My beliefs in reincarnation, christianity, and God have grown into something deeper does this offend you?
820920
A Zen master now would ask: what is the purpose of this question?  Who is the thing that thinks it's asking?  And why does this thing ask?  Also, reincarnation is not a buddhist concept (rebirth is which is VERY different) but, of course, whatever concept helps you is the important thing (given that all of these concepts are tools and not ends).
1029145
If You Want To Face Reality!....Yes, It's Strange!......This Is A Religious/Spiritual Site And 95% Of The People Who Log On To This Site Are Atheists, Agnostics, GOD Haters, And Folks Who Are Disrespecting, Judging, Condemning, Mocking, Rude, And Insulting The Religious/Spiritual Beliefs!!!!!...So, Yes, I Would Say That It's STRANGE TOO!.......Ps. You Have Any Ideas As To What To Do About It?...We're All Ears!....
157529
YEAH, AT TIMES I FEEL LIKE I LIVE IN MY OWN WORLD SORROUNDED BY CLONES OF MYSELF...IM QUITE A THINKER YOU KNOW! VERY QURIOUS ABOUT GOD'S CREATIONS, AT TIMES I'D ASK MYSELF IS IT CRAZY TO QUESTION SOME OF THE STUFF AROUND...I THINK IM LOOSING IT NOW...
1150922
I have no problem with non-believers here.  I am not insulted by your presence; in fact, this may be the perfect setting for you.  I pray that God would speak to you in some way that you would believe in Him.  True Christians do not condemn others, however, love them and avoid saying hurtful things. However, I will not refrain from expressing how I feel about my personal relationship with God and how He has carried me through many difficult times.
206061
People push it on you because they believe strongly, that they have found the only path to heaven. They are just trying to bring you into the faith because they care about you and want you to go to heaven too. The unfortunate thing is most people don't know how to go about "selling" their faith to others, and sadly, end up offending more than they convert. It is not intentional, it is an unfortunate by product of their good intentions. I am sorry that this friend has made you feel like your faith is a lie, or rather that he is calling it that. Thank you however, for keeping an open mind about the whole thing. Christianity can be a bit messed up at times. Most Christian faiths think that any other Christian faith that isn't theirs is going to hell too, so don't feel too bad. The way I look at it, if you are right with God, that is all that really matters.
700225
I have been on both sides of this issue. I was raised to believe, but rationally I could not except the idea that God was the judgmental insecure fruitcake my religion portrayed him as.\n\nSo I stopped believing.  Then this happened to me.\n\nSeveral years ago I had an unusual experience concerning an uncle, a distant relative who lived over a thousand miles away. \n\nWhile driving my car I suddenly felt the unmistakable presence of this relative that I hardly even knew. He was more like someone I had heard about than someone I knew. It was very strange; it felt as though I was momentarily lifted right out of my physical body. I seemed to be suspended somehow beyond space and time, bathed in a love so intense It felt like I could have just disappear into it at any moment if It would have let me. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it seemed to last forever at the same time. I realize how crazy this must sound. The experience was so strong that at first I was afraid I was loosing my grip on reality. I finally managed to chalk it up to an over active imagination.\n\nThree days later I got a call from my aunt telling me that this uncle we are talking about had gone into a coma and died the day I had the experience. It felt like ice water had been poured down my back when she told me this. I had lost any real ideas of God or faith and had become somewhat of an atheist. Needless to say this experience caused me to rethink some of the conclusions I had come to. \n\nI feel blessed to now understand that even in our darkest confusion something loves us so much that it went out of its way to assist me and bring me back to a state of absolute certainty about Gods love for us.\nDuring the experience it seemed like there was a vast amount of information that I was somehow allowed access to. One thing that I came away from this experience understanding beyond any shadow of a doubt was that any Idea that God is unhappy with us or would judge or allow us to be punished for any reason is simply impossible. \n\nI can’t explain the love I felt with words. They simply don’t make words big enough or complete enough to do this. The only way I can begin to convey this love to you is to say that there was simply nothing else there. Nothing but love. No hint of judgment, no displeasure of any sort. It is as though God sees us as being as perfect as we were the day we were created. It is only in our confused idea of ourselves that we seem to have changed.\n\n I hope this is of some help to you. Good luck. Love and blessings. \n\nYour brother don
1060711
Nope.  That whole "thou shalt have no other gods before me" thing is kind of out the window.  Not that I ever had any spiritual experiences in Christianity anyway.
376548
I would think that it is wrong because God created you the way you are and such a drastic change kinda makes it seem like you're better than God. 'whoever' is talking about the people that realize what they have done wrong and repent.\nAlso, it refers to believers...believers follow His word.
920469
At this point.  thanks for confirming the word I got from Holy Spirit a few moments ago....be back later, possibly much later.  I do cherish some relationships I have formed with believers and 2 people I saw saved.  But it is becoming harmful.\n\nBlessings,\nDavid
809831
I am very open to having logical, intelligent conversations, and even debates, with people that respect MY belief as well.\n\nI respect people's right to believe what they want, and have no problems with it until they begin condemning, name-calling, or just being outright rude (the whole sit down and shut up comment from my brother/sister would get a good butt-kicking...).\n\nIt is sad and disturbing that SOME Christians find it easier to just hate everyone who is different from themselves then to actually LEARN something new.  Ask questions, discuss thoughts...etc.  It's not hard, but I think that they are intolerant of difference.\n\nOn top of that, I feel that they fear challenges.  They may not be secure enough in their faith to understand others, as well as defend theirs when the going gets tough.  Again, this is not all Christians, just the ones who feel we are attacking them by our very existance.\n\nI think it will be a cold day in their hell before they ALL respect us COMPLETELY.  All we can do is continue smiling and be the better person.  We are strong enough in our non-beliefs to continue on with our lives without hating people for their choices.  They are the ones that, according to them, have to live with their choices in the "afterlife".
874929
Yes Mulimah I think you may be on to something. My house is very eclectic, I have antiques, modern pieces, artwork and it all seems to mesh together. That is pretty much how I am with my faith as well. I adapt and take many concepts of various beliefs and find truth as well as lies in all of them. But I see all of them as valid ways for each individual to have a personal relationship with god. That was interesting I never thought of it that way.\nI wish you well
1162961
Why are you so p!ssed off, sounds to me that you are not very secure in what you believe. Usually that's the case when someone continues to say that they believe something they themselves know is ridiculous.  All I have to say is your system of beliefs is weak and unstable your flaired temper tells me that your actually do not believe what you say you believe and it\npisses  you off when someone challenges it. You do not know how to defend it so you throw a childish fit and call names.  Grow up, get a live and believe some thing you can believe in.  God is God and you aren't big enough to believe Him away. He is there whether you like it or not and He is unmovable and will still be hear when you are dead and buried and He will cause the grass to grow on your dead carcase while your soul continues to die in hell.\n\nBe Blessed though you do not believe in God, He believes in you and waits for you to acknowledge Him.
736506
Well....\n\n...yeah. You do. You go against what it means to be skeptical, scientific, and logical. Sorry, but that's the way it is. No offense. \n\nThere's nothing inherently WRONG with your position, but I certainly wouldn't take it. But that's just me. Not you. And you're not me. You're you. Stay fresh and true to yourself. Don't worry about what other people think.\n\nDon't worry, I laugh at everyone, regardless of whether you believe in a god or not.
785911
Why do you want to jump from one belief to another belief? I would advice you to go beyond all beliefs and honestly seek the truth and understanding.
634320
Well, I don't know their reasons, but I know why I rolled my eyes many years ago. I felt that Christians use to throw their religion down one's throat. I did not like the, "If you do this/that, you will burn in hell". I don't know, but my idea of God was different. It was not that I did not believe in God, but I just did not want to be told how to serve Him. Now that I am older and wiser, I no longer roll my eyes. I think I have come to accept everyone as they are. Everyone has different views, and I think that at the end of the day it boils down to RESPECT.
5587
I don't admire your position.  My suggestion would be to first do some soul searching; decide what you truly believe God or The Divine is and how you relate to Him/Her.  Is God merciful and kind?  Vengeful and Angry?  Is He simply a Creator that allows man to choose his own path or does he have our destiny mapped out for us?\nAfter that- another hard choice- the afterlife.  Do you believe in one at all?  Is there a heaven?  if so, is there a hell?  Do you believe a soul can be reincarnated?\nMy suggestion is to actually write these questions and answers down on paper to give yourself a very clear picture of your beliefs.  Think of as many theological questions and theories that are important to you and actually put them into words.  Then- RESEARCH.  I would say go to a clergy member, pastor etc but if you do remember they are only going to give you THEIR beliefs and teachings, not what you may consider your own.  So if you seek advice from a third party, take everything from a skeptics point of view unless you find someone that says EVERYTHING you've written down as your core beliefs. (Chances are- you won't)\nTry the internet, library, bookstore- whatever nonpartial resources you can find.\nLastly, keep an open mind.  Don't write down "I believe in the Bible so I must be Christian".  Judaism believes in the Old Testament of the Bible; Mormons believe in both the Old and the New Testamants but have a Third testament as well.  Wiccans don't believe in the Christian Bible, but have many of the same core beliefs as "love thy neighbor".  Here's a good web site that has a lot of information on a variety of religions   http://www.religioustolerance.org/  \nThere's no easy way out of this one.  You've got a long road ahead of you and I wish you luck.
314784
How about a non-believer's impression of you?\nWhy are you threatened by people who do not believe the same thing as you?  Why do you think that you're a better person because you've "found god"?  Your original question was why do people not believe in god, and would have been a great opportunity for you to actually learn something about other people, but then you ask what is your impression of non-believers.  So all you wanted was someone to validate your beliefs. \n"Too selfish and too high and mighty"???? I spend my life helping people and trying to do things for others, regardless of my faith.  It's the self-righteous jerks like you that are too high and mighty.  So go ahead, pat yourself on the back, you believe in god.  Whoopee-freaking-doo!  Aren't there christian chat rooms are something you can go to, if all you want is people to agree with you and tell you how right you are?