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Permalink Reply by Allen Arledge on December 17, 2009 at 7:12pm

I would be extremely horrified by the existence of a god or gods, as they are not doing a very good job, to say the least. They, He, She, or It obviously have/has no regard for human suffering at all. Many in Western societies like ours-spoiled to the core with technological wonders and technical advancements-find it easy to delude themselves into both believing at some level that our comfort is somehow indicative of a more widespread comfort, and/or that we are somehow deserving of all of the blessings that every shred of objective evidence has pointed only to chance and Fortune as progenitors. Even in their own holy books this nightmarish monster is a capriciously malevolent, vengeful, and sadistic lunatic. Were this freak to exist I would have to inquire as to in which direction the Devil were, given His treatment of his own supposedly Chosen People I would rather take a chance with the so-called Prince of Darkness than with a psychotic Dictator-as at least (or so I am told) the Devil's behavior is consistently depraved and predictable. Far less anxiety would follow his presence in my opinion than a deity who blesses sycophants , no matter their behavior, and smites the honest, no matter theirs. Just a thought.

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Permalink Reply by Jo Jerome on December 18, 2009 at 9:10pm

Extremely, extremely well-put thought Allen. One of the best arguments I've heard against the existence of a god who answers our prayers like, "Please let that fabulous sweater come in blue..."

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Permalink Reply by Howard S. Dunn on December 18, 2009 at 9:15pm

*tears of laughter* (((((blue sweater))))) Right.

"Dear god, to the extent that it will not tweak your Master Plan or, in any other way, take your mind off of controlling and noting the position of every tiny atom at any given time, could you retroactively make sure the manufacturers of this particular sweater made some in that blue I love so much and that this store bought some and have at least one in my size!"

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Permalink Reply by Allen Arledge on December 18, 2009 at 10:26pm

"Please let that fabulous sweater come in blue?" That's hilarious! I wonder if the child sweat-shop workers would agree...

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Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on December 19, 2009 at 1:01pm

Sorry - blue is out of stock until November, 2077. We do however have puce, pomegranate, mauve, and peach....

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Permalink Reply by Chris Hall on December 18, 2009 at 9:42pm

I have actually thought about this one at times. What if there really was a god?

Well, for most of the gods out there, my unbelief wouldn't much matter, and most theist myths do not reward the faithful for their faith in the supposed afterlife. But, for the ones that do matter: the big three Western monotheist religions, this question become more poignant.

If the Western Monotheist God were to actually exist, and if the typical scenario were to occur following my death, then my reactions would be as follows:

First: Huh? No WAY! This simply can't be happening. No way can this nonsensical, contradictory, irrational bunch of dogma actually be true. If this is really happening, how do you explain so many of the completely inexplicable implications of this theistic nonsense vis a vis scientific knowledge and basic logic? Okay, well then, I guess black is white and up is down. Whatever. Fire away, your majesty... at this point, I'll believe anything.

Second: So, you are going to condemn me for nonbelief in you? Ummmm... since you ARE apparently true, and since you ARE apparently omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent, then how can you condemn me for not believing in you when you gave me absolutely NO reason to believe in you and I was using the rationality with which I was endowed to determine the most probably, approximately true knowledge in life. If you are going to condemn me for not believing in completely implausible myths when I apparently had no ability to do otherwise (your omniscience and omnipotence), then clearly you really are a sick bastard. (BTW, if there is a God who is truly omnipotent, then He can do anything He wants and have it be good, because if you are really ALL-powerful, then the words "no", "can't", and "impossible" simply are not applicable to you...).

Third: So, am I going to hell, then? Is it like the Hell that Hieronymous Bosch illustrated in the Triptych "Garden of Earthly Delights"? Because, that would be a very cool place to go - a lot more fun than the bland, boring heaven depicted. Or, is this to be a true hell of torment? Ummm... why? Why does an all-powerful god need to torment someone for all eternity? What does that accomplish? Is that the only way you can accomplish your goals? Is it the best way? Why?

In short, I would not regret being wrong even if I were to be wrong. You see, I would be wrong, in that scenario, for all the right reasons, where, otherwise, I would have been right for all the wrong reasons...

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Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on December 19, 2009 at 12:58pm

Yer evil, Larry ... EVIL! [wry chuckle!]

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Permalink Reply by Jo Jerome on December 19, 2009 at 6:16pm

Why does an all-powerful god need to torment someone for all eternity? What does that accomplish? Is that the only way you can accomplish your goals? Is it the best way? Why?

Good question. And good question to ask the next Theist I run across.

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Permalink Reply by Simon JM on December 19, 2009 at 6:30pm

I would tell it look at all the made up gods they weren't even close. ;)

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Permalink Reply by skepticmom on December 28, 2009 at 8:37pm

First, even if god or gods exist, that does not automatically mean there is any type of an afterlife. If there is an afterlife where we would meet up with any type of a god, that does not mean that that god would be concerned about what we did or thought.

I think that the things you were taught during your youth are still lurking around in your head and causing you to doubt yourself. I would suggest continuing to investigate those doubts; I am confident a thorough, logical investigation will alleviate your doubts and reassure you.

In answer to your question, I guess if I were actually faced with your improbable scenario, I would reply the same way Det. Deitrich (Atheist from Barney Miller) told Wojo he would reply met god in the afterlife--"Oops."

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Permalink Reply by Prasanna Deshpande on December 29, 2009 at 12:15am

I would say that if there is a God who passes Judgement as long as I have lived a decent and good life according to my moral views and as long as I can justify why the life I lived were right then I will be fine.

Now about the Christian God. If he exists I would ask God(when I die, ofcourse) as to why he rewards belief over deed? Why is disobeying him a sin? Why are we guilty of a 'sin' that someone committed thousands of years ago? Also I would ask him to justify all his acts like killing all the first borns in Egypt, the sacrifice of himself(Jesus) to himself as a solution to original sin which is laughable absurd. Also his logic in punishing us that is clearly his mistake. I mean if he wanted us to obey and not question then why give us a brain? He is clearly at fault and I see no way that we should be held liable for his mistales. I'll tell him all that and see what he says. I'll also say to him that a God who does all these things is immoral and unfit of even admiration let alone worship.

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Permalink Reply by Boo Radley on December 29, 2009 at 3:19am

It doesn't worry me. A god or gods existing would in no way diminish the beauty and complexity of the universe, but to me it would make it a little colder. The existence of god(s) would mean that I would have to reconcile their presence with their seeming apathy and/or cruelty.

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