Do you need to believe in god to be a nice person?

I believe from what you have said that you are a good person. You do not need a religion to believe in God or be a good person. Most wars are based on religion which goes against teachings of any God. This may go against what a lot of people will say, but I believe that it is enough to live a good life and love & respect others. I was told by a priest once that I would not go to heaven because I had not been baptised so God does not know who I am. I tend to listen to what people have to say but believe what I want. Nobody has the right to tell you what you should believe.

Well when you believe in Love, peace, knowledge, respect and multicultural richness then these are the actual gods I feel and if everyone on this earth starts believing these Gods then the world would be a happier place.

Well I hope not, since I do not believe in God. I do not know how this world came into being, I have a cyclical theory that time is something that humans have created and so in terms of the universe there is no need for a beginning and there won't be an end, so due to this there is no need for it to have been created since time is something we made up. I believe if you treat the people around you rightly and respect the beliefs of others then you do not need to believe in God yourself.

Hi. To me, God is love and if you are the person you have said you are, you are good, very good in fact. I myself don't believe in god and that has not stopped people calling me a good person. When it comes to religion, again I'll say, love is the biggest religion.

There's actually an age-old philosophical question similar to the one you post: "Can we be good without God". In other words, if we knew there was no heaven, no God, and this is all we get, would we still be good or try to do all the murderous evil fantasies we desire without fear of hell or retribution? I think the answer is yes, we can be good :)

well the answer is no..... Religion and being good actually has need not go hand in hand.......you can be a good person even if you are not religious...... My version of looking at this is.......religion does give you some guidelines and some ethics on which you love to live in.......like in Christians we have certain guidelines given in bible, love your neighbors, help each others, forgive one another, etc.......so if i believe in god then i believe in what he says, and indirectly it makes me a good person....... But as you rightly say, if you already have a motivation factor and you have decided to live a righteous life then it is really good.....i feel religion acts like a motivation factor for being good.,......

I think that the things you believe in are representative of a positive higher power, regardless of whether you want to call it God or Buddha or whatever. I think that what's important is your intentions and your actions, rather than what so-called "deity" you claim to believe in. There have been a lot of people in history who claimed to follow "God" and did really atrocious things to their fellow humans, and there have been people who didn't claim any religion who did wonderful things to help others.

No!There is no need to become a religious man to behave good.Also all religious men are not to be understood good.Religions are developed to say what is right and what is wrong to follow.If you can be a nice man,you are apart from religions and you don't need them.Cheers!

I know people who don't believe in God but would give the shirt off their back for anyone in need. So no I don't believe you need to believe in God to be a nice person.

No, you don't need those things if you don't believe them. I suport you opinions, I don't believe destiny,but we can creat miracles by ourselves. Everything can come true if work hard fot it.

GOD is not a good person but a spirit.only wirtues and teaching of god are good.,never that the bible says and teaches that god becomes human.its the values of god that are good..don't be confused that is god,.Christ is diff. from god as to natural being coz Christ is the son of god but their goals are the same that is the salvation of mankind.Christ is the mediator of man with god and the savior..he is the medium of god's salvation

definitely not. i know some very nice athiests, and some very nice christians and muslims but there is a lot of evil done in the name of god

I don't believe in God too but I know my limit as a human being.I don't think I can act over nature or the universe.I respect something unknown. Religion can be choice for some people who want to be a nice person.I respect their choice thought I have no religion.

The answer to your question is best stated in this quote by Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius: "Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones."

hi no, atleast i dont think it is necessary to believe in god to be nice person-in fact those who believe in god and are fanatic abt their belief, their religion, their god-they are more likely to cause harm to humanity-u must have heard of so many people being killed in name of 'jehad' around the world.

Welcome to the Lot, Skills! Faith is a very personal and private issue. A person's faith is not part of what makes them a nice person or not, as far as I can tell. We don't necessarily act as we do because God says we should.

Nice question really! I'm an atheist. Quite like you, even I don't believe in miracles, destiny, God, heaven, hell et al. However, I do always advise others to believe in God (Lol if my advice counts!) Believing in God has a great deal of advantages in itself. You feel confident as some God is always there to support you. You also fear vice because God would punish you. You unknowingly do some acts which are beneficial to the society as a whole, under the influence of God, His rewards and His wrath. It's great to see that an agnostic like you is leading a positive life. But to be very honest, if you observe closely most atheists fall prey to vices like self pride, arrogance and ignorance. They also fall short of social duties that are to be done indirectly via religion. Even I say that I'm leading a positive life, however you cannot say the same about other non-believers. Atheists and agnostics are more vulnerable to the above mentioned vices. So if your question is an immediate one, I'd advise you to continue the way you are; but you should always dissuade others from following you or me.

I know many believers and many non believers. And i would definetely say that this parameter is statistically unrelated with their niceness :D I personally have some kind of personal belief but i don't follow any religion (i don't like others to tell me how to think)

I can say from pure experience that you do NOT need religion to be a good person. I am completely adamant that religion will make you a WORSE person, because: A) You're told and taught that things are wrong, in which other religions may prove to be okay, so you automatically wont like that person B) The Vice Versa of A, you're taught something is good, in which other religions is bad to do, so you'll be looked down upon by them. C) Religions start wars. It's plain and simple, there is no easier way to hate someone than with religion, a person could stab you in the heart but you STILL wouldn't hate them as much as something with a religion in conflict with yours. I have seen things like these happen at least once a day in my neighborhood and school. "Yeah guys! Awesome! Today is pork chop day!", "Yeah Jon, but it's not "awesome for Mort Goldstein the Jewish kid today huh?".At my 17th birthday party my mom bought a case of Mike's Hard Lemonade and offered it to a muslim man who was my friend's dad, but he wouldn't accept it, and my mother got mad at him. Religion just wastes people's time and energy. I find it MUCH easier to live my life agnostic.