Why Care Whether God Exists Or Not?

[McBell]

It ought to be obvious to anyone with the intelligence of a squished gnat... but perhaps that is expecting too much.

Let's take it a step at a time, shall we?

Nimrauko stated: "Just because you string a bunch of words together trying to sound wise, does not make you such."

This statement is simple emotional rhetoric. I have yet see Jay state that he was wise in any way. Likewise, Jay does not need to take the time to sound wise and stress himself over what juicy large words he can use to skewer the object of his fascination. "Wise" is an appelation that many people around here honor the man with. Does it make it easier to understand coming from someone who has been the target of his somewhat caustic wit?

Nimrauko stated: "Blind faith is idiotic and G-d doesnt render Reason more than a delusion, G-d furthers reason."

Now this seemingly reasonable statement notes that so-called "blind faith" is idiotic which in itself is highly insulting to people who worship via "blind faith". How rude is that,eh? Nimrauko then emptily speculates that "god" does not render reason more than delusion, but somehow "furthers reason". Just by the wording it asserts that belief in "god" may well be a source of delusion, but if you are wired correctly (i.s. seeing "god" his way) then the delusion allegedly morphs into reason. It is a bit much to expect from the belief in what is essentially ones invisible friend. I do wonder how that all works. I guess I have to have my Psychic Hotline to "god" checked as I fail to understand what god has to do with either reason or delusion as those are the province of the individual -- not some imagined "god". If you have the intellect of a wilted cabbage prior to believing in god, it is unlikely that you are going to gain much from such a psychological vacation after the fact.

Nimrauko stated: It is reasoning that gives us a glimpse of G-d's works and how he does the wondrous things he does.

I see. That is a rather bold assertion. I suppose it is picked up via osmosis or summin'. My advice would be to avoid inhaling unless one just likes to see pretty colours. Frankly, to me, such nonesense merely outlines how people readily hobble their sense of reason in order to shoehorn their expectations into their perception of reality. Heck, I believe in god with every fibre of my being and yet I wouldn't insist that that aspect of reality overly influences my day to day being. Why should it?

see.
That wasn't so hard.
So the next question is:
Why did you guys have to be so rude about it?

 

[roli]

Is there any reason we should care whether God exists or not? If so, why? If not, why not?

We were born with the will to live forever, it's evident all over this planet.
For anyone to argue that ,well, I would beg to differ in their position , especially if death confronted them now !!
If man are relgious only to fill their time and make themselves look and feel worthy or pious that would be a shame.
But in every historic relgion, a heaven,or paradise etc was the forefront of most of the follwoers minds.
Christianity is no different, heaven is the goal and the Holy Spirit confirms and undeniablly affirms this with every true believer beyond a doubt that heaven is ours when we come to Christ and trust him as our Savior and atoning sacrifice,yet it remains forever uncomprehensible to those outside
I mean if I was trusting a man to tell me that heaven is my home ,I would most certainly doubt and be concerned and never actually hace assurance

1Jo 5:13These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
You mean you can know ,well how absurd ,some may think ,but that my friends is what seals the deal for me and every born again Christian ,the assurance and witness of the Holy SPIRIT revealing to us that we are Sons of God
Rom 8:16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:


Paul sums it up here that we should be pitied for just having Jesus in this life

Paul ,says 1Cr 15:19And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most pitied or miserable people in the world.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

It depends what you need as to whether that is "enough".

Do you see God only as a mental focal point? As a way to channel your own desire and will to acheive your goals? In that case, God becomes like Dumbo's feather: a mental touchstone that, while useful, only matters in terms of the user's perception. In such a case, I'm not completely sure that "God as a concept" has any real claim to the title "God", any more than Dumbo's feather has any claim to the title "lift-generating device".

If you see God/gods/"spirit forces"/etc. as an independent agency for anything, then they must exist as more than just a concept.

Ah, but what exists as more than just a concept?

I like your "Dumbo's feather" analogy! God--an an archetypal symbol--is more than just a mental "feather" (or crutch), it has a meaning (a spirit!) of Its own that is probably more poetic or romantic than utilitarian.

As an independent agent, though? I couldn't say, any more than I could say that you, my partially-penguin friend, are an independent agent. In order to observe you as such, I must first define you, already placing you in the category of the symbolized--already in the same category as God.

For God, at its very basis (using scientific assumptions), is a neural connection between patterns in my brain. These patterns are made up of various sensory data (including concepts and definitions) that are arbitrary to my experience. The same holds true to something like the "mug" in front of me. Or "you."

 

[Willamena]

So the next question is:
Why did you guys have to be so rude about it?

Um, it's a guy thing.

 

[Willamena]

We were born with the will to live forever, it's evident all over this planet.
For anyone to argue that ,well, I would beg to differ in their position , especially if death confronted them now !!

But that "will to live forever" is given to us by the people who tell us that death confronts us, that "what we are" will vanish! especially Christianity.

Paul ,says 1Cr 15:19And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most pitied or miserable people in the world.

Doesn't that express a belief in reincarnation? (Hallelulyuh!)

 

[roli]

But that "will to live forever" is given to us by the people who tell us that death confronts us, that "what we are" will vanish! especially Christianity.

I believe God places that will to live forever
Ecc 3:11He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

You actually need someone to tell you that death confronts you,the will to live is embedded within our moral fibre.

Doesn't that express a belief in reincarnation? (Hallelulyuh)

I don't imagine that reincarnation is as blissful as it is made out to be and is considerably different in what God says will happen when we die.
I also believe our destination will not be where so many think it will be

 

[YmirGF]

Um, it's a guy thing.

Yeah, pretty much, Willy. In all fairness those who are the target of my alleged rudeness should be flattered that I bothered to think about their illustrious comments at all. Besides, if folks think I am rude on the forums, they simply are not ready to meet me in person. I'd prolly have to hand out pacemaker's after a few heart stopping comments without the RF rulebook standing in my way, lol. :yes:

 

[.lava]

I always get a chuckle when people point at obvious truth as being rude. What's with that, eh? Pity that some prefer webs of lies, masking as niceties, rather than taking the truth on the chin like any reasonable person should.

I hope I never fully understand why that is.

spontaneous motive is a frozen action. i'd be 'someone' by using the same motivation yet i'd say the absolute opposite. so, do you really get me?

 

[Random]

Yeah, pretty much, Willy. In all fairness those who are the target of my alleged rudeness should be flattered that I bothered to think about their illustrious comments at all. Besides, if folks think I am rude on the forums, they simply are not ready to meet me in person. I'd prolly have to hand out pacemaker's after a few heart stopping comments without the RF rulebook standing in my way, lol. :yes:

I don't think you're rude...:flirt: Just experienced.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

So the next question is:
Why did you guys have to be so rude about it?

Why do you guys find willful ignorance and intellectual sloppiness socially acceptable?

 

[Willamena]

Yeah, pretty much, Willy. In all fairness those who are the target of my alleged rudeness should be flattered that I bothered to think about their illustrious comments at all. Besides, if folks think I am rude on the forums, they simply are not ready to meet me in person. I'd prolly have to hand out pacemaker's after a few heart stopping comments without the RF rulebook standing in my way, lol. :yes:

See? Even that's rude. It's a phenomenon!

 

[Luke_17:2]

That's a load of...nonsenses.

If God really has absolute power...and if he is good, as Christians, Jews or Muslims believed to be, then he can easily stop the killing, raping, people starving, etc.

He could...

The question is do we deserve anything less then what we have?

People use God's name far too often, often refusing to take responsibilities for their own actions. This is particularly true in time of war.

That's just it: anything bad that's happened is our fault.

People will always see themselves in the right, and other people wrong, basically because they seriously believe God is on their side.

Do you believe you're right?

Is God on your side?

I don't think God gives a fig of who own that land,

Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket,
and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.

Not only does He care, it's one of the foremost things in His mind.

Christians have done so in the past, with 3 of the crusades. And they have done so against other Christians even more times against the Muslims, all in the name of God. The inquistions, torturing and execution of heretics and witches, are classic examples of Christians justifying their actions because of what their religion dictates. Of course, their actions were also political motivated or motivated by greed for land and power, but they were also motivated because of their religion.

Of course it was.

And your point is?

Some Muslims are doing this now.

Yeah, some...

They did it then too. It's nothing new.

Violence mixed with religious fervour often make a person refused to take responsible for his own action, because in his sick mind, he believe he is the instrument of God's will.

Lenin, Stalin, Mao, etc -what went on in their minds?

What went on in Marx's (who was an atheist) mind when his family starved to death because he chose to abstain from a capitalistic system

 

[Melissa G]

Is there any reason we should care whether God exists or not? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes, of course people should. They should be wondering why they invest so much time in a non-exsitent entity.

Melissa G

 

[BucephalusBB]

Yes, of course people should. They should be wondering why they invest so much time in a non-exsitent entity.

Melissa G

So you are saying people should invest time in thinking why they invest useless time.
That seems ironically to some point.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

Yes, of course people should. They should be wondering why they invest so much time in a non-exsitent entity.

Melissa G

Well, so much history has been devoted to that "non-existent" entity. Besides, even as just a mental focus, as 9-10ths Penguin pointed out, "God" still has some useful service.

 

[McBell]

Why do you guys find willful ignorance and intellectual sloppiness socially acceptable?

I don't.
Perhaps if you weren't so busy trying to be as rude as possible you would have noticed that I was merely talking about your rudeness.
I did notice that you failed to answer the question.
IN fact, you have failed to answer several questions that were flat out asked of you.
Perhaps your rudeness is merely a diversionary tactic?

See? Even that's rude. It's a phenomenon!

{sarcasm}
But this rudeness is acceptable because it is so painfully obvious that he is correct.
Being right justifies any and all rudeness.
{/sarcasm}

 

[Willamena]

{sarcasm}
But this rudeness is acceptable because it is so painfully obvious that he is correct.
Being right justifies any and all rudeness.
{/sarcasm}

Do you want to be the one to make him change who he is?

 

[Sunstone]

**MOD POST**

Please refrain from personal attacks. Critique each other's ideas all you want but do not personally attack each other.
​

 

[Don Penguinoini]

Well, so much history has been devoted to that "non-existent" entity. Besides, even as just a mental focus, as 9-10ths Penguin pointed out, "God" still has some useful service.

Its not a non-existent entity to most people. Most people it is there.

 

[Fluffy]

We should care only after being justified in establishing that God's existence.