I don't believe in fate as a concept. I'm an atheist and to me if you believe in fate then you're putting stock in a mystic force that governs everything which doesn't tally well with my philosophical views. However when we were 3-2 up against Chelsea there was no way in hell that I would have turned to my wife, with five minutes of the match left, and said that it's in the bag. When my daughter was being born I think I said a silent prayer to God that everything would be ok, I don't think about it but it happens sometimes. I know it makes me a hypocrite as although I like to think I have zero belief in fate and religion I still won't push my luck at really crucial moments. What's your view on fate and tempting fate?
I don't believe in fate, I'm marrying the woman I caught as she fell over on her heels. She thinks it was fate, I assure her it was a serendipitous event.
If fate is to be believed there has been some nasty **** dished out to a lot of innocent people and therefore god is more like the devil as depicted. There simply, is no such thing. However like you, I will often cut a deal on 88 mins that if we can have a goal I'll stop laughing at the plausibility of him existing
Aye my wife's much the same, she thinks us meeting was the result of ancient cosmic forces joining forces to create a beautiful union, whereas I know it happened because she caught my eye and I fancied a shag.
Every event is the culmination of the infinite amount of events that occur before it. Fate is bullshit. Cause and effect is fact.
My favourite and best chat-up line is "excuse me madam, but do you think this cotton wool smells of chloroform?" Bosh x
Totally agree, just out of interest do you still find yourself not saying or doing something that might tempt fate, even though you have an iron clad belief that there's no such thing?
Only with about 10 minutes to go on a Saturday afternoon watching SkySports and praying desperately for 3 points, or even just the 1!
I'd like to think that, if I'm lucky enough to die in my own bed, I won't be praying to something that doesn't exist. But I'm guessing a lot of people suddenly get religious in their last few days. So I've no idea how I'll react when it's my time. I may yet be the hypocrite.
It's a funny one because I work hard at not being a hypocrite, even when it makes things difficult for me, but when the chips are down sometimes I can't help but appeal to a higher power. I think it happens in situations that I've got no control over but I'm desperate to try and do something. It's very hard to accept that there are crucial times in your life that you can't influence in any way. So if Defoe was about to take a pen to win us the FA cup, I might say a prayer without hardly realising it but if I was stepping up to take a penalty myself I wouldn't, I'd just focus on what I was going to do.
I've been a hypocrite once. I don't intend to let it happen again. But that's me, now, with the benefit of not being on my deathbed right now!
It's desperation and a lack of hope and lack of any quality of life that makes the poorest people on earth turn to god so much. The promise of something nice, after death. As long as we have suppressed third world nations we will have people who refuse to believe anything other than the existence of god. I asked a taxi driver what he thought about God crushing all of those people in Saudi with that crane and he said it was a test for his people from Allah. What a miserable existence he must lead, that desperate for God to offer him more than the confines of his stinking taxi, that even when his so called brothers are brutally murdered by god he finds a way to forgive him. The only time I acknowledge God is when I'm with her family and it's only to keep the peace and out of respect.
For the sake of controversy, and also because its true, the problem with religion is that both those who believe in it and those who don't believe in it, don't fully understand what it is. Edit: I should have said "many of those who believe in it and don't believe in it"
Most people aren't able to understand the most basic things in life anymore. Just when did IQs drop so far? Human intellect seems to be in an eternal race to the bottom.
I don't think there's anybody who doesn't believe in religion, there's no doubt it exists... There are just varying degrees of people immersing themselves into each separate faith. Some faiths, which consume a person wholly deserve nothing but ridicule and a dismissive attitude. These same faiths, as well as every other religion is often a very rewarding and great thing for many, many (the majority) of the people who believe in it, here's that word again, when rationale and 'moderation' is applied. Atheism is also a very patronising and often dark way of life when people are too obsessed with it. It doesn't harm me that most people believe in a god, so I have no agenda to destroy the free will of the masses, yet I reserve my right to exercise freedom of speech and freedom of fists where necessary if I or my family or friends become victims of religiously motivated aggravation. Ultimately though, believing in a god will never, ever make one exist.
Instead of 'those who believe in it' I should perhaps have said 'those who have religious faith and those who do not'. All of what you're saying is accurate but my point was more that, fundamentally, religions are simply a combination of a set of guidelines for living a good a life and way of trying to explain the unexplainable. Therefore, those who wish to force others to follow their religion, those who cannot see beyond their religions, those who wish to deny people their right to follow a religion, those who are fearful of religion, and those who wish to rubbish the religious beliefs of others are all missing the point. As it is impossible to prove the existence of god and equally impossible to disprove the existence of god, all their is, is faith. You either have it or you don't. Trying to change someone's mind on that is impossible and that's the other part of religion that people don't understand
So you understand it but most don't? Sorry mate but I find that too convenient. I personally have never tried to deny an individual their right to believe what they want and I firmly believe it makes many religious people all the better for having positive focus and family traditions which many religions encourage. Being advised by somebody that I can't prove God doesn't exist is, to me, the most pointless statement anybody can make. You can't prove that I don't have a flying tractor that can get to Australia in 30 minutes, therefore it exists and you may never challenge it. Anyway, I'm in too deep already, this is not a conversation I want at 10pm - maybe another day.
