a question for the Atheists..

[phacemeltar]

how would you describe God?

[Momo]

how would you describe God?

As fictional.

-good night and god bless =)

*This is not a view wholey or in part representative of runlvlzero or their many forum personalities or subsidiaries. (Really)

[phacemeltar]

As fictional.

-good night and god bless =)

*This is not a view wholey or in part representative of runlvlzero or their many forum personalities or subsidiaries. (Really)

ok let me explain my question further.. obviously you must have some image of how God would appear, i am interested how would you describe this "fictional" character? appearance, powers, planar positioning, etc..

[Yanomamo]

Irrelevant. Just be good people.

[Supermodel]

how would you describe God?

give me a sec, need to find a mirror

[JayN]

Money

[Glitterati]

i thought god was a white guy with a beard and long robes, kinda like santa claus

[Glitterati]

of if you live in the View Askewniverse god is Alanis Morissette

[Took]

God isn't real but aliens are - Atheists

[Lune]

If there were a God I would imagine him as simply the very moment the observable universe was created, 13.7~ billion years ago. If you adhere to causal/adequate determinism, everything that will ever happen was determined at that point. There is a strong case for determinism, and if determinism is true, it's hard to envision any other kind of God than one that is manifested as either a unifying force, or a singular point of origin (self-caused first cause), or both.

But I do not believe that to be the case

[Pyrion]

If there is a god, he is the administrator of this simulation. So, probably just a human (makes sense to simulate your own species). But of course anything would be possible.

[Seredoc]

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTktvG6gJFZNcKlLXj3i4SJZRuC3hF-LT49SZwq-Rk7WhWvkQ6jVQ

[phacemeltar]

If there is a god, he is the administrator of this simulation. So, probably just a human (makes sense to simulate your own species). But of course anything would be possible.

does he allow RMT? hehe jk

[phacemeltar]

If there were a God I would imagine him as simply the very moment the observable universe was created, 13.7~ billion years ago. If you adhere to causal/adequate determinism, everything that will ever happen was determined at that point. There is a strong case for determinism, and if determinism is true, it's hard to envision any other kind of God than one that is manifested as either a unifying force, or a singular point of origin (self-caused first cause), or both.

But I do not believe that to be the case

intelligent?

[phacemeltar]

If you don't believe God exists, then why would you have a thought of how he would look? He looks like nothing.. because hes not real.

did you even read what you quoted? fkn atheists..

[Shaakglith12194]

If there is a god, he is the administrator of this simulation. So, probably just a human (makes sense to simulate your own species). But of course anything would be possible.

This.

[Sorrow*qc]

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRV9WxXgB0yJ1ATnmZfoKgAuH8esWHSY lcQigWHqjkM-ej6aoZ5Xw

[myriverse]

how would you describe God?
Whenever I make reference to god (ie, "god damn it", "thank god", and other such meaningless euphemisms), what I'm talking about is just the completely unconscious universe. Spaghetti exists, just not the Spaghetti Monster.

ok let me explain my question further.. obviously you must have some image of how God would appear, i am interested how would you describe this "fictional" character? appearance, powers, planar positioning, etc..
Okay... if we're talking about fantasy...

I don't think such a being would have an appearance that I could imagine. It would be beyond any mind's ability to render.
I don't think such a being would be good. That's a human ideal (and not even a constant human ideal).
I don't think such a being would desire worship or belief or the adherence to any particular code of ethics or morality. Those are purely humanistic behaviours.

[iiNGloriouS]

If you don't believe God exists, then why would you have a thought of how he would look? He looks like nothing.. because hes not real.

[phacemeltar]

If you don't believe God exists, then why would you have a thought of how he would look? He looks like nothing.. because hes not real.

but when someone else uses the term "God", what imagery does this invoke for you? as in what do you think others believe "God" to be? when someone says "God Bless America" describe what entity you imagine that they are referring to.

[Rogean]

but when someone else uses the term "God", what imagery does this invoke for you? as in what do you think others believe "God" to be? when someone says "God Bless America" describe what entity you imagine that they are referring to.

I don't make an assumption of what their deity looks like, because it is theirs. I simply think of it as the entity they believe / have faith in. I do not share their views, but nor would I try to push my views upon anyone else, which is a major problem among religions nowadays ("It's not god I have a problem with, it's his fan club I can't stand.").

[Cecily]

http://i.imgur.com/LbUQKV4.gif

[myriverse]

but when someone else uses the term "God", what imagery does this invoke for you? as in what do you think others believe "God" to be? when someone says "God Bless America" describe what entity you imagine that they are referring to.
Oh shit. Now you're asking what I think other people believe "God" to be?

I often have trouble sleeping due to what I think other people's concept of "God" is.

[myriverse]

And this is especially true when they feel the urge to "bless" their country... football team... school... family... THEMSELVES... etc. ad nauseam.

[Mac Dretti]

This is god.
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRjjB6IizoB6rvcGcL5szSpsh_uGhzgH E6OOn1xfYZJ_1HYSOoi0g

[Nebi]

http://www.evolveinc.com/modules/evolvecms/upload/9cef162d_history-channel-alien-guy-meme-generator-aliens-98f63b.jpeg

[Bruno]

Not even one EQ god posted.

[Orruar]

Not even one EQ god posted.

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRV9WxXgB0yJ1ATnmZfoKgAuH8esWHSY lcQigWHqjkM-ej6aoZ5Xw

[Bruno]

Missed that somehow. Ok I'm happy now.

[Snackies]

Agnostic Mustache is the one true Atheist god.

4621

4623

[Raavak]

I do not share their views, but nor would I try to push my views upon anyone else, which is a major problem among religions nowadays ("It's not god I have a problem with, it's his fan club I can't stand.").qft

[Raavak]

("It's not god I have a problem with, it's his fan club I can't stand.").

Whether or not you believe in Jesus, just look what he taught:

Love each other.
Let he who is without sin punish the sinner (i.e. no one).
Help people in need, no matter who they are.
etc.

Aren't those good messages?

What sucks is the people who take this and use it for their own goals (inquisitions, persecution, controlling knowledge & education, crusades, etc).

[Cecily]

100% with you Rak. Religion has no place in my life, but there's so many valuable lessons I took away from my Catholic background. I take what I agree with, use it to be a better person, and discard the rest.

[Pyrion]

Whether or not you believe in Jesus, just look what he taught:

Love each other.
Let he who is without sin punish the sinner (i.e. no one).
Help people in need, no matter who they are.
etc.

Aren't those good messages?

What sucks is the people who take this and use it for their own goals (inquisitions, persecution, controlling knowledge & education, crusades, etc).

Yes, the new testament has some nice messages. Of course all other major religions basically have the same messages. Or most other ideologies as well. BUT: The new testament actually introduced hell (its absent in the old one), so it's not all niceties.

[Orruar]

Whether or not you believe in Jesus, just look what he taught:

Love each other.
Let he who is without sin punish the sinner (i.e. no one).
Help people in need, no matter who they are.
etc.

Aren't those good messages?

3 "good" messages out of several thousand pages of bad messages does not make a person good. And I'd take exception with that second "good" message. If nobody can punish a sinner, we should live in a society without courts and jails? It makes no logical sense, but it plays to people's emotions to think nobody else can pass judgment upon them.

And he also taught us that we're all born with sin. So god creates us and the default position is eternal agony and torment for his creations? Does that really sound like a kind and loving god?

Also, isn't jesus basically god in the form of a man? So that means god sacrificed himself, to himself, to save us all from himself. Very logically solid foundation for a religion if you ask me.

Finally, can anyone answer this one simple question in a clear and concise way: What exactly is the holy spirit?

[Twainz]

100% with you Rak. Religion has no place in my life, but there's so many valuable lessons I took away from my Catholic background. I take what I agree with, use it to be a better person, and discard the rest.

^Same^

Except in RNF!

[Cecily]

Finally, can anyone answer this one simple question in a clear and concise way: What exactly is the holy spirit?

http://i.imgur.com/TKmEw7G.jpg

[runlvlzero]

3 "good" messages out of several thousand pages of bad messages does not make a person good. And I'd take exception with that second "good" message. If nobody can punish a sinner, we should live in a society without courts and jails? It makes no logical sense, but it plays to people's emotions to think nobody else can pass judgment upon them.

And he also taught us that we're all born with sin. So god creates us and the default position is eternal agony and torment for his creations? Does that really sound like a kind and loving god?

Also, isn't jesus basically god in the form of a man? So that means god sacrificed himself, to himself, to save us all from himself. Very logically solid foundation for a religion if you ask me.

Finally, can anyone answer this one simple question in a clear and concise way: What exactly is the holy spirit?

A feeling. Which some people believe in more than others.

[runlvlzero]

http://i.imgur.com/TKmEw7G.jpg

LOL

[Orruar]

A feeling. Which some people believe in more than others.

Concise, but not clear.

[myriverse]

Whether or not you believe in Jesus, just look what he taught:

Love each other.
Let he who is without sin punish the sinner (i.e. no one).
Help people in need, no matter who they are.
etc.

Aren't those good messages?

What sucks is the people who take this and use it for their own goals (inquisitions, persecution, controlling knowledge & education, crusades, etc).
Forked tongue syndrome: he says this while expressing completely approval of punishing sinners, people in need, etc.

[dreama1]

First, what aggravates me is that 'god' is automatically assumed to be 'he', which already exposes the first fallacy of the very concept of religion - it's man made. There are over 4,200 different religions in the world. Most of them are mutually exclusive. Because of this, either one is right or all of them are wrong. Which makes more sense?

Second, you don't need religion to have moral values. This is a total farce. I won't indulge myself into the follies of atheist extremists that claim that there is a science of morality, i believe that morality is a wholly a social phenomenon, i.e., what someone finds right or wrong depends on their cultural background, time, place etc etc.. That is, it is not objective as people would like to believe.

Finally, there are three types of people.
1) people who believe in god in fear because they think they will go to hell (lol)
2) people who believe in god because they want to believe in it (gives them some purpose or meaning in life)
3) people who don't believe in god but would like to believe in it if there were good evidence to suggest that it does exist

[Rail]

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=l%20ron%20hubbard&sa=X&biw=1191&bih=470&tbm=isch&tbnid=ck1xjGJMRoMmDM%3A&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.criminon.org%2Fabout-us%2Fl-ron-hubbard.php&docid=HnQROo3HimMJ6M&imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.criminon.org%2Fabout-us%2Fimages%2Fl-ron-hubbard.jpg&w=200&h=256&ei=QEzxUpL8G87qoAS844DoBQ&zoom=1&ved=0CHIQhBwwAw&iact=rc&dur=576&page=1&start=0&ndsp=6

[Rail]

X
^ fail.. try again:

http://www.criminon.org/about-us/images/l-ron-hubbard.jpg

[Cecily]

If there was a god, we'd be able to edit RnF posts.

[Raavak]

First, what aggravates me is that 'god' is automatically assumed to be 'he'In Judeo-Christianity God has both male, female, and non-sexual personas. I think we use "he" because we are still a male centered society, though not as much as we were in the last 2000 years.

[Raavak]

Forked tongue syndrome: he says this while expressing completely approval of punishing sinners, people in need, etc.Where?

[Shaakglith12194]

Yeah just kinda hard to believe in a being that could stop all suffering, or even most suffering, who doesn't. It's like, if you were in charge of a bunch of teenagers and put them into an enclosed area with complete power over them, and they started beating, raping, stealing, and just generally fucking each other up, how fucked up is it that you just watch every atrocity? And it's supposed to be ok because they'll be punished when you let them out of the enclosed area? "I won't stop the rape or torture, 'cuz when they get out, they're gonna pay!" But it's their choice because you said they have "free will" to do what they want. It's all ok, because you'll reward some and punish others after the fact and if those people don't do a series of retarded things, you'll punish them just for the fun of it. Brilliant. What a swell guy that god is.

I loved how Old Testament christian god was all like "War! I will wreck thine enemies!!111 Kill, burn, rip the unborn children from the wombs of their mothers!" and New Testament god is all like, "Chill guys, like love and peace and shit. Forgiveness, man." Gettin' his feet washed by prostitutes, trying to make people forget all about the forced abortions and murder. Dude's priorities changed big time.

Here's some gems:
The people of Samaria must bear their guilt, because they have rebelled against their God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their pregnant women ripped open. (Hosea 13:16)
At that time Menahem, starting out from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah and everyone in the city and its vicinity, because they refused to open their gates. He sacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women. (2 Kings 15:16)
Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. (1 Samuel 15:3)
"Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves." (Numbers 31:17-18)
"And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them." (Jeremiah 19:9)
"Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished." (Isaiah 13:16)

Yeah, God said rape the women, kill the kids. Dude was so metal back in the day.

[Lune]

New Testament conveniently abrogates a lot of that hardcore Old Testament shit. I suspect it had something to do with cultural shifts within Christendom; all that ancient babble probably became distasteful and the new testament adapted all of it to "modern tastes".

You see a similar trend with both the Great Schism, and the Protestant Reformation... religious doctrine being redrawn along cultural lines in a way that is more tasteful to the flock.

[moklianne]

Finally, there are three types of people.
1) people who believe in god in fear because they think they will go to hell (lol)
2) people who believe in god because they want to believe in it (gives them some purpose or meaning in life)
3) people who don't believe in god but would like to believe in it if there were good evidence to suggest that it does exist

And when it comes down to it, aren't all of these functions of our own ego or even selfishness?

You want to be 'saved' so that you'll go to heaven. Its a somewhat selfish act.

I treat others the way I do because I expect that treatment from them in return. That should really be enough to be a decent human being in this world. No deity required.

[Raavak]

A lot of Old Testament commandment stuff were just rules for life... like don't eat pork... why? Because back then you'd get sick and die. Not sure why you couldn't shave, get a tattoo, or pork a man, but at the time it probably made sense.

[Raavak]

And I totally don't like how the God of the Old Testament ordered the Jewish to slaughter all those people in Canaan and stuff. It doesn't sit right with me either.

Maybe I'm a heretic, but I think Moses and the leaders after him made that crap up, then put it in the Bible. But then again, with string theory and all that, I think God is larger and more complex than a human can ever even begin to understand, and a lot of what we have is just filtered down through puny, imperfect, and corruptible human minds to be written into the Book.

But as a Freemason, I believe that God's word is still there. Its just that it takes a lot of wisdom to decipher it.

[Shaakglith12194]

And I totally don't like how the God of the Old Testament ordered the Jewish to slaughter all those people in Canaan and stuff. It doesn't sit right with me either.

Maybe I'm a heretic, but I think Moses and the leaders after him made that crap up, then put it in the Bible. But then again, with string theory and all that, I think God is larger and more complex than a human can ever even begin to understand, and a lot of what we have is just filtered down through puny, imperfect, and corruptible human minds to be written into the Book.

But as a Freemason, I believe that God's word is still there. Its just that it takes a lot of wisdom to decipher it.

Or maybe it's just a bunch of crap primitive people made up to understand the world around them, support their barbaric ways, and control people? And maybe now it's a way for people to cope with their insignificance in the grand scheme of things? I think Carl Sagan had it right when he said, "We are a way for the universe to know itself."

[Shaakglith12194]

And I totally don't like how the God of the Old Testament ordered the Jewish to slaughter all those people in Canaan and stuff. It doesn't sit right with me either.

Maybe I'm a heretic, but I think Moses and the leaders after him made that crap up, then put it in the Bible. But then again, with string theory and all that, I think God is larger and more complex than a human can ever even begin to understand, and a lot of what we have is just filtered down through puny, imperfect, and corruptible human minds to be written into the Book.

But as a Freemason, I believe that God's word is still there. Its just that it takes a lot of wisdom to decipher it.

Also, it's blasphemy. Here's another gem about blasphemy, it's an unforgivable act:
“I promise you that any of the sinful things you say or do can be forgiven, no matter how terrible those things are. But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven. That sin will be held against you forever.” — Mark 3:28-29

blas·phe·my
noun: blasphemy; plural noun: blasphemies
1. the act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk.

Here's an interesting theological article that states that Jesus himself says that the Old Testament is the word of God: http://carm.org/bible-isnt-word-god-it-contains-word-god
It goes into more depth than that, but that's what's important to take away from it. So there ya go, the J-Man says that it's the word of god, and you have basically said he made shit up. You have now blasphemed against the holy spirit! I'll see ya in hell, all the cool people will be there anyway.

[Raavak]

"John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Heard lots of Christians use this phrase as a reason non-Christians won't go to "heaven". I'm sorry, but I think that is bullshit. I don't think you are damned just because no one ever taught you about Jesus.

[Shaakglith12194]

"John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Heard lots of Christians use this phrase as a reason non-Christians won't go to "heaven". I'm sorry, but I think that is bullshit. I don't think you are damned just because no one ever taught you about Jesus.

There's something referred to in christian theological circles as the "Fair Play" doctrine, which basically says if you don't get the chance to learn about god, you'll come back to life over and over until you get the opportunity to accept/reject him. It is contradictory to what is in the bible. Christian view of "god" is all fucked up.

[phacemeltar]

What exactly is the holy spirit?

the holy spirit is very specific to religion, which i wanted to stay away from in starting this thread. please start your own thread where you can discuss this.

[dreama1]

Well, people are naturally susceptible to believing in god. There is a region in the brain that is activated with some type of supernatural experience. Because of several cognitive biases, including confirmation bias or cognitive dissonance, most of our day to day decisions are wholly irrational - eating junk food, smoking or praying to god.

Next time you meet someone religious, ask them to imagine if they were born in another country to another family, would they believe in the same god? Most of them can't answer this question and because of the above biases will stop any sort of critical thinking from occurring. I always wondered why people say that several religions can coexist, which is in direct conflict with much of their own dogma. Note some religions don't have deities per se.

[radditsu]

And I totally don't like how the God of the Old Testament ordered the Jewish to slaughter all those people in Canaan and stuff. It doesn't sit right with me either.

Maybe I'm a heretic, but I think Moses and the leaders after him made that crap up, then put it in the Bible. But then again, with string theory and all that, I think God is larger and more complex than a human can ever even begin to understand, and a lot of what we have is just filtered down through puny, imperfect, and corruptible human minds to be written into the Book.

But as a Freemason, I believe that God's word is still there. Its just that it takes a lot of wisdom to decipher it.


Well arent you a large sack of shit made into a shithead pie!

[NextGenesis88]

I quit during the god expansion.

[Daldolma]

will pray 4 y'all