Atheists and agnotics, do you hope God exist?

[Trailblazer]

Want to compare notes? I would still say an eternity is too long for anyone. A full (hopefully) human lifespan is enough for me.

You are basing that upon what you know of your life and this world, but since you have no idea what the afterlife (next world) would be like, I do not think you can know you would not want to spend eternity there.

I know the very idea of living forever sounds daunting and I have the same feelings, but I believe they are subject to change when I see what is in the next world. I hate change, so that is no small thing for me to say I might change my mind.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Atheists and agnotics, do you hope God/a higher power exist? And do you hope an afterlife exist?

Why would I have any hope towards such - if such was reality - since it would just be so? I try to accept that which exists, not that which I hope exists. But if such a thing existed I might be somewhat disappointed - in the mess that I tend to see associated with such concepts, even given the ineptitude we humans often bring to such areas of belief. Such that if a God had any control/effect over us then these 'powers' seem very limited.

As for the afterlife, well probably there are potentially as many deficits as benefits in such, as to reincarnation or in ever-lasting life, although I haven't really explored this much - not having much interest in it.

 

[Trailblazer]

And we are at the central problem of the "god" concept. Nobody knows what it is.
There is not one god all Christians believe in, there are tens of thousands.

What you mean is that Christians have that many different conceptions of God, but they all have many beliefs about God in common..

You have a serious problem of identity if something appears and claims to be "god". You may allow some your presumed attributes to be false, but how many can you sacrifice before you have to admit that that entity claiming to be god is not what you think of being god?

That becomes the problem when people hand a bunch of attributes on the unknowable God.

 

[ChristineM]

You are basing that upon what you know of your life and this world, but since you have no idea what the afterlife (next world) would be like, I do not think you can know you would not want to spend eternity there.

I know the very idea of living forever sounds daunting and I have the same feelings, but I believe they are subject to change when I see what is in the next world. I hate change, so that is no small thing for me to say I might change my mind.

And a second point derived from your comment. If my mind is manipulated to accept an eternity of life then i most definitely don't want it. My mind is sacred to me

 

[Trailblazer]

Such that if a God had any control/effect over us then these 'powers' seem very limited.

Or God is not using His powers, kind of like Trump on the golf course when there is so much work to be done.

 

[Trailblazer]

And a second point derived from your comment. If my mind is manipulated to accept an eternity of life then i most definitely don't want it. My mind is sacred to me

I do not like being told what I should believe either, but as my husband always says to me when I whine about the afterlife, it's not like I will have a choice because it will be whatever it is.

 

[Altfish]

Atheists and agnotics, do you hope God/a higher power exist? And do you hope an afterlife exist?

No and No

I don't see any benefit at all to either suggestion; both are ridiculous and pointless

 

[Mock Turtle]

Or God is not using His powers, kind of like Trump on the golf course when there is so much work to be done.

As in 'Work in Progress' perhaps? So perhaps we are just curiosities (or unintentional consequences) in the experimental laboratory of God, and one to be erased when it all goes so wrong - as Trump typifies.

 

[Heyo]

That becomes the problem when people hand a bunch of attributes on the unknowable God.

And it is even more problematic when they don't. How do you identify something if you don't what it should be?

 

[ChristineM]

I do not like being told what I should believe either, but as my husband always says to me when I whine about the afterlife, it's not like I will have a choice because it will be whatever it is.

Then i am on to a winner because thermodynamics is what it is

 

[blü 2]

Atheists and agnotics, do you hope God/a higher power exist? And do you hope an afterlife exist?

I'm actually ignostic ─ that is, I find the idea of a not-imaginary god incoherent ─ but that still puts me in the nonbelievers' tent.

No, I don't hope a higher power exists. Rather than be a sort of wishing well to fix our problems (very many of which are other people), surely it would have an agenda of its own, regardless of us, no? Even were they kindly zookeepers, they'd only let their animals do what zookeepers want ─ and who says they'd think 'kindly' means what we think 'kindly' means?

As for eternal life, what on earth would be the point? We've evolved to live long enough to breed and then a bit more to serve as elders, and then we've finished being useful and nature points us to the exit.

Or to put that another way, what will you say to your true love on his or her five hundredth birthday? On his or her five hundred billionth birthday?

 

[Hellbound Serpiente]

I don't know. how is god useful? Or an afterlife?

There are countless instances of injustices throughout history of the world that went unrectified. Think about someone like Hitler, he made countless people suffer with immeasurable suffering, and just got away with immeasurably mild consequences as compared to the suffering he caused to others. If a Merciful, Just God Exists and there is an afterlife, not only can He bring Hitler and such oppressors to justice and make sure they get what they actually TRULY deserve, but He can also recompense those who unjustly suffered in this life with ideal compensation that’ll bring them peace and healing. A Merciful, Just God can give us all that which we have been unjustly deprived of in this life --- Ever-lasting peace, happiness, freedom from pain and suffering etc. Also, if there is an afterlife, perhaps we can achieve the peace and happiness we never received in this world.

The positive aspects of a [positive] God can even out the negativity of the brutal nature of this negative world and dark mother nature, and getting another chance at life can provide us with an excellent opportunity to build a better life for ourselves and our family as compared to this painful life.

Some people, like me, feel there cannot be any Merciful God because of the evils of this world. I understand, I sometimes feel the same way, but what if this world isn’t meant to be perfect and is just one of the many levels of life, and more [and arguably, the best] levels of life are yet to come where the negativity of this world is evened out?

 

[HonestJoe]

Atheists and agnotics, do you hope God/a higher power exist? And do you hope an afterlife exist?

Do you hope that a different kind of god and afterlife exist, in contrast to whatever ones you actually believe exist?

That is essentially the same question. Atheists aren't some kind of fundamentally different species, they're just human beings who happen to have a single belief position different to your own, one among the countless thousands of beliefs, understandings and elements of world-view we all have. If you want to understand different types of people, the first step is to understand that they're still people.

 

[Revoltingest]

More than one God seems preposterous to me, but one God seems reasonable.

I make it plural because this addresses the various different singular
gods (God, Allah, Krom) & the multi-god religions (Greek, Norse).

 

[Jedster]

So would I.

Well, if there is God, I hope it is Krishna and look forward to see the faces of Bahais, Ahmadis & others who have demoted Him to a mere prophet or manifestation.
You'd better hope He's not the jealous type.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

How much can leprechauns benefit someone and/or prove to be overall more useful as compared to God and Afterlife [if they exist]?

Off the top of my head:

In some versions of the myth, if you catch a leprechaun, they'll grant you three wishes if you set them free. This seems more reliable than how prayer to God is usually predicted.

But this does seem like a weird question. Do you only hope for things if you think they'd be as beneficial than a god?

 

[firedragon]

Atheists and agnotics, do you hope God/a higher power exist? And do you hope an afterlife exist?

According to a PEW research in the US, 18% of the atheists believe in a higher power.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

What's up with the darn leprechauns examples (to the invisible public)?

I use it as an example of the outsider test for faith.

Leprechauns are part of a religious belief system that was once sincere believed and practiced by many people. Really the only difference between that religion with its various types of fairies and modern religions is that the older religion has fallen out of fashion in modern times.

Always had a pet peeve over that. That and spaghetti monster.

Why's it a pet peeve?

When people get upset about comparing God to leprechauns, it reminds me of a line that popped into my head a few years ago:

There's nothing more ridiculous than someone else's religion.

... and in a weird way, it makes me take the religion of the person complaining less seriously.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

More than one God seems preposterous to me, but one God seems reasonable.

One God seems more preposterous to me than many Gods.

Either way, you'd need some mechanism for gods to be possible, but for there to only be one God, you'd also need a mechanism for every God but that first one to be impossible.

Occam's Razor suggests to me that if at least one god exists, there would likely be more than one.

 

[Jedster]

One God seems more preposterous to me than many Gods.

Either way, you'd need some mechanism for gods to be possible, but for there to only be one God, you'd also need a mechanism for every God but that first one to be impossible.

Occam's Razor suggests to me that if at least one god exists, there would likely be more than one.

@Aupmanyav often quotes a creation hymn, from the Rig Veda, which suggest that even the One Creator god may not know where it came from

HYMN CXXIX. Creation.
1. THEN was not non-existent nor existent: there was no realm of air, no sky beyond it.
What covered in, and where? and what gave shelter? Was water there, unfathomed depth of water?
2 Death was not then, nor was there aught immortal: no sign was there, the day's and night's divider.
That One Thing, breathless, breathed by its own nature: apart from it was nothing whatsoever.
3 Darkness there was: at first concealed in darkness this All was indiscriminated chaos.
All that existed then was void and form less: by the great power of Warmth was born that Unit.
4 Thereafter rose Desire in the beginning, Desire, the primal seed and germ of Spirit.
Sages who searched with their heart's thought discovered the existent's kinship in the non-existent.
5 Transversely was their severing line extended: what was above it then, and what below it?
There were begetters, there were mighty forces, free action here and energy up yonder
6 Who verily knows and who can here declare it, whence it was born and whence comes this creation?
The Gods are later than this world's production. Who knows then whence it first came into being?
7 He, the first origin of this creation, whether he formed it all or did not form it,
Whose eye controls this world in highest heaven, he verily knows it, or perhaps he knows not.