Why do/don't you believe in a higher power? (Any HP)

[Australian rePublic]

This thread will ask you the question of WHY you do/don't believe in a higher power. Any higher power. Not specifically limited to the Abrahamic God

Why do I believe in God? I believe that I have experienced God. I.e. Specifically Orthodox Christian experiences of God. But that's not worth much. So why do I believe in God? I believe that there have been many examples in life governed by Divine Intervention. Further, I believe that every time I've ignored Divine Intervention, chaos has resulted. That is, far, far too many instances for it to be a coincidence. At this stage, you might be thinking, "Conformation bias". Fine, it might be conformation bias, but what if it isn't? So then, why Christianity? I've learnt about many religions, and many faiths and find Christian theology quite agreeable. So why Orthodoxy? Orthodox believe that it's possible to establish a personal relationship with God, which I find quite agreeable (of coarse God would want a personal relation with His people) and I also find the Orthodox perspective of Hell perfectly in line with the actions of a loving God. I don't think God would send His people to an eternal torture chamber. Sorry for the vagueness of the post, I really shouldn't do this late at night... I'll elaborate more tomorrow, and/or if I am asked

So, why do/don't you believe in God?

EDIT:
Now, before you get all shitty with me for not replying to your post quickly enough. Take these things into consideration:

1. I have a life outside of this thread
2. I'm a human being, I'm prone to errors. I might miss a post here or there. 
3. I'm a human being. I can get tired of debating the existence (or lack there of) of God at times. Considering you were defending Blatt for getting tired of theological discussions, surely you can give me the same slack, especially when I'm outnumbered 17+:1
4. It takes time to form an argument, especially when you have 6 or 7 different unrelated points going at once
5. I wake up in the morning, and there's another 3-4.pages. i can't keep up with that
6. I have a life outside of this thread. 

I'll get to you when I get to you. Stop demanding quick responses.

[Kyoki Chudoku]

I am personally irreligious. I disbelieve in any deity because I quite simply have no reason to believe in their existence. If there is a deity, I suspect it is not any we have postulated in all of human history, and I believe that their wishes would impart themselves on us all by being rules of the universe’s mechanisms. Humanity has postulated the existence of deities countless times, in countless different ways. To me, this demonstrates a variety of ways to examine the issue- some of which have been proven totally wrong, others of which have been proven wrong to a great extent, forcing interpretations to be altered to satisfy reality. Basically, I see no reason why there would be one, and so, do not believe in one.

[The New California Republic]

I don't believe in God, as I do not think that the evidence provided thus far is in any way compelling, leading me to conclude that, on balance of probabilities, God doesn't exist.

[The Rapture Republic]

Like the above. There isn’t enough evidence to believe in the existence of an all-powerful entity.

[Australian rePublic]

Maybe the lack of evidence is evidence in and of itself.

[The Multiverse of Holly Starlight]

It's a mixture of both, but it's also because of my religion being Buddhism. We don't exactly believe in a single all-powerful entity, and we even acknowledge that our God will pass away; it will just take the expiry of the entire universe to do that.

Why do I believe? Because I think that in a way, it draws a parallel to the multiverse theory. There have been past Gods/Universes, the world we're currently in has a God of its own, and there'll be more Gods in the future universes.

Of course, I'm aware of the limitations, such as the fact that there's no evidence of this, or heck, even if the multiverse theory exists. Some things just work in mysterious ways, or until we finally know the meaning of life and universe (and no, it's not 42).

[Tasuirin]

I am a weak atheist. I don't believe there is no god, but I don't believe in a god. I was a christian for quite some time in my youth, largely because I was raised as one, but as my friendgroup expanded to include people from many different walks of life, I began to question my beliefs and whether they stood up to scrutiny. It was after a long night of chatting with friends (we talked about deep topics, mkay?) and watching videos that I kind of discovered that I no longer believed. It scared me for a bit, but then I accepted it.

[Australian rePublic]

It's a mixture of both, but it's also because of my religion being Buddhism. We don't exactly believe in a single all-powerful entity, and we even acknowledge that our God will pass away; it will just take the expiry of the entire universe to do that.

Why do I believe? Because I think that in a way, it draws a parallel to the multiverse theory. There have been past Gods/Universes, the world we're currently in has a God of its own, and there'll be more Gods in the future universes.

Of course, I'm aware of the limitations, such as the fact that there's no evidence of this, or heck, even if the multiverse theory exists. Some things just work in mysterious ways, or until we finally know the meaning of life and universe (and no, it's not 42).

Hmmmm… interesting. Care to elaborate how Buddhism's concept of God works? I heard that calling Buddhism atheistic is misguided, but that's pretty much all I know..

[Silver Commonwealth]

I am personally irreligious. I disbelieve in any deity because I quite simply have no reason to believe in their existence. If there is a deity, I suspect it is not any we have postulated in all of human history, and I believe that their wishes would impart themselves on us all by being rules of the universe’s mechanisms. Humanity has postulated the existence of deities countless times, in countless different ways. To me, this demonstrates a variety of ways to examine the issue- some of which have been proven totally wrong, others of which have been proven wrong to a great extent, forcing interpretations to be altered to satisfy reality. Basically, I see no reason why there would be one, and so, do not believe in one.

^ This. Pretty much same there - I am an atheist myself.

[The New California Republic]

Maybe the lack of evidence is evidence in and of itself.

War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.

[The Fedaration of Russia]

God may not exist, but believing that he exists gives people hope.

[Belgrade Serbia]

I don't have much time right now to go into detail, but to put it shortly:

I am an Orthodox Christian, since birth, and I have spent a lot of my time contemplating religion and came to the conclusion just by myself that there is a God. Jordan Peterson, in one of his early Podcasts, explains how humans are defined mostly by their limitations, and that Heaven and Hell are actually states of mind that come from the concept of the infinite. The concept of the infinite is incomprehensible to humans due to our limitations, and I believe that it is that concept that has been represented and personified as God in the Christian religion. I believe that the Holy texts of Christianity (containing many stories) give many positive messages (e.g. The Good Samaritan) and suggestions on how to be at peace psychologically when read between the lines. The thing that I find disagreeable about most religions is the corruption of the church - where the church strays from the original teachings to be able to manipulate its believers. That is why I think that for religion, dogma must be separated from the core values and moral messages in order to have true faith.

That's my outlook in brief!

[Valentine Z]

It's a mixture of both, but it's also because of my religion being Buddhism. We don't exactly believe in a single all-powerful entity, and we even acknowledge that our God will pass away; it will just take the expiry of the entire universe to do that.

Why do I believe? Because I think that in a way, it draws a parallel to the multiverse theory. There have been past Gods/Universes, the world we're currently in has a God of its own, and there'll be more Gods in the future universes.

Of course, I'm aware of the limitations, such as the fact that there's no evidence of this, or heck, even if the multiverse theory exists. Some things just work in mysterious ways, or until we finally know the meaning of life and universe (and no, it's not 42).

Hmmmm… interesting. Care to elaborate how Buddhism's concept of God works? I heard that calling Buddhism atheistic is misguided, but that's pretty much all I know..

I'm the same poster from there, so sorry for the switch!

From my limited understanding (I need to read up more and maybe pray and go to pagodas more), we do believe in a higher being, but just that we are indeed aware that even Buddha himself has a limited lifespan, though it is certainly a lot longer than humans, or any other beings. It also seems like I was wrong about the end of the universe thing. From what I have read and heard so far, the switch from currently Buddha (effectively our God, though we don't exactly use that title literally) to the future one is when the end of the world is upon us (something akin to a Rapture?) In Pali, Gotama is our current Buddha, and when he has passed and the world ended (or the universe ended, whichever one), Maitreya, regarded as the future Buddha, will take over, and the whole cycle of life and death will repeat again for us mortals.

27 (named) Buddhas has preceded the current one, and on top of the fact that we know little to nothing about how our Universe works. Suffice to say, this is my personal belief - that there were at least 27 worlds before us, being born (Big Bang), and died (Big Freeze, Big Rip, Big Crunch, etc...)

To say that we are atheists is... not exactly true. We might not believe in a true God (by true, I mean something in the sense of Christianity) who is immortal and transcends time, but Buddha himself comes close. [We] believe that nothing is fixed or permanent and that change is always possible. We do believe in a higher power, just that the higher power itself may not be permanent. There're also the subject of achieving Buddhahood, or going to Nirvana (place without suffering and desire), but that's something beyond my understanding as of now, other than knowing the practices needed.

At least, this is my very understanding. If there are fellow Theravada Buddhists here who can help me and correct me, feel free to do so.

[Meikaii]

While I identify as an agnostic atheist, I also identify as an agnostic maltheist. That is to say that while I am open to the idea of a God or gods with proper evidence, that I do not see a compelling reason, let alone evidence, to believe such beyond wishful thinking. Further, while I have not seen evidence pointing to the existence of a deity/deities, I have seen plenty of evidence that if there is such, that it/they are malevolent entities that deserve neither worship, praise, respect, or even the slightest bit of care from us. They are inferior to us. Perhaps it is a particularly bleak outlook, but it fits the available facts and concludes it nicely. If the time comes where evidence is provided, I shall reexamine my conclusion, but until then, I remain unconvinced of the existence of a deity.

My personal conclusion is that the religious suffer from a form of psychosis stemming from the intersection of willful ignorance and curiosity while fueled and cultivated by cognitive dissonance. The form of psychosis varies based on the nurture of an individual but, regardless, it will continue to grow until it collapses in on itself under the weight of objective facts. I see it all the time in Moronism... I mean Mormonism; watching shelves creak, crack, and finally break under the weight of cognitive dissonance. Worse yet, this psychosis is viral. It grows beyond to infect other aspects of a person's being. The Catholic scandal is well known, but did you know that the same and more is being obfuscated by the Mormons? Try punishing the victim for being raped, the rapist is let off completely, sometimes with honors, and the local police are complicit in the coverup if not completely removed from the situation by the Church's need to cover it all up and project a good image. The religious tend to be the ones most against civil rights, progress, cooperation, and intelligence, yet all of this is for the betterment of all. The psychosis distorts an individuals ability to think rationally and see genuine truth, even as it stares them in the face. Honestly, I pity them, most of them indoctrinated when they can barely string together a cogent question about what they are being taught, laying a foundation for further ignorance and ass-backwards thoughts, often to the detriment of themselves and others.

[Sapientia Et Bellum]

Im at a weird point in my life where I really want to believe in Christ as my lord having read the new testament in full and going to church for a while yet I cant get myself over some of the morals placed upon people in the bible... The vast majority of Christs words are fantastic but the issue is I dont believe in half assing religion (something im already doing which leaves me in a weird limbo)... I cant believe in just the parts I like and not in the parts I dont like... For example, I love the family structure that the new testament lays out yet at the same time it calls for slaves to obey their earthly masters with the same vigor of love they have for christ which is an idea that comes in conflict with my personal morals... I really dont know what to do

[Barboneia]

I don't really think about it or care. I'm personally agnostic. I don't know if a god or gods exist, if they do, great, if not, whatever. It's not a big issue to me.

[The Grims]

Which God ? I can imagine that someone who worships Vishnu does not believe in Allah or Odin.

Do you desire a list per God ?

[Settrah]

I believe in a good in the sense of being a creator of a universe, but not so much as an omnipotent all powerful lord. Kinda like we're in a pocket dimension that exists on a stain in someone's old underwear or something. And they exist in a unvierse that's the same thing in someone elses, and someone in our universe unintentionally creates a universe themselves, infinity.

But the technology to discover this and prove it is no existent, and unless the scientific advancements are made then we will always be closed off to it.

[United States of Natan]

Do you accept answers regarding the Jewish God?

[Maowi]

I don't believe in God, and Antony Flew puts it perfectly for me:
Once upon a time two explorers came upon a clearing in the jungle. In the clearing were growing many flowers and many weeds. One explorer says, "Some gardener must tend this plot." The other disagrees, "There
is no gardener." So they pitch their tents and set a watch. No gardener is ever seen. "But perhaps he is an invisible gardener." So they set up a barbed-wire fence. They electrify it. They patrol with bloodhounds. (For
they remember how H. G. Well's The Invisible Man could be both smelt and touched though he could not be seen.) But no shrieks ever suggest that some intruder has received a shock. No movements of the wire
ever betray an invisible climber. The bloodhounds never give cry. Yet still the Believer is not convinced. "But there is a gardener, invisible, intangible, insensible, to electric shocks, a gardener who has no scent and
makes no sound, a gardener who comes secretly to look after the garden which he loves. At last the Skeptic despairs, "But what remains of your original assertion? Just how does what you call an invisible,
intangible, eternally elusive gardener differ from an imaginary gardener or even from no gardener at all?"

[Old Tyrannia]

My personal conclusion is that the religious suffer from a form of psychosis stemming from the intersection of willful ignorance and curiosity while fueled and cultivated by cognitive dissonance. The form of psychosis varies based on the nurture of an individual but, regardless, it will continue to grow until it collapses in on itself under the weight of objective facts. I see it all the time in Moronism... I mean Mormonism; watching shelves creak, crack, and finally break under the weight of cognitive dissonance. Worse yet, this psychosis is viral. It grows beyond to infect other aspects of a person's being. The Catholic scandal is well known, but did you know that the same and more is being obfuscated by the Mormons? Try punishing the victim for being raped, the rapist is let off completely, sometimes with honors, and the local police are complicit in the coverup if not completely removed from the situation by the Church's need to cover it all up and project a good image. The religious tend to be the ones most against civil rights, progress, cooperation, and intelligence, yet all of this is for the betterment of all. The psychosis distorts an individuals ability to think rationally and see genuine truth, even as it stares them in the face. Honestly, I pity them, most of them indoctrinated when they can barely string together a cogent question about what they are being taught, laying a foundation for further ignorance and ass-backwards thoughts, often to the detriment of themselves and others.

Emphasis mine.

Meikaii: *** Warned for trolling. ***

[Reikoku]

Nature or the universe seems to me to be the only thing which can justifiably be called God, since everything originates inside of it, and everything forms a co-dependent relationship with other natural objects.

[Ciel-rasa]

Because God, to me, has been redefined several times over, by philosophy, psychology, spirituality, and technology.

I believe that it is necessary for God to exist, but only so It (yes, my God is genderless) can keep the equations governing the laws of the universe functioning. For what ever reason the current God has decided to do that, either for us to simply be or not to be, we may never know. But the trick is, we do not have to know. God's mechanisms like evolution and quantum mechanics have given us the concept of free will, so that we can be at least a little ignorant of what could have been, so that we can still experiece relativity as if time is linear, so that we may experience life at its simplest best.

But to God, time and space and energy and matter are malleable concepts making him all-powerful, all-present, all-knowing. The beginning and end of entire universes are as good as the beginning and end of our own universes simulated in computers. And while God is eternally crunching numbers in the form of fundamental particle interactions, we are here, existing as we know it. Whether by accident or by design, we can only guess, intelligently, through our own experiments. We might as well be in a simulation and God is the most dominant cosmic computer simulating all this. Maybe the fundamental particle interactions are simply data, abstracted beyond our current way of recognizing it.

Therefore, God must exist because we do. The only commandments God issued are those that make electrons to have a spin of 1/2, and the charge of a neutron, zero. Once we do recognize the abstraction, we will arrive at a single equation that might as well be God Itself. And when that happens, we can also be as God is. Whether we merge with God, or replace It, is up to us.

But the spiritual things? It's all mental images, reflected and enacted on reality by our own actions. Doesn't mean it's not real though. Come to think of it, we are like Godlings, with our own little models of the world in our heads. That model is more or less another simulation, doesn't mean it's not real. It is just that reality is also relative to the senses as of the current model of our body. It's like we influence ourselves and the world around us with what we think of ourselves and what's around us.

So, I believe in God, and that God is the universe, and that the universe is a simulation of itself. And that we, too, can be like God.

[Free Arabian Nation]

I don't believe in any deity, except immortal leader Mao and Kim Jong Un.

Kim Jong Un is clearly the most powerful god of them all though because just look at how GLORIOUS he has made his nation. Look how many people get to EAT and look how he was able to pull nukes out of his ass to threaten the Satanic Kingdom of America.

[Randsidia]

I don't believe in God simply for three reasons:

One, of course, because there is no evidence for his existence, and thus belief in him would be based upon faith rather than reason.

Two, the existence of God is simply irrelevant where science and philosophy are necessary in discerning the secrets of the universe/discovering morality.

And Three, the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God is antithetical to free will.