Do you believe in God/god(s)/a "higher power"?

[yovargas]

Answer the poll!

Discuss what you wish.

[Frelga]

I voted Yes.

Now I'm sitting here, awed by the implications of my answer.

[elfshadow]

I voted no.


And am doing the same as Frelga it appears.

[anthriel]

I'm abstaining.

[yovargas]

Depending on how I think of the question, I can answer all three ways.

IOW, I don't know how to answer.

[Jude]

The question is waaaay too vague. I voted "Other".

[Frelga]

To be fair to the poll-maker, I think if one admits a possibility of existence of God(s)/higher power, then Yes is the appropriate answer.

And Jude, how can the man who lives with Sam and Anna not believe in the existence of superior beings?

[yovargas]

The question is waaaay too vague. I voted "Other".

Suggestions for improvement?

[Rowanberry]

Maybe the poll could have been formatted something like:

Do you believe that there is a God/gods/higher power of some sort?

a) Yes
b) Not sure, but I think it is possible
c) Not sure, but I don't think so
d) No

In that case, I would have chosen option b).

[Jude]

I shouldn't have said "way too vague" - being vague helps to initiate a discussion, but on the other hand it doesn't help me choose a poll option!

If you asked, "Do you believe in the biblical God", I would have voted an emphatic "no".

But if you asked, "Do you believe in the possibility that there just might be some sort of spiritual being(s) that may or may not have benevolent intentions towards us, but on the other hand may be indifferent towards us", I would answer with a definite "Um... I guess that's possible, I suppose."

And Jude, how can the man who lives with Sam and Anna not believe in the existence of superior beings?

I suppose I could believe in "superior beings"; after all, the Valar could be considered superior beings, could they not? Incidentally, it's really hard to read when you type this small. I have to print it out and then send it to our forensics department downstairs by inter-office mail, and then wait for a reply - and even then their experts only have a 70% accuracy rate.

[yovargas]

Maybe the poll could have been formatted something like:

Do you believe that there is a God/gods/higher power of some sort?

a) Yes
b) Not sure, but I think it is possible
c) Not sure, but I don't think so
d) No

In that case, I would have chosen option b).

I think your option b falls into my "undecided or some such". Vote c!

[Túrin Turambar]

Voted 'no', as probably expected.

[elfshadow]

I didn't think the question was too vague at all, but that's probably because I'm pretty firmly set in my beliefs.


I find it kind of interesting, though, that the only thing we've discussed so far is the form of the question, and not what's in the question. Maybe we're all gearing up.

[Túrin Turambar]

I’ve been through my reasoning before, but it’s pretty simple.

A higher power is a pretty way-out idea that is quite difficult for me to reconcile with what I observe and know of the universe. Therefore, I’d need some proof to accept that one exists. Without it, I have no more reason to believe in one than in Wolfgangbos’ Ethereal Pink Elephants at the end of the universe. I have seen nothing constituting evidence, let alone proof, so I remain in the ‘no’ camp.

[Holbytla]

I’ve been through my reasoning before, but it’s pretty simple.

A higher power is a pretty way-out idea that is quite difficult for me to reconcile with what I observe and know of the universe. Therefore, I’d need some proof to accept that one exists. Without it, I have no more reason to believe in one than in Wolfgangbos’ Ethereal Pink Elephants at the end of the universe. I have seen nothing constituting evidence, let alone proof, so I remain in the ‘no’ camp.

I believe in "something".
What that is I can hardly guess, but for me it is just as unimagnable to believe that there is no higher power.

Did the universe appear out of nowhere?

[Sunsilver]

I voted 'yes', but I'm not sure I'm willing to discuss my reasons. I guess I could sum it up by saying "too many answered prayers over the years"...

And, like Holby, I'm not willing to believe the universe appeared out of nowhere. I can't believe there wasn't something guiding it all. I'm a biologist by training, and the plants and animals I've studied are just too beautifully complex to have gotten that way by 'random chance mutation' as the evolutionists claim. (Not that I completely reject the 'theory of evolution', but that's a whole 'nother thread!)

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The very fact that we can ask the question is sufficient proof for me.

And I don't see any contradiction between "random chance mutation" and a higher power.

[Athrabeth]

Voronwë, I do believe that you're a Taoist at heart.

[MithLuin]

Yes, I believe in God.

But it is hard to write a poll like that, isn't it? What on earth is a "higher power"? To be all-inclusive, you end up being vague.

[I'm sorry, I know it's a common term, but I just naturally think of things raised to the nth degree, and that has very little to do with my beliefs in God]

Since you left this open-ended, an interesting question would be, who is God?

He is who I go running to when I'm upset, he's the one who holds me when I'm crying into my pillow, and the gentlest touch of his spirit calms my fears and restores my hope.

But who is he?

He is very elusive - sometimes I feel like I'm banging my head into a brick wall when I ask him things. He always seems to be silent when I most fervently demand an answer RIGHT NOW. He never lets me slide or settle for 'good enough'. In some ways, he is the most infuriatingly frustrating friend I've ever had! And yet he is the one I call on when dealing with other said infuriatingly frustrating friends...

I wish I could say that I know him well. But I don't. There are huge....well, there's a lot I don't know about him. And even though I say I want to know more, sometimes it frightens me. I want to be like some of his great friends, but the cynic in me knows what happened to them! So, I hesitate. I trust him, very much. But do I trust him fully? With my life? I think so...but there is a bit of hesitation in my voice when I say things like "thy will be done," or "let it be done to me according to your word."

And because I hang back, that little bit, I don't really know him.

I know what it is to feel his presence, and look back over my life and see his hand at work. I recognize his truth when I see it (sometimes). I understand about why the words love and sacrifice go together, and how the greatest power in the world is surrender. I understand why now is more important than my plans for tomorrow or what happened yesterday. I understand why my heart longs for something with a restless ache...something I cannot find.

And yes, I can give you words to describe him. I know a lot of things he isn't. I've read stuff written by people who know him a lot better than I do. I know I can be immature about my faith - really, really immature. But what I've written is just about as honest as I can be about who God is.

[Primula Baggins]

MithLuin, what a beautiful post. Faith is a struggle—there's no doubt about that. There's doubt about everything else, at least for me.