If you believe there is a God in some form , why

[stephaniec]

I have an unbreakable belief in God. I've had a lot of turmoil in my life and a lot of abuse from others and from myself. I was a very sad and confused child and teenager . I was very unhappy because of bullying and my own inability to fit in socially. When I was 19 I got myself into a lot of trouble with drugs and the law then through a different set of circumstances I had a revelation that brought me into a vision of God. That vision has kept me alive through all sorts of despair in my life. I'm not bragging , but I've had a tough life. I'm only here today because of my love of God. God has been there for me in all my despair and at times I thought God had abandoned me when I was in horrendous pain , but God always showed up again.

[Deborah]

I believe because he spoke to me once. 

***I told my psychologist that too when he asked if I heard voices.  LOL.   He determined that I'm not insane.  :-)

I realize I may have simply imagined it.  But it sure didn't seem that way at the time.

Beyond believing He is, I no longer subscribe to him belonging to a specific religion.  Why is a long story.  So if someone needs a name for what I believe then gnostic deism is probably close enough.


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[stephaniec]

well, to be honest I heard God's voice too when I was a child. I was probably around 6 and I had a dream where I heard a load voice speak  to me telling me my father would be all right. As a child I was always worried that something might happen to my parents. My mother died when I was 9 years old , but my father lived to 81. I always took comfort in that dream I had and probably had something to do with my search for God when I was 19. I also mentioned that to my therapist.

[Tyran]

I'm an Agnostic Eclectic Polytheist which I typically shorten to Agnostic Theist or Pagan because the former is just a mouth full.

With that being said I believe in many Gods, Goddesses, Spirits, etc. not for one said reason but because over the years my Soul or inner light, reasoning, research and feelings have lead me to such. 

[Colleen M]

I believe because he spoke to me once. 

***I told my psychologist that too when he asked if I heard voices.  LOL.   He determined that I'm not insane.  :-)

Strictly speaking, mere psychologists (in the U.S. at least) aren't allowed to determine whether or not you're sane.  That requires the trained and educated status of a judge, since they know so much more about the human mind.   

I do know that mental health professionals make their assessments on connection to reality with a filter of, "Is this a normal belief for the region?"  For example, if you live in New Orleans and tell your psychologist you see ghosts all the time, that's not a big red flag.  Or if you are from Iceland and tell your psychologist you interact with elves, that's not a big red flag either.  It is my understanding that no mental health professional in the country will call you nuts for hearing reasonably benevolent divine instructions.  Now, if Jesus tells you to murder the cat, we have a problem.         

[Deborah]

Luckily I wasn't hearing voices like Son of Sam.  Just three words, "I am real."


Sapere Aude

[stephaniec]

my voice just said he'll be all right and he was.

[Amy413]

three little letters, a proper name of some kind?
Finite entities have names, things we small humans can actually wrap our heads around.

"God" ? what is that? a sound? an idea? a person, as if it was human with human qualities?
Whatever it is, that particular label refers to, has an extremely large number of labels that don't fit either.
It is the most elusive thing known, many have sought contact with it, beyond the reaches of time.

It is the center, the ultimate, as well as everything beyond the ultimate.
infinity, taken to the infinite power, an infinite number of times.
All that exists and all that does not exist.

it just is and isn't at the same time, 

Why do I 'believe' this?

I don't 'believe' this.
I KNOW this.

none of us have to prove our relationship with it.
it is eternal.

[Amy413]

I believe because he spoke to me once. 

It's always speaking to us in many ways.
Sometimes it says "woof!", or "meow".
really likes to say "purrrrrrrrrrrrr"
Sometimes it draws pretty pictures right in front of me.
Or opens a book to the exact right page at the right time.
What it really likes to do is make me look at truth though, truth about myself.
Always one step ahead of me.

Get's really noisy if I stop listening.
Tells me things like I need to stop smoking and eat better.
Things like, my family loves me more than I think.
Tells me I am beautiful 

[Eevee]

I'm an agnostic without any solid evidence to point me to the existence of any god, so I don't have the best example here. I'm not too far from being an atheist and I trust little outside of scientific theory. There are things that haven't been tested or have no way to be tested yet, though. I don't put any actual faith into anything else because there's no reason to, but I keep feeling like there might be more to life than what we see. I don't think anyone has the right idea of what it might be if it does exist, either. So belief in a god? Maybe or maybe not. I just keep an open mind for what else might be out there in case I catch a glimpse of it sometime. That's the closest I get to a religious belief. Until it becomes more than that, I live the life if an atheist (but not an anti-theist).

[suenz01]

Life  has so many paths that we can never understand why another person takes one different to you. If you love who you are and tolerate those you come across, life will lead you to where you search.
No one has the right or wrong answer, only you know who you are. A God can be many forms, for me it's an understanding that there maybe a bigger picture. I always live my life based on faith in each other. Have a direction and follow it. I am glad Susan's place helps me find some of my direction.


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[schwarzwalderkirschtort]

I have more reasons than most to be a non-believer, but I'm still strong with it.

I have a mixed religious background and am still trying to find who matches best, but I guess you could say I'm a strange mix between the beliefs of a few religions. I know that I've been picked for this because they think I'm capable of handling it well. I'm stronger than most emotionally, and they knew I could take this and make something great from nothing. I've had challenges, but so did everyone else in the scriptures, and they made it, so I can as well.

  You can take things in many ways, but blaming your maker and the universe for making things "unfair" isn't based on truth. You face trouble to make yourself better, not bitter. You have them for learning until you have nothing left to learn, which means sacrifice and struggle. It turns out okay in the end. I've always seen it that I have nothing to cry about - I may not live a perfect, material life, but at least I'm happy and have the willpower and I'm in touch enough to know what is right and what is not. All you need is a seed for a crop, so if I have something to work with at least I have something.

[stephaniec]

I believe because it's just too much of a coincidence for life to exist for it not to have some purpose. A rock float through empty space with all the necessary things for life to start and be maintained . Gods radical physics experiment.

[DogSpirit]

but I keep feeling like there might be more to life than what we see.

Big agreement from me on that one. There's a 19th century fairy tale called Flatland about a two-dimensional world, specifically a triangle in that world. The triangle is visited by a sphere, which looks to the triangle like a circle changing sizes over time.

I've often thought that we're seeing spheres all the time, but only seeing them as circles changing size because we can't properly interpret that extra dimension.

I believe that the universe is a hologram. When you print a hologram of a firetruck onto glass then break that glass, each piece has the entire firetruck image, though lower resolution than the original. I think we're each pieces of the hologram that is God.