What if there is no god?

[pacer]

"...recognizing that you live in a godless universe focusses your attention on your limited time and how precious it is and how important it is to make the most of every day, and not just for you and your little circle but for the planet; and, indeed, I think when someone says without god there is no meaning, I'll concede the point that there's no ultimate meaning but there's even more proximate meaning; there's even more of an impetus or a prod to make the most out of your life right now. And evangelical christians...when you believe that your 70 plus years on the planet are ultimately sort of meaningless because it's all sort of a trial run for eternity, that religious world view is in a sense, in fact, nihilistic. It makes our life meaningless and that retreat into the supernatural turns our back on what's most important...making the world a better place, our relationships, our loved ones, living the good life, the full good life. And the extent to which you focuss on the supernatural or Matthew 6;33--you know when Jesus says, 'Think ye on the things of the kingdom of heaven', you know, make that your priority, not the every day work-a-day world--that is a denial in fact of our human experience. It's a sort of rejection of the real meaning right in front of us." (D.J. Grothe)

 

[daws101]

Humanity has no fathom of God.

Only in death will you know it.

And only in death shall you unite.

Spoken from the Gospel of Mr. H.

Dream on, bitches.

time to pass the plate brother!

 

[The Professor]

What if there WAS a God and he/she/it is dead?

If you have not already read the book, I suggest God's Debris: A thought Experiment written by Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip.

“Scott writes that the only challenge for an omnipotent being would be the challenge of destroying itself and its own omnipotence. A God that is omnipotent would have no motivation to do or create anything because it already knows and has everything. However, a God might be motivated to try to answer the one unanswered question of what happens if the God ceases to exist. Scott’s fictional hypothesis is that our existence is proof that God is motivated to act and since only self-destruction could interest and motivate an omnipotent being, then we must be a part of the God’s debris that came from the Big Bang as God caused itself to no longer exist.”

Omnipotence and Scott Adams? God?s Debris | Agnostic Universe

“But why did god decide to cease to exist? According to Avatar an omnipotent and omniscient being cannot be motivated by the same motivations as humans, for example an omnipotent god does not require food and hence is not driven by hunger as we do. In fact, Avatar argues, that such omnipotent and omniscient being can only be motivated by one thing: the desire to experience his non-existence. One might wonder if god has really ceased to exist, how can he experience his own non-existence? Here is interesting twist, and also a distinction between Haisch’s pandeism and God’s Debris, the non-existence of god is temporary. According to Avatar we are part of the reconstruction of god. Since our universe is made from the same components as god, these components can rearranged such that god will exist once more. However, we might wonder what god would do after his reconstruction, but on this Avatar remains silent.”

A review of ?God?s Debris? by Scott Adams | Republic of Lagrangia

In this thought-provoking book, Adams examines the essence of God and the concept of free will. Adam's may be wrong in everything he says, but he will make you think.

 

[GISMYS]

ROFLMAO!!!! OH!! THE ""wisdom"" OF MAN!!!! roflmao!!!! little man thinking he might understand or march his brain power against ALMIGHTY GOD!!! ROFLMAO!!!

 

[pacer]

Man invented god. Oh, the wisdom...

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

I have a question for all the believers.

What would you do if you found out tomorrow that your god, the god that you believe in, was false?

How would your life be affected?

I know this is a difficult concept for many of you to contemplate, so I'm asking you to think outside the box and put yourself into a hypothetical alternate universe where it turns out your religious beliefs are false.

I'm sure you can do it.

This depends on what is meant by ‘god,’ of course.

If by ‘god’ one perceives an omnipotent deity that created the universe and is interceding on the behalf of humans, no – there is no ‘god.’

If by ‘god’ one is referring to a creation of man, a consequence of man’s collective fear of death, where ‘god’ exists as a component of religious doctrine and dogma, then ‘god’ exists in the same subjective context with other man-made philosophies, disciplines, and concepts.

Of course, the god created by man is a manifestation of human arrogance, and is completely devoid of any type of secular authority.

 

[pacer]

I have a question for all the believers.

What would you do if you found out tomorrow that your god, the god that you believe in, was false?

How would your life be affected?

I know this is a difficult concept for many of you to contemplate, so I'm asking you to think outside the box and put yourself into a hypothetical alternate universe where it turns out your religious beliefs are false.

I'm sure you can do it.

This depends on what is meant by ‘god,’ of course.

If by ‘god’ one perceives an omnipotent deity that created the universe and is interceding on the behalf of humans, no – there is no ‘god.’

If by ‘god’ one is referring to a creation of man, a consequence of man’s collective fear of death, where ‘god’ exists as a component of religious doctrine and dogma, then ‘god’ exists in the same subjective context with other man-made philosophies, disciplines, and concepts.

Of course, the god created by man is a manifestation of human arrogance, and is completely devoid of any type of secular authority.

In other words, god is a concept of mind.

 

[Chaussette]

God has not been proven to exist or to not exist, which makes agnostic as the only real choice. For now.

Just because you are unable to see the proof, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. There are many other "real" choices. You don't have a monopoly on the truth any more than any Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, or Hindu. you're just as fallible as the rest of us.

The truth is: there's no tangible proof of a god existing... or not.

 

[GISMYS]

God has not been proven to exist or to not exist, which makes agnostic as the only real choice. For now.

Just because you are unable to see the proof, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. There are many other "real" choices. You don't have a monopoly on the truth any more than any Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, or Hindu. you're just as fallible as the rest of us.

The truth is: there's no tangible proof of a god existing... or not.===========The universe and all life is proof of GOD, HOW MUCH MORE PROOF DO FOOLS NEED???

 

[JohnA]

Just because you are unable to see the proof, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. There are many other "real" choices. You don't have a monopoly on the truth any more than any Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, or Hindu. you're just as fallible as the rest of us.

The truth is: there's no tangible proof of a god existing... or not.===========The universe and all life is proof of GOD, HOW MUCH MORE PROOF DO FOOLS NEED???

how as all life proof of god and if it is WHICH ONE ? EXPLAIN

 

[Darkwind]

I have a question for all the believers.

What would you do if you found out tomorrow that your god, the god that you believe in, was false?

How would your life be affected?

I know this is a difficult concept for many of you to contemplate, so I'm asking you to think outside the box and put yourself into a hypothetical alternate universe where it turns out your religious beliefs are false.

I'm sure you can do it.

This is where you primates fail...

Faith is a belief that a Deity exists and that all of the strife and heartache and other tribulations of life will be met with the reward of being in the presence of creation. Having faith is no gamble in any way, shape, or form.

You may not grasp that, so let Me put it this way.

If God exists....I will be rewarded both in life and death.

If he does not, then I'll never know, because I'll just be dead.

I have nothing to lose in believing.

 

[Politico]

Life would go on.

No it wouldn't. All the weak minded people who need God to keep from going insane would lose their nuts and blow the planet up.

 

[dblack]

I have a question for all the believers.

What would you do if you found out tomorrow that your god, the god that you believe in, was false?

How would your life be affected?

I know this is a difficult concept for many of you to contemplate, so I'm asking you to think outside the box and put yourself into a hypothetical alternate universe where it turns out your religious beliefs are false.

I'm sure you can do it.

This is where you primates fail...

Faith is a belief that a Deity exists and that all of the strife and heartache and other tribulations of life will be met with the reward of being in the presence of creation. Having faith is no gamble in any way, shape, or form.

You may not grasp that, so let Me put it this way.

If God exists....I will be rewarded both in life and death.

If he does not, then I'll never know, because I'll just be dead.

I have nothing to lose in believing.

That's not answering the question. The OP isn't asking what you would lose, it's asking how it would change the way you live if you no longer believed in a god. Would you still maintain the same basic attitude toward life? The same morals, the same values?

This is particularly interesting from an atheist's perspective, because one of the most common charges leveled against them is that they have no moral foundation - that without a god telling them what to value and what morals to follow, they have none. But from their point of view, the morals of believers are precarious at best. They wonder what happens if and when believers lose their faith. Do they become sociopaths? libertines? hedonists?

 

[AVG-JOE]

I have a question for all the believers.

What would you do if you found out tomorrow that your god, the god that you believe in, was false?

How would your life be affected?

I know this is a difficult concept for many of you to contemplate, so I'm asking you to think outside the box and put yourself into a hypothetical alternate universe where it turns out your religious beliefs are false.

I'm sure you can do it.

There was a time when I was CERTAIN that I was resting on my blessed assurance in Jesus The Christ, as guaranteed by The New Testament of The God of Abraham.

Then one day I acquired enough knowledge to put the ancient stories in their proper historical perspective and I simply stopped believing that they were the last http://www.usmessageboard.com/philosophy/266556-word.html on God.


If God is, doesn't it make sense that He's way bigger than all of the ancient stories, let alone any one of them?

 

[AVG-JOE]

I was raised in the religious environment of paranoia and fear known as the Catholic Church.
I believe that it more fucked up my life than enhanced it.

Catholic school.


I need say no more

My mom pulled me out of Catholic School in the third grade because the nuns refused to use my real first name, it wasn't a proper Catholic name. I still had to go to Sunday School till my early teens, no big deal.

Ringel05 is NOT a proper Catholic name?!?

Who knew?​

 

[AVG-JOE]

bullshit! You have "stuff" claimed to support scripture but this stuff has never been proven.
As to the miracles, beside being a soul band in the 1960's and 70's there is no objective physical or non religious anecdotal evidence to corroborate them..

much of scripture is a historical account, there are volumes of archeological evidence to support this history. As for miracles there are many postulations as to natural causes but no evidence that proves or disproves.

mankind has all creation as proof of god,what kind of fool needs more???

Whose God?

Which God?

The God of Abraham, as described in The Torah, The New Testament and The Koran? Pass!

If God is, doesn't it make sense that She's WAY bigger than ALL the ancient stories, let alone any one of them?


6,000 years ago, Abraham had his God / Today, AVG-JOE has his God. More folks pursuing God on their own terms is what I pray for.

 

[hobelim]

I have a question for all the believers.

What would you do if you found out tomorrow that your god, the god that you believe in, was false?

How would your life be affected?

I know this is a difficult concept for many of you to contemplate, so I'm asking you to think outside the box and put yourself into a hypothetical alternate universe where it turns out your religious beliefs are false.

I'm sure you can do it.

This is where you primates fail...

Faith is a belief that a Deity exists and that all of the strife and heartache and other tribulations of life will be met with the reward of being in the presence of creation. Having faith is no gamble in any way, shape, or form.

You may not grasp that, so let Me put it this way.

If God exists....I will be rewarded both in life and death.

If he does not, then I'll never know, because I'll just be dead.

I have nothing to lose in believing.

That depends on what you believe.

If a belief in any particular God inspires believers to reject human nature as evil then they stand to lose their humanity, their souls, and become unnatural unthinking perversions of a human being.

Anyone who has ever tried to have a rational conversation with gism on either side has ample warning to be more discerning between what is kosher or not before allowing any belief to enter their mind.

"This, he told me, is the curse which goes out over all the land. For by the writing on one side every thief shall be swept clean away, and by the writing on the other, every perjurer shall be swept clean away. I have sent it out, the Lord of Hosts has said, and it shall enter the house of the thief and the house of the man who has perjured himself in my name. It shall stay inside that house and demolish it, timbers and stones and all."

 

[laziale]

I believe GOD only on your heart.

 

[hangover]

"...recognizing that you live in a godless universe focusses your attention on your limited time and how precious it is and how important it is to make the most of every day, and not just for you and your little circle but for the planet; and, indeed, I think when someone says without god there is no meaning, I'll concede the point that there's no ultimate meaning but there's even more proximate meaning; there's even more of an impetus or a prod to make the most out of your life right now. And evangelical christians...when you believe that your 70 plus years on the planet are ultimately sort of meaningless because it's all sort of a trial run for eternity, that religious world view is in a sense, in fact, nihilistic. It makes our life meaningless and that retreat into the supernatural turns our back on what's most important...making the world a better place, our relationships, our loved ones, living the good life, the full good life. And the extent to which you focuss on the supernatural or Matthew 6;33--you know when Jesus says, 'Think ye on the things of the kingdom of heaven', you know, make that your priority, not the every day work-a-day world--that is a denial in fact of our human experience. It's a sort of rejection of the real meaning right in front of us." (D.J. Grothe)

Considering that your 70+ years is but a blip in time, compared to the eternity after you check out, and the fact that most of those years are a struggle to vast majority, the yearning for peace and tranquility in the hereafter is hardly meaningless. It gives most the sense of worth in the struggle. Even if it is a fantasy, it is what gives them hope. That's not to say it is a fantasy, because NO ONE knows the "real meaning".

 

[hangover]

I have a question for all the believers.

What would you do if you found out tomorrow that your god, the god that you believe in, was false?

How would your life be affected?

I know this is a difficult concept for many of you to contemplate, so I'm asking you to think outside the box and put yourself into a hypothetical alternate universe where it turns out your religious beliefs are false.

I'm sure you can do it.

This is where you primates fail...

Faith is a belief that a Deity exists and that all of the strife and heartache and other tribulations of life will be met with the reward of being in the presence of creation. Having faith is no gamble in any way, shape, or form.

You may not grasp that, so let Me put it this way.

If God exists....I will be rewarded both in life and death.

If he does not, then I'll never know, because I'll just be dead.

I have nothing to lose in believing.

That depends on what you believe.

If a belief in any particular God inspires believers to reject human nature as evil then they stand to lose their humanity, their souls, and become unnatural unthinking perversions of a human being.

Anyone who has ever tried to have a rational conversation with gism on either side has ample warning to be more discerning between what is kosher or not before allowing any belief to enter their mind.

"This, he told me, is the curse which goes out over all the land. For by the writing on one side every thief shall be swept clean away, and by the writing on the other, every perjurer shall be swept clean away. I have sent it out, the Lord of Hosts has said, and it shall enter the house of the thief and the house of the man who has perjured himself in my name. It shall stay inside that house and demolish it, timbers and stones and all."

It doesn't matter what anyone believes. The only thing that matters, is what is real. You must be willing to give up what you believe, in order to see what is real.