07-27-2022, 12:03 PM
(07-27-2022, 11:57 AM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: Someday, I will die and, in that moment, in theory, I will know if God exists or not.
I suspect there is some form of higher power (whether it is a sentient God or just a force of nature, I cannot say), but with no evidence that could be explained otherwise, no one knows for sure.
I think a lot of religion was created to answer the questions, concerns and fears that don't have an answer. What happens to my consciousness after I die? What is the purpose of my existence? What is the end game of this universe? All questions that, if God does not exist, do not have an answer and have deeply unsettling implications if you dwell on them too long.
On the other end of the spectrum, if we assume that a God does exist, there are other questions that don't have an answer. Why do so many people needlessly suffer in a world with the resources to support them? Why do evil people exist? Why is God so hands off when he was apparently talking to people every week before there was a digital record?
I don't blame anyone for falling on either side of the spectrum. Depending on your own experiences, you may feel extremely grateful or extremely resentful towards the idea of a higher power. If you're doing well in life, you can attribute your successes to the "unseen hand" of God. If you are not doing well in life, you can question why God did not feel you were worth their affection.
I think religion and, in America at least, Christianity is so baked into society that most people would say "maybe, but I don't know" at the very worst and "I have faith that God does exist" at best. There are Atheists who choose not to believe which is fine and there are people who choose to believe they know for a fact that God does exist, which is also fine.
As long as we aren't imposing our values on each other, I don't have a problem with anyone's beliefs in the matter. It's a deeply spiritual question to answer and one that no one has a definitive answer to until it's too late (because they're dead and either meet God/go to the afterlife or...don't and just cease to exist.)
Maybe there is a God and there is no afterlife.
A lot of people don't think there is an afterlife for trees, animals and they do believe in a God. Why would there be one for humans ?
Afterlife is not mandatory for the question of God.
And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
