To: The people who don't believe in God and Jesus,

Has it ever occured to you that God could possbly exsist beyond a shadow of a doubt? No... why is that? I mean what is it that makes you not believe? Why is it that there are "diety" worshipers who will believe in something they made up than a very accurate history book (for those of you who dont know which book it's the Bible) ? I mean..honestly....

I know there are some of you who will say..."oh thats cause God is blind faith" or "The concept of god is a fairy tale" or my personal favorite "god is blood thirsty"...i have seen almost every answer as to why i should't believe in God but most of you have yet to explain why you don't.

From: Gwyny

P.S. i dont want to hear "Gwyny, that's not what this forum is about" because this is exactly what this forum is about....oh and i dont want to hear this either " Well gwyny you see the whole concept of god is just ludacris...." I want to know what it REALLY is that makes you not believe. Oh yea and SB this isnt Off the Topic of Conversation united if i get this " If you put your mind to something you can make it happen, and anything is possible if you just put your mind to it, by the way i like your picture..." I will not respond...

Can I start of saying that I do believe in God and have done so for many years. I think one of the reasons why skeptics cant give a reason for not believing is because that dont understand or cant comprehend God. I have had many heated arguements before with skeptics and in my opinion its generally their lack of knowledge of God is the main reason for their skepticism.

Of course their are lots of people who have many other reasons for not believing. Each to their own.

My two cents

your "God" would have to be pure living energy ,the energy needed to be like he is described would require more energy than is present in the whole universe ,therefore he cannot exist as he is described in your book of fables. knowing all seeing all and being everywhere all the time is not possible for any living being wheather they are corporial or not.

Well gywny if you put your mind to something ha ha J/k There is no proof of a biblical god other than hearsay , imagination ect....If one has to have a book and convince you that its real based in faith well....its not really that complicated its not evident that the constructs of man are any more real than santa or tooth fairy or the easter bunny. Gywny why don't you beleive in the tooth fairy any more????eventually one outgrows the need to beleive in make beleive, boogeymans and monsters in the closet....

I believe in god chippie. I just don't believe in YOUR god.

Get over it. No one is telling you that you can't believe in your deity, why do you and your mate continue to try to denounce and deride others beliefs?

My god doesn't judge, condemn, nor approve. My god does not take an active role in my life, it is just god. Just like the sun is the sun, and the moon is the moon. IT JUST IS! Like the air we breathe.

You wish to think that god has nothing better to do than spend eternity keeping track of whos been good and who has been bad, so be it.


If your faith brings you comfort, then it is right for YOU. It may not, however, be right for ME.

And just for the record, I am starting to get a little tired of the hard core christians pissing on others beliefs. This forum is supposed to be for DEBATES on religion and associated issues, not a diatribe for your proselytism.

Oh, and your "very accurate history book"? There are more inconsistencies in it than actual history. Tell me, when is the last time you saw a rabbit chew its cud? Is the Earth really the center of the universe? (Give me a break, its late, I'm tired, and that is the first thing I could think of off the top of my head)

Because I have a little satan in my blood.

There is no god.

There might be an entity greater in power, knowledge and wisdom than me but he is no god.

I know my creator he is the star that shines on me. But my father does not know me nor would he care if he did.

I know who birthed me she is the planet that shelters me. But while my mother knows me; without rest, without compassion does she hunt me to claim what I have stolen from her.

What with all those admonishments of; "I don't want to hear" and "Don't tell me..." one wonders why bother!?

Firstly I do believe in God and the Bible....


I think alot of people don't want to believe in God, cause if they believed in God, then they would have to admit that they were sinning and living a bad life and they would be accountable for that.

Where as, if they didn't believe in God, then who cares what they did in this life, they could get away with it........So therefore, they don't want to believe, so they don't give the notion/idea of God and Jesus a chance...

Just My Opinion

First, welcome to UM Thoughtful. Enjoy your stay, and may you make many new friends.

Let me be blunt here: Are you saying that anyone who doesn't believe in your bible and your god is a Non Believer?

Are you dismissing, out of hand, others faiths and beliefs?

Why is YOUR faith the "right" one, and everyone else wrong? I know, I know, 'the bible tells you so....'

Is there ANY religion that you know of that says of itself "Hey, we aren't the TRUE way to god"?

Interesting thoughtful welcome to UM first off.... many don't choose to beleive in biblical manmade gods, and its a choice , Its made up passed down knowledge including the 'sin' part, many have outgrown a need to be held accountable they live lives that are of benefit not only to themselves but all others.......Sin is a man made concept and if it works for you by all means but leave the whys to the ones that choose to not partake in diety worship......just my 2 cents......

Thanks, but as for leaving the WHY"S to the ones that choose not to partake- Well The reason I wrote what I did is because thats why I think I 'chose' not to believe in the bible and god to begin with....

So I didn't mean to speak 'just' for others, but it's how I felt and think others may feel the same, I think they might not even be aware of feeling that way.

I believe in God...I think people dont believe in God because of the world they are living in...they look at their surroundings...they see pain...they see suffering...they see no help...they cant grasp the concept that an all loving God would let so much negative things into the world...So either they dont believe at all- or they gradually stop believing.
Ive said this before im not one to judge or criticize God in his works or actions- i believe the paradise we all seek and want is in our next stage of life...We all seek a perfect life with no bad in it- do we deserve this? If so why? People just have a negative image of God base on their misunderstanding of him.

This is an undebatable topic in the sense that no one is going to be able to acheive anything except argueing. Just because I believe in God doesn't mean I dont respect other peoples beliefs and religions.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions so we should all respect each other. I do however think gwyny has taken the wrong approach here. Just because they dont believe in your god gwyny doesn't mean that have to justify why.

Anyways

I hope i havent offended anyone

I think youre missing the point. God is meant to be so incomprehendable..He will not be limited to human perception. Just because you cant understand the amount of power He has..doesnt mean He doesnt exist.

Believe nothing on the faith of traditions,
even though they have been held in honor
for many generations and in diverse places.
Do not believe a thing because many people speak of it.
Do not believe on the faith of the sages of the past.
Do not believe what you yourself have imagined,
persuading yourself that a God inspires you.
Believe nothing on the sole authority of your masters and priests.
After examination, believe what you yourself have tested
and found to be reasonable, and conform your conduct thereto.

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.

Shakyamuni Buddha

I believe in God, but I don't believe in the bible nor the god from the bible. Have you ever read the things the god from the bible did to man?

How many men did God kill because someone decided to peek into the ark of the Lord?
(answer 50070)

"And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter." (1 Samuel 6:19)

How many Ethiopians did God kill for his chosen people?
(answer 1 million)

"And Asa had an army of men... And there came out against them Zera The Ethoiopian with an host of a thousand thousand .. Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them have no power, help us, O Lord our God... So the Lord smote the Ethiopians." (2 Chronicles 14:8-12)

Murdering your own child is a sin, unless your child
(answer: Spoke to you with a curse words, Encouraged you to join a faith other than Christianity, Is killed in the name of Jesus)

"And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely put to death." (Exodus 21:17)
"If they brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods... thou sahlt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die." (Deuteronomy 13:6-10)

"And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child; and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved." (Matthew 10:21-22)

and there are many more passages from the bible revealing the violent and cruel acts of "god". Honestly to me, this does not sound like the teachings of Jesus Christ. What ever happen to "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..."

I don't believe in the whole concept of religion. Religion only seperate and divide all of us people. We all come from the same source and we are all human, so why should there be different religions. When we are able to learn to look pass all these labels such as religion, ethnicity, gender, etc we can then find peace amongst each other in this place we call earth. I don't believe God would put us on this planet to confuse us about which religion to believe in, and if we guess wrong, we would be damned to a eternity of suffering in hell. I believe that God would rather have someone be loving and compassionate to all, rather than worshiping him.

oh yeah.. and try reading the Sumerian Tablets. It predates the bible, but there are much similarity between the two. For example the Sumerian Tablets talks about how the Anunnakis creating the first man named "Adamu", and about Enki, warning his son about a great flood that would destroy the earth. Telling him to build an vessel to save his family and friends...

you sound like a satanist man.... do you hang out with Phil Jackson

Okay, I didn't mean to bash on Christianity nor did I wanted to defame Jesus Christ. The reason why I posted these quotes from the bible was to show the Christians this side of "god" which I don't believe in and that religion divides and hurt us people. Look at the Sunny and Shi`ite Islam fighting over a religion in Iraq. I believe in a all loving God and not a vengeful one. I follow the teachings of Christ, Buddha, and the teachers of good...

I believe that we should learn about spirituality instead of religion, because we are all spirtual beings. I really don't see the point of religion, because we all come from the same place and so I don't understand why should we be divided into different groups. Also I believe we should learn about morals and knowing the root of all evil is hatred, selfishness, and ignorance, and the root of good is love, compassion, and wisdom.

Most people believe in God (or at least a higher power). It's the particular "brand" of God that people seem to disagree upon. As to your specific focus on the Bible-God, the reasons people don't believe in this God are varied. Though I'm generalizing and by no means say this is the only reason, but it probably would be best summed up that the Bible tells us things about us that we would rather not hear - namely that people need God to intervene to reach the divine; we can't do it on our own. People don't like hearing that.

As to those who are labeled "atheist" and don't believe in a God or higher power at all, that's their choice. There's no evidence that God exists. And though there's no evidence that God doesn't exist either, there are those that don't believe something unless they've seen it for themselves, or had it proven to them through scientific study. That there's no evidence for God, or for the Bible as truth, why put Faith in it, is how they see it, I guess (though again I'm generalising).

That's just my opinion though.

Regards, PA

My mistake didn't realize you were speaking on your behalf oops So you are a NB then??????

I do not believe in god. I am knowledgable about Christian beliefs, have read the bible many times. I have also studied many other religions and their ideas and beliefs. I have come to the conclusion that gods were something invented by men to explain their existence. I do not doubt the accuracy of the bible to the extent that it is a history book written by men to explain happenings of the time period in a spirtual fashion. I agree that the book has historical significance and many events within it can be proven. However, I refuse to base my belief system on a book that was written by men.

As far as refusing to believe in god because I refuse to admit that I am living a sinful life....I believe this statement to be incorrect. As Sherri pointed out...what was decided to be a sin and what was decided to be an accurate way to live was determined by men. However, I try to live a good life, have my own values and ethics and practice them in my life. I know many good people who are not Christians, some are even atheists...but that doesn't make them any less valuable.

I recall a few years ago when I was cleaning out my home. I took many items of clothing and things down to our local shelter which is ran out of a church. The pastor came out and shook my hand and said 'You must be a very good Christian. Which church do you attend?' At which time I told him that I was studying the pagan paths. He dropped my hand and promptly turned around and went back into his church. It is rather sad that people base others simply on which religion they follow and not upon their daily actions.

I just posted this on another thread, but it fits here also, with a bit revising.

There is evil and goodness but I like to refer to it as negative and positive energy.

What feeds the negative? More fear and negativity.
What feeds positive? Love and light.

Churches are filled with fear and negativity.

Organized religion has and is filled with its very own negativity. That fear is purposely instilled in whatever faiths members, so that they will continue to follow the church or the faith. More followers equals more money and power.

Wars (which are the ultimate negativity) have for centuries been started over religion.
My God is better than yours.

It is my belief that teaching could be presented more appropriately to any person wishing to develop his or her “own” spirituality. Fear does not need to be instilled in anyone for that person to discern what is necessary for his or her own spiritual growth.

Personally I believe that guidance in a loving way, without fear and letting people know it’s best to have an open mind is the best way.

To teach people that all things are possible, both good and bad and that whatever they choose, it is still their choice. But, in doing so they can still live in love and light without being in an organized religion, without allowing any negativity into their life….and to just remain open to all the possibilities.

Churches and religions that push…yes, push God onto its followers are not doing their God justice…IF their God actually IS real.

Instilling fear and speaking of a hell as where non followers would go…that they would go to hell if they do not believe, reeks of negativity and control/power issues to me.

I cannot believe in this God.

My god or higher power is all living things. It’s in the trees, animals, people, the sun, and the moon…as all living things are connected in some way. I take all the power positive I can away from that, and make that my god.

Not some religious entity that is to be feared and has a set rules for everyone to follow or be damned to eternal hell~

I guess I would have to answer your question, with a question.

Do you believe God would spend his time posting such a trivial question in a demeaning manner?

Agreed. It breaks my heart to see a beautiful path like Paganism have a bad reputation. There is absolutely NOTHING sinister about it. And all because people believe what they are taught without question. Shame. Shame. People need to keep their mouths shut, until they can open their eyes.

You can not simply tell someone to believe something, and they will automaticaly listen to you. I have met many skeptics, and I think the only way to get through their heads is for them to have an personal experience or to have actual proof.

But who ever said "deity" worshippers "MADE UP" their deities and whoever said the Bible was an accurate history book? How can anyone be sure of this? I again, urge people to find out the orgins of the bible through the Sumerian Tablets, because honestly I don't see how the Jesus's teachings coinicides with the Old Testaments. I think Jesus's teachings should be seperate from the rest of the bible, but then again I question the authenticity of the new testament. I don't understand why would the new testament be released hundreds of years after the resurrection of Christ and I don't understand why important literature like the Gospels of Nag Hammadi was left out of the bible. It really makes me question the agendas of the people who wrote the bible... So I ask you people to go out and find the real truth....

btw.. very well said alchemistic

Gwyny,

1. I can list 1000 fictional narratives that are more historically accurate than the Bible.

2. As an Agnostic-Humanist-Jew, I'm not sure if [G-d] exists but religion does and in my opinion it fails to serve society in a positive manner.

3. Belief in an abstraction such as [G-d] or "being in love" requires nothing less than faith, desire, trust, and self-determination. There is no book to guide you nor is there a test to pass (or fail), you just declare yourself a part of it and walk on in.

- Michael

Great post JM

When i read the title of this thread and what was written under it - all the madness!! - I thought ....why refer to NB's lack of faith madness?? what is up with that? If an NB was to create a thread saying...whats up with the madness of those that believe, I would lay money that a good few of the religious folks would pounce, asking why is their faith refer to as madness?!!!

Who say's anyone has to believe in God?...Why can't you just respect an NB's right not to believe??? If you want people to respect your beliefs , shouldn't you do the same???...I mean it's not as if you are a stranger here and you don't know WHY people dont believe...you know fine well why they dont believe....some just believe in things they cant see, feel hear or touch..simple as that...I find it understandable...and I am a believer...so why are you so different?? Yes I am fully aware this board is for skeptics to share their views..but calling their views madness is a bit much

I believe in God, but like JMPD1...I dont believe in the same God as you....my God is in heaven with his son Jesus christ, but my God is ALL loving, All knowing..and he does not want me to show disrespect to others for what they believe in, or what they don't believe in...my god see's us all as EQUALS, he respects me for using my own time, and my own place to talk to him...cuz to my God...I am not doing it just because some book says I MUST...he KNOWS I am doing what I do because I WANT TO, and because I feel it's right within myself, this is WHY my God answers me more. I don't believe anyone will have to answer to him when they kick the bucket, and I don't believe my God will cast anyone into hell, just becasue they dont read the bible or follow a faith...no my God is not like that at all...this is WHY I love and respect him more

These are my beliefs and like everyone else, I am entitled to them

what would you know about God? Beside, if God created the universe, then he is more powerful than it. You fit well under the category of 'GNOSTIC.'

How can you refer to Jesus and not believe the Bible, which were accounts of Jesus's birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven? Its a testimony of things written about him, so when people were hiding from persecution, they could spread the Gospel by means other than talking (which would have put a target on them ). In fact the same people that brought you the Gospel are the same that read the Bible. The info you got, came from the Bible. Yet you refuse to believe in it? Its like you're making up God's rules for him without him saying anything. Its alot easier to makeup the character of your god than to accept what he REALLY has to say. No, I don't think NB's are mad. However, the post was mainly directed toward asking WHY they didn't believe in God and has proven to us all that NB's just don't like to talk about WHY they don't believe in God or (in your case, the Bible.) She's not looking for a bunch cryin and complaining, she wants NB's to come clean. This may support my theory that NB's don't believe because either they have a personal agenda with a church, or they just don't want to live their lives according to God's rules and accept Jesus as the Lord of their lives.

It sounds like your against a believer calling a NB's lack of faith madness? Well I think your abit wrong in doing this: Based on some of your other posts, you don't seem all that favourable of Believers either:

See below for one of your other posts:

I have just come out of another forum and for the love of Berri...why can't religious people (most of them) see past the nose on their face??? Half of them can't fecking read diddly The read pretty much like their bible and look at seleted parts and then go for a rant.
..they dont know how to ask questions yet and I doubt most of them will know...they cant look past the nose on their faces

So I think its wrong of you to say that about Believers.....

I can list quite stunning facts that prove the narratives in the Bible are historically accurate.

As a Christian who follows Jesus, I'm quite positive that GOD exists and in my opinion, any society that alligns itself against God will think that God fails to serve them in a positive manner. All you gotta do is not follow God and BOOM! God no longer benefits you. News flash, we weren't created for ourselves or our own glory, we were created for God and His glory.

There is a book to guide you in faith, its called the Bible. It becomes complicated to keep with the faith when the world is closing in on you with bills, peer pressure, broken hearts, lies, murders, death, hunger, discease, poverty, immorality, and injustice. Its hard to walk the right line without having to give in to the world's logic and method of doing things that serve nothing more than our own lives on earth. Yes the Bible teaches us, strengthens us, encourages us, and shows us what God wants.

Hey, there's a concept! What about what God wants? Well, for those who are often times worrying about what they want, they might not have a clue. But for those who follow God, they know that God wants us to worship Him alone and not worship anything else. He wants us to not take him so lightly and complacently. He wants us recognize that He created all things and to Him belongs glory and praise. He wants us to love one another as we would love ourselves. Thats not hard, but yet people think it would take away from them to just follow ten little easy to follow rules.

this god you so fervently believe in is imaginary at best mainly because he would be a paradoxical impossibility, how would this god know of things that did not yet exist and create such things unless these things existed before him. it defies all logical reasoning

Wouldn't this be the same as saying:

How can Engineers design and build the first car unless cars existed before?

How can and inventor invent anything, unless it existed before?

THATS WHY GOD IS A CREATOR- He creates thing....

inventors had something to start with unlike this god who apparently formed the universe from nothing. besides inventors only improve on already existing things through experimentation

Well put GenX, hopefully I can shed some light. You said that you didn't understand why the new testament (that you think was released hundreds of years after Jesus's resurrection) would take more favor than those from the Nag Hammadi. Well, if you havn't done so, may I refer "The Everything History of the Bible Book" by Jeffery Donley, Ph.D?

In this book, the author addresses many things in the Bible and historically proves them with history and archeology. I will quote some things from his book that may interest you. It writes about the Nag Hammadi and your concern about why it was ignores:
"Nag Hammadi is a modern Egyptian town on the Nile River north of Luxor. Not too far from the town, a library with forty preciously unknown documents and several known texts was discovered in 1945. Among the finidings was a copy of Plato's Republic, a portion of the Hermetic tractate Asclepius, the Teachings of Silvanus, and part of the work called Sentences of Sextus.
However, most of the works are Gnostic in origin. A fanatical religious movement of the early centuries A.D., Gnoticism taught a radical dualism that rejected teh pysical world. In this view, the physical body was a prison that the soul desired to escape. ( might I add here, that the OT and NT rival the concept of an inner soul) The Gnostics distinguished between the God of teh Old Testament and a creator they called the Demiurge who holds mankind in bondage. Humanity, which they defined as God, was a spark of the divine heavenly light imprisoned in a physical body. They emphasized asceticim and taught that commandments of morality should be disobeyed. (Such as murder and adultery, right?) According to their belief, salvation occurred when one woke from teh nightmare of this world to their own divinity and heavenly origin.
The Gnostic gospels did not talk about Jesus' ministry, nor his death and resurrection. Instead, the library's Gnostic works claimed to present the revelations Jesus made to his disciples after his resurrection and before his ascension. According to these apocryphal writings, Jesus and his desciples discussed the origin of the universe, the Genesis creation narratives as explained by the Gnositcs, and the diesty of the incompatible divisions of mankind. These books include: *The Gospel of Truth, a contemplation of Jesus' philosophy of life. *The Gospel of Philip, a rambling discussion. *The Gospel of Thomas, a compendium of pronouncments ascribed to Jesus
The bibilical Gospels stated that Jesus ascended forty days after his resurrection, but the Gnostic writings stretched it to 550 days." -The Everything History of the Bible Book by Jeffery Donley, Ph.D.

Seeing this, we can see why the Gnostics and the OT didn't get along as well as the Apostles and the OT. This also shows how far people will go to distort and ignore the truth in a manner that they may "disobey morality" or just not do what God says in the first place. An example of this is the Gospel of Judas that was recently discovered. This Pseudo-anonymous manuscripts portrays Jesus as asking Judas to betray him. And what a storm it caused, for many jumped off their high horses to believe that over any other book in the Bible. The word 'tolerance' comes to mind. People often only tolerate what they like, even if its a lie.

Now if you look for the earliest manuscripts, you will find many that date back to the first century or beginning of the second century. Those two are the most credible. One manuscipt even dates back as far as A.D. 40.

How can we reason about God's power? God is not limited to our understanding and is by no means bordered by our logic.

God's thoughts are far above our thoughts. Again, we can't be the one's to place limits if we are limited ourselves. God created the universe, thus is not bound to it.

Yes I know, I am a Christian so I do believe in God's Greatness. I was simply trying to make someone else see a point with that post

maybe if you knew what cud was you would know that rabbits eat it....and the bible is not inconsistant...all you showed me with your chewing cud is that you dont know what rabbits eat and and you dont know what cud is....

and when you get to "judgment day" do you honestly this the god that you made up is going to let you in??? There is only one God and he is not my god or your god he is OUR god.

for example say you gave bir th to a son who when he got older decided that you werent his father....or that he believed in you its just everything you said and did never happend and he denied that you told him anything... just a thought

gwyny

I recently read the lord of the rings again but i still don't believe in hobbits, elfs etc. Perhaps in a couple of hundred years tolkien will considered "a very accurate history book " and people will speak of the Messiah Frodo.
The bible is a book. It is made of paper it is no more historically accurate then "To Kill A Mockingbird" or "MacBeth" Great Stories. Made to get across a point ie Don't be racist etc in the case of the bible there are many morales do not kill, do not envy etc but most important of the bible stories seems to be do what the church says and remember to pay your contributions on time.

Important lessons that are quite important. But no more then that. Jesus seems no more "Holy" then my some of my High school teachers.

Gwyny cud is not a type of feed it just meens that the animal chews regurgitated food to break it down more to assist a poor digestive system. Whether a rabbit ches its cud or not i neither know nor care but you need t oget your facts straight

the boogyman and the toothfairy dont have scripture...and the toothfairy didn't tell me when the world will end!

well if you choose to believe that the bible is just paper then tell me how the the civil war ended? You could tell me what someone write down on a peice of paper OR you could tell me what you saw...but even then that wouldnt matter because i wasnt there and i cant trust your word because i dont know you even if you do speak the truth....so why is it that you cant believe the bible??

God is omnipotent/omnipresent! That definitely means know-all; see-all to me!

Well Gwyny, having grown up on a farm and now living on a Texas ranch, I know what a cud is. It is regugitated vegetable matter that the animal chews again to break the matter down further and add additional enzymes. Rabbits do not regurgitate their food, they basically "poop" in their mouths and swallow the feces without chewing it. This is NOT chewing the cud. If you don't believe me ask any vetenarian, check out a book and read about it or even go on line and check it. Rabbits do not chew their cud, your book of mythology is very errant.

And i Don't Know you. Why do you believe god is real. And don't just blindly point at the bible because that is not an answer. There are lots of old books. The bible is just one.

The Christian bible is little different to that of the jews, the muslims or the Zoroastrian

Why do some think the bible is non-important/irrelevant? Just like a blueprint is needed to build a house; an instruction manual is needed to put together an entertainment center; recipe (instructions) is needed to prepare food properly, the bible serves as a spiritual reference guide. It helps US fix US!

This might sound a bit like a cliche, but I believe if you look deep inside yourself you will know and feel that God exists.

Thats where your feelings, emotions and dignity come from.

These things didn't just happen because of a chemical bang. We were created perfectly by the perfect creator.

So do all the books in the Self-help section of the bookstore, should I worship those books as well?

Umm...how do you know they made up this god? For all you know their deity created your deity.

An instruction manual!? Yes! If your sado masochistic with an inferiority complex, it is indeed. Then there is the "helps us fix us" which, given the history of mass murder, cultural rape and oppression, misogyny and intolerance, it certainly has made an impact in fleshing to life the old adage; kill 'em all let god sort em out! Link

If it was historically documented that hundres or thousands of people were killed for beleiving in, testifying to and even witnessing the things mentioned in these self help books you speak of, then yes, you probably should.....

I think that if you don't believe in the bible and in Jesus, then your basically saying that thousands of Christians, knowingly lied about Jesus and his miracles, about the cruxifiction and ressurection, they lied about it even when they were faced with death.
They could say Jesus was not the Messiah and live. But no they told the truth and they were slaughtered for it...... That is historical fact...

So if your saying the bible and it's stories are a load of rubbish then, why would so many people knowingly lie and die for it?