lpetrich

That's what some believers are known to say.

However, it has the absurd consequence that if god slacks off, we will become indestructible, because none of us would die if god was not deciding who would die.

Thus, we'd be able to survive even the worst of

Colliding objects
Sharp objects
Excessive heat or cold
Fire
Ionizing Radiation
Asphyxiation
Starvation
Poisoning
Disease organisms
Etc.

We'd be able to survive in extremely hostile environments without any risk of dying, like

Deep underwater
Blast furnaces
Nuclear-reactor interiors
Outer space
Inside the Sun
Etc.

And if god slacked off enough, we could visit the center of the Sun -- though we'd be trapped for as long as god goofs off.

Tercel

Er lpetrich, that's just silly. The people who claim that God decides when we die will almost inevitably hold to the position that if God "slacked off" then the universe itself would stop existing.

winstonjen

Which makes me wonder why the universe is still here, since their do-nothing god seems to be slacking off all the time, or wearing his incontinence pad at his old gods' retirement home.

Shake

Why would that be? Isn't the prevailing thought that he's just the creator, and put things in motion, but is certainly not actually sustaining the Universe?

Grad Student Humanist

God may want to decide when I die, but I'm going to be fighting him all the way!

Ojuice5001

Lpetrich,

What are you talking about? Theists don't think that death is naturally impossible, that every death is the result of the gods' direct action. Saying that god(s) decide(s) when we die is merely means this: Most causes of death are influenced by random factors. And god(s) control(s) random factors, so they control the causes of death, so they control the time of death. If the gods withdrew their influence from the world, we would still die, just at different times than we do now.

You seem to think that, according to some or all theists, all deaths are miracles. That is not what we're saying.

Sometimes an atheist will say something that involves a really bizarre misinterpretation of theism. This is one of those times.

Zadok001

Piers Anthony, "On A Pale Horse."

Ojuice5001

Yeah, that's what I thought of too.

Spaz

You can't very well argue that with a theist, you should've known that. They can say that any way somebody died is how god wanted, and how are you to say otherwise? There's so evidence to dispute, it's just a crazy thought.

atheist_in_foxhole

This is a little bit like the questions I asked theists (xian) on a thread a few months ago. I asked them if the naked Adam and Eve would have survived on the surface of the sun, in a blizzard, at the bottom of the ocean etc. in those happy "pre-fall" days before death came along, but they never really gave me an answer. One of them told me that god would send magic dolphins to rescue Adam/Eve if they ever fell into some water.

But if death didn't exist what would the "dolphins" be saving them from?