Why do you believe there is a God? (Jesus Christ, doctrine)

[Poster]

Have you ever asked yourself why you believe in a God?
by that I mean, do you believe because you were brought up to believe?
did you come to believe after a long search for a meaning to life?
have you always believed? do you believe because someone else believes?

I don't suppose for one minute you can answer this question truthfully,
you will give a lot of reasons but I expect the answers will be that it was mainly
your idea, you came to God of your own free will,
and the society you live in had nothing to do with your believing as you do,

had you been born and raised in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?

[Bishka]

Originally Posted by Poster

Have you ever asked yourself why you believe in a God?

Yes, several times

Originally Posted by Poster

by that I mean, do you believe because you were brought up to believe?

I did at first

Originally Posted by Poster

did you come to believe after a long search for a meaning to life?

Then I started searching, and I found God.
have you always believed? do you believe because someone else believes?

Originally Posted by Poster

I don't suppose for one minute you can answer this question truthfully,
you will give a lot of reasons but I expect the answers will be that it was mainly
your idea, you came to God of your own free will,
and the society you live in had nothing to do with your believing as you do,

Why not? I was born into an LDS family, then left the Church for my high school years, and I tried pretty much everything. Nothing made me happy or content, I went back to my LDS upbrining and found God.

Originally Posted by Poster

had you been born and raised in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?

Nope, probably not, but I would hope I would find my way to where I am now, because I feel content and happy here, but I'm sure I would be just as happy being Catholic, a Jew or a Muslim, I was just LDS first and that's what I came back to.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by Poster

Have you ever asked yourself why you believe in a God?
by that I mean, do you believe because you were brought up to believe?
did you come to believe after a long search for a meaning to life?
have you always believed? do you believe because someone else believes?

I seriously feel as if I were born believing in God. I definitely can't remember a time when I did not believe. I do remember being taught about Christianity, so my belief in Jesus Christ probably has a lot to do with how I was raised. Since I was raised LDS, I obviously gained an understanding of LDS doctrine before I was old enough or curious enough to examine any other belief systems.

I don't suppose for one minute you can answer this question truthfully,
you will give a lot of reasons but I expect the answers will be that it was mainly
your idea, you came to God of your own free will,
and the society you live in had nothing to do with your believing as you do,
had you been born and raised in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?

If I had been born and raised a Jew, I would most likely be a Jew today. If I'd been born a Catholic, I'd probably be Catholic today. I like to believe that I would have had the courage to break away from the training I had in my youth, but I admit it would be difficult for me.

[Booko]

Originally Posted by Poster

Have you ever asked yourself why you believe in a God?

Sure. Right before I decided I was really an atheist.

by that I mean, do you believe because you were brought up to believe?

Been there. Done that.

did you come to believe after a long search for a meaning to life?

Nope. I ran into it unexpectedly. In fact, the irony of the situation still amuses me.

have you always believed? do you believe because someone else believes?

I've been accused of stubbornness, anger management problems, laziness, intolerance, and a lack of compassion, but nope, I've never been accused of believing anything just because someone else does.

I don't suppose for one minute you can answer this question truthfully,

Gee. Thanks for your vote of confidence.

Do you always try to start a dialogue by insulting the other person? As a communication technique, do you find it works very well?

you will give a lot of reasons but I expect the answers will be that it was mainly
your idea, you came to God of your own free will,
and the society you live in had nothing to do with your believing as you do,

The Psychic Friends Network called. They said they had moved your position from answering the phone calls to accounting.

had you been born and raised in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?

Since I'm not a Catholic or Mormon and never have been, it would be hard to say.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by Booko

Gee. Thanks for your vote of confidence.

Do you always try to start a dialogue by insulting the other person? As a communication technique, do you find it works very well?

Yeah, I wondered the same thing.

[Doktormartini]

Well, I'm an atheist so......

Have you ever asked yourself why you don't believe in a God?

Yep, lots of times!

by that I mean, do you believe because you were brought up to believe?

I was born Catholic, and my parents stopped being religious even though they still believe some stuff.

did you come to believe after a long search for a meaning to life?

Yep, I did my searching

have you always believed? do you believe because someone else believes?

I think I believed in a God when I was little, but I can't tell you exactly when I stopped. Probably around age 12 or so I stopped believing.

had you been born and raised in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?

I think had I been raised anything that my parents actually forced and followed, then I would not be an ateheist (or at least turned one a lot later in life)!

Good questions by the way!

[Scuba Pete]

Originally Posted by Poster

I don't suppose for one minute you can answer this question truthfully,
you will give a lot of reasons but I expect the answers will be that it was mainly
your idea, you came to God of your own free will,
and the society you live in had nothing to do with your believing as you do,

OK... my life is a lie. I really want to come up with these really intellectual reasons WHY I believe in God and I can only come up with one lame-o one: He exists.

Originally Posted by Poster

had you been born and raised in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?

Katzpur or Scott would love this if were true (since I am neither a Catholic or Mormon NOW! )

But the TRUTH is, I was raised in a UU church by a mother who claims to be an atheist. But that God guy kept showing his face so often that I had to believe in him.

[Tigress]

Originally Posted by Poster

Have you ever asked yourself why you believe in a God?

Yes.

by that I mean, do you believe because you were brought up to believe?

No, as I was not brought up to believe. Religious language was scarce for us.

did you come to believe after a long search for a meaning to life?

I came to believe (as I do currently) after a long, contemplative, personal journey into spirituality, religion and religious study.

have you always believed?

Yes and no. I have always believed in something, some mystical force, though I did not begin to give it a name or more detailed identity until my teenage years.

do you believe because someone else believes?

No.

I don't suppose for one minute you can answer this question truthfully,
you will give a lot of reasons but I expect the answers will be that it was mainly
your idea, you came to God of your own free will,
and the society you live in had nothing to do with your believing as you do,

There's no doubt in my mind that my studies or society has influenced me in one way or another, but I think that's true with anything, not just God and religion.

had you been born and raised in a Jewish kibbutz do you think you would still be a Catholic or a Mormon?

Truthfully, I cannot say.

Ekam Sataha Vipraha Bahudha Vadanti,
Crystal

(The truth is One, but different Sages call it by Different Names).