Why Do You NOT Believe In God?

Or in your words...

"When suddenly all you had to worry about becomes trivial, and all you have to be happy about is so clear and honest and simple, and most importantly feels attainable."

That is knowing and being one with "god" as you call it, "love" as I call it.

"Love everyone, question everything and look up!"

" Which is the foundation of all the good that we find in the world. Acceptance, truth, patience, freedom, trust, on and on. All of that as one unit is love. That goes beyond romantic love."
You must give your word a definition. Your version of "love" is the same as "good".

"I'm not sure where the "uncertainty" comes from. Love is everywhere therefore god (if that's what you all it) is everywhere because god is love."
Love is most certainly not everywhere. There is pain, death, suffering in much of the world and for most of history.

" But it is EVERYWHERE and in EVERYONE."
Says you, but I havent seen it! Ive seen romantic love, Ive seen motherly love, Ive seen all sorts of family love, I have not seen this strange "universal love" which is just another word for good.

And regardless, you must show how God must exist. Something which shows that something is ensuring there is good in this world or something ensure this world is designed. I have seen neither.

"Durch Nacht und Blut das Licht"

love isn't usually defined as much more then an emotion experience, meaning beyond the basic nature of emotions as internal guides for survival is where the romantic notion comes into play.

Like DT said you associate love with good, what about the bad, it is required for the good, the god of good made the bad and is responsible for every horrible thing that exists.

God is as much evil as love, for he is the source of both. Which contradicts most religious teachings I do believe, as well as their own credibility

"The Greatest Enemy of Knowledge is Not Ignorance, It is the ILLUSION of Knowledge. Stephen Hawking"

DT...

"You must give your word a definition."
I just did give it definition. If you choose not to see it that is your choice. Love is... god, is allah, is good, is creation, is creator, is universe, is light, is goddess, is refinement. Many things.

"Love is most certainly not everywhere."
That's strictly a matter of perception. If you believe life is crap you'll see, find and encounter crap everywhere you turn.

'There is pain, death, suffering in much of the world and for most of history."
Sure but there is also care for the pain, understanding for the death and acceptance and enlightenment within the suffering... the examples of love in everything is endless.

"I have not seen this strange "universal love" which is just another word for good."
You have to want to see it in order to see it. Like I said if you choose to see crap you're going to see crap. If you choose to see love, you will see love. I guarantee it is everywhere.

"you must show how God must exist."
I must? The fact that love is everywhere is what confirms for me that there is a divine existence, a higher understanding. I can't possibly convince you anything beyond what you believe to be true and am not about to try. How you perceive reality, however horrible that reality may be, is your choice.

Leftwood...

"what about the bad, it is required for the good"
I disagree. I think that good is required for the bad or evil because evil is just the absence of good but not the other way around. I believe that good can exist without the bad, and will one day, absolutely!!! (I can't wait 'cause I won't have to debate it anymore it will just be how it is)

"the god of good made the bad and is responsible for every horrible thing that exists."
The only reason evil exists is because people exist. There is no force outside of our contribution that causes evil. God created man. Man created evil. Therefore it's up to us to change it. And if we don't the only way to rid the universe of evil is to rid the universe of man and it will come to a point where that will be the only option if we don't do something different.

"God is as much evil as love"
Just because god is responsible for evil in the sense that it created man and man created evil does not mean that any evil resides within the entity of god. The more evil we do in our lives the further away we get from the divine entity, because evil and good can't co-exist, at least not in pure form. Where the divine entity exists (on the earth level at the moment very few, if any, places, perhaps mountain tops or ocean depths where people don't go)

How do you explain your experiences of "euphoria"? Where does that come from? What is the source of that feeling?

"Love everyone, question everything and look up!"

the source of my euphoria is a succumbing to all the things I would like to be true, mixed with what I "know". Honestly, it mostly comes in waves of what feels more like chemical releases in my body, I feel euphoric when I feel high, even naturally, things just feel good and so possitive perspectives come from it, I don't necessarily put any stock in it, I know its realities are possible, but I also know they don't last and that its equal opposite seems just as possible, I have bipolar as one of my "diagnoses" and to go along with that possibility is what I haven't said, after most of these euphoria's natural or otherwise, there comes a point of draining depression, mild or strong, a sobering, most people don't talk about that, thats not what they want to promote or believe in, after church some feel really good even for hours sometimes, but I'd be willing to bet money they "come down" and that it isn't pleasant if not a source of strong negativity.

I have to disagree with your thoughts of god not being evil, that he didn't create evil, the devil was an angel that he created, by religious thinking isn't the devil the source of all evil (if not god), then man perhaps. What do we do that is more evil than any animal or other form of life? Any more evil than any act of god? If god didn't want evil to exist it wouldn't, and with the talk of a battle between good and evil god and satan, if he is all powerful this cannot happen, and if you are saying we are the makers of evil, then you say we have power over god. What is you personal source of belief that is coming through, I think I would better understand some things, at the moment I'm not exactly sure where you are coming from, and what contradictions do or don't apply to your case, because some are already surfacing, and I'm curious.

"The Greatest Enemy of Knowledge is Not Ignorance, It is the ILLUSION of Knowledge. Stephen Hawking"

"the devil was an angel that he created"
I am definitely not one to ask about religious beliefs as I don't subscribe to any one belief and don't know much of the stories within those beliefs.

"What do we do that is more evil than any animal or other form of life?"
Exactly, that's why I say that we are the source. If there is an ultimate evil entity like a devil or whatever I believe it requires us acting the way that we do in order to survive.

"If god didn't want evil to exist it wouldn't"
Exactly, which is why it's going to come to a point where if we haven't changed our ways and created more good we will be extinguished.

There is no battle between good and evil, that is human's interpretation and it keeps us stuck in the evil. If we think in terms of good for good rather than good vs evil we would begin to create good. Rather than "conquering evil" we have to "create good". Accepting evil as part of our reality is part of it. It is there to teach us who we are and what we're capable of. But we have the power to change it.

"if you are saying we are the makers of evil, then you say we have power over god."
No... we can choose to have the power with god. What allowed us to choose evil was our free will. We ate the apple, we opened the box (Pandora), whatever. I see it as almost like a degeneration that occurred. We got a taste of it and delved into to the point that it is today.

"What is you personal source of belief that is coming through"
I can't possibly tell you that. I listen to every source I come in contact with and take with me the parts that speak to that which I know is true. There is no "label" I could ever put on it for you. It is bits and pieces of everything.

Are you saying there's contradictions in what I'm saying? Or there's contradictions in every belief system?

"Love everyone, question everything and look up!"

My experiences with euporia far underweigh my experiences with pain and suffering, so it isn't the best to judge my perspective, I'll just say that in general I am fairly tortured internally and go from points of productivity to those of total worthlessness, both followed by if not always included with the bouts of depression.

The reason for such balance doesn't come from my knowledge of euphoria but more my overcapacity for empathy, when you feel why people do things you can't hate them as you can when you just know or hear of why they do things.

But I want to stress that there is more evidence supporting this next point than people even dare to realize or notice. When you say what we will see kind of out of life depends on what we want to see. Well one ot the biggest things that even is a big factor in the bible is such things as faith healing, I've heard stories that doctors have done varying levels of oerations or procedures under a some real some placebo case basis, and that the numbers of people who healed even without actual surgery or medicines is staggering, it still doesn't beat the real but it shouldn't be that high unless we have more going on than we are aware.

My point is, especially in terms of health and quality of life this is possibly very true, and could also account for types of "natural" euphoria, like that from prayer or meditation.

I don't know how much it applies to what kind of god exists, but I still think it is far more important than currently thought.

"The Greatest Enemy of Knowledge is Not Ignorance, It is the ILLUSION of Knowledge. Stephen Hawking"

Basically I have concluded thus far that love is the only way for humanity to find freedom and peace within our existance. So anything that supports and furthers that idea I attach myself to and add it, if it fits, to my beliefs. But it has to completely fit. Many ideas I have come across have fit at first but then I find a flaw that makes it no longer fit, so I adjust it. Everything I communiate I have found along the way to support this idea and I'm not saying that I am right by any means, it's a learning process for me as it is for everyone.

But until the day comes that someone proves to me that love won't lead to freedom and peace I'm not likely to alter that as the foundation for my beliefs.

"Love everyone, question everything and look up!"

I'm saying there are contradictions in both. You say you don't prescribe to any particular religion yet you explain your beliefs through them , adam and eve and the apple

Answer this, why was it evil for adam and eve to eat the apple?

For perspective thoughts: Perhaps because he made it evil?

I don't understand you thinking of such distinct seperation between your (god thing) and evil, or as him as the source. If evil is the opposite of good, and you god is good defined, then evil is an entity as powerful as the god of good, you didn't exactly answer in a way I understood on the point of why is what we do evil, thats what I meant by our actions in comparison to animals etc.

"The Greatest Enemy of Knowledge is Not Ignorance, It is the ILLUSION of Knowledge. Stephen Hawking"

Nope wont hear that from me, follow love so far as I can tell, its just the tough spots that take some reason too.

"The Greatest Enemy of Knowledge is Not Ignorance, It is the ILLUSION of Knowledge. Stephen Hawking"

I just used the apple as a reference that most people are familiar with. Pandora and the box (mythology) is also a story that talks about how evil entered the world, there is an Indigenous story about a coyote and a crow I think ??? I just used it as more of a circumstance or time reference than anything else.

Are you asking why is anger evil and compassion good? Or are you asking how I see evil entered our lives?

"Love everyone, question everything and look up!"

both, what is evil to you?

"The Greatest Enemy of Knowledge is Not Ignorance, It is the ILLUSION of Knowledge. Stephen Hawking"

The words degenerative and regenerative explain the essence of good and evil better I think because they actually explain the nature of the entity and how it behaves. It starts with intention. Anger, revenge, guilt, shame, etc. are degenerative. They suck the life out of you and leave you feeling drained and tired. Acceptance, appreciation and compassion on the other hand fills you up and leaves you feeling fulfilled and alive. I could go further into the explanation and examples but I'm just about done for the day and a brief summary will have to suffice.

Like I said in a post earlier today, a long long time ago it seems...

(and all of these things in one word is what I call love, good, light, whatever)...




"Find me a "problem" in the world that isn't solved by one or more of the
following:

Peace, freedom, respect, appreciation, understanding, acceptance,
patience, compassion, care, grace, courage, acceptance, appreciation,
forgiveness, truth, trust, awareness, understanding, health, growth."





That is why I think the way I do in a nut shell. Go ahead, find one, a problem I mean. I dare you.

I know you don't give emotions too much credit but I figure that if it's that which makes us so messed up as a species, there must be something in that that will help us out of it.

"Love everyone, question everything and look up!"

death, pain, fear, lies (lies are promoted by good intentions), evil (there is no proof it can be overcome or that it should, it may be necessary, why do we die, you call degeneration evil, yet it is engrained in our life cycle.

"The Greatest Enemy of Knowledge is Not Ignorance, It is the ILLUSION of Knowledge. Stephen Hawking"

Death is a problem? Death is part of life. Murder on the other hand... that is a problem. And that is solved by several possibilities... calm, patience, understanding, forgiveness.

I didn't say that all degeneration is evil (or at least that's not what I meant to say) I said evil is degenerative.

Pain, what kind? physical pain... health; emotional pain... awareness, acceptance, forgiveness, peace, many could apply.

Fear... courage.

Lies... truth.

Of course there isn't proof it can be overcome. If there was it wouldn't exist. I believe that right now it is necessary (evil) because it teaches us about who we are and what we're capable of. But I also believe that we are on the brink of an evolutionary process... toward a reality where it is no longer.

"Love everyone, question everything and look up!"