Freethought & Rationalism Archive

TheBigKahoona · 06-11-2005, 04:59 PM

An atheist friend of mine asked me a tough question the other day and I thought I'd paraphrase it a little and see how atheists respond to the same question,
Atheists,

If you and two of your Atheist friends saw the message "The God of the Bible Exists" written in flaming letters on the moon and spelled out in the stars for ten minutes and then disappear, would you...

A. Convert to Christianity
B. Believe it to be some kind of twisted Christian conspiracy involving your fundie neighbors next door.
C. Blame it on the oysters you had for lunch
D. Carefully research collective delusions

I am not asking this question in order to bait people into the whole "rich man and lazarus debate". I am just interested because when I was posed with a similar question with the message, "The God of the Koran exists", I found myself leaning towards options B,C,and D even though they seem like irrational answers to me.

Dhaeron · 06-11-2005, 06:05 PM

How about
E: check out the photos that *will* exist if the event wasn't a mass hallucination, and only then consider the existence of said god.
and
F: even given the existence of god, remember that flaming letters don't do a thing about all the moral arguments, so rather hate than worship him.

Asha'man · 06-11-2005, 06:31 PM

G. Become a Satanist, because anything as evil at the God of the Bible must be opposed.

Sultanist · 06-11-2005, 06:53 PM

If it was large enough to be legible a quarter of a million miles away. And unlike the "face on the moon" or the image of Jesus on the eBay grilled cheese, the message you specified was as clearly and unmistakably as easy to read as the text you're reading now. And three of us were seeing exactly the same thing.
Then, yes, I would accept it. I would conclude that the "God of the Bible" exists.

But then again, if those criteria were met, I would believe anything the message said under those circumstances. If it said "George Bush is the smartest man on Earth", I would accept that too. I would have no other choice.

But since I'm not going to win ten Powerball lottery jackpots in a row, and that message is not going to appear, then it doesn't much matter now does it.

quasi-sapien · 06-11-2005, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sultanist

If it said "George Bush is the smartest man on Earth".....

That would fill me with abject, incontinence inducing, terror and dread.

06-11-2005, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBigKahoona

If you and two of your Atheist friends saw the message...

"WE APOLOGISE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE"?

Quote:

..."The God of the Bible Exists"...

Oh, pooh. I was way off!

Anyway, back on topic, I'm not happy with any of the options. Okay, so this God fellow has been completely silent for going on 2000 years, then goes ahead and slaps some letter on the sky for a few minutes, and then goes back to silence. If, after looking over the available evidence, I were to become convinced of the truth of the message, I'd have to ask "That's it? Look, buddy" -this is where I'd be poking God in the chest all pissed-off and whatnot- "we've been sitting down here for some time, and that's all you give us? Get down here! Talk to us! We're fucking up like you wouldn't believe and if you really care about us, how about a little help?"

David Vestal · 06-11-2005, 07:12 PM

First, Dhaeron's option "E". Then, look again to see if there's a flaming sub-heading that tells which of the thousands of denominal interpretations of the bible is correct. Then, see if there's a flaming essay underneath the subheading that explains away those pesky details, like the god of the bible condoning rape.

Biff the unclean · 06-11-2005, 07:43 PM

I always wonder why Christian pose this sort of question. “If something magical happened then would you believe?�?
I don’t need magic to believe in God. I’ve never needed magic to believe in anything I do believe in.
If God showed up on CNN and said “Hi, it’s me,�? then that would be enough. I figure God would obviously be God. If it were super intelligent aliens from the planet Koosbane that’s okay, I still accept. I’d be no more concerned that intelligent aliens were pretending to be God than I am that stupid aliens are pretending to be rocks.
So I don’t need magic, the mundane would just be fine.
Then why form questions where the supernatural proofs happens when the common ordinary everyday type of proof never happens?

Joeman · 06-11-2005, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBigKahoona

If you and two of your Atheist friends saw the message "The God of the Bible Exists" written in flaming letters on the moon and spelled out in the stars for ten minutes and then disappear, would you...

A. Convert to Christianity
B. Believe it to be some kind of twisted Christian conspiracy involving your fundie neighbors next door.
C. Blame it on the oysters you had for lunch
D. Carefully research collective delusions

This is like thinking "what does the edge of the earth look like if the earth is flat?" What's the point?

Sultanist · 06-11-2005, 09:26 PM

What if that message instead said "The God of the Bible Does Not Exist".

How would Christians react to that?

06-11-2005, 04:59 PM	#1
TheBigKahoona Regular Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: USA Posts: 171	If You Saw...? An atheist friend of mine asked me a tough question the other day and I thought I'd paraphrase it a little and see how atheists respond to the same question, Atheists, If you and two of your Atheist friends saw the message "The God of the Bible Exists" written in flaming letters on the moon and spelled out in the stars for ten minutes and then disappear, would you... A. Convert to Christianity B. Believe it to be some kind of twisted Christian conspiracy involving your fundie neighbors next door. C. Blame it on the oysters you had for lunch D. Carefully research collective delusions I am not asking this question in order to bait people into the whole "rich man and lazarus debate". I am just interested because when I was posed with a similar question with the message, "The God of the Koran exists", I found myself leaning towards options B,C,and D even though they seem like irrational answers to me.

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06-11-2005, 06:05 PM	#2
Dhaeron Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 3,897	How about E: check out the photos that will exist if the event wasn't a mass hallucination, and only then consider the existence of said god. and F: even given the existence of god, remember that flaming letters don't do a thing about all the moral arguments, so rather hate than worship him.

06-11-2005, 06:31 PM	#3
Asha'man Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: southeast Posts: 2,526	G. Become a Satanist, because anything as evil at the God of the Bible must be opposed.

06-11-2005, 06:53 PM	#4
Sultanist Contributor Join Date: May 2005 Location: Pensacola, Florida Posts: 28,681	If it was large enough to be legible a quarter of a million miles away. And unlike the "face on the moon" or the image of Jesus on the eBay grilled cheese, the message you specified was as clearly and unmistakably as easy to read as the text you're reading now. And three of us were seeing exactly the same thing. Then, yes, I would accept it. I would conclude that the "God of the Bible" exists. But then again, if those criteria were met, I would believe anything the message said under those circumstances. If it said "George Bush is the smartest man on Earth", I would accept that too. I would have no other choice. But since I'm not going to win ten Powerball lottery jackpots in a row, and that message is not going to appear, then it doesn't much matter now does it.

06-11-2005, 07:12 PM	#7
David Vestal Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: High Point, NC, USA Posts: 1,506	First, Dhaeron's option "E". Then, look again to see if there's a flaming sub-heading that tells which of the thousands of denominal interpretations of the bible is correct. Then, see if there's a flaming essay underneath the subheading that explains away those pesky details, like the god of the bible condoning rape.

06-11-2005, 07:43 PM	#8
Biff the unclean Banned Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: an inaccessible island fortress Posts: 10,638	I always wonder why Christian pose this sort of question. “If something magical happened then would you believe?�? I don’t need magic to believe in God. I’ve never needed magic to believe in anything I do believe in. If God showed up on CNN and said “Hi, it’s me,�? then that would be enough. I figure God would obviously be God. If it were super intelligent aliens from the planet Koosbane that’s okay, I still accept. I’d be no more concerned that intelligent aliens were pretending to be God than I am that stupid aliens are pretending to be rocks. So I don’t need magic, the mundane would just be fine. Then why form questions where the supernatural proofs happens when the common ordinary everyday type of proof never happens?

06-11-2005, 09:26 PM	#10
Sultanist Contributor Join Date: May 2005 Location: Pensacola, Florida Posts: 28,681	What if that message instead said "The God of the Bible Does Not Exist". How would Christians react to that?

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