@josephw said
If one believes in something that doesn't exist, and is the basis for giving meaning and purpose to their life, then Christians are fake.

I don't think Christians are "fake" for believing that Jesus laid down his life and rose from the dead for them.

@fmf said
Nonsense. Christians believing that their beliefs are not merely temporal - and believing that their beliefs are not devoid of purpose beyond the span of their lifetimes - is unaffected by whether or not the Christian God figure exists.

You're missing my point.

If you believe in something that's not real, and your belief is the basis of your thinking and how you live, it's all in vain.

It's too simple a concept for even you to miss.

@fmf said
I don't think Christians are "fake" for believing that Jesus laid down his life and rose from the dead for them.

If it's a lie, then Christians are pretending to be something that doesn't exist.

@josephw said
If it's a lie, then Christians are pretending to be something that doesn't exist.

That’s a false premise.

People who sincerely believe in something/anything which happens to not be true, are not “pretending”.

@josephw said
If it's a lie, then Christians are pretending to be something that doesn't exist.

Surely they are only pretending if they know it is a lie?

@josephw said
If you believe in something that's not real, and your belief is the basis of your thinking and how you live, it's all in vain.

It's not "all in vain" if the belief is the basis of someone's thinking and affects how they live.

@josephw said
If it's a lie, then Christians are pretending to be something that doesn't exist.

You are tieing yourself in a knot. So now you are suddenly talking about people who are PRETENDING to be Christians?

@divegeester said
That’s a false premise.

People who sincerely believe in something/anything which happens to not be true, are not “pretending”.

I'll concede that. But many are fakes just the same, pretending to be what their not.

But back to my assertion. If God isn't real, and does not exist, then the one that adheres to the belief in a non-existent God is deluded in their practice of worship in something that doesn't exist.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
Surely they are only pretending if they know it is a lie?

That's true. If they know it's a lie, but act otherwise, they are "pretending".

But if God doesn't exist, and they think he does, then they are deluded.

@fmf said
It's not "all in vain" if the belief is the basis of someone's thinking and affects how they live.

If the "belief" is in something that doesn't exist, but they think it does exist, then how they live, based on a false belief, is worse than vain.

It's blind hypocrisy.

@fmf said
You are tieing yourself in a knot. So now you are suddenly talking about people who are PRETENDING to be Christians?

You are twisting yourself into a knot, in your mind, trying to evade the point.

@josephw said
That's true. If they know it's a lie, but act otherwise, they are "pretending".

But if God doesn't exist, and they think he does, then they are deluded.

Just trying to understand what you’re leading into or point here as this seems it would be common sense on anything In this situation?

@mike69 said
Just trying to understand what you’re leading into or point here as this seems it would be common sense on anything In this situation?

I can't answer that because I don't understand your question.

Could you rephrase?

@josephw said
I can't answer that because I don't understand your question.

Could you rephrase?

You could put anything proven true into the slots you provided as an example to prove the statement you made true, with God there are only opinions otherwise by non believers and faith by believers that’s built over time.

@mike69 said
You could put anything proven true into the slots you provided as an example to prove the statement you made true, with God there are only opinions otherwise by non believers and faith by believers that’s built over time.

This is my assertion:

If God does not exist, then the one who believes in a non-existent God, and lives a life on the basis of a false reality, that one is deluded. Their worship and religious practice is in vain.

That principle can be extrapolated to include any and all belief systems.

In my opinion.