Why do you believe God exists?

[Parodium]

I'm a Scientist, have been for most of my life. I have NEVER believed in a supreme being, despite going to Catholic schools my entire life.

I'd like to know.... What is it that compels you to believe in God? How can you argue for his existence? Please bare the following in mind when you answer;

1. There are literally thousands of religions, each of which has members that believe just as firmly as you do, they say they feel a personal connection with God, they have their own religious books and doctrines etc, if you were born in Saudi Arabia, you would be a muslim, in Ireland you would be a protestant, seems like the place you are born denotes your religion, rather than divine intervention. Obviously you can't all be right, so how do you know YOU are.

2. Most religions state that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, all-present and eternal. If this is the case, why are people punished for sins by an all loving God, who predestined them to commit their sins by knowing the future? Why is there bone cancer in Children, and insects that burrow into the eyes of infants making them blind, could an all loving God not have imagined a reality without this? And why is there such overwhelming evidence AGAINST the existence of a creator?

3. Since the scientific era God has slowly receded into the shadows, God used to be held responsible for most things, e.g. people offered sacrifices for good health, prayed for rain, thought that God pulled the sun across the sky, created plagues etc. Now we know he does none of these, and God has been reduced to a "God of the gaps" whereby he is still attributed to things we cannot yet explain with science, doesn't seem very powerful anymore.

I'll try to respond to the major points in this thread attempting to dismantle them.

Well, if God doesn't exist where do we base the standards of morality. How can we say that this certain thing is right or wrong, unless we realy have a higher being who is perfect and good.

Are you saying you are only moral because you believe God exists? If he didn't exist, would you suddenly become a psychopath?

[Daniel91]

I don't believe it.
I know it
I believe in God because of many personal experiences with Him.

[neuer111]

I am a scientist BUT I believe in God because of one simple reason: there are many things in life that science is not able to explain. Atheists may argue, that it's just that science has not been developed enough to explain such things, but has managed to discover certain rules that make things stand where they stand now, right? For example, the way sun heats our planet, the way gravitation works, the way our planet circles around, and so on. But what if there was a minor deterioration from those rules? Our planet would jump right to the sun and immediately burn down. So what is that superior power that keeps those things in their places?

Call it GOD, Jesus, Evil or just a superior power. I call it God. I don't think there is anything wrong with such assumption.  

[sarjilcse]

“Everything with a beginning requires a cause. The universe has a beginning and therefore requires a cause. That cause is God.”
AND YES I Believe.

[Parodium]

“Everything with a beginning requires a cause. The universe has a beginning and therefore requires a cause. That cause is God.”
AND YES I Believe.

Who says the universe had a beginning?

[Akupuniard]

Because i want to. I am sure that god exists and nobody can't make me change my opinion because everyone choosign for themslef what he want to do.

[zedkiel08]

I believe god exist because it was taught by my parents in me when i was growing up. They taught me that without god i have no life in this world and they said that god gave me to my parents and they are very thankful for that. And they also said to me that god created the heaven and the earth , all the living things that are in this world is created by god. God is the almighty father to us man.

[racebum]

1. you have to separate religion from god. they are not the same

once you have done this you get left with a very real question which is simply: is there more?

the scientific answer is : we don't know

if you're 100% science, it ends here; but many of us feel, suspect, guess and see things that hint at there being more in the universe than just carbon based life. i find that when you remove religion from the god debate it becomes far more fascinating

[IVNAY ALBIN FAHAD 150]

because, Solar system going on a correct ways. without Operator its impossible. if we think about this operating system we get everything. I think about it so I believe God exist.

[Parodium]

because, Solar system going on a correct ways. without Operator its impossible. if we think about this operating system we get everything. I think about it so I believe God exist.

Do you know how many solar systems exist in the universe that don't have ideal orbits? It is necessary that our solar system must have a stable orbit pattern, otherwise life couldn't exist, and since we do exist, we know we must live in a stable solar system. That is not evidence of an operator, it is simply an observation bias.

[Vod]

1. God is a vast energy field that connects all atoms.

We already have a name for that - gravity.  :/

[Astargath]

I don't believe it.
I know it
I believe in God because of many personal experiences with Him.

How do you know you aren't just mentally ill?

[s.mahmood]

I believe exist of God because in every things of the world which made by us has an oparator or driver.So there is a supreme power who controls all activity of the world which called God.

[Vod]

I believe exist of God because in every things of the world which made by us has an oparator or driver.So there is a supreme power who controls all activity of the world which called God.

Enjoy your Merit: 0 because you will never gain merit with a closed and ignorant mind. 

[GentelMe]

If a god exists and you believe in it, you go to heaven instead of hell. If no god exists, you lose nothing. Why do atheists exist?

[Vod]

If a god exists and you believe in it, you go to heaven instead of hell. If no god exists, you lose nothing. Why do atheists exist?

So we don't spend a few hours every week going to a brainwashing center.

Why would your god give me a brain and then send me to hell for using it?

[Parodium]

If a god exists and you believe in it, you go to heaven instead of hell. If no god exists, you lose nothing. Why do atheists exist?

You lose a life spent agonizing over the rules of a non-existent game. You lose all the opportunities that you could have had if you weren't bent over God's knee. You lose access to all the science, the technology and the progress that your religion inhibits. Even if your God does exist, he is not worthy of my praise.

[Vod]

If a god exists and you believe in it, you go to heaven instead of hell. If no god exists, you lose nothing. Why do atheists exist?

You lose a life spent agonizing over the rules of a non-existent game. You lose all the opportunities that you could have had if you weren't bent over God's knee. You lose access to all the science, the technology and the progress that your religion inhibits. Even if your God does exist, he is not worthy of my praise.

Dude, this thread is going to be a merit payday for you.   Keep making excellent points like this one - I have 11 aunts and uncles I need to cure of their brainwashing. 

[Parodium]

If a god exists and you believe in it, you go to heaven instead of hell. If no god exists, you lose nothing. Why do atheists exist?

You lose a life spent agonizing over the rules of a non-existent game. You lose all the opportunities that you could have had if you weren't bent over God's knee. You lose access to all the science, the technology and the progress that your religion inhibits. Even if your God does exist, he is not worthy of my praise.

Dude, this thread is going to be a merit payday for you.   Keep making excellent points like this one - I have 11 aunts and uncles I need to cure of their brainwashing. 

Sadly, I have to say their condition is likely incurable. Religion is like a virus, it spreads from person to person, infecting their mind, dulling their senses and nullifying their reason. It destroys what makes us as humans so brilliant - our curiosity and our pride, theistic religions are a threat to scientific progress, and that cannot be allowed.

This God they love the much... God the beneficent, the same God that allows metastatic cancer to exist, because he couldn't imagine a creation without it. The same God who almost exterminated mankind because we were 'corrupt?' The same God who sacrificed his own son just so he could forgive us for the sins he predestined us to commit with his omniscience. This God, if he exists, would be a maniac of the highest order. Luckily for us, he's just a phantasm, an imaginary friend who's shedding is long overdue.

One day they'll be laughed at, the way the flat-earthers are laughed at today.

[CokeCoin]

I just hope that there is something more powerful in this world than we are.