parts of Christianity, Buddhism or whatever, it ur beliefs and no ones else's.

      But just don't join a cult like Scientology lol

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      • Avant-Garde
        10 years ago

        Or, don't join any cults, for that matter!

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  • Riddler
    10 years ago

    Its called AGNOSTIC.

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  • Dad
    10 years ago

    Agnosticism generally means you are on the path to the truth.
    Just about every atheist once called themselves agnostic (even me).

    I use to say to myself, 'who knows?' I suppose anything is possible!

    Well its really not (I know very sad).
    Science has fully concluded (ie FACT) that humans evolved (most religious people now agree with this too).
    Belief in one of the millions of gods out there is just childish (although I'll allow your agnostic transition)

    There is NO evidence (I mean NONE) of any people god (they really should have made him a tree god, it would have been harder to help people see the truth)
    No god evidence, only myth and VERY ancient beliefs that do NOT stand up to what we actually KNOW now.

    The evidence for an entirely natural universe and all life in it is nearly infinite ;)

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    • IncludedSos
      10 years ago

      I totally believe in evolution 100%.
      The question here is if there is some kind of God that created the universe, and the reasoning is that we can't really look back to the instant of creation, or before, which is why I'm undecided.

      Also, for those that are confused, the weak part of weak agnostic theist is that I could change sides, like I believe we could figure out someday. Strong agnostics believe that the fact we don't know is fundamental and can never change. (Strong agnostic: You cannot know if there is a god. Weak agnostic: We do not know if there is one at this point in time.)

      Hope that cleared things up!

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      • IncludedSos
        10 years ago

        Additional clearing up: "Instant of Creation" refers to the literal beginning of the universe some 13.7 billion years ago. Not a scene in a religious book.The leading theory is that it was the big bang.
        Also, my beliefs aren't attached to any school of thought, christian or otherwise.

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        • Dad
          10 years ago

          It does help clearing things up.

          I brought up this unrelated 'evolution' stuff, when we are really talking about why even entertain the idea of a god, because..

          -Originally the church stated that Earth was the center of the universe, and the Sun revolved around us. Science unraveled that mystery (after a few scientific intellectuals were killed or jailed by the Church)
          -Originally the 'church' stated that when people die young, that's because god takes the good (the good die young) We now know through science that disease, cancer, germs and/or a whole range of things can kill humans at a young (or any) age.
          -Originally the 'church' stated that EVOLUTION was nonsense, and god created the world and light then the sun etc! SCIENCE has conclusively determined that evolution is now FACT.

          The 'theory of evolution' is a scientific term. Its like the 'theory of gravity' even the theory of life itself!!
          But these things are FACTS. They are so much proven factual 100% that they now teach evolution to ALL public school children. Evolution is fact.

          NEXT, (and by the way its 13.81 Billion years)
          To be 'agnostic' of the possibility of a god, is EXACTLY the same as being agnostic of anything at all. Who knows, maybe no one else exists, this could all be in your dream. You could be agnostic to everything.

          We get to knowledge and reasoning through discovering FACTS. We build on these facts with more facts. (Discoveries; testing; re-testing; re-testing with as MANY ways as humanly possible.

          Here's the crunch.
          So far. ALL (ALL) facts point to NO god (not even 1 or 2 or millions of them).
          ALL facts point to a natural universe and all life in it (including humans only 200K years ago) We keep testing and branching further and further out into the universe. All natural nothing supernatural ever.

          Agnosticism? This is a transition from foolish (Christian) to midway (agnostic) and then to the truth (atheist).
          I honestly wish you NATURAL speed of your brain to get you there quickly ;)

          Edit:// Fixed up a couple spelling errors.

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          • IncludedSos
            10 years ago

            My point is though, there are no facts directly disproving a god either. No one at this point in time could possibly know why the universe sprung into existence. There are more or less two possible answers:

            1) The universe just is. It exists for no reason, it just is.

            2) The universe was created by something. We couldn't know the point of this either.

            I find the latter a more satisfying answer, so I stick to being an agnostic theist.
            There is no other explanation or reason to my beliefs other than that. You could not see before the creation of the universe, so you cannot prove me wrong.

            Either way, this argument is getting us nowhere. I respect your opinion, and likewise, I would appreciate if you respected mine, even if you think I'm on the verge of truth. I enjoyed the discussion, however.

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            • Dad
              10 years ago

              Well science doesn't like the word 'created' as the church has destroyed its meaning, by saying they own it.

              My understanding (without even looking up the exact atheist forum response).
              Is that there isn't any 'reason' for the universe, it started naturally from the Big Bang.

              So that would be 1 and half or 2. (I say half or 2, because it wasn't a 'something' that 'created' the universe.
              Some say time started and that caused movement. Personally I feel time had always been going on, and the human brain cannot understand infinity. Anyway, science continues on this, we are at 1 second after the bang at this point.

              Agree thanks for the discussion.
              Obviously I was hoping that you would move your opinions but that's just my arrogance its obviously just up to you. (to see the facts :) )

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  • thegypsysailor
    10 years ago

    I find it incomprehensible that any rational person could believe in a god. Yes, I know a lot of very smart people do, but I just don't understand it.

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  • thr
    10 years ago

    I don't know if that is the weak part of your self-labelling, but isn't an agnostic someone, who thinks that it can't be known whether there is a god?

    Other than that, it seems normal to feel that way.

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  • IncludedSos
    10 years ago

    Thanks for the positive comments! I've always thought I was a bit of a special snowflake on this one...

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  • CreativeThinker
    10 years ago

    The only truth in this universe is creator of this universe i.e GOD however different religions define him differently and most of the time mess-up with actual agenda ....
    I believe in GOD I sometimes feel him close to me and he is the onlyone who knows me more than anyone else but connecting to him and staying connected to him is bit of a task not possible for everyone and I'm one of those, However I donot beleive in religion

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    • Dad
      10 years ago

      Lol

      I'll just make my own comment below, but yours made me laugh :D

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      • CreativeThinker
        10 years ago

        why?

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        • Dad
          10 years ago

          Because the (belief in the) existence of a god would have to be the opposite to the truth.

          Your 'personal' feelings about feeling close to your imaginary friend does not make it truth.
          'Truth' is based on facts.
          What truth is there about an existence of (any) god? So far there is zero, none.
          Not one 'believer' (or religious person that you are not) has provided anything whatsoever.

          On the contrary, the likelihood of no god is extremely high (ie facts).
          We now know how planets form and life evolve. We even know how galaxies form with 100,000's of stars and billions of planets.
          We also know that humans evolved into what you see today, about 200K years ago, BUT life has been around for millions of years and the universe is 13.81 billions years old.

          Somehow I would have to say that belief in this 'man' god is FALSE. ;)

          That's why :)

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          • CreativeThinker
            10 years ago

            Yes we do know the process of formation about many things but not about how they were present at first place How could everything is in so much order HOw could the basic structure from an Atom to galaxy is so uniform, Theory of evolution is just a theory it is not established science i.e Aps are ancestors of Humans
            There must a creator the only difference is science couldn't discovered him yet just like many millions of other things which are yet to be discovered e.g life on other planets

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            • Dad
              10 years ago

              ok to avoid the standard arguments that have been won by science MANY times in the past (theist) debates. ie The 'so much order' debate you stated, that is easily defunct. It basically verges on god of the gaps, plus the 'order' is a natural process that DID happen.

              Oh and I should state there is no 'theory' on evolution. It is sound 100% fact.
              The word 'theory' you have picked up is a scientific term that allows more information to be discovered. Presently evolution is 100% true and is what is taught to children. Evolution is even accepted by the Pope! (and most other non extremely fundamentalist churches).

              Anyway, to jump way ahead of all this wasted debate (ie just look up a youtube vid on evolution and how life and our planet and the galaxy (and the universe) all came about.
              Lets look just at your single point.

              Discovering a creator.
              Why does it have to be a creator? Maybe its not a single entity (which would then stop any praying to it too).
              It may (and likely is) a process of many things.
              In the cosmos we are still learning about dark matter and how it holds the universe together.
              Maybe dark matter with its opposite characteristics to normal matter ie we can't touch it, and it just passes through us. Maybe that's the answer?

              There's obviously a lot to still find out, but science continues to unravel the mysteries as its always done. Theists never try to learn. They just accept it must be a god (god of the gaps, of which loses all arguments). It might not be a god, its also probably the least possibility its a god. Actually science says its such a low possibility the god THEORY is not even researched any longer. I mean its more likely its aliens and even that has been thrown out.

              The universe was created naturally. Everything continues naturally and we have not seen any change to that ever. And again, we especially agree there's no 'man' god. I mean it should have been a tree god at least, since vegetation has been around millions of years before people evolved, even before apes.
              I don't think its a tree god either. But I especially do not feel its a man god, the notion seems crazy to me.

              As for 'creator'. Its just natural occurrences. Its not a plan or an overseer.
              You finished off with a powerful statement so I will too.

              There must not be a creator, but only through science we will continue to discover and learn from the universe in which we live.

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