Debate: The God Debate: Does he exist?
Side: yes

I'm a pantheist.I didn't used to believe in God because I didn't understand what it could be. I started to learn about philosophy and realised I'd spent my entire life being so ignorant about it -- the answer was obvious all along. God is our human understanding of the Universe. God is basically life and existence itself. Life, the Universe...- it is omnipotent (in the sense that it can do anything within the realm of possibility), omnipresent (it is everywhere and everything), omniscient (because it IS everything there is to know), the 'creator' (in the sense that it is the source of everything), it's perfect (in the way that it is perfectly complete), it is eternal (even if restricted to a tiny atom, it's still existing), it is good (in the way that it is good AT existing and good FOR existing). A Barbie doll, for instance, is not life -- but it's a product of life. A stone is a product of the Earth. We, as humans, are the only rational AND sentient component of God's nature. To talk of God being rational and good and evil, we are talking about ourselves. If there is evil in the world, it is the fault of people. I don't believe in an anthropomorphic God (one who has human characteristics). That's why I personally prefer to refer to God as 'It' not 'He'. I believe God is only anthropomorphic through us.I say it's our 'human understanding' of the Universe/life, because without humans, the concept of God would disappear, but God would still continue to exist -- but just as a stone would continue to exist, only it would not have the name of 'stone'. We call life/the Universe 'God', because it is the meaning of life/the Universe, just as being a 'stone' is the meaning of the stone. It is faith and morality and recognition of what is there -- and in ways it is a product of us, yes, but also our perception of what pre-exists us. I accept athiesm in the sense that people choose not to have this faith. But these people do still believe in 'God', only they call it beauty, love, chocolate, beer, family, friends, trees, xbox, passion, work, books, art, cinema...whatever they want. Everything that adds an aspect of meaning to your life is essentially what believers are doing with the Universe -- they are seeing it as an overwhelmingly wonderful reason to live.PS. I am not religious, but do accept religions... I basically accept any belief -- relativism exists because of a fundamental source: people, culture...etc, - all the result of evolution, which is a result of the Universe. You just have to see it differently and not judge too quickly. If you find yourself still disagreeing, I'd recommend to just try looking at life this way and thinking about the world this way for a month and see how fulfilling it can be. And read yourself some Spinoza.PS (again). I think there are so many sceptics in the world because of the common misunderstanding that God is some giant guy with a beard, or some invisible creator far beyond the Universe... people start to see how ridiculous it is and don't look for a logical answer. Others think 'we have no proof', but they say this because they are, again, trying to find proof of the interventionist bearded man, or the celestial teapot. Of course we're not going to find that. If we did...then...bloomin' 'eck, forget all I've said! But I really don't think that exists and what DOES exist is what is here and now and gone and soon to be. You are God! I am God! Your pet is God. Your coach is God. But don't call it 'God' if you want to avoid the confusion ... just call it life, nature... Bill...Bob...your reflection. Whatever YOU want.Well, God has spoken. And God has things to do... ;-)