does faith make you a better person?

[e30 blue]

For me, faith in the God of the bible has made me a better person. I am a follower of Jesus, and I know what it is like to not have God in my life.I am not going to push it on you or anyone on here. I have gone through this thread and most have made up their mind, and I am okay with that. God gives each of us a freewill and we can do with it as we like. Ben 312 you started this thread by saying that for now, You choose to give up on God, so that is where you are at this season in your life.I am so glad that God does not give up on us.

[E30Kaiser]

But you can find purpose without turning to superstitious mumbo jumbo. To quote Douglas Adams, "Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe there are fairies at the bottom of it to?"

I don't think one should look for purpose through religion or faith. For example, you shouldn't decide to help people because you think some god wants you to - you should do it because you want to, or because you think it's the right thing to do.

Without getting into the whole philosophical debate of if it is possible to selflessly help anyone, one should look at it this way. What if you didn't want to do it and the only reason you did it was because of some guidelines setup by some priest somewhere?

You also assume certain things are attached to faith which don't have to be, when you make the statement. "Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe there are fairies at the bottom of it to?" Some people believe a deity caused the universe but hasn't done much past that, others believe there are spirits in everything but nothing caused the universe into being, and other believe God controls everything and everyone. It is too hard to make generalizations on faith other than that faith is based on believing in something.

[Mr Two]

In short, faith is not for the weak minded,it is for those looking for more purpose than the simple progress of your species longevity.

and everyone is looking for something don't dock those who have found theirs.

But you can find purpose without turning to superstitious mumbo jumbo. To quote Douglas Adams, "Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe there are fairies at the bottom of it to?"

I don't think one should look for purpose through religion or faith. For example, you shouldn't decide to help people because you think some god wants you to - you should do it because you want to, or because you think it's the right thing to do.

[leland21]

without reading through the filth,,,

Simply answer no.

It is up to everyone on their own to decided whether or not to be a decent person. I know atheists who are more honest and caring than anyone I know, and I know mormons who are strippers. It is a personal choice, I myself don't believe in a higher being, maybe I would if I wasn't so scientifically minded and needed answers for everything??? I do believe that faith helps restore good values in our nations youth, and that a life dedicated to someone or something seen as "good" is NOT going to have a bad effect on people. I at the same time am tired of so called jesus freaks i am how i am and if you thought about what you believed in you would realize that that's how I was made, either it be by your god or personal choice.

In short, faith is not for the weak minded,it is for those looking for more purpose than the simple progress of your species longevity.

and everyone is looking for something don't dock those who have found theirs.

[Scotaku]

That's laziness, joshh, not faithfulness! ;) ;) ;)

[joshh]

I disagree. For me it's easier to put my trust in something I can see, touch, etc. If I can look at it and make a judgement call about whether or not it will hold me up, that's the easier choice. Leaning on something without being able to appraise its strength is the harder choice to make... the practical definition of the word, faith.

The dangerous part is assuming one may never need a crutch. In my own experience, no one has ever not needed a hand at one time or another.

Let me correct what I said...it's easier for those who fail to use any logic.

[Scotaku]

Religion is for those who need a crutch. It's much tougher to look for the real answers than put all your eggs in one nonexistant basket.

I disagree. For me it's easier to put my trust in something I can see, touch, etc. If I can look at it and make a judgement call about whether or not it will hold me up, that's the easier choice. Leaning on something without being able to appraise its strength is the harder choice to make... the practical definition of the word, faith.

The dangerous part is assuming one may never need a crutch. In my own experience, no one has ever not needed a hand at one time or another.

[joshh]

Religion is for those who need a crutch. It's much tougher to look for the real answers than put all your eggs in one nonexistant basket.

[DanMan68]

So R3VLIMITED is a church? BMW is a religion?

Na, not yet at least. The VW guys on the other hand...

[Ryan Stewart]

Are we talking religion or faith?

Both because the faith question was answered a long time ago and religion is the primary product of faith. I dont have to believe in god to do the right thing. Personally, I think doing something without the belief of punishment/reward is better.

Just believing in a god doesnt have an impact on the person you are, it may just impact your motivations depending on WHAT you believe.

[drift]

Oh, someone from Kentucky ?!

[FL318is]

Are we talking religion or faith?

To me they are two seperate things. Kinda like a wife and a wife's sister.

I believe that an individual can have faith and not be part of an organized religion. Furthermore , religion is a collective and faith is an personal relationship.

Being a better person is a choice. The world has plenty who have not and there are those who do. Give a homeless person a five dollar McD's gift card. What they do with it is not my concern. But I did what I felt would be a better choice for someone.

These are my views and by no means reflect the views of this station or it's affiliates.

[Ryan Stewart]

I think this is a very important point. I am not religious at all, but it seems like the major religious oranizations are the only ones who are doing anything significant to help other people out. They run food panties, organize volunteers to go help out disaster victims, provide counseling and social support, and are generally giving to anybody who needs help. These same churches aren't going to require you to pray or worship. All they care about is helping others.

Plus, i just think that churches are a good social structure to have. They teach good values and bring people together in healthy ways.

Still, it's a shame there has to be this "Jesus" and "God" stuff, and praying, and Bible versus, and singing hymns and all that other stuff. doing things in the name of Jesus or God will never appeal to me.

It depends on where you look. In the underdeveloped world religions are the only organization with the budget. In the developed world there is more money in secular organizations. There are countless charities that have no religious affiliations. I know because I only donate to those types of organizations.

There are also many caveats to religous based charity. They typically only help the underprivledged of their own kind (you dont see a christian fund supporting those in Pakistan, ect) and they often are involved in "other" activities (read: Hamas/HLF/etc).

[Ryan Stewart]

Religion is for people that can't think for themselves. You can only make yourself a better person.

This. I think how you act and your motivation for those actions is what defines you as a person. If you do the "right" thing without religion you may even be a better person because your motivation is intrinsic instead of pleasing a god.

Plus there are plenty of people out there who have faith and are some of the worst people on the planet. Child molesters in the church, thieves, racists and terrorists. All of those people have tremendous amounts of faith.

[E30Kaiser]

If any of you are interested in our understanding of the universe, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ImvlS8PLIo

I wish the guy that was arguing with me about how the universe is expanding in the "Who here believes in aliens?" thread watched this, would have solved a lot of problems.