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.

Views: 1088

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on December 8, 2009 at 6:32am
Oh, I don't. I've gotten a HUGE kick out of listening to James' account of the trial resulting from the attempted assault on him and now his talk with the pastor in church. It's wonderful to hear him relate the dichotomy of his knowledge vs. their faith, and as much as I would have loved to have seen the video of them going at it, a reverse angle view of the congregation might have been equally entertaining if not instructive. Just how many of them ARE firm in their faith ... and how many were squirming in their seats?

But that debate WAS an intellectual exercise, very much worth the effort and energy, if only to say that there's another opinion out there.
Permalink Reply by Ben on November 26, 2009 at 9:14pm
I certainly consider the possibility that there is a god, and I'm an atheist. But I never consider the consequence of that god existing, as there's no reason to think he/she/it exists
Permalink Reply by Ogden Lafaye on November 26, 2009 at 12:19pm
Who is the Christian God? The only conclusion you could come to after reading the Bible is:

“Arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction; jealous and proud of it; an unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sado-masochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”

That’s a fact. I read it twice.
Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on November 26, 2009 at 1:11pm
"But he LOVES you!"

-- George Carlin
Permalink Reply by Ogden Lafaye on November 26, 2009 at 6:36pm
Laughter...I LOVE George Carlin. My enemies enemies are my friends.
Permalink Reply by Andrew Lafont on November 27, 2009 at 12:00pm
Why do you people still consider the possibility that a "God" exists? There is no God! And it is foolish to even consider it.

God is fictional character created in a fiction book, by the strong to control the weak.

The weak will always look to a "God", a place where all are equal, and perfect life is granted.

Of course, the strong know the truth. Remember from the Wizard of Oz?

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtian!!"--Giant floating head from the Wizard of Oz.

The strong collect the money, while the weak pray away for an exclusive ticket to nowhere.

You don't see people praying to Winne the Pooh. But they pray to God.

Both are fictional characters in a fiction book.

It is the whole divine judgement clause that scares the crap out of people.

If you give Winne the Pooh a white army and power to send people to honey land or not, you would see a lot more people start praying to Winne the Pooh.

We, the Atheists, we take life into our own hands. We don't worry about if there is a God or Could there be a God.

Live your life, and don't care about if's or could's.

Viva Atheism.

P.S. My only beef with the Agnostics, is that it a yes or no question and you choose, "Maybe", "I don't know" and "Perhaps". Pick a Side.
Permalink Reply by Jo Jerome on November 27, 2009 at 4:50pm
Why do you people still consider the possibility that a "God" exists? There is no God! And it is foolish to even consider it.

I agree, but that's not what this thread is about.

There's no such thing as vampires or a vampire slayer, but I ask myself all the time, "What if I were a Slayer? What if I were a vampire? Or a Vengance Demon?"

By asking those questions am I conveying some closet belief in such creatures?
Permalink Reply by Andrew Lafont on November 27, 2009 at 5:50pm
If you ask yourself those questions then, One I think you might just have too much time on your hands, and two, Asking questions, even about the possiblilty of the existence of these creatures, is on par with asking questions on if the fictional book is real.

Tell me, do you also wonder what is like to be a character in a video game? Or how to leap tall buildings in a single bound? Or how to grow fangs, turn into a bat, and drink the blood of your fellow humans?

If you ask 'If I were . . . ' to yourself, then yes, you are showing a small amount of belief in the creatures, because for you to imagine yourself as that creature you must believe--even a small bit--in them.
Permalink Reply by Ogden Lafaye on November 27, 2009 at 6:25pm
Oh come on Andrew, lighten up...I fantasize in the same manner and (secretly and ashamedly) you do also.
Permalink Reply by Fox Lee on November 27, 2009 at 6:31pm
> because for you to imagine yourself as that creature you must believe--even a small bit--in them.

What an utter load of rubbish. What about fantasy/sci-fi authors? What about role-playing games? What about actors? It's positively insulting for you to suggest that just because a person enjoys pretending, they can't separate fantasy from reality.
Permalink Reply by Howard S. Dunn on November 28, 2009 at 4:29pm
Interesting point. The imagination serves a useful purpose in that it is a mechanism for filling in blanks making the very mundane situation of constantly having to make decisions without complete information possible.

It is only when we can't tell imagination from information that we get in trouble. So, yes, compartmentalization is necessary. But Dawkins talks about compartmentalizing beliefs which is different from compartmentalizing information from speculation.
Permalink Reply by Fox Lee on December 2, 2009 at 5:33am
Since the traits/hobbies I mentioned are some which are built on imagination (yet there are hoardes of skeptics and atheists amongst them), I see no reason to think there's a problem. Unless I misunderstand your point, which may be the case, because it seems very vague from here.

RSS

© 2013   Atheist Nexus. All rights reserved. Admin: Richard Haynes.

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service