Does It Matter If God Exists?

[Left Coast]

Precisely. It's shouldn't be surprising that you can't imagine how life would be with a belief in God if you've not actually believed in God.

I could try to imagine what it would be like to skydive for example, but I'd never know how it is for certain until I jump out of an airplane. I could try to imagine how a T-bone steak tastes, but I won't know for sure until I eat it. It's not at all odd that one can not know how anything is until one tries it out.

If you're not willing to give it a try, I'd just forget the whole thing and stop trying to imagine what it would be like. You'll not get anywhere like that.

Two things: 1) I have believed in God. 2) My question wasn't about belief in God's existence, but God's existence itself. I don’t need to know about anyone's experience to ask my question. Or is that the issue? Does God's existence only matter insofar as people believe it?

 

[rrobs]

Two things: 1) I have believed in God. 2) My question wasn't about belief in God's existence, but God's existence itself. I don’t need to know about anyone's experience to ask my question. Or is that the issue? Does God's existence only matter insofar as people believe it?

Well, I'm not sure I'm following you correctly, so this answer may not make sense. Nothing new for me.

I don't think people's belief about anything determines the inherent nature of anything. Things are the way they are apart form what people think about it. People believed the earth was flat for a long time. Belief does not change reality. God either exists or not apart from anyone's belief.

 

[Left Coast]

Well, I'm not sure I'm following you correctly, so this answer may not make sense. Nothing new for me.

I don't think people's belief about anything determines the inherent nature of anything. Things are the way they are apart form what people think about it. People believed the earth was flat for a long time. Belief does not change reality. God either exists or not apart from anyone's belief.

Agreed! So it's odd then, isn't it, that if God is real, it only makes a difference if you believe she does?

 

[lewisnotmiller]

There are lots of threads floating around the forums these days arguing for and against God's existence.

God has not made her presence known to me in my life. I see no reason to need to believe in her in order to be happy, to reason, to behave ethically, or to understand how things work.

Perhaps God judges our fate in the afterlife? If there is some life beyond death in which she will judge me, I have no control over my fate, as I don't even know what the nature of such an afterlife would be, or by what criteria I'll be judged. Humans offer lots of opinions on that subject, but none has presented a convincing argument that demonstrates they are any more in the know on the subject than I am. So I have no reason to live my life any differently based on what may or may not happen beyond death.

In short, even if God does exist...does it matter?

It could matter greatly, but...
I don't see how we can possibly understand God's nature, desires or interest even assuming existence. Faced with that, trying to assess any given path in terms of what God wants, why, and implications of that becomes impossible.

In short, if God existed or not, it would have no effect on me.

If God existed and I had surety about God's nature and motivations? Possibly a different story.

 

[Tambourine]

Yeah, how dare those who claim to know the will of god open up all those food pantries and homeless shelters! And that tree planting? That's gotta stop!

Imagine if God had commanded these people to share their wealth equally with the human population in order to eliminate poverty altogether, instead of feeding the poorest a few scraps under the table so these charitable souls can go to Heaven for their Good Works.

 

[Polymath257]

While I usually identify as an atheist, I also have strong tendency towards apatheism (not really caring if God exists or not) or ignosticism (the idea that God isn't well enough defined to even address the question of existence).

So, if some hyperdimensional teenager created this universe for a high school art class (thereby technically being God), does it really matter to me either way?

Not that I can see.

 

[A Vestigial Mote]

What if I am an autist?

Then your experience is different. But this all goes back to you trying to make the case that "feelings" have no presentation in reality. So, is this you implying that autistic people have no feelings, or just have a different interpretation of theirs or others feelings. Again - YOU'RE NOT EXPLAINING YOURSELF. A one-liner here isn't going to cut it.

I don't have back up that I believe in God, because it is fact that I can do so.

Then do it. Please choose the best source of demonstration you have and start there. I am entirely willing to hear you out - but do not expect me to just kowtow to any whim and fancy that you come to. Expect a lot of questions, and very possibly statements to refute things you might bring to bear that I feel are not reasonable assumptions/defaults/etc. to be accepting.

All I have to do is believe.

And is this belief so very difficult to keep to yourself? Seriously, is it? When we end up conversing on this site, I am pretty sure it is more often you that begins challenging my ideas, and not the other way around. I may have instigated once or twice, and maybe you have only done so as many times - but the point is, I'm not actively on the attack against your, personal ideas, necessarily, when you come knocking at my door, so to speak.

What is the problem? That it doesn't make sense to you? Okay, that is your problem. I accept that it doesn't make sense to you. I accept that to you it shouldn't make sense to me. But it still does.

No... here, I'll spell it out for you. You make EVERY EXCEPTION you possibly can for your own beliefs, and will point to everything in the world you think is subjective and say that it is "just like" your beliefs in God, and yet you would immediately reject most people whose personal beliefs include that they, themselves, are the second coming of Christ. Tell me you wouldn't, and I will stop right here. But if you WOULD reject their claims, and their personal, subjective experience that they are The Christ, then you are rejecting EXACTLY the types of claims I reject of yours when you say that you believe God exists, and hint that I should also accept this as "fact." Exactly the same. UNLESS, of course, you can make good on your statement that you can back up your belief in God with something substantial - which, considering all that I have been talking about and describing, would mean that you can produce something that should compel even me to believe. Of course... if you don't have that, then again, I implore you, keep your beliefs to yourself.

 

[Deeje]

So what I mean is, if God wanted people to know that he exists, then everybody would know the same God, in the same way that people know that the sun exists.

Unless of course there is a dividing of the 'sheep from goats' taking place......a decision that is made entirely without any intervention from God.....catching people in the act of being themselves......the one that lives in their their heads, their hearts, and in their lives....telling God exactly who they are.

Hebrews 4:12-13....
"For the word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of joints from the marrow, and is able to discern thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And there is not a creation that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and openly exposed to the eyes of the one to whom we must give an account."

So where does that place every person on this planet...believer or unbeliever?

If God exists, did he leave us any kind of guidebook? (yes) Is it available to everyone on the planet in their own language? (yes) Is ignorance of the Laws contained in that book ever an excuse to break them? (no) If we have to give an account of ourselves to this Being, it won't matter if we believe in him or not...he gave us all the information we need to get into his 'good books' and stay there. The rest is up to us. If you are searching for a God who is a mere reflection of yourself, you will never find him.....if you qualify for life in his Kingdom...he will find you.

The really good part is what he tells us about the future......without him there will be no future as we humans are well along the road to creating our own extinction. He will not allow mere humans to destroy his handiwork. He has big plans for it, which do not include rebels or self-absorbed and discontented fools.

We are all either "sheep or goats" in God's eyes......that is how I see it.

 

[nPeace]

There are lots of threads floating around the forums these days arguing for and against God's existence.

Hard not to see that.

God has not made her presence known to me in my life. I see no reason to need to believe in her in order to be happy, to reason, to behave ethically, or to understand how things work.

Perhaps God judges our fate in the afterlife? If there is some life beyond death in which she will judge me, I have no control over my fate, as I don't even know what the nature of such an afterlife would be, or by what criteria I'll be judged. Humans offer lots of opinions on that subject, but none has presented a convincing argument that demonstrates they are any more in the know on the subject than I am. So I have no reason to live my life any differently based on what may or may not happen beyond death.

That's another opinion.

In short, even if God does exist...does it matter?

God is, and the questions show it does matter.
Even minus the questions, it matters, but only to those who care if God is, or not.
It would not matter to those who want their own freedom... for now.
Some people after living their life of "freedom", only think it matters when they are at their lowest moments in life, or dying. Some don't care at all.
So it matters to the majority of people, but to others, it a hit and miss - can't say who doesn't, or who will eventually.

 

[nPeace]

That's an excellent question. Understanding gravity, the shape of the Earth, and so on is necessary to accurately understand features of the world around me. God is totally unnecessary in this regard as far as I can see. She explains nothing.

Why is understanding gravity, which no man understands, important to you? Or how does knowing the shape of the earth affect your life, and how you live it?

 

[nPeace]

Because God is unnecessary for living a good life, so far as I can tell.

Really?
Seems to me, what is considered "a good life" is a subjective opinion then, so how would you know what a good life is?
Do you determine that by what makes you "feel good"?

 

[Jesster]

Why is understanding gravity, which no man understands, important to you? Or how does knowing the shape of the earth affect your life, and how you live it?

I understand gravity pretty well.

 

[Left Coast]

Why is understanding gravity, which no man understands, important to you?

No one understands gravity? Have you spoken to any physicists about that?

Or how does knowing the shape of the earth affect your life, and how you live it?

I use a cell phone.

 

[Aupmanyav]

In short, even if God does exist .. does it matter?

God is a creature our imagination and is one of the biggest problem for humans. Belief in God allows people to claim to be prophets / sons / messengers / manifestations / mahdis of this imaginary entity and create different religions. This keeps us at conflict with each other.

 

[Left Coast]

Really?
Seems to me, what is considered "a good life" is a subjective opinion then, so how would you know what a good life is?
Do you determine that by what makes you "feel good"?

Whether we define a good life as an ethical one, or a hedonistic one, or a financially successful one, or one full of love and happiness, none of the above require a God, so far as I can see.

 

[nPeace]

I understand gravity pretty well.

Oh good. Explain to me how it works. Thanks.

 

[nPeace]

No one understands gravity? Have you spoken to any physicists about that?

I read their books.
Have you?

I use a cell phone.

You don't have to know the shape of the earth to use a cell phone.
Do you think the millions of people out there with a cell phone know or care what shape the earth is? Come on.

 

[nPeace]

Whether we define a good life as an ethical one, or a hedonistic one, or a financially successful one, or one full of love and happiness, none of the above require a God, so far as I can see.

That's not what I asked, now did I? ... and you can't decide that for others who say their life is happy, only because God is a part of it, and they would be unhappy without God in their life, can you?

 

[Left Coast]

I read their books.
Have you?

I've read some, but am by no means an expert. How much education in physics do you have?

You don't have to know the shape of the earth to use a cell phone.
Do you think the millions of people out there with a cell phone know or care what shape the earth is? Come on.

Like another user, you misunderstood. The thread isn't about the significance of the belief. The thread is about the significance of the thing itself.

 

[Ancient Soul]

I would think that if it mattered to a god if we think it exists or not, it would have done a better job in letting us know that it exists.

Your comment brings up what has bothered me through out my entire life.

I got my start with God and spiritual matters when just a little child. A toddler. And from then on exploring this great mystery became my way of life. While all around me everyone else was too absorbed in themselves and immersed in the physical pleasures of this world. Or if they did want to understand God or spiritual matters, they went to one of the many man made religions who could only spoon feed them lies about a "god" and gave them placebos in place of true spiritual answers. Never wanting to go out and actually TRY to let God in, seek true spiritual answers, or even understand the workings of the world around them. Happy to just sit there and let other MEN feed them lies instead.

So I never understood why they all found it so hard to follow the old saying of, seek and thee shall find.