What if there's no God?

[MQTA]

Why do so many people think we need religion to accomplish such simple satisfying behavior?

They're taught that way since they can speak?

 

[justin88]

If there is in fact no god, than i can rest with the fact that i lived a life striving for perfection and selflessness and trying to be an overall good person and if there is a god, which i believe there is, he would be proud of me and id get to here the one who created me say Well done my good and faithful servent you've done your best.

 

[justin88]

There's no God?

Then I'm right, you're wrong.

However, we atheists get the short end of the stick. If we're right and you're wrong, then we don't get to gloat about it. If you're right, then you've got all eternity to mock us. There ain't no justice!

We'll be somewhere else. We won't be able to mock you.

 

[peepnklown]

I already live my life without a god so it wouldn’t make a difference.

Someone increase my reputation! Praise me, praise me!

 

[Multi-Elis]

If there is no God, then wouldn't you regret that you had lived a good and moral life without ever knowing what the real source of your goodness was? If there is no God, then what makes you a good person? If there is no God, then wouldn't it bother you that the foundation for your entire life was essentially a lie? Wouldn't that bother you? Wouldn't you want to know if that were the case?

Considering how many other religions there are in the world which amount to nothing more than irrational superstitious nonsense, do you have the courage to be honest enough with yourself to consider the possibility that maybe Christianity is no different? If there is no God, no heaven, no reward waiting for you after you die, isn't it enough just to be kind, honest and good just for its own sake? Isn't the joy and satisfaction of simply being kind to others enough of a reward?

For the first paragraph, I would be curious to find out. But it's hard for me to imagine alternatives, and how I would react to them. If there was no God and everything just happened by chance, I would say that seeing how much suffering there is in the world, and how helpful an act of love is despite it all, I would consider acts of love to be a high goal worth spending one's life to attain. With out a God, I don't know what makes a person good. I don't think being good is limited to those who believe in God, and I think it's a thing that goes beyond the acts. As for the foundation of my life, again, I find it hard to imagine what other foundations there are, and how I would react to them. If I were an atheist, and I were an honest philosophical one who believed that we must overcome evil with good, it still wouldn't change anything. But that is the thing - I don't know if I would be a good enough person to be the type of atheist I described. What I say now, I say as a person who has been influenced by my belief in God.

I do have the courage to look at other religions and think that maybe Christianity is no different. Perhaps that is why I am a so called "liberal Christian". The problem is that I am caught up with two fashionable ideas with liberal Christians: 1) People who follow what Jesus said without ever having heard of Him or knowing him could be just as much "saved" (see the parable of the separation of the sheep and goats) 2) Many myths and religions seem to reflect some of the same ideas in Christianity and Judaism: the idea of a God who becomes incarnated as a human and then dies or is killed and then comes back to life.
I think that when I reject a religion or a system of beliefs I tend to do it based on things like morally allowing for things like the murder of people, or a moral code that is based appearances and not on inner morality.

I think it is right to just be kind, honest and good just for its own sake. I have given up doing things for a reward in heaven, mostly because I know how poor I am there anyway. Also because I don't know how wonderful the reward will be, and because motivating myself with rewards never seemed to motivate me enough (and would tarnish the kindness anyway,) I'd rather consider it a reward if I do get to one of those rare instances of real kindness. Actually there is always a certain joy when you do the right thing for the right reasons.

Why do so many people think we need religion to accomplish such simple satisfying behaviour?

Firstly, I am not such a good person. I believe that my best friend from Israel who is not a Christian is more good than me. She has out of her natural motivation and interest worked in orphanages, and in teaching and helping new immigrants. She is studying to be a therapist and has this natural sensitivity to people and their needs. She was the courageous girl to tell all her friends that she believed Arabs were human beings like she is one. (A truism that some people over there forget)
So any way, I am not such a good person, I need help, I need something beyond what I can give myself. I am a lazy selfish person, which hinders me form being kind and doing acts of love.

But more importantly, here is where my understanding diverges from yours:
I read a book about people who died for a few moments or hours and then came back to life. The book gave examples of people from many religions as well as atheists going to an after life. When these people die, they go through stages, and the amount they die gets them to different stages. Those who die enough meet Christ. (Some go to some sort of hell, but get out of it when they call on Jesus he intervenes). Others only go through what is known as the tunnel experience, or someother stage. According to the testimonies, Christ is this being of light, that does nothing but love you and accept you. He never judges you. It is you who judge yourself because you wish you were as good and as loving as Christ. You said reward? The reward is having done a good deed, good from your heart good for no other reason than goodness. This seems to bring incredible joy to Christ. When you hear testimony after testimony like this, you no longer want to be a victim of superstitions, do's and don'ts, of hell and heaven sermons, of calculating rewards or anything like that. You just feel that this is the person you want to know, be like, and learn from. If you love being good and kind for goodness's sake, you've found a friend who agrees with you, and approves of the way you see things. Reading these testimonies has only re-enforced in me the belief that God is there and that Jesus is there, it has given me great joy see what this life and the next are really all about, and to see how it all falls in line. Even if I am wrong about all this, I still can't see how I would regret anything. You want to be good for it's own sake. I need help to be good for it's own sake and believe I have found a friend who will help me find the way and the maturity to be good. So neither of us will have anything to regret, either way, God or no God.

 

[truthmonger89]

For the first paragraph, I would be curious to find out. But it's hard for me to imagine alternatives, and how I would react to them. If there was no God and everything just happened by chance, I would say that seeing how much suffering there is in the world, and how helpful an act of love is despite it all, I would consider acts of love to be a high goal worth spending one's life to attain. With out a God, I don't know what makes a person good. I don't think being good is limited to those who believe in God, and I think it's a thing that goes beyond the acts. As for the foundation of my life, again, I find it hard to imagine what other foundations there are, and how I would react to them. If I were an atheist, and I were an honest philosophical one who believed that we must overcome evil with good, it still wouldn't change anything. But that is the thing - I don't know if I would be a good enough person to be the type of atheist I described. What I say now, I say as a person who has been influenced by my belief in God.

I do have the courage to look at other religions and think that maybe Christianity is no different. Perhaps that is why I am a so called "liberal Christian". The problem is that I am caught up with two fashionable ideas with liberal Christians: 1) People who follow what Jesus said without ever having heard of Him or knowing him could be just as much "saved" (see the parable of the separation of the sheep and goats) 2) Many myths and religions seem to reflect some of the same ideas in Christianity and Judaism: the idea of a God who becomes incarnated as a human and then dies or is killed and then comes back to life.
I think that when I reject a religion or a system of beliefs I tend to do it based on things like morally allowing for things like the murder of people, or a moral code that is based appearances and not on inner morality.

I think it is right to just be kind, honest and good just for its own sake. I have given up doing things for a reward in heaven, mostly because I know how poor I am there anyway. Also because I don't know how wonderful the reward will be, and because motivating myself with rewards never seemed to motivate me enough (and would tarnish the kindness anyway,) I'd rather consider it a reward if I do get to one of those rare instances of real kindness. Actually there is always a certain joy when you do the right thing for the right reasons.

Firstly, I am not such a good person. I believe that my best friend from Israel who is not a Christian is more good than me. She has out of her natural motivation and interest worked in orphanages, and in teaching and helping new immigrants. She is studying to be a therapist and has this natural sensitivity to people and their needs. She was the courageous girl to tell all her friends that she believed Arabs were human beings like she is one. (A truism that some people over there forget)
So any way, I am not such a good person, I need help, I need something beyond what I can give myself. I am a lazy selfish person, which hinders me form being kind and doing acts of love.

But more importantly, here is where my understanding diverges from yours:
I read a book about people who died for a few moments or hours and then came back to life. The book gave examples of people from many religions as well as atheists going to an after life. When these people die, they go through stages, and the amount they die gets them to different stages. Those who die enough meet Christ. (Some go to some sort of hell, but get out of it when they call on Jesus he intervenes). Others only go through what is known as the tunnel experience, or someother stage. According to the testimonies, Christ is this being of light, that does nothing but love you and accept you. He never judges you. It is you who judge yourself because you wish you were as good and as loving as Christ. You said reward? The reward is having done a good deed, good from your heart good for no other reason than goodness. This seems to bring incredible joy to Christ. When you hear testimony after testimony like this, you no longer want to be a victim of superstitions, do's and don'ts, of hell and heaven sermons, of calculating rewards or anything like that. You just feel that this is the person you want to know, be like, and learn from. If you love being good and kind for goodness's sake, you've found a friend who agrees with you, and approves of the way you see things. Reading these testimonies has only re-enforced in me the belief that God is there and that Jesus is there, it has given me great joy see what this life and the next are really all about, and to see how it all falls in line. Even if I am wrong about all this, I still can't see how I would regret anything. You want to be good for it's own sake. I need help to be good for it's own sake and believe I have found a friend who will help me find the way and the maturity to be good. So neither of us will have anything to regret, either way, God or no God.

So both of us could live the same kind of life, being good just for the sake of being good and simply being kind to others, we would both be good moral people, yet the doctrine of Christianity says that I should burn in hell and you should go to eternal paradise. Hmmm... something doesn't add up here. What exactly did I do wrong? Apparently the only real crime is not believing that Christianity is true, regardless of what kind of life one leads. Such ridiculously unfair justice only serves to highlight the moral bankruptcy of Christianity, making it that much harder for someone to believe it in the first place.

 

[cutekangaroo]

Here is an unbias statement. I'm a Catholic, and other catholics might not agree because it's not on their side, but here goes...

Let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion (so if you don't accept their god as your savior), you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.

Edit: opps, wrong topic.

 

[Macano]

If there was no God, my life would have been very different. I would have lived it out in a very selfish and sinful manner, living for only the moment, and not caring one iota about what others suffered due to it. Really, it's only because of God that I don't live that way now. It is in our nature to sin, afterall. Believing there is a God, and believing in biblical tenets, I restrain from doing much of what I would if I did not know Him. He does change us.

In a way, this question is similar to asking one who believes in no afterlife how they would live if there were no laws, not a single one. Just yesterday, one of my coworkers told me if not for laws, he'd be a serial rapist

 

[MQTA]

If there was no God, my life would have been very different. I would have lived it out in a very selfish and sinful manner, living for only the moment, and not caring one iota about what others suffered due to it. Really, it's only because of God that I don't live that way now.

Do you really think that? Bummer. I guess some people just need the biggest fear they can muster in order to live a fulfilling and peaceful life. Not everyone does.

It is in our nature to sin, afterall.

Or so you were told, so that makes it ok, right?

Believing there is a God, and believing in biblical tenets, I restrain from doing much of what I would if I did not know Him. He does change us.

In a way, this question is similar to asking one who believes in no afterlife how they would live if there were no laws, not a single one. Just yesterday, one of my coworkers told me if not for laws, he'd be a serial rapist

Yeah, ok, insanity does run high then. I kinda like the people who would be Just as they are, if there were NO laws. Laws don't make me do the right thing, my personal health and love for life does.

 

[lovechild05]

To be able to call yourself a Christian, you must all be bias and know that God is God and God is there and have experience god's Glory. But just hypothetically, if at the end of your life, there is no God (assuming that is there's still another after life by no god), beside from being depress to the fact that you've believe and have hope in something that didn't does not exist, will you regret dedicating your life to Christianity? Why and why not?

This thread if for Christian to reply and for non-Christian to read. Thx

Didn't have much time to read all the postings in the thread; y'all gonna have to forgive me now. But hope you let me speak.

I'm a Christian, and wouldn't have it any other way

Someone was once talking to a non-believer after they were arguing about the existence of 'God', and he said: "My friend, if I die and find out that there is no God... I have nothing to lose. But if you die and, having not believed, and find out that there is a God, you'll be in dep trouble.:

See, some people would tell you that if you don't believe in their God, then they don't care, so you should get lost. It'll be your head and you'd have to answer for yourself if/when that time comes. (These are the people who believe in God and believe in Judgement Day - but it's just some of them, not all of us - of course some of us care whenever someone does or does not believe in God - that's why there's evangelism and witnessing that we do)

 

[Eudaimonist]

Someone was once talking to a non-believer after they were arguing about the existence of 'God', and he said: "My friend, if I die and find out that there is no God... I have nothing to lose. But if you die and, having not believed, and find out that there is a God, you'll be in dep trouble.

Pascal's Wager use #628,374,923,745

 

[Eudaimonist]

Just yesterday, one of my coworkers told me if not for laws, he'd be a serial rapist

Wow, if there were no threats of punishment... I'd still be a peaceful person who cares about others and who tries to do the right thing and usually succeeds.

 

[Multi-Elis]

So both of us could live the same kind of life, being good just for the sake of being good and simply being kind to others, we would both be good moral people, yet the doctrine of Christianity says that I should burn in hell and you should go to eternal paradise. Hmmm... something doesn't add up here. What exactly did I do wrong? Apparently the only real crime is not believing that Christianity is true, regardless of what kind of life one leads. Such ridiculously unfair justice only serves to highlight the moral bankruptcy of Christianity, making it that much harder for someone to believe it in the first place.

"Not all who cry "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven, but rather those who do the will of my father in heavan." -- Mathiew 7:21. You were over simplifying, and that is what makes the difference.
I can't help you in this because I don't think of my faith in the terms you stated. I have long ceased to think about my salvation in terms of "Do I believe the right doctrine or not" but rather, I hope to focus on following and becoming like Christ, because he is wonderful and good and wants good to be done, and I'd like to be like him. He is worth knowing just for the sake of knowing Him - independantly of going to heavan or not.

I have friends who are incapable of believing in God. They've tried, they've done all the techniques, but still can't. Are they going to burn in Hell? If they do it's not because of what they believe, because they can't believe in something they don't believe in. But if they did, I the answer lies else where than just whether they believe or not. There are other factors. If for example they chose to be arrogant or selfish in addition to not believing, or (despite believing,) who can stop them? And if they enjoy it so much, perhaps a proper heaven for them would be a place where they can be that way forever. Perhaps for you and for me it's a hell, but for them heaven of sorts.

Frankly, I don't see why this issue should bother you, seeing how you are anthiest, you have probably decided to be so for reasons other than arrogance or selfishness. Unless I'm worng, you just don't believe there is a God out there or any heaven or hell so in theory it shouldn't bother you that some people try to get there by believing something. It shouldn't bother you personnally, or maybe it would only bother you that people are uselessly in bondage to their superstitions. But as for yourself, you shouldn't feel bad about it at all, since you know it to be false.

 

[Evee]

If there was no God and I died I would have no regrets in believing.
Believing in God has only brought me joy so nothing lost.
If I die and there is no God, I will be dead and that is that.

 

[cutekangaroo]

If there was no God and I died I would have no regrets in believing.
Believing in God has only brought me joy so nothing lost.
If I die and there is no God, I will be dead and that is that.

I hope this isn't true.

What if a guy who lives as a slave all his life and dies?
What if a guy who lives as a king all is life and dies?

What if a guy who lives as a victim of crimes all his life and dies?
What if a guy who lives as a rapest all his life and dies?

No difference? I'd rather pick an exciting life, don't you think?

 

[Multi-Elis]

I don't see the connection in the last post.

 

[Blackmarch]

To be able to call yourself a Christian, you must all be bias and know that God is God and God is there and have experience god's Glory. But just hypothetically, if at the end of your life, there is no God (assuming that is there's still another after life by no god), beside from being depress to the fact that you've believe and have hope in something that didn't does not exist, will you regret dedicating your life to Christianity? Why and why not?

This thread if for Christian to reply and for non-Christian to read. Thx

No, because what one has learned/gained, has helped helped me greatly throughout my life.