Ask an atheist (the second coming)

[GhostWriter16]

Have you ever considered the possibility of the existance of a God?

Do you ever fear you might be wrong?

Do you believe there is any possibility the Christian God is true?

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Have you ever considered the possibility of the existence of a God?

Many, many, many times.

Do you ever fear you might be wrong?

Nope. Being wrong is great. Being wrong and realising you are makes you a better person. It is the way you learn. It is necessary for new insights. Which may very well be wrong as well.

Being wrong about the existence of God also doesn't worry me. I know I made my decision based on my experiences and I know they leave me no other option than not believing in God. My motivations for not believing are honest. If I am wrong about God's existence there is no fault on my behalf.

Only a malicious God would punish me for being honest to myself. And if God is malicious, I don't think it'll matter whether I believe or not, everyone will have a bad time regardless of what they believe.

Do you believe there is any possibility the Christian God is true?

No, I don't believe in that possibility.

Main reason being there is no such thing as the Christian God, except in name only. Every single Christian I talk to at length has a different perception of it. In effect leaving me with nothing to believe in. I'm not going to put one person's perception above someone else's, and I have never heard a perceptions which seemed possible to me. This means I would have to create my own perception, which is impossible.

I can entertain the possibility of a God. Once characteristics are given, my reason for believing and the likelihood of it existing plummet towards zero.

 

[Zack]

Have you ever considered the possibility of the existance of a God?

Of course. Many, many times.

Do you ever fear you might be wrong?

Of course. Many, many times.

Although "fear" is not the word I would use. "Consider" would be a better word.

Do you believe there is any possibility the Christian God is true?

Of course. I just thinks it's a very small possibility.

 

[Borachio]

Have you ever considered the possibility of the existance of a God?

Do you ever fear you might be wrong?

Do you believe there is any possibility the Christian God is true?

1. Constantly. (And I'd really rather not.)

2. Certainty escapes me completely on very nearly every topic. (But I am completely fearless.)

3. All things are possible. (For given values of thing and possible.)

(I would be more inclined to believe in the Christian God if there was some concrete evidence for it. Or even evidence that those who believe in one somehow have better lives or do more good for the world at large. Or even that those who profess belief actually do believe. Etc)

 

[squadbroken]

Have you ever considered the possibility of the existance of a God?

Yes. But generally my forays into religious study wind up with me being more convinced of the nonexistance of God.

Do you ever fear you might be wrong?

Interesting choice of words. Like every other belief I have I am open to the idea that I am wrong about God, but I do not fear I'm wrong.

Do you believe there is any possibility the Christian God is true?

Yes, but in the Russell's Teapot sense.

To put it simply, there is not only no direct evidence that the Christian God exists, there is no evidence that he is necessary.

 

[El_Machinae]

Have you ever considered the possibility of the existance of a God?

I used to believe in the Christian god, but have also put thought into other theoretical variants. I think that our biggest judges, with the most power, are our future selves.

Do you ever fear you might be wrong?

Sure! And man, it would suck if I was wrong. Imagine being sent to Hel because I wasn't valiant enough! Or, whatever else happens to the people who live incorrectly while being judged by a super-entity.

Do you believe there is any possibility the Christian God is true?

No, not the Christian version. There're too many reasons to think it exists. A LOT of what I know would need to be fundamentally incorrect, and I have to have some confidence in my own reasoning.

 

[Global Skeptic]

Have you ever considered the possibility of the existence of a God?

Yes, many times.

Do you ever fear you might be wrong?

No, because I don't believe in being right or wrong.

Do you believe there is any possibility the Christian God is true?

Yes, but not all the versions and in general I don't believe that God is Christian.

 

[KaiserElectric]

I think I may have asked before, but what is your opinion on Pascal's Wager?

 

[Zack]

I think I may have asked before, but what is your opinion on Pascal's Wager?

It's silly.

 

[KaiserElectric]

I was hoping for something more in-depth than that.

 

[cardgame]

It's trivial enough not to warrant any attention or effort that would be put into anything more in-depth than that.

 

[Zack]

It's silly in the same vein that never swimming in Scotland because of the possibility of being eaten by the Loch Ness Monster is silly.

 

[bhsup]

It's silly in the same vein that never swimming in Scotland because of the possibility of being eaten by the Loch Ness Monster is silly.

Yeah, but that's only silly right up to the point that Nessie eats you.

 

[GhostWriter16]

It's silly in the same vein that never swimming in Scotland because of the possibility of being eaten by the Loch Ness Monster is silly.

OK I don't agree with that. I have my own reasons for thinking its silly (Although the Atheist's Wager is equally silly) but saying that is like saying the odds of a God that judges based on belief is equal to the odds of the Loch Ness Monster eating you.

 

[cardgame]

Do elaborate on this "Atheist's Wager".

 

[Zack]

saying that is like saying the odds of a God that judges based on belief is equal to the odds of the Loch Ness Monster eating you

No, it is not. I said it was silly in the same sense. I said absolutely nothing about being eaten by the Loch Ness Monster being equally as likely as the existence of "a God that judges based on belief".

And how in the world is the Atheist's Wager equally silly?

EDIT: @ cardgame (I had to Google it.)

Spoiler :

Atheist's Wager:

You should live your life and try to make the world a better place for your being in it, whether or not you believe in god. If there is no god, you have lost nothing and will be remembered fondly by those you left behind. If there is a benevolent god, he will judge you on your merits and not just on whether or not you believed in him.

 

[KaiserElectric]

It's silly in the same vein that never swimming in Scotland because of the possibility of being eaten by the Loch Ness Monster is silly.

I would argue that God and the Loch Ness Monster aren't good examples to make a comparison. There's an actual debate as to whether or not God exists.

 

[GhostWriter16]

Do elaborate on this "Atheist's Wager".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheist's_Wager

The criticisms in the article are sound. Assuming you know nothing else about a hypothetical god other than intuition, who says he has to be benevolent in the first place? And even if he is, who says his definition of benevolent is the same (Judge by works, not by belief) as the person making the Atheist's Wager?

I think Pascal's is silly too, because it once again assumes a binary, either God doesn't exist, or he judges solely on belief. Even worse than this (At least belief does have SOMETHING to do with the majority of religions) is the assumption that as long as you believe in God, generic, you'll be fine even if you believe in the wrong one. In fact, Christian religion generally requires belief in Jesus Christ, and I think Islamic religion normatively, or at least as much so as I can say Christians have to believe in one God, requires a belief in one God in order to get into Heaven as well (I don't totally understand how the whole "People of the Book" thing relates... we need more Muslim posters!) Judaism also places an importance in belief in their particular version of God, although IIRC the fate of unbelievers may not be the same as Christendom and Islam.

Now, there are some religions that don't think those things, in fact, IIRC the Dharmatic religions don't, but to just assume, with no knowledge or personal experience, that if there is a God as long as I believe in a God I'll be fine I don't necessarily consider to be a very sensible wager either.

In fact, if any wager at all would make sense, I'd find out what religion makes the most logical sense and go with that. In reality, its not even that simple.

 

[Mechanicalsalvation]

In fact, if any wager at all would make sense, I'd find out what religion makes the most logical sense and go with that. In reality, its not even that simple.

My brother believer, I would wage that God is actualy something very simple. And no its not so much about logic as about love (love of logic perhaps)

 

[Borachio]

Yes, to be accessible to the largest number of people it has to be very simple.

But also as complicated as you like - for those attracted by complexity.

What a paradox!