Within the context of religion, we have many categories, the major ones include people who believe that there is a God/a higher being, people who do not have a definite belief regarding God, and people who do not believe that God exists. I was curious to know the youth’s views regarding these three groups. Given below are their opinions and reasons for belonging to one of these categories. Read on to see which group you belong to!
Believers
These people are pretty simple to understand, they believe that God or a higher existing. After questioning them as to their reasons for this belief, they revealed that most of them have this view due to the religion to which they belong. Others feel safe believing that someone else is looking over them and that it helps them move forward from setbacks, thus providing the feeling of protection of sorts. They also feel that things that aren’t in their control or events that science cannot explain, point to the presence of God. For some, practices such as praying provide them with the peace which then reaffirms their faith in God. One person even said that believing in a divine power makes life more interesting!
Agnostic
I like to call individuals who fall within this group as people who like to “play it safe”. They feel that a concept such as the existence of God is unknowable and hence, refrain from commit to either believing or not believing. Some agnostics feel that there may be a supreme power but they don’t know what exactly it is. Usually, some individuals who are agnostic tend to lean towards a certain side (believers or atheists), others not so much!
Atheist
Aaah, the ones who follow the scientific route, the “I need proof to believe in a concept”, a.k.a, me. An atheist is one who does not believe that God exists. Simple right? The atheists I questioned claimed that their reasons for not believing in a higher power are a lack of proof, not wanting to depend on something else (being able to view oneself as being responsible for one’s own life outcomes). Some atheists often mock believers by claiming that they are wasting their time putting their energies into believing something which may not even exist, others however respect differing opinions.
Having read the basic descriptions of each, and people’s opinions about each, which group do you think you belong to?
