To those that believe in a god; Please help me believe

by AlmostAtheist 83 Replies latest jw friends

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  frankiespeakin

  Tiger,

  You said:

  I was with some people and we were partying heavy ( lots of booze and drugs ). I got into a fight with a guy there and I hurt him pretty bad. He got ahold of a 357 Magnum, came back into the room where I was and faced me. He was no more than three feet away from me when he pulled the gun and shot me in the gut.

  and then you said to LR:

  Bradley, next time I'm in Chicago or wherever you are I'm going to look you up and kick your a$$, you self-important creep.

  Apearently you still haven't learned your lesson. You beat the shit out of a guy and then forgive him when he shoots you. and now you want to start up the same patern.
• 

  Incense_and_Peppermints

  i can't tell you why i believe in God; i just do. i won't say it's "just a feeling", 'cause i know you don't want to hear that. there's just too much precision in the universe to be random... birds know just where to go in the winter, the Earth moves on its axis faithfully when seasons change, fragile monarch butterlies travel thousands of miles every year (acorss the great lakes, which are like oceans) to their final destination, an egg and sperm grow into a thinking, feeling human being with a soul. i also struggle with an absence of divine intervention...if i witnessed one-tenth of the things that happen in the world i couldn't turn my back and pretend nothing was happening, i would definitely intervene. so why doesn't God, who is omnipotent and omnipresent? some things are beyond our comprehension... i mean to an amoeba we are unfathomable.

  i don't believe in the christian ideal of God, or in many depicted by the world's religions. when i think about what God looks like, this is kinda what comes to mind:

  i know my comments are probably too simplistic but anyway i hope it helps...
• 

  czarofmischief

  That's right Rochelle.....god is picky. He likes you though...and all others who claim he has answered them. For those of us who have begged, cried, pleaded, searched, and still don't know our ass from a hole in the ground as to lifes questions....will have to assume god just doesn't like us.

  Maybe. After all, nobody else does.

  I know that when I went looking for the "Jehovah" of the WT - I failed to find him. All I can say is that you shouldn't give up seeking. Don't consider God to have been falsified, keep looking, if you really want to meet him. "Keep on knocking, and it will be opened to you," the Bible says. Maybe God is afraid of you?

  CZAR
• 

  wednesday

  I have not read this entire thread but I wanted to comment about prayer. I pray, and I have seen my prayers answered. I was once extremely ill, lying on my bed, unable to think correctly, and completely confused. I had cried out to God for help many times and suddenly, out of the blue, my mind became clear and i could think. I felt very peaceful and could not even remeber why I was so upset. Was I healed? No, gradually, by the next am, my confused thinking returned. However, for a few hours I experienced relief and I did not psych myself into this. I was unable to do that, I was much too confused.God helped me at a time I was totally unable to help myself. In most areas, I feel god expects us to make all efforts to help ourself and for what we cannot do he is there.

  On another occassion I was at the KH. I sincerely, as a child, prayed that whatever the next elder said to me, I would take as coming form God. Well the first elder I ran into after the meeting was someone who intensely disliked me. He started to (as he usaully did) make unkind remaks to me, but was stopped. How do I know this? He told me so. He told me Jehovah was shutting his mouth and he could only tell me to go in peace and that if Jehovah was drawing me to Him, who was he to tell me to otherwise. He said that was not what he had intended to say to me, he was honest in saying he was going to say something unkind, but he was being stopped.

  I have had 2 other instances were I feel the hand of God was directly involved.both involved God actually stopping me from saying something ( b/c I was out of line at that time) and one were I was stopped from being at a certain place.

  These are just my experiences and I know they are real. It does not explain why god allowed the terrible earthquake, but I do know he did not cause it.

  I do not know why God allows the great disasters, but I do not blame him. he did not cause the earthquake, he just did not stop it. I find great evidence of God's existence in nature.
• 

  Tigerman

  Gumby and everyone else : I, nor anyone else understands why so many innocent souls perished due to the tsunami. However, I cannot bring myself to blame God, Satan or any other mysterious Force that is beyond my comprehension. You ask, why am I spared and yet so many die? The only answer I have is the one I stated in my post. I believe that because I asked God to forgive the guy that shot me I was saved . . .yes, I prayed to God AFTER I was shot, but the bullet went through me at an inexplicable angle BEFORE I prayed. In other words, I was saved because God knew I was going to ask Him to forgive the guy.

  I don't pretend to be all that sensitive to my fellow man's needs and worries, in fact, at times I have a very sardonic sense of humor . . .I've been in close touch with reality on some very gritty levels, much like many of you I'm sure. But I love life and I know in my heart where I stand. And I know I am indeed one of the lucky ones. Sometimes I get protective of people and then lash out at those that I think are doing the hurting . . .I ask you to have patience with me.

  Thanks,

  Tigerman
• 

  wednesday

  btt
• 

  Narkissos

  I haven't read the whole thread but I just give my opinion.

  To me "God" is the wrong starting point for an "almost atheist".

  Just locate when and where he appears, extends and recedes in the worldwide history of thought. Mankind and "religion" in the widest sense (including both ritual and belief) existed before, besides and after "God". He is just one of the many answers to our questions, emerging from the continuing need for understanding ourselves in an imaginary way. Why stick to this out of all possible answers, rather than developing your own questions and see to what type of answer they lead you too? "God" may still be the answer to the questions of many people. Obviously he's not the answer to anyone's questions. Whether he is the answer to yours you can only know when you formulate your own questions about life.
• 

  Sunchild

  Gumby,

  That's right Rochelle.....god is picky. He likes you though...and all others who claim he has answered them. For those of us who have begged, cried, pleaded, searched, and still don't know our ass from a hole in the ground as to lifes questions....will have to assume god just doesn't like us.

  I'm sorry if I've offended you in some way, but AlmostAtheist asked a question, that was the most truthful answer I had, and I still stand by it. It's matter of the circumstances being right; I can't tell you what makes the difference. For me, anyway, it happened when I wasn't looking, and it happened at the time when I least expected it.

  Also, you're neither the first nor the last to feel like God has burned or ignored them. As a teenager, I earnestly went looking for God and sincerely wanted more than anything to please him. I even prayed to find the "True Religion," and I ended up as a Jehovah's Witness. That move cost me who knows HOW much in terms of social, career and personal opportunities; I cut off contact with all the friends I made in high school, felt guilty and depressed for going to college since the world was ending Real Soon Now (and, as a result, made very mediocre grades), lost all contact with what would have been my "worldly" college friends, passed up several opportunities to date and possibly marry handsome, intelligent young men..... All of this, I did in the name of being a good JW -- in the name of pleasing a God who actually terrified me, even though I loved him with all my heart. For my love, "God" had rewarded me with fear, loneliness, depression and failure.

  Then, I learned the truth about "The Truth." Needless to say, I was somewhat embittered toward Christianity and especially its God. No, that's not quite right; it's not even close to the anger I felt. But the words I WANT to use are no longer a part of my vocabulary.

  But still, a few years afterward, I've ended up a Christian, and it's the best choice I've ever made. I'm starting to understand my past now, and to see a purpose in everything I've been through. All the pain that I've been through has taught me quite a bit, and I've finally reached a point in my life where I'm capable of picking up the pieces. And thanks in no small part to my JW fiasco, I've learned that having all the answers isn't nearly as important as asking the right questions and keeping an open mind. And if it weren't for my past suffering, I'm certain that my present faith wouldn't be as meaningful.

  And although I'm not God, I'm pretty sure that He (or She, if you prefer) likes you anyway, even if you don't like Him. But I think the first place you need to find God is inside yourself, not a book, a preacher or a church. Maybe if you look in there, the rest will begin to fall into place.

  Peace to you,

  ~Rochelle.
• 

  Kenneson

  "A God who let us prove his existence would be an idol."

  Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• 

  gumby

  Also, you're neither the first nor the last to feel like God has burned or ignored them. As a teenager, I earnestly went looking for God and sincerely wanted more than anything to please him. I even prayed to find the "True Religion," and I ended up as a Jehovah's Witness.

  Rochelle.......let me get this straight....you earnestly and sincerely prayed to god to find truth and this god lets you discover the witnesses. Why? Was there a reason to you suppose for him doing so?

  I too took the christian route for 7 years after exiting and thought I found the truth about the truth......only to be let down a second time by learning the truth about the truth about the truth.

  I'm not trying to rain on your newfound happiness. I'm glad your happy As long as religion harms nobody and gives people a purpose and happiness in life thay cannot seem to find, Im glad for them.

  The problem is......many have a hard time expressing their belief system....especially christianity, without hurting others by claiming god has helped them and blessed them, when millions do not get the same attention from god, and that those who do not accept this belief system will perish.

  I realise you meant no harm.

  Gumby