Question by someone who hasn't been on Veeky Forums very long:
Because Dostojewski seems to be the most hyped writer on here and because I often see bible threads I get the impression that many on here are christians or at least believe in some sort of higher being. I also get the impression that Veeky Forums seems to be one of the most intelligent boards, at least for Veeky Forums standarts. I myself have encountered some, but not many truly deep thinkers who believe in god. This may sound 'edgy', but I personally feel like its pretty obvious that the most plausible answer is that there is no god. I'm not saying I can know there is none, and I have indeed met some highly intellectual people who really are believers. My question is now: Are those people just overrepresented on Veeky Forums? Do you believe in a higher being? If yes, to what extend?
Personally I cleanse my anus internally three times a day to remove all the remntants of evil atheist spirits from my digestive tract. If this world was 100% Christian, there would be no need for fecal matter. By definition it is evil. So yeah. Do I consider the battle of good vs. evil to be the biggest battle on this earth? Some days I do, very much so. If all of this sounds like theological mumbo-jumbo, I challenge you -- if you eat only evil, processed white bread for a week, you will feel so dizzy and bloated and constipated, that when you finally get to go to the bathroom for #2, you will feel pure bliss the first couple of minutes after the deed is done. Some of my friends even tell me that it feels somewhat like doing the fiddly-diddly with your wife, but I wouldn't know, since I haven't even proposed to my girlfriend yet (our parents think that 25 is far too young for that). If you're asking yourself: "well if white bread is evil then why is it white?", let me ask you this: "does the Devil not always hide himself behind a mask of apparent goodness? Is he not called 'the bringer of light'? but when you poop it out, it's very much black, isn't it? It unveils it's true nature when filtered through the Good in all of us."
Cheers
Henry Thompson
I think most people grew up with an idea of god that is too clearly defined. People automatically assume that by in speaking of god you automatically assume it to mean a being that literally created us all.
Logically, there is little support for this idea, and smart people are quick to grasp this. However, even very smart people find difficultly with thinking about god from different perspectives. It's like if they can't have a god that literally created everything, they discount the entire idea and notion entirely.
However, I typically look at the word, at it's function, and at its symbolism. I want to know what it means. I want to know why we care so much. All communication involves symbols and faith in those symbols. Nobody stops talking because they acknowledge that their vocabulary is simply made up of a bunch of random, arbitrary sounds that have been canonized and emotionally invested in. If they did, they wouldn't enjoy the benefit of talking. I think religion and god function similarly. You need the ideology in order to experience the magic.
Cameron Barnes
>under 30 >religious
pick one
Joseph Morris
I believe in God but I don't strictly follow the Christian rules. I pick what I consider relevant in the scriptures and the other sources—I was born Catholic—then proceed to stick with it. It's more like a light-version Christian humanism.
David Jenkins
>no need for fecal matter
Daniel Howard
My dad's a pastor, I was raised very Christian. Emphasis on the "very".
I grew out of it, but I'm not an atheist. Personally I think atheism is a bit silly.
As for your question, in this day and age you can really just ask "do you believe in God" without first defining what you mean by "God".
I don't believe in a " nice guy in the sky" like I was raised to, like Dostoyevsky did. I'm not sure I even beleive in intelligent design so much as intentional design. I don't apply "beleif" very liberally, but I do believe that life is a product of intention.
I'm still exploring the idea of divinity, but that's as far as I can extend any legitimate personal beleif, intentional design
Isaiah Sullivan
>I personally feel like its pretty obvious that the most plausible answer is that there is no god. This is only due to the time in which you're living. This is the age of science/positism which requires empirical evidence for every claim. Emperical evidence is obtained through our senses and out senses can only sense the physical world. God, having created the physical world, necessarily is outside of it. Therefore science will never be able to prove or disprove the existence of God. That's also why it is called belief or faith. You must make the leap to faith if you want to believe. It is a choice everyone should make on their own, disregarding society, peers, family and science.
Lucas Davis
You need to expose yourself to more thinkers.
I went through the edgy teen atheist phase and I look back on it now and laugh; it seems so childlike now.
Anyone who literally thinks there was a Noah's Ark or whatever is foolish, but it is not about the ark. I've come to a point in my life where I have no real beliefs and no meaning.
Have you read any Dostoyevsky? People can take a leap of faith to belief in God just like people can take a leap of faith to believe they are not the only person in existence. I might not be there myself, but I have great respect for those people who can do that.
Hit up David Hume, Kierkegaard and of course Dostoyevsky.
Easton Collins
Lit consists mostly of contrarians who instinctively want to distance themselves from the fedora crowd. So they either go full Stirner or respectable classical theist (e.g. Thomist). The mature opt for the latter.
Bentley Murphy
>People can take a leap of faith to belief in God just like people can take a leap of faith to believe they are not the only person in existence.
Jace Roberts
>I went through the edgy teen atheist phase and I look back on it now and laugh; it seems so childlike now. >Anyone who literally thinks there was a Noah's Ark or whatever is foolish
you have some growing up to do still, evidently
William Perry
Not the same user,but just because he share this particular thing with a fedoratheist doesn't necessarily equates him with a fedoratheist tho.
Lucas Sanders
Dostoevsky is by far my favorite writer and I post about him occasionally here but I have no religious beliefs. The man could write books.
Mason Miller
How is TBK??Just be honest. And which one of his books specifically addresses the issues regarding faith?
Kevin Jackson
>And which one of his books specifically addresses the issues regarding faith? Crime and Punishment The karamazov brothers And to a lesser extent, Demons
Benjamin Mitchell
TBK is probably his best work and I loved it, it might be my favorite book overall. If you don't enjoy long discussions about philosophy/theology you likely won't enjoy it. That's what the real story is, and the plot is a very nice murder-mystery. The characters in it are some of the most relatable and deep that I've come across.
Faith is most addressed in The Brothers, Crime and Punishment, and The Idiot. Demons is less religious in nature than his other works and is more focused on politics.
Elijah Morris
At least some of the posters on Veeky Forums do actually read, and reading a lot tends to expose one to many ideas about the world and man's place in it. A well-read person will probably hold a number of beliefs at odds with the zeitgeist. The zeitgeist gains a lot of its plausibility by exploiting common cognitive biases, e.g. the narrativization of history.
A lot of belief in God starts with realizing that God isn't a magic sky daddy, which most basic bitch theists and atheists conceive of Him as. The God of Aristotle, the Upanishads, or Spinoza, these are eminently different conceptions of reality than the zeitgeist recognizes.
Aiden Long
>God isn't a magic sky daddy, which most basic bitch theists and atheists conceive of Him as
Seriously, I've met atheists who told me this.
Ian Wright
Gods are mythological entities, invented by the mind of man to paper over his ignorance of the natural world.
Elijah Cooper
>divine-derived ethics and code of conduct because of lack of knowledge about natural phenomenons
Sure, it makes perfect sense.
Jaxson Richardson
I wish I could be that smug and dismissive but I've graduated high school
Nicholas Mitchell
I doubt op has read any theology or the majority of philosophy which discusses religion in depth as he discusses no major points or even minor in his post. I'm not sure if he wants people to agree with him largely or give him reasons as to why god is real when he can't even have a conversation as he has no backing knowledge.
So how can people say "its pretty obvious that there's no god" when they haven't even done their research?
It's like saying all nuclear energy is bad when you've never heard of thorium and even if someone presents sustainable safe ways of nuclear power you'll cover your ears and say not gonna happen.
Cooper Mitchell
brain and the social structures are natural phenomena too
Alexander Miller
>there's something like logically explainable morals
You couldn't be closer to the fedora stereotype.
Alexander Thompson
Clearly you haven't.
Bentley Peterson
>I doubt op has read any theology No, we don't need to study astrology or Scientology to know it's a crock of shit. Supernatural woo has been unnecessary since the advent of modern science.
Isaiah Diaz
>throwing stones without contributing any thoughts to the discussion or even making an attempt at contradicting the other's claims clearly.
Thomas Rivera
Is this an elaborate b8,user kun?
Jordan Gray
?
Religious thinkers often times used mathematics and science in theories concerning god.
not sure what you're saying.
Luis Price
>Supernatural woo has been unnecessary since the advent of modern science.
w e w l a d
Aaron Fisher
Thanks user. I have only read Notes from the underground as of yet.What do you think of kierkegaard ?Where should i start with him?
Nathaniel Johnson
I haven't read Kierkegaard but there's a well-known Orthodox Christian tripfriend around here named Constantine who endorses him greatly for similar reasons that he endorses Dostoevsky (chiefly that he puts faith in front of apologetics). I intend to start Kierkegaard soon myself and the starting point I have seen recommended is usually Fear and Trembling or Works of Love.
Carter Edwards
Do atheists want to ban the word, "God?"
I mean, aside from ascribing it to Marvel, DC comic characters, etc.
Daniel King
Which translation(fear and trembling) should i go for ??Currently i am getting the penguin one for 4 $.Is it any good?
Alexander Martinez
I suggest “Practice in Christianity” as a starting point. It's easier to get in and it gives a solid preparation to “Fear and Trembling”.
Joshua Hernandez
Thanks, I'll check that out.
No clue, sorry
Sebastian Long
Hong is the best Kierkegaard translator to English
Asher Cook
Honestly, you should probably work your way up through his works in order. Start with Either/Or.
Matthew Evans
I prefer Lowrie. Sadly out of print.
Landon Ross
>I also get the impression that Veeky Forums seems to be one of the most intelligent boards Veeky Forums and /g/ are way more intelligent.
Austin Bennett
discussing if drinking his piss is healthy is sure intelligent
John Lopez
how is the hannay one?
Tyler Morgan
Atheist moron here.
Dostoyevsky's themes are general critiques of society, and, from what I've read, are apt. The (western) world is infinitely more comfortable, but people are still almost universally wretched, and incapable of actively engaging with the concept of futility. We're encouraged to ignore it, or actively trained out of it. Usually were worse of, in the most meaningful sense as a consequence.
I enjoy Dostoyevsky for his portrayal of the human condition, but fundamentally disagree with his idea that god is a satisfactory solution to the quagmire of existentialism. And compared to most other authors of his time (that I've read, which is primarily English authors) he actively engages with questions that are more universal and longstanding. I've never found that Dickens, of the hundreds of pages I've read of him, never held a candle to big D in terms of prose, themes or representation.
Hudson Harris
*we're worse off in the most meaningful sense.
You really weren't kidding when you said Atheist moron, huh?
Jason Young
>reading useless shit when there's money to make, sluts to fuck and drugs to take Lol. Seriously there's no point on reading about god, total waste of time. Just stop caring about it
Josiah Harris
>Not becoming the Ubermensch. Take that four dollars and purchase a copy of the Anti-Christ, or Beyond Good and Evil.
Kierkegaard was a chump. Killing your son because you have Multiple Personality Disorder is for chumps. Praising someone for attempting to kill his child because God told him to is for chumps.
This thread is for chumps.
Matthew Butler
>What would J̶e̶s̶u̶s̶ Zizek do?
James Perry
...
Cooper Peterson
After reading the koran, bible, origin of species, and way too many research papers upon the subject, (I've written a few). I can honestly say that I beleive in no overarching chreator('s).
Does that answer your inquiry?
Luis Ramirez
Jews wrote the story in the first place, asshat.
Kayden Diaz
Anne frankly, im a bit dissapointment in you mister.
Dominic Garcia
I became a deeply serious Christian totally for Veeky Forums reasons.
I was raised Catholic, and was confirmed, but I didn't treat my religion with any great respect. It was something I had feelings for, nothing more.
Then I went to college, and started in on my degree in Liberal Arts. This exposed me to many great writers, poets, philosophers, and theologians, and in particular, it exposed me to the powerful intellectual tradition of the Catholic Church. I guess I'm an intellectual at heart, but it was the combination of faith and knowledge that drew me more deeply into Catholicism. These great thinkers who seemed to know everything about humanity believed with all their heart. How could I fail to do the same?
But of course, faith follows reason, or reason illuminates faith. When I found myself being more intellectually drawn into the Church, my faith swelled. It swelled so much that, beyond philosophy and theology, I began to embrace the mystical elements of Christianity. I was drawn to know in ways beyond knowing.
Nowadays I've dived deep enough that I almost feel more at home on /x/ than I feel on Veeky Forums or Veeky Forums. I am a mystical, supernatural sort of Christian. I believe in the working of God in our own time, and I believe he was worked throughout history as well. I believe in healings and apparitions and miracles. I believe in the transcendent reality of this world. This is probably the end-stage of my journey. Or perhaps it's not? I'm not sure. We'll see.
Luke Hughes
>totally for Veeky Forums reasons
I'm no devout Christian but to an unwashed outsider this sounds like dilettante bullshit.
Samuel Thompson
>says the third dimensional being human on Earth
Get real scrub.
Parker Martinez
>mystical elements of Christianity
The simplest mystical element of Christianity is found through the communion bread. It's the "body of Christ" according to usual Sunday rituals.
Xavier Edwards
Soo... what exactly does us existing in the third dimension have to do with anything?
Nothing really. Just a reminder that there are multiple dimensions beyond the limited scale of your perception.
And, That your anthropomorphic self is just looking through a glass and observing it from our bubbles. You have your anger, you have your capacity to love and all but what if that was merely feature on this planet, on this plane of existence where you spend your time in.
So... in terms of creators and what not, there are plenty of Creators, even third dimensional beings. maybe not 2 dimensional beings and lower but they exist.
Elijah Rogers
Your arguement is unstable, we have yet to prove that the dimensional theory is true, let alone which one. I prefer the proven approach per se, like how our senses only perseve just a tiny band of what's around us.
I would still use the same thing to rebuke you though, unobserved = unperturbed.
Nolan Price
When you start to become educated you begin to realize that much of what we observe through scientific research doesn't necessarily align with what is written in the Old Testament. Our first instinct therefore is to jump to the conclusion that there isn't a God.
And that's where many of these seemingly "smart" people are. They have justified to themselves through logic that there is no God so now they don't have to follow the silly rules that God made for us. This makes them feel content and it verifies their shortcomings so they stick with it.
However, those who are truly enlightened realize that without God, there is no reason to continue, and so they humble themselves and succumb to the notion that in reality the extent of human knowledge is miniscule in comparison to the vastness that is eternity. They make the decision to believe that there is a God despite all evidence to the contrary, because otherwise, why go on? If we are to continue living, we must submit ourselves to a life that is worth iving.
And this friends, is what the Lord our God refers to as faith.
Mason Jones
So when you call out there are no "Gods" here, well, I think we are all gods for being human
Anthony Russell
/g/ is by far the shittiest board on this entire site. Worse than /mlp/
Nolan Long
>Athiest I live by the *7 commandments, I just ignore the first three of the ten.
Joseph Perez
I'm your usual agnostic. I don't feel like the existence or non-existence of God (in the sense of a deity, not the specific Abrahamic variety) has been definitively proved enough for me to choose sides (boring reddit-tier faggotry, I know). Certain arguments, like Pascal's or Epicurus', can be interesting but they normally only support the dis-/belief of a certain religion's God. Maybe I'll find an argument or writing that helps me decide, but I haven't found it yet.
tl;dr: i don't fucking know dude
Sebastian Brooks
wow, i haven't seen bait this rotten since my grandpa's alzheimer's spiked up just before that fishing trip
Daniel Taylor
Maturity sounds pretty spooky to me.
Isaiah Wright
I'm not religious but I live in America and see Christianity's effects. Simple things like how Puritans are okay with violence but avoid sex.