Belief is one way to open your mind, as humans we learn, we adapt, we deney, we accept, we think, and we create. We are all the same and yet so different, so distinced. being as we are human we are easily led by the most interesting theories, we take simple answers and we take difficult ones. the human is balanced if not pedestalled between the theory if Religion and Science.                                                     

     God cannot exist without the idea that some one is pulling strings, or the idea that miricals happen, or spontanious outbreaks of strange virusis. any ways im straying from the topic. God- in the sence of religion- can be only good and cannot be anything but. However when God created Adam the man to commit the very first sin, i have to ask, why would God allow such and imperfect creature to live? to even exist? If we are created in Gods image then we are all that is God. He has no opposite he is one, but a very distinced one.

     Science is based on one question, to religion this is the sin, this is the apple. Why? Why is light warm while dark is cold? Why does this hurt my flesh while this hurts my emotions? Why does this make me angery while this makes me happy? Why? why follow the rules when i don't have to? if god wanted me not to do this then why is he allowing it?

     so many questions, what to believe? Existence needs good and bad or els we would be too pure... too potent, to be only positive or to be only negative well i believe existence would colaps into itself. that is why we were made in Gods image only god could make us so mighty and powerful, so full and indistructable...and yet so fragile and small, so beautiful and delicate... from stone to the flower humans exsist somwhere between, we need the earth, we need the sun... we need water, we need food...why do we need all of this? to live... life is the greatest gift we have... very fragile and very stable... one grain of sand is as distinct as the next. 

     I believe that hell is what people put themselves through every day, stressing themselves out, putting themselves down, holding onto grudges, hating one another, holding your opinions above everyone elses, being inconsiderate, choosing ignorance over knowledge. i wonder is most of this fear?

     my other more happy believe is that heaven is happiness, strength, letting go, respect for others opinions- even though you might not agree- by just listening, understanding, patience, kindness, helping out because it makes the world a better place. is this love?

p.s. can't wait to hear your opinion

     &

      i only used him/he to substitute God because it is the most predominantly used. but like i said god is all and he is included so yea.

peace!

how interesting... and doubly so since you would post this- of all places- on fastweb.com!  I presume you are being rhetorical when you are asking for answeres, because... do you really expect to receive the answers to these questions??  Questions which have plagued some of the greatest minds all through history?? And yet again, do you think such answers even exist in the first place... that they're out there, waiting to be found.  The human condition is one of limited understanding.  No matter how bright the candle light of our knowledge may be, it will always and forever be still enveloped by a horizon of darkness.  See, you want to know it all,  you want the answers to THE questions.  But you cannot, nor will any human ever be able to.

But keep thinking, keep probing nonetheless.  The mystery of life, it's uncertainty, it's ultimate unknowableness, is precisely what makes it interesting and flavorful and beautiful... for me anyway.  And in any event, you oughtta understand that who you are- the sort of human being you are and the sort of life that you lead- is far more important than anything you could ever "know".

Thank you for your post.  It makes my day to see other people, however few there may be, digging deep within this existence and really thinking about it, questioning it.     

Love.... 

MariahS153,

     When God created man, He created him in His image, but He gave man the choice to sin. He gave the choice to love Him or reject Him. But it wasn't Eve's fault; she was deceived. The Bible says in Genesis 3:6, "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." Adam was there and was the one who sinned.

     Neldaga,

     There is a solid answer, and while it may not please all peoples, it is the only true one. Jesus Christ is the answer to this life. We are here today to accept His gift and tell others about it. The universe will be destroyed only when Jesus returns, judges the world, and creates His new Heaven and Earth.

I had this discussion with someone a few weeks ago.  He cannot believe in a god who would create a world in which children starve... or suffer from diseases like leukemia, etc.  "If there is a god," he continued, "then he did a pretty shitty job."

My response to him (which is ironical because I don't participate in beliefs) was that- yeah- if god was trying to create a wonderful paradise for us to live in, then he botched the job.  Starving, diseased children who never get the chance to live a normal life and discover their potential would sorta contradict the notion of an omnipotent god-figure who wants us all to be happy.  But instead of concluding that- ergo- there is no god, why not consider that perhaps your wrong about what god was trying to do when he created all this.  Maybe his objective was not to make a vacation resort for us.  Maybe he wants to see how we handle ourselves, how we persevere, whether we succumb or whether we grow stronger, in spite of all the suffering and injustice we live through.  Like Job.

Some might say, but children are still suffering and dying.  Yeah, but from a god's perspective... so what??  If there's an eternal heaven awaiting those children, then the sooner they die... the sooner they escape this rock... the better for them, right?  We're talking ETERNITY.  Of what significance is even 80 years of life on earth, compared to forever and ever and ever and ever and EVER in heaven????  In my opinion, if you people REALLY believed what you say you believe, then you wouldn't be complaining so much.  Instead you would possess an inner peace and truly understand that everything... the good the bad the evil... everything will be made right and balanced out in the end and that this is for god to deal with.  So what if there's suffering??  Buck up and deal with it.  Grow from it.  Learn from it.  Persevere.    Or is that deep-down you maybe don't believe as unshakably as you'd like to think?

What is the use of explanations which ultimately lead back to something just as unknown as the first problem was??? 

"What is existence?"    "God is existence, the source of all existence."  

Well that clears things up!   Seriously, these are WORDS... which do not suffice for understanding.  You read something in a book, decided you believe that book, and now you regurgitate the words from that book and call it wisdom and understanding.  You call it truth.

why am i even participating in this discussion???  since when have debates and discussions ever cleared anything up?  They're all merely forums for people to display what they perceive as their immense intelligence.... a sin for which I am now guilty as well.  ADIOS!