If God Were Real...

if God were real there would be no wars!
 
Sali said:
It doesn't say "If God is real" though, it says "If God were real" O_O although technically that's grammatically incorrect and should be "If God was real" or "If Gods were real" that phrase implies a lack, "If you were here" insinuates that you're not here.

Personally I don't really care as I'm mostly agnostic and essentially Zen Buddhist just pointing out why there might be some contention.
Click to expand...

That's true, I didn't notice.
But I pretty much wanted to point out that it's fine for someone to say "God is real" while "God isn't real" is considered rude and inappropriate.
 
bickelz said:
So, only Auron was able to answer the question. I didn't ask what religion you believe in, I asked if God, whoever it may be, presented itself in the physical form to you, would you follow it if it promised heaven or another like form of afterlife. Remember, this is a hypothetical question.
Click to expand...

Mmmm, sure why not.

bickelz said:
The other part of my question was... if this God presented itself to you, would it matter which doctrine it most likely aligned with in your decision? Aka-> If you were a born again christian and god presented himself to you in the physical and said Islam was correct, would you follow Islam?
Click to expand...

If it wasn't too much of a drag or whatever.

I don't feel like being too deep about this i.e. what's the afterlife going to be like, or what if god is a dick, or maybe I'd lose faith anyway or be too lazy etc etc. You could bring up a million what if's, so there's me trying to keep it simple bickelz.
 
bickelz said:
I'm going to get crap from people about the title but I needed something catchy.

If God (of any sort) revealed itself to humanity, showing without a shred of doubt that it exists, would you follow it without questioning it's motives?

Would it matter what doctrine it aligned with (i.e. Christianity or Islam is actually the most accurate)?

Discuss

I know with me, I don't think I would.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't because it wouldn't be god :P He wont do that because he doesn't need to, plus, part of our existence is learning to accept him without needing proof.

Even though I know he's real, there are times I have trouble accepting his path for me. It's difficult to explain.
 
bickelz said:
So, only Auron was able to answer the question. I didn't ask what religion you believe in, I asked if God, whoever it may be, presented itself in the physical form to you, would you follow it if it promised heaven or another like form of afterlife. Remember, this is a hypothetical question.

The other part of my question was... if this God presented itself to you, would it matter which doctrine it most likely aligned with in your decision? Aka-> If you were a born again christian and god presented himself to you in the physical and said Islam was correct, would you follow Islam?
Click to expand...

If 'god' asked to me to follow Islam, I would doubt whether it were God - Islam is internally contradictory, which is inconsistent with two things: either a religion based upon God's revelation; or the notion that a perfect God would ask something so obviously contradictory.

In other words, for me to follow religion it must be consistent intellectually with the notion of God. In still other words, religion is not a matter of obedience, but something which engages both the intellect and will.
 
Sali said:
It doesn't say "If God is real" though, it says "If God were real" O_O although technically that's grammatically incorrect and should be "If God was real" or "If Gods were real" that phrase implies a lack, "If you were here" insinuates that you're not here.

Personally I don't really care as I'm mostly agnostic and essentially Zen Buddhist just pointing out why there might be some contention.
Click to expand...
It is not grammatically incorrect, it just is in the subjunctive rather than indicative mood.
 
It's a simple question, like the puppy-killing thread. Yet, most of the people who reply are putting twists onto it in order to avoid answering it.
"Question: If you could bend a spoon with your mind, would you?"
If you're just going to say "I don't believe in bending spoons with the mind" or "Yes/no, but only if etc etc" well, thanx for that, but it doesn't answer the question.
Bickelz already emphasized that it's theoretical.
 
So the worst happened to this thread and I was totally afraid it would happen, everybody with their religious ideology couldn't go along with it and claimed to "know" that god exists and that their beliefs are correct. So, instead of going along with a philosophical question, people ask "what if this or that". Those that did this and claim to have Ni or are Ni doms (infjs) get to turn in their Ni badge. I'm serious.

I should close this thread.
 
bickelz said:
If God (of any sort) revealed itself to humanity, showing without a shred of doubt that it exists, would you follow it without questioning it's motives?
Click to expand...

I don't think I would. I question the motives of everyone, including myself. It is my nature to doubt, regardless of what others consider to be "proof."

Would it matter what doctrine it aligned with?
Click to expand...

I would find it interesting to see which doctrine it affiliated with, assuming that the teachings of any religion practiced currently would've been accurately passed down or be valid in it's eyes.

If that belief system didn't match my own ideas, I wouldn't comply.
If the dogma did concur with my own principles, I'd already have recognized them.
So, ultimately, no, it would not matter what doctrine it sanctioned.
 
I think God HAS revealed that he exists and that he has laid before us an enormous array of ways we can learn of him (I use "him" only for the sake of personalizing)....some offer a more complete refraction than others, yes, but they are all there.

The problem tends to be not this, but that our more primitive egos simply find letting go of control utterly distasteful and even downright dangerous. The walls go up and we intellectualize a suitable path of retreat. In such a frightened state, it doesn't matter what God has revealed or how he has chosen to come to us (it seldom is as our mind-construct expects). Sometimes our egos demand a God who totally agrees with our plans and agendas.....anything short of that and we also shut down. Often, we are too afraid to even take an honest look. Very much a "having eyes but they do not to see, having ears but they do not hear" thing.

I think this gets more to the heart of the hypothetical situation proposed.
 
Kmal said:
Do you identify with humanity or yourself? If it revealed itself to YOU, would you follow it without questioning its motives? (lol it is motives)

Many people (myself included) have already seen God (whatever it is). Why havent you seen it?
Click to expand...

Seen god? Right. I, (and others) haven't seen it because.....well, we haven't seen it. It's as simple as that. Some people THINK they have seen god, but only because they are seeing what they want to see. (I'm not saying you're one of those people, just sayin'.)
 
Auron said:
Seen god? Right. I, (and others) haven't seen it because.....well, we haven't seen it. It's as simple as that. Some people THINK they have seen god, but only because they are seeing what they want to see. (I'm not saying you're one of those people, just sayin'.)
Click to expand...

Does that make it any less real? Are things only real if you can see them, or if everyone can see them? We'll need to expand our definition of "God" as well. Everything is a figment of human's imagination (that I know of now). So why not see God?

I guess it could be a mass hallucination; but still, the hallucination itself is real.

 
If a god came to chill with us, I'd want to ask him a lot of questions.

My attitude towards him (or whatever, jeesh) would depend on the answers. I'd try to always remain a little skeptical, and if a god couldn't understand that, he'd be a lame-ass god.
 
Kmal said:
Does that make it any less real? Are things only real if you can see them, or if everyone can see them? We'll need to expand our definition of "God" as well. Everything is a figment of human's imagination (that I know of now). So why not see God?

I guess it could be a mass hallucination; but still, the hallucination itself is real.
Click to expand...

Hallucinations are a real thing but what happens in hallucinations doesn't actually happen. Not everything is a figment of our imagination, that's just something people say to show off. You can't actually know or prove that.

And you're talking about expanding the definition of God, well you haven't answered the question. The definition of God was very much implied in the op.
 
bickelz said:
So the worst happened to this thread and I was totally afraid it would happen, everybody with their religious ideology couldn't go along with it and claimed to "know" that god exists and that their beliefs are correct. So, instead of going along with a philosophical question, people ask "what if this or that". Those that did this and claim to have Ni or are Ni doms (infjs) get to turn in their Ni badge. I'm serious.

I should close this thread.
Click to expand...

I'm curious to hear your definition of Ni; Proceed.
 
bickelz said:
Hallucinations are a real thing but what happens in hallucinations doesn't actually happen. Not everything is a figment of our imagination, that's just something people say to show off. You can't actually know or prove that.

And you're talking about expanding the definition of God, well you haven't answered the question. The definition of God was very much implied in the op.
Click to expand...
So you didnt see what you saw? Or, it wasnt 'real'? lol, and you're right, you can't know or prove everything is or isnt a figment of your imagination. Since reality is processed through your nervous system, it is a figment of your nervous system. Imagination must be a stretch. :rolleyes:

Since you really want people to answer your op (i understand, you created the thread for that purpose lolol)-- fuck yes i'd follow an omnipotent, omniscent, all powerful god who could create a universe and who could make a rock so big even he couldnt lift it (see what i did there?). There are so many variables though, i think its a silly question. :) For one, i doubt the all powerful god would have a religion like islam or christianity, which are made by men. I'd think its religion would be a little more, fair, perhaps-- but perhaps not. Again, it's dependent on a lot of things.
 
To answer your question it would depend more on if there is an after life and how said after life was affected by my decision.
 
I've got another question : if a deity were to reveal itself to the Humanity, would it still be a deity ?

(Think about the meaning of this concept and what allows us to believe in its existence or non existence).

My view on "God" is that the concept of deity represents mostly the universe (everything that is, could be and isn't) and we are part of it rather than an entity able to interfere with our lives or impose its will. In that regards, we could say that it is both real and unreal, that it has revealed partially itself to us as "what is".
 
But I *am* real. Why does everyone keep on debating it?

Lol jks.

To op, it would depend on what the God is asking me to do. If it's asking me to be mean to other people or be plunged into some sort of hell or suffering, then I would not follow that crap even if it was going to happen to me. To be honest though if it's any God of a "conventional" religion, I would be too scared not to follow firstly because I wouldn't want to go to hell. But at the same time I don't think I'd mind. Lol I am a good little niffer in the first place and I have no problem with worshipping something, so whether I follow or not wouldn't make much of a difference in my life.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top