What is the basis for your faith?

I'm fairly dead set in my agnostic ways
but i was having a little fiddle with an athiest the other day
he was saying he bases his knowledge of death on life
and that theres really just 0 evidence that would lead someone to believe anything but darkness happens after death.
he then went on to say what is your basis for not being 100% sure there is nothing ( which, in all honesty i lean towards atheism)
and besides the fact that no one has experienced death so no one could possibly know, i said that people are way too complex and have too much spirit and emotions for it to just all be such a perfect coincidence.


what is an intelligent answer you would give to someone who said "what is your basis for faith"
please no bible scripts, in my mind the bible is like wikipedia and you arent allowed to cite that.
and dont make this strictly about believing in god or not( unless youve had some dying experience and saw him thats irrelevant)
this is about if something happens after death or not

Posted by Geminems
what is an intelligent answer you would give to someone who said "what is your basis for faith"
please no bible scripts, in my mind the bible is like wikipedia and you arent allowed to cite that.
and dont make this strictly about believing in god or not( unless youve had some dying experience and saw him thats irrelevant)
this is about if something happens after death or not

I like what you said, and tend to lean toward some version of that:

"... people are way too complex and have too much spirit and emotions for it to just all be such a perfect coincidence."



And the fact that for most of us, a sense of justice is inborn-- even if, initially, it only applies to ourselves-- it isn't something we need to be taught.

Posted by Geminems

.... dead set in my agnostic ways

That's a perplexing thing to say, not to mention being agnostic is quite ambiguous ... so, how is one dead set on an uncertainty.

It's unfortunate for your friend (and you) that his mind is incapable of registering the spirit ... afterall, if there is no spirit, then there is no life other than in our meat suits.

Surely, you've both condemned yourselves to being straddled onto the earth plane.

I find it humorous, in a twisted sort of way, that people are so close-minded, in that they know with certainty ....


So, let me ask of people like you, and your friend, who have decided with dead set certainty ....

do you think an inkling comes from facts?

how about an urge to give to someone ... or how about when you just know your mother is going to call and voila, mother is ringing on the phone.


Where do you think those come from?

So, is it to be assumed that close-minded people believe that it comes from instinct .... you know, the animalistic side of you? Like the dog eat dog world instincts is what is responsible when you suddenly have the desire feel compassion for another?

Posted by djbuck1
I'm not sure if the OP is talking about justice, Montgomery.

She's asking the basis of "our faith"-- the fact that we are born knowing right from wrong/have a sense of justice, for me, ranks pretty high in my reasoning.

Sorry if I wasn't clear. 🙂

My apologies in advance for my quoting a christianic bible verse: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen"(Heb.11:1)

I have considered myself to be an 'agnostic' for decades of time... as I lack a more defining word. Christians like to quote the bible as being 'The Word of God'... but let us be factual here... every word was written by human hands... NOT to say there is no wisdom to be found in it... there just seems to be a lot of astrological symbolism encrypting said wisdom. Mary the Virgin (Virgo)... the worship of a golden calf (Taurus)... blowing a ram's horn (Aries)... some examples. Incidentally, the shepherds were "keeping watch over their flock by night"(Luke 2:8) in DECEMBER ? More specifically, the 25th of December which is NEVER mentioned... which would be Capricorn the Goat. Is that not a pagan symbol ?

I believe in God... but THIS goes hand in hand with one's 'belief' (synonym for 'faith') in how death is perceived. Religion teaches us that after death... we go to hell OR we sing forever to God OR we're granted a bunch of virgins OR whatever... but religion was created by men... those of whom arrogantly assumed that God could be only in the image of a man.

Back on point... as for your atheist acquaintance that said: "there's really just 0 evidence that would lead someone to believe anything but darkness happens after death" well ... from a LOGICAL stand point... this might be true... so I would say: Good for HIM ! I aspire to be so certain... but??_ there is also '0' evidence that it would not be the contrary. Him basing "his knowledge of death on life"... THAT 'knowledge' would be HIS faith, HIS evidence of things not seen... no ? BUT... it is not exactly comparing 'apples to oranges' but rather 'apples to some-kind-of-never-seen-tasted-smelled-touched-heard-about-before fruit??. Most of us know what an apple or orange tastes like (living)??_ but how can a living person know what death really is ? Perhaps we have witnessed death??_ felt death??_ but until we are gone we cannot possibly know what it tastes like.

There are ALWAYS things that cannot be explained by our limited powers of comprehension. Maybe it is that it is not possible for us to know until our time is up. Or maybe??_ just maybe??_ the lights just go out like your —friend?? said??_ and if this should be the case??_ we won't know we??re dead anyway so why even worry about it.