If the truth about atheism was revealed. . .

[farting bob]

I dont need a religion in my life. So even given undisputable proof of god and/or insanity, i would carry on exactly as normal.

 

[MaisseArsouye]

There's a bias in the title

If the truth about atheism was revealed...

Regarding poll options, it means the truth is atheism is wrong. You don't set it as a possibility but as a fact. So I don't answer the poll. Rename it by "what if atheism was proved wrong" and I would vote.

 

[Stapel]

Obviously a take-off of Curt's thread, but not retaliatory or anything like that, I (unlike most Christians, apparently) found Curt's question interesting. "What would you do if confronted with undeniable proof that your basic beliefs are wrong?" Only I'm applying it to atheists. If you were confronted with a phenomenon that could only be explained by the existence of God or your own insanity (being visited and spoken to by angels, speaking with a burning bush, miraculous healing, etc.), what would you do? Convert (and by convert, I mean recognize and believe in the existence of a higher power, not necessarily "go to church")? Check yourself into a loony bin? Keep in mind that you have never felt saner, and psychiatrists can't find any actual reason you should be committed. . .

First of all, most atheists do not "believe in the non-existance of God", they do "not believe" in the existance of God.
What us atheists have is a 'lack' of believe. Some of us, (like me), go a step further and seriously question the mental abilities of those capable of believing in a deity, without having any evidence of it. (Not easy if the majority of your family is Christian, btw).


To answer your question:

Though I do not reject the possibility of the existance of a deity, the most logical option would be to check myself in at a looney bin.

There have been thousands of people going isane and believing in the most ridiculous crap, all too often based on 'unexplainable' phenomenons.
But if God would seriously present himself, I might believe in him.

This doesn't take away this:
If it were a 100% proven certainty there is one deity responsible for our lifes, for the earth and for our universe, the idea this deity is behind the Bible, the Koran or whatever religious book, is still 100% craphola.

I'll put it bluntly (and probably insulting):

People who think the Bible (or Koran for that matter) was written under divine influence either have not read/studied it very well, or have a serious problem using their brains properly.

 

[The Last Conformist]

Or, they don't have the same preconceptions of what sort of book a God would write.

 

[Aphex_Twin]

If I were presented with unbiased, scientific evidence for God then I would have nothing to do but believe in him. But he would have to build an argument on why we should worship him. And besides most Christianity would also have to change it's views. If only theists would chose a story and stick with it

 

[Rik Meleet]

But it is not empirical evidence I speak of, it is a personal encounter with what you instinctively feel to be divine, and cannot be explained any other way. You have no numbers that you could show to others, no facts to study.

Then I will not convert. Any "proof" of God that is not scientific proof holds no value to me.
"Faith" is something I have not and will not have. Proof is needed for me.

Too bad, the Deity could have been a lot smarter; pity (s)he isn't. (S)He now fails to get the people who want proof instead of faith to follow her/him.

 

[Kayak]

Question... Does this experience contain proof that I could take to someone else, or is not duplicatable?

I think, were you to have an honest spiritual experience with the Christian God, you would realize how wrong you are in interpreting it this way (or how wrong your sect was).

How the heck could you know who is right or wrong in this interpretation? You made a good suggestion for a counter thread to this one. It would make me think you are open minded than that.

 

[cgannon64]

Who gave God the right to dictate morality?

Him. When he made us. Duh!

Kayak: Obviously I think my opinions are right. But, aside from that, there is a correct interpretation of Christian theology - the intended interpretation of his Christian sect. I don't know too much about Baptists, but I am assuming they are like most other Christian sects, which means they teach God to be different than he interpreted it - thus, he interpreted it incorrectly.

 

[silver 2039]

I would'nt convert and I would'nt worship. I don't worship. I frankly don't give a damn. I worship/bow to nothing and no one.

 

[cgannon64]

All you damn Athiests aren't Sisyphus - what kick do you get out of claiming you wouldn't worship God, you bow to no one, etc etc?

Where the hell did man's sense of lowliness go? We could sure use it in threads like these.

 

[Kayak]

Kayak: Obviously I think my opinions are right. But, aside from that, there is a correct interpretation of Christian theology - the intended interpretation of his Christian sect. I don't know too much about Baptists, but I am assuming they are like most other Christian sects, which means they teach God to be different than he interpreted it - thus, he interpreted it incorrectly.

If god exists there may be only one interpretation I submit that it doesn't matter what the Baptists teach, only his interpretation in this case.

Edit: Lowliness Your kidding, right?

 

[silver 2039]

All you damn Athiests aren't Sisyphus - what kick do you get out of claiming you wouldn't worship God, you bow to no one, etc etc?

Where the hell did man's sense of lowliness go? We could sure use it in threads like these.

Why should I worship/bow to anything or anyone even if it is a supposedly supernataural being? There is no reason to and I as a person am far to proud to lower and degrade my self to that level. I never grovel.

 

[cgannon64]

Edit: Lowliness Your kidding, right?

No. What's so funny about humility?

I as a person am far to proud

What was that cause of all sin and evil again? Money? No, it wasn't money...it was something else...

 

[silver 2039]

No. What's so funny about humility?

What was that cause of all sin and evil again? Money? No, it wasn't money...it was something else...

Nothing wrong in being proud. You can bow and scrape to a "god" all you want but don't expect othrs to go along with it.

Anyway why would this so called "benevalonet all powerful supernataural being" want worship/groveling.

 

[cgannon64]

Nothing wrong in being proud.

Yes, they are many, many things wrong with being proud.

Anyway why would this so called "benevalonet all powerful supernataural being" want worship/groveling.

Because he is all-good, and he wants his creations to be good themselves, and that involves aligning, following, and - gasp - worship of Him, who is all-good.

 

[Kayak]

No. What's so funny about humility?

I was just thinking that man has always been filled with pride and hubris. Even unto proclaiming the will of God. Yes humillity would be nice.

 

[cgannon64]

You are right that some people who claim to know God are proud, but they shouldn't be. You do not need to be smart or special to know and love God. It's fulfilling the most basic human requirement - the bare minimum of what God asks us to do. They also shouldn't be proud because knowing God would mean knowing how small and insignificant you are compared to him, and how desperately you need his love.

 

[Stapel]

The absolute truth is that god cannot exist? Laughable. That is like saying the absolute truth is that ghosts cannot exist. No one actually knows that. There is simply no evidence of that assertion. The best you can do is prove that god is completely unnecessary, and completey unsupported by evidence. That is not logically equivalent to saying that the existence of God is impossible. You would have to prove that the existence of god is mutually exclusive to something we do know exists, which has never been done.

It's impossible to prove the non-existance of something.
Can you prove there is no planet with a billion nude hotties screaming for sex with me and Civilization XXXVII already in the shops for $1.00?

 

[Dida]

The absolute truth is that god cannot exist? Laughable. That is like saying the absolute truth is that ghosts cannot exist. No one actually knows that. There is simply no evidence of that assertion. The best you can do is prove that god is completely unnecessary, and completey unsupported by evidence. That is not logically equivalent to saying that the existence of God is impossible. You would have to prove that the existence of god is mutually exclusive to something we do know exists, which has never been done.

okay child, relax. I was only saying it to tease tense people like you. who cares if god exist? I don't give a darn. there is no point of engaging in serious debate with people on a discussion board, since I have more serious debates to busy myself with.

 

[The Last Conformist]

So, instead you troll? Real mature-like.