Would it matter?

[meebs]

I have been following a train of thought lately about if there was a creator would it matter to me?

Now dont get me wrong. I am still an atheist and still have no beleif in any deities.

But lets hypothesise for a second that there was one. Would this matter to you?

Now i think if there WAS such thing as a creator i would think it would be more like a deistic god (i wouldnt go as far as a particular religions god). Say that this god created all... how would it see us? Would it be happy with its creation? How would it view us? Would we be like ants? Or would it be like a computer game where we were like the sims or even like age of empires? Would it care? Maybe it would but be so vast that it cared on large scale not indivdual people (though i think if it is a god it would know of individual details, it would have to - remember we are limited in our knowledge).

So how would this knowledge affect us? Should we care? Should we worship such a being? Or should we carry on with out everyday lives?

Personaly i don't think such knowledge would affect us much. I beleive that such a deity would not be like a personal god, maybe even like a programmer. I think it would have set events into motion but not interfered.

So god or no god, i think such knowledge doesnt matter. Oh its interesting to talk about or i wouldnt be here.

So what do you think? What are your own train of thoughts?

(i made this post on another forum)

 

[Verv]

Yeah, it would matter.

My belief in the Bible aside:

God would probably have a sense of justice and a sense of importance. Of course, I cannot say for sure, being that this requires speculation on the nature of a God that, for the purpose of this debate I am not using the Bible as a source, so we really cannot know Its' nature...

But one would tend to think that if one had to take a leap in Faith and in Logic, that the creative God that made the universe would have certainly done so for a reason (whether it is something as base as entertainment or as noble as an experiment).

You would think that he would revel in some aspect of it, and if his emotions are remotely similar to that of a normal human I think that there would be a certain inclination to dispense justice when He saw fit.

In other words: it should be cared about because you re going to be judged for it...

.... and perhaps on a pure, objective, 'appreciative of knowledge' way yous hould appreciate it.

 

[meebs]

Yeah, it would matter.

My belief in the Bible aside:

God would probably have a sense of justice and a sense of importance. Of course, I cannot say for sure, being that this requires speculation on the nature of a God that, for the purpose of this debate I am not using the Bible as a source, so we really cannot know Its' nature...

But one would tend to think that if one had to take a leap in Faith and in Logic, that the creative God that made the universe would have certainly done so for a reason (whether it is something as base as entertainment or as noble as an experiment).

You would think that he would revel in some aspect of it, and if his emotions are remotely similar to that of a normal human I think that there would be a certain inclination to dispense justice when He saw fit.

In other words: it should be cared about because you re going to be judged for it...

would there have to be a reason?

Have you created a computer game? Do you admire and love every tiny detail? Have you focused on one particular spot and cherished it? How do you view ants, or as someone used and example elsewhere - dust mites?

(im not saying life is a game by the way just using it as an example of a creation).

I guess our views on a what a deity may be like will be limited to what we know about ourselves and also what we have been taught by society (what isnt?). For example you may not have been using the bible as a source but what you have said reflects your thoughts from what you have been taught about god. Im not saying thats bad btw - for example to beleive in that religion you have to see some sense and agree with the christian religion after all

.... and perhaps on a pure, objective, 'appreciative of knowledge' way yous hould appreciate it.

Perhaps but i admire a lot of things anyway, created by a deity or not.

 

[uberd00b]

I guess this depends on how God was to be, two possible options (of many);

God is a good god. (As he is frequently thought to be.) In this case I cannot see that it would matter to me much. Nor change much about how I go about my life. Though admittedly I would probably waste a lot less time at these forums! I doubt such a god would need worship, or anything like that.
I can imagine this would give comfort to many many people.

God is an evil god. (As he is frequently presented.) Then what could we do but try and resist? Of course it would be impossible to resist an omnipotent being. We'd be just cowed slaves to this creature, unable to free ourselves and live our lives in constant fear. Maybe we could teach this creature how to behave morally and ethically though? Perhaps that would be a way out.

And that's my ill-thought out opinion.

 

[meebs]

I guess this depends on how God was to be, two possible options (of many);

God is a good god. (As he is frequently thought to be.) In this case I cannot see that it would matter to me much. Nor change much about how I go about my life. Though admittedly I would probably waste a lot less time at these forums! I doubt such a god would need worship, or anything like that.
I can imagine this would give comfort to many many people.

God is an evil god. (As he is frequently presented.) Then what could we do but try and resist? Of course it would be impossible to resist an omnipotent being. We'd be just cowed slaves to this creature, unable to free ourselves and live our lives in constant fear. Maybe we could teach this creature how to behave morally and ethically though? Perhaps that would be a way out.

And that's my ill-thought out opinion.

I think that my beleif would remain neutral on this god regardless of evil or good (which again a man made concept). I think its stance on good and evil would be irrelevant to us as its concepts would be much different to ours due to its sheer scale and vast knowledge compared to ours. Perhaps it would be neither. Just neutral.

just to highlight on your evil god points:

Of course it would be impossible to resist an omnipotent being.

Maybe we could teach this creature how to behave morally and ethically though?

And how would you teach a huge omnipotent being human concepts of ethics like ours? Maybe it would know and wouldnt care?

I wont go heavily into that though - as thats another topic

 

[Upisoft]

I have been following a train of thought lately about if there was a creator would it matter to me?

Now dont get me wrong. I am still an atheist and still have no beleif in any deities.

But lets hypothesise for a second that there was one. Would this matter to you?

Now i think if there WAS such thing as a creator i would think it would be more like a deistic god (i wouldnt go as far as a particular religions god). Say that this god created all... how would it see us? Would it be happy with its creation? How would it view us? Would we be like ants? Or would it be like a computer game where we were like the sims or even like age of empires? Would it care? Maybe it would but be so vast that it cared on large scale not indivdual people (though i think if it is a god it would know of individual details, it would have to - remember we are limited in our knowledge).

So how would this knowledge affect us? Should we care? Should we worship such a being? Or should we carry on with out everyday lives?

Personaly i don't think such knowledge would affect us much. I beleive that such a deity would not be like a personal god, maybe even like a programmer. I think it would have set events into motion but not interfered.

So god or no god, i think such knowledge doesnt matter. Oh its interesting to talk about or i wouldnt be here.

So what do you think? What are your own train of thoughts?

(i made this post on another forum)

Well, interesting questions you have. The problem is that we are limited by our imagination and intuition. I'll give you example and try to make myself clear.

When scientists first discovered that small particles of matter (electrons) behave themselves not just like small pieces of matter, but like a wave they were very much surprised. That happened, because in our macro world we can't observe such behavior. Since childhood our neurons connect themselves in such way that we "know" what matter is. This experience say that if a particle, say bullet, is going straight against you, it will eventually hit you and it's not going to interfere and go around you. Observing such behavior in electrons must have been very unique experience for the scientists.

So, even matter start to behave itself "strangely" when we're going into microcosmos. What you try to do is to ask "everyday" questions about God. They are most probably meaningless questions, as for example is "Why the Moon is made of cheese?". It is only my opinion and you're not obligated to agree.

If I'm right you have at least two choices (if you want to believe that God exists). First choice is to stop asking questions and just believe. Well, it is not scientific way, but God is not an entity of science. Second choice is to ask people about their beliefs. Eventually, you may accept their believes and become Christian, Muslim, etc. It's your choice.

I hope I've helped.

 

[meebs]

Well, interesting questions you have. The problem is that we are limited by our imagination and intuition. I'll give you example and try to make myself clear.

When scientists first discovered that small particles of matter (electrons) behave themselves not just like small pieces of matter, but like a wave they were very much surprised. That happened, because in our macro world we can't observe such behavior. Since childhood our neurons connect themselves in such way that we "know" what matter is. This experience say that if a particle, say bullet, is going straight against you, it will eventually hit you and it's not going to interfere and go around you. Observing such behavior in electrons must have been very unique experience for the scientists.

So, even matter start to behave itself "strangely" when we're going into microcosmos. What you try to do is to ask "everyday" questions about God. They are most probably meaningless questions, as for example is "Why the Moon is made of cheese?". It is only my opinion and you're not obligated to agree.

If I'm right you have at least two choices (if you want to believe that God exists). First choice is to stop asking questions and just believe. Well, it is not scientific way, but God is not an entity of science. Second choice is to ask people about their beliefs. Eventually, you may accept their believes and become Christian, Muslim, etc. It's your choice.

I hope I've helped.

Yes i get you (see a later post), my question is - what would you think? I was hoping this would kind of be - how would others think too.

Thanks

 

[Upisoft]

Yes i get you (see a later post), my question is - what would you think? I was hoping this would kind of be - how would others think too.

Thanks

Well, I answered "Other", because I find a question about what could not exists, i.e. knowledge about God, irrelevant. Yet it's only my opinion. You find it not worth and I just make one more step.

Yet all that does not prevent me to believe there is God. Do you think that I should call those good doctors that put on you tight shirts tied behind your back?

 

[Verv]

would there have to be a reason?

Have you created a computer game? Do you admire and love every tiny detail? Have you focused on one particular spot and cherished it? How do you view ants, or as someone used and example elsewhere - dust mites?

(im not saying life is a game by the way just using it as an example of a creation).

I guess our views on a what a deity may be like will be limited to what we know about ourselves and also what we have been taught by society (what isnt?). For example you may not have been using the bible as a source but what you have said reflects your thoughts from what you have been taught about god. Im not saying thats bad btw - for example to beleive in that religion you have to see some sense and agree with the christian religion after all

I have made creations and admired them extensively an dalso criticized them; I've tried to improve upon them and alter them... I guess this might mean that God would intervene with His Creation.

But it is very hard to answer these questions; I have not thought about them a lot because I am a Christian and I already subscribe to a specific ideology concnering God.

It is a good question, though, and we must ask ourselves and answer to the best of th question what a God would theoretically behave like...

And in my mind, if God is anything as humans are, I think that His personality would certainly resemble the God of Jacob.

 

[DailyBlessings]

I have been following a train of thought lately about if there was a creator would it matter to me?

Now dont get me wrong. I am still an atheist and still have no beleif in any deities.

But lets hypothesise for a second that there was one. Would this matter to you?

Now i think if there WAS such thing as a creator i would think it would be more like a deistic god (i wouldnt go as far as a particular religions god). Say that this god created all... how would it see us? Would it be happy with its creation? How would it view us? Would we be like ants? Or would it be like a computer game where we were like the sims or even like age of empires? Would it care? Maybe it would but be so vast that it cared on large scale not indivdual people (though i think if it is a god it would know of individual details, it would have to - remember we are limited in our knowledge).

So how would this knowledge affect us? Should we care? Should we worship such a being? Or should we carry on with out everyday lives?

Personaly i don't think such knowledge would affect us much. I beleive that such a deity would not be like a personal god, maybe even like a programmer. I think it would have set events into motion but not interfered.

So god or no god, i think such knowledge doesnt matter. Oh its interesting to talk about or i wouldnt be here.

So what do you think? What are your own train of thoughts?

(i made this post on another forum)

We have some differing notions of the universe, I think. Albert Einstein once commented (at least according to legend) that the most fundamental question we can ever ask ourselves is whether the universe we live in is friendly or hostile. To some extent, how you see the universe is how you see God, and for that matter yourself and others. Your view of God, then, is really a personification of the way you see your world, fascinating, yet cold and purposeless. Now I see the universe as a very friendly place indeed, one which has been at pains to allow our ordered and beautiful experience, where natural laws are always followed and the most elegant theory is usually the best. In such a universe, I have no difficulty imagining a God with infinite care for each aspect of that universe. If not necessarily for the same things we think are important, God certainly has an interest in us ourselves.

 

[EverlastingMan]

I think that ultimately it would matter. Not necessarily because it should, but more that it simply would. You see how people in this world where we must always be to some degree, however tiny, uncertain of God's or Allah's, or whoever's existence can be absolutely fanatical about God. How much more would they be if they knew it with absolute certainty?

 

[meebs]

Well, I answered "Other", because I find a question about what could not exists, i.e. knowledge about God, irrelevant. Yet it's only my opinion. You find it not worth and I just make one more step.

Yet all that does not prevent me to believe there is God. Do you think that I should call those good doctors that put on you tight shirts tied behind your back?

You mean those nice special coats that hug you?

I find it worthy but not relevant to my OP - it could be me not being clear.

 

[meebs]

We have some differing notions of the universe, I think. Albert Einstein once commented (at least according to legend) that the most fundamental question we can ever ask ourselves is whether the universe we live in is friendly or hostile. To some extent, how you see the universe is how you see God, and for that matter yourself and others. Your view of God, then, is really a personification of the way you see your world, fascinating, yet cold and purposeless. Now I see the universe as a very friendly place indeed, one which has been at pains to allow our ordered and beautiful experience, where natural laws are always followed and the most elegant theory is usually the best. In such a universe, I have no difficulty imagining a God with infinite care for each aspect of that universe. If not necessarily for the same things we think are important, God certainly has an interest in us ourselves.

No purpose yes and fascinating yes, but not cold (i see beauty and ugliness) - and you made me think here. I did make a similar point earlier, but this allowed me to focus it on my self.

 

[meebs]

I guess i aim this at your individual thoughts. I do aim this at both theists and non-theists. In fact ok:

Non-theists: I still aim this question asking, would it matter to you if a deity existed and would you change your life if you knew?

Theists: What if a deity existed and it was not the one you thought it was?

 

[DailyBlessings]

Theists: What if a deity existed and it was not the one you thought it was?

Interesting question. I don't hold my self to be infallible in any respect, nor to really understand God's nature. My understanding of God has grown with my spiritual maturity, and I know intuitively that there is much I do not perceive rightly yet. If God's nature is more like to her portrayal through, say, Buddhism or Shinto, this would not bother me, or indeed change my relationship to God greatly. Even now, I often learn new things about God through other traditions and this does not cause consternation for me.

However, there are some basic assumptions I do make about God. Were it revealed to me that God is unjust or veangeful- a kindred of Huitzipilochi or Tzintililopoco- then I would have trouble reconciling faith with the universe. It would make me distrustful of the world around me, I think, and this would be the major way in which my life would change. It's long been my opinion that those who see God in this manner and rebel against him are right to do so, and I suspect I would do the same. If your ruler enjoys dangling you over the Pit, there is little you can do to amend your fate, and might as well save some dignity. But as for importance, I doubt that the God would matter less to me in such a case, as he or she would constantly be making herself known to us.

 

[Eudaimonist]

But lets hypothesise for a second that there was one. Would this matter to you?

Not unless there was a very good reason.

It would probably take a radical shift in my understanding of what it is to be human, which wouldn't happen simply because I was to learn that there was a god. Since my way of life is based on a philosophical consideration of my nature as a human being, e.g. the nature of rationality and human flourishing, it might be completely irrelevant to me if a god or gods really did turn out to exist. I would still have good reasons to live as I have.

In this sense, I'm an apatheist.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[Ego]

Would it matter?

I've voted 'no' I would carry on living my life as I've always done, breaking my computer and fixing so I can play computer games! Dabbling in PBEMs and generally just being a geek.

It all depends on whether this deity were to reveal itself, if not then we would carry on in our ignorance of this deity.

However if it were reveal itself then that the universe was the result of some deity then I would say it would have a significant effect on our understanding of the nature of the universe and our understanding of science. I suppose it would also raise some interesting philosophical questions and what not.

But for me I wouldn't be all too bothered.

 

[meebs]

Not unless there was a very good reason.

It would probably take a radical shift in my understanding of what it is to be human, which wouldn't happen simply because I was to learn that there was a god. Since my way of life is based on a philosophical consideration of my nature as a human being, e.g. the nature of rationality and human flourishing, it might be completely irrelevant to me if a god or gods really did turn out to exist. I would still have good reasons to live as I have.

In this sense, I'm an apatheist.


eudaimonia,

Mark

Hiya Mark

I agree here, in fact you made my thoughts in a simple sentence.

To everybody:

I do think that nothing would change, sure we'd have knowledge but the nature of the universe wouldnt change from that knowledge (perhaps our understanding a little) however i do think such a god would be impersonal to us.

I think this why such things as personal gods (like the christian one) and deities based on a small part of natural forces (best way i can describe pagan gods) do not make sense to me.

more later - got to go to class.

 

[Robbie_James_Francis]

Interesting question. It seems to me that it depends on what we mean when we say that God's existence or non-existence 'matters'. In terms of this life, I don't think it matters in the slightest. As far as 'salvation' is concerned, if God is good, there's no hell. If God is bad, then hell is the absence of Her so it must be good, or at least better than heaven.

Beyond that, I think it is more important to live this life than to worry about the next. Though I think all genuine searches for important knowledge and truth are beautiful, we cannot let them stop us actually living.

peace

 

[elman]

I have been following a train of thought lately about if there was a creator would it matter to me?

Now dont get me wrong. I am still an atheist and still have no beleif in any deities.

But lets hypothesise for a second that there was one. Would this matter to you?

Now i think if there WAS such thing as a creator i would think it would be more like a deistic god (i wouldnt go as far as a particular religions god). Say that this god created all... how would it see us? Would it be happy with its creation? How would it view us? Would we be like ants? Or would it be like a computer game where we were like the sims or even like age of empires? Would it care? Maybe it would but be so vast that it cared on large scale not indivdual people (though i think if it is a god it would know of individual details, it would have to - remember we are limited in our knowledge).

So how would this knowledge affect us? Should we care? Should we worship such a being? Or should we carry on with out everyday lives?

Personaly i don't think such knowledge would affect us much. I beleive that such a deity would not be like a personal god, maybe even like a programmer. I think it would have set events into motion but not interfered.

So god or no god, i think such knowledge doesnt matter. Oh its interesting to talk about or i wouldnt be here.

So what do you think? What are your own train of thoughts?

(i made this post on another forum)

I don't think the knowledge of there being a Creator is all that important. None of us have that knowledge anyway, but if there is no loving Creator that created us for the very purpose of being loving to each other, then we have the same significance as the ants you talk about which is essentially no significance. If we were however created for a reason and we fulfill that reason, we may have a great deal of significance to our Creator.