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What if there is a god?

Has anyone here every thought about what if there happened to be a god. It doesn't really matter what god or what religion just if there is one. When you die what do you think they/him/her would say and how you would react? If they were a god that passed judgment, do you think that they would understand your reasons for not believing and forgive you or would they punish you without question?

I was raised Christian and while I don't believe anything they say, the above still crosses my mind quite often. I'm a musician and I get a lot of gigs playing for church services, especially around Christmas and Easter. It's hard not to listen to the sermon and try to understand their way of thinking during these times and these questions always pop into my mind during and after the service.

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Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on November 12, 2009 at 3:12pm

Have you ever noticed how PETTY gods can be? Sure, the god of the Christers excels at it, but the bunch on Olympus were no better ... and a look into the Hindu pantheon might be intriguing as well!

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Permalink Reply by Sarah Elle on November 12, 2009 at 4:11pm

I have noticed, it's one of the biggest contributing factors to my disdain for religion.

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Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on November 16, 2009 at 8:26pm

Jan, c'mon! You KNOW you can always refer to His Omniscient Noodlyness and say:

RAMEN!

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Permalink Reply by Edward Teach on November 13, 2009 at 7:09am

It's hard not to listen to the sermon and try to understand their way of thinking during these times

I can't sit through a sermon any more. I just can't tolerate the absurdity of it. There is a reason sermons don't end with a question and answer period.

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Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on November 13, 2009 at 7:22am

A Question and Answer period?!? Good Grief, Agnes!!! It would run right through Sunday Afternoon Football, probably the early and late game both, and THAT's a mortal sin if ever I heard one!!!

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Permalink Reply by Edward Teach on November 13, 2009 at 7:42am

I remember sitting through church as a kid and it felt like torture! In my head I was counting down hymns... I knew that after the third one we got to bolt!

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Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on November 13, 2009 at 7:46am

The Congregationalist church I grew up in wasn't that bad, really. Some really nice people and a pastor who was in no ways standoffish and wanted to connect with all his congregation, and not in a condescending fashion, either. I honestly liked the guy and thinking back on it, I still do.

I just could never believe what they laid down because I had no experience to back up what they were saying! It was all lecture and NO LAB!!!

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Permalink Reply by Johnny on November 14, 2009 at 10:43am

I went to a Southern Baptist service once. It was actually fun because the person was flamboyant, loud, and put on a great stage act with singing and yelling and playing the crowd.

Scary... the service I liked the most as a kid is now what I interperet as one of the more crude and offensive forms of theism

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Permalink Reply by heretic on November 13, 2009 at 10:09am

yeah- DER!!! who gives a f* if you were raised xtian-most of us were, bub. GET IT?-WE TRIED THAT GIG. (HELLLLOOOOOO, anyone HOME?)

Think not, because Danny, you sound like you think we atheists arrived at this 'god-forsaken' conclusion BECAUSE WE DID NOT SERIOUSLY CONSIDER ALL THE OPTIONS WHICH WE FIRST WERE PROVIDED, GIVEN, TAUGHT by the ones who love us most????? OUR families? our pastors?
Do you think that was not soul-searching, painful, at ALL an introspective journey for any of us? Where the fuck are you coming from? CLEAR explanation, please! prove it if you think you can..

If you ASSUME atheists HAVE NOT considered the options and ARE NOT thinking people about whether or not to take superstitions and the thousands of different man-made religions (PICK ONE- THEIR POPULARITY PROVES NOTHING), then you do millions of ppl disservice by acting like a non-sentient, prejudiced, closeminded ignoramus.

Second, if that's what you think, take your illogical BS, superstitious beliefs and GTFO, because you lie. THAT IS, you'd better be honest about to what you agreed when you were allowed to sign up for this site- that means, you admit you're an atheist. GET IT?
If not, your integrity is lacking because you LIED.

News Flash!! - Integrity is Important - AND atheists don't need imaginary beings to have good morals.
GET IT YET?

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Permalink Reply by Danny on November 13, 2009 at 4:34pm

Chill out. They're just some questions I presented to everyone here and have thought about myself. Yes I'm an atheist but that doesn't mean I can't present a question about religion. I think many people here have thought of these questions. I get asked them a lot when people find out I'm an atheist. I was just curious as to what other people thought while providing some background.

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Permalink Reply by Ogden Lafaye on November 28, 2009 at 4:30pm

You started a wonderful thread Danny, thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Roy Batty on November 13, 2009 at 5:09pm

As an atheist, you're allowed to ask whatever the hell you want and to ponder whatever the hell you want. Fuck, is being an atheist isn't like being in a church full of fundies? Can't think this. Can't ask that. Do you hear yourselves? You deserve to have someone say "kiss my hairy atheist ass". Let the man ask if "what if there was a flying spaghetti monster"...or "what if there was a tooth fairy". Ridiculous questions have led to discoveries in science, psychology, music., etc., Look up "patterned thinking", and you'll see
that people have the tendency to clutch their rule books (even if it's a policy and procedure manual from work) and come down the mountain like some Moses to shatter your golden fucking calf because you're a heretic. Never mind that rules can be changed CREATIVELY.