We are such that.......

[Spiritone]

Who said, "If there was no God we would have to invent one?
I think it's true that in order to keep humans from constantly slaughtering each other we have to come up with something like God whether we believe or not-----and even that does not work.
But that is ignoring all the unavoidable unexplainable instances in our live that show that there is something more than just a haphazard coincidence that brought about our existence.

 

[Luminous]

Voltaire, though that wasn't his real name; wait...

Edit:
"If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."
~Voltaire (1694 - 1778)

From Voltaire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
François-Marie Arouet (21 November 1694 – 30 May 1778), better known by the pen name Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, essayist, and philosopher known for his wit, philosophical sport, and defense of civil liberties, including freedom of religion and free trade.
Voltaire was a prolific writer, and produced works in almost every literary form, authoring plays, poetry, novels, essays, historical and scientific works, over 20,000 letters and over two thousand books and pamphlets...

I got this from Conservapedia, the "trust worthy encyclopedia" (only the devil tells such lies):
ON Voltaire's comments,

Judaism and Christianity

In his Philosophical Dictionary, he fantasizes a conversation in which he asks a spirit, implied to be Jesus, "Tell me if there have been peoples other than the Christians and the Jews in whom zeal and religion wretchedly transformed into fanaticism, have inspired so many horrible cruelties." The spirit replies "Yes, the Mohammedans were sullied with the same inhumanities, but rarely; and when one asked amman, pity, of them, and offered them tribute, they pardoned. As for the other nations there has not been one right from the existence of the world which has ever made a purely religious war." Voltaire concludes by stating that he accepts Jesus as his only master, endorsing a simplified version of Christianity obeying the tenets of the Golden Rule but none of the dogma present in his era's churches. (basically becomes some sort of Deistic Quaker. )

Conservapedia is very sensored.
Wikipedia is for the best in this best of all possible worlds.
Well, bye then and so let me tend to my garden.


BTW: Voltaire is considered the Father of Agnosticism.

 

[Luminous]

Check this out from Conservapedia. It makes me laugh! these of the lunatic fringe are such a joke! Their utter blindness and lack of respect for truth is amusing "like children, they are."... Agnosticism - Conservapedia

 

[zenzero]

Friend Spiritone,
God concept too is undergoing evolution and slowly but surely buddha has been able to move the focus away from that concept and with Zen it has evolved further.
Love & rgds

 

[Spiritone]

Friend Spiritone,
God concept too is undergoing evolution and slowly but surely buddha has been able to move the focus away from that concept and with Zen it has evolved further.
Love & rgds

Very well said, zenzero. We in our concept of God are evolving all the time. Eventually it will be seen that most religions were and are addressing the same Universal truths.

 

[Spiritone]

Edit:
"If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."

I avoid using Him or He when referring to God so I did not try to find the quote, and was not totally certain it was Voltaire who said it.

 

[Luminous]

I avoid using Him or He when referring to God so I did not try to find the quote, and was not totally certain it was Voltaire who said it.

Nope, he said it... or wrote it. I'm sure its probably in Candide or something. you can probably search for a site with "quotes" and type in his name or "if god did not exist..." and it'll come up.

 

[Spiritone]

Nope, he said it... or wrote it. I'm sure its probably in Candide or something. you can probably search for a site with "quotes" and type in his name or "if god did not exist..." and it'll come up.

I don't doubt you at all. It's so long since I read some of that literature that I forget the exact quote or person who said it. But to me now it doesn't really matter. Knowing the idea or concept or what-not is enough.