Is God real?

Treasure, I'm in the same boat as you are right now. I know that I can't give you a definite answer as I do not know myself as to if god is real or not, but there are so many things in the bible that make me question if all this crazy stuff is actually real. Like not being able to eat anything from the sea that doesn't have scales or fins (shellfish), but my family does that anyway. I do believe that if you do choose to be an atheist that you can in fact become a Christian again if you wish to do so as one of my ex-friends did recently. She became an atheist and is now going to church again. Thing is though, my family is actually pretty religious, so I am actually forced to go to church every now and then. I hope that this helped at least answer one of your questions.

 

I went through the same thing ages ago when I came out, after I had read several things in the Bible I thoroughly disagreed with. The whole "women obey men" thing didn't sit well with me either. I prayed for answers for years after that, and eventually accepted the dead silence as my answer I asked for.

When I came out as an atheist, I got a lot of mixed reactions. Lets just say the people who truly cared about me chose to stick around on "agree to disagree" terms. Though several members have attempted to change my mind, I haven't done a thing to change theirs because that would be a bit intrusive to say the least.

I really do hope everything goes well, you said your parents aren't super religious so I'd imagine you won't have a problem as long as they're generally good people.
Wish you luck either way you go!

 

You will get different answers from different members Treasure. Personally, I have no doubt about the existence of God, but other members will tell you that God is an invention and figment of our imagination. Each of us is entitled to our respectful opinion but only you can decide, for yourself.

I do think we expect too much when we pray and I think that's based on some of our traditional and sometimes outrageous concepts of God and religion. I think some Christians (and people of other faiths too) see God as a kind of magician who will intervene and do our bidding from a distant place when we call out to 'Him'. We pigeon hole God and restrict our understanding along the lines of scripture and what the church leadership tells us and when that no longer works for us we can easily lose confidence. It's because we have limited our relationship with God to scripted words and other people's ideas that it falls apart (for many people) and it sounds like you're in that place right now. Maybe you need to free your mind and let go of some of the learned ideas about God?

Many gay people pray to God when they are struggling with their sexuality and they wonder why their prayers go unanswered. Maybe that's because there is nothing to answer? God doesn't need to provide an answer or respond to something that is part of our human make-up.

I hope you find a way forward that is right for you.

 

To me, whether God is real or not has always been more a question of reality itself than of divinity.
Do what makes you feel best, honey!

 

Yes, I believe God is real, and you do not have to stop praying as you struggle with your sexuality. God made you just as you are, whether gay, trans, bi or straight. I do not believe God said being homosexual is a sin. The Hebrew word for homosexual referred to practising pedophiles or anything goes sexual practices, not homosexuals in a loving, monogamous relationship.

A very good You Tube video to watch is by Matthew Vine. Google: Matthew Vine homosexuality.

Of course you can become a Christian after being an atheist.

Don't worry, God is very patient and loving, and Jesus is the Good Shepherd who will leave the 99 confident, contented sheep to look for that 1 mixed up, unsure lamb
who is wandering around in circles. This is the heart of God... to embrace you and give you a hope and a future.

I believe the pain you feel is because you feel rejected by God and have been taught you can't believe in Him and be gay. I'm so sorry that's the teaching you are surrounded by. Many evangelical leaders and believers are now admitting that is a false teaching.

Hang in there and keep seeking the truth. Study, pray, and talk to gay Christians.

 

I do believe that God is real, but have had such a hard time understanding his plans and reasons for things being as they are.

 

I don't know. Nobody appears to know. There is no evidence of God. However, that does not mean there isn't a supreme being or consciousness or whatever. I doubt very much there is a personal God, one who gives you a sunny day so you can enjoy a picnic or makes it rain so crops don't fail. Does that make praying something to be avoided? That is up to the individual. Perhaps you are talking to another part of yourself? Or to a universal consciousness? It doesn't matter, but if you draw comfort from it then it's a great thing to do.

I do not believe any of the organized religions represent the truth. There is often so much hate in what they teach or at least there is scope for hate. I think a church whatever the denomination if it is open and accepting and tolerant then it's probably not a bad thing, but it should remain the domain of the individual and it has no business intervening in the affairs of the state.

In short, as others have said. Read, study, expand your mind and pray if it brings you comfort. Perhaps it is you who will one day answer these ultimate questions, you never know!

 

There isn't any evidence of God, so there isn't any way to prove the existence of God.


However, if there is a God then I want nothing to do with Him.

If there is a supreme being up there who is allowing children to be raped, babies being born with debilitating illnesses etc... Then He doesn't deserve my recognition.

 

This is all really interesting. I personally believe in God and find my Christian Faith very important but the way I see it He/she totally accepts sexuality. I also want to say that One does not have to believe everything in the Bible to believe in God.

 

I know it's tough questioning this type of thing. I've been struggling with this for a while. But the best thing you can do for yourself is be open to yourself about what you feel which is exactly what you're doing even though it's hard so great job!
You may really want to believe but not believe at all, which is how I feel sometimes. But questioning this sort of thing is good.

Someone once told me: God (if He's real) wants you to question your faith. Because when you do your faith can become stronger and more clear and more true to how you feel in the end.
No matter what you believe, it's okay but you're only going to feel better about it when you really let down your barriers and let yourself search for your own truth. That can take time and be really hard, and it's okay still to be not sure. Just be open with yourself and don't be hard on yourself for believing in what you believe.

Also, you may want to watch this video about homosexuality in the Bible:
[YOUTUBE]ezQjNJUSraY[/YOUTUBE]
It's pretty long, but I found it worth the watch when I was struggling with this. Basically, what people have come to believe about what the Bible says about homosexuality isn't really completely true. The things in the Bible that are about homosexuality are skewed by historical cultural beliefs about homosexuality when the Bible was written, through translations, and simply from things taken completely out of context.
The video goes into more depth about specific scriptures and it's really informative.

Don't think about this as a scary thing. You're believing in what you believe. What you feel is not a wrong feeling because it's what you feel. Think of it as a journey to discover what you do believe or don't believe. It's going to be alright, trust me(*hug*)

 

Yes, God is very real, there is no doubt in my mind about that...

Like you and many other LGBT individuals I have struggled with my sexuality and faith because of religion. Realise that the two are very different things, religion is man made and faith, well that's a personal relationship with God. I don't believe in religion, I'm not religious, but I do have faith. For me it's about loving God and loving my neighbour. For me it's about being kind to others, to help where I can and to not judge others. I'm by no means perfect when it comes to that but I try.

Besides looking at creation, everything that exsists around us and the integrate design of everything, from the smallest insect to the largest tree, the mechanics and engineering is amazing! There's a Grand Architect behind all of that in my humble opinion. But more so I believe it and know it's true because of something that happened to me two years ago...

I went cycling with my dad on a remote mountain road on a Sunday afternoon. After about 15km my dad suddenly stopped and told me that he didn't feel well. He then nearly fell over so I jumped off my bike and helped him sit down next to the road. He leaned back and the next second his head tilted backwards and he breathed out.

At first I though he was just resting, but then I realised he stopped breathing. I tried to find a pulse and there was none, my dad's heart had stopped beating. We where in the middle of nowhere, 20km from the nearest town with no one around. I layed my dads body flat on the ground and started doing CPR, something I've never done before and had only seen on TV. As I did this I couldn't get him to start breathing or his heart to start beating. There was no one on the road and we hadn't passed anyone on the way...

I realised that I wasn't going to be able to save my dad... I cried out laud: "God help me!" As soon as I said that and looked up a paramedic stood in front of me with his emergency bag in his hand. He rushed over asked me what happened while checking my dads vitals. He injected my dad with something while I continued to give CPR and the next second my dads eyes flew open and he took a breath.

To cut a long story short, my dad survived, the paramedic managed to call an ambulance which came and picked my dad up after he was stabilised... But the point is the paramedic that happened to be there when I called out for help. As it turned out, he was driving with his family back home after a weekend away in the town where I live. On route they passed the road that we where on and something told him to stop, turn around and drive on the road that we where on, he couldn't explain it he just had this feeling that he had to do it, so he did and after a couple of kilometres he found me next to the road busy giving my dad CPR...

What is the chances of that happening??? To me, it's nothing short of a miracle and if there was any doubt in my mind whether God exsists or not that doubt was wiped out of my mind that day.

In the end, we all have to decide for ourselves where we stand on that subject.

 

I don't believe in God but it's up for you to decide whether or not you do or not.

 

This is solely my opinion and in no way fact:

I think God is Santa Claus for grown ups.

 

Probably not. No evidence for it. And why the christian god? Why a male one? Why the specific interpretation of the christian god that hates gays? My advice is that whether or not god(s) exist, they have no bearing on what goes on here on earth. They aren't going to save you, hurt you, or do anything at all, as the past can attest. It isn't as simple as just stopping worrying about it, particularly when letting go of a belief that has been important to you in the past, but that's really all you can do. There are no answers.

 

Amazing story. It could mean there is a God. It could also mean that humans are more connected and intuitive than we realize. Fascinating nonetheless and glad there was a happy ending.

 

I'm not sure about God being real or if I believe in him or not..
guess I still do when I talk to him and ask him for help but some times it
seems he's busy doing other things..

I used to go to church and play in the church band, was never religious ,
nor were my family but I just liked being in a band playing guitar!

some times I get angry at God for not helping my mum when she had dementia, Alzheimer's and then my dad with lung cancer recently ...
they used to say at church God created me in his own image, and I some times say he hasn't looked in the mirror recently !!

I also feel like God is this kid playing the Sims on his big computer some where controlling our emotions and such when ever he wants..
And I guess I'll never know how God feels about me being gay,never having the chance to go forth and multiply !!

who knows if he is real or not.. guess we'll all find that out one day ...

 

Nah. There probably isn't a God. If by some crazy chance there is it is probably a deistic god, and doesn't really care about if you are gay or really care about sin at all. Even if there is some sort of non-deistic personal God it probably isn't the god of the bible, and probably doesn't care if you're gay. Even if it is the Christian God, the bible can be interpreted multiple ways and I know plenty of churches who have interpreted that homosexuality isn't a sin.

It is absurdly unlikely that the Christian god is real, and sends people to hell for being gay. If he does than I guess many of us here are going to hell, and that sucks. But since it probably wont happen try to be happy and not worry about it.