If it's proven there's no god

Originally posted by moonbus
Well, vivify, It looks like you got your answer. Even the merest suggestion that there might, maybe, possibly, hypothetically, be a reason to doubt God's existence evokes a strong (one might even say visceral) reaction.

You're darned right it does!

Hopefully he'll remember this going forward.

It's like he's saying, "Never mind that I can't ever prove God doesn't exist. Let's just ASSUME for the moment that he does not."

Um, wait, what?


He wants his cake and to eat it, too. It doesn't work that way, though.

Originally posted by Suzianne
No, I'm not "worried" about it. It IS blasphemous because God DOES exist. To say he doesn't is to deny him, something Christians, hopefully, should not be eager to do.

have you ever read a book or watched a movie set in a world or universe where different or no gods exist?

Originally posted by stellspalfie
see, its interesting to explore hypothetical questions. i dont think it brought any shadow of doubt into your belief in god. it did give us a little glimpse into who you are beyond the usual following the party line, filibuster.

its a big gap between saying you dont have a perfect life and calling it vomit! i hope in your case it was the kinda vomit that comes from having too much fun.

Even though you wrote this to sonship, I have to answer it too.

No, I don't get any doubt because my faith is strong, and I don't get sidetracked by these lame attempts to get me to abandon my faith.

Too much fun? Oh, Please!!

There was a time when I thought I was "having fun", drinking every night and waking up in a different bed every morning with nary a clue how I got there. I just didn't realize until I found Jesus Christ just how miserable I was, and I was just covering up all my pain with more pain. I completely agree with sonship, in that I pray to God that I never have to go back to that life. Yes, it was indeed "vomit" compared to the life I lead now. I own my own home, I am physically fit, I'm happier than I've ever been. Jesus Christ indeed came so that I might have life more abundantly. He's followed through with all his promises. This is why RJH lifts his eyes to the heavens and cries, "Hallelujah!"

Hallelujah, indeed!

Originally posted by stellspalfie
have you ever read a book or watched a movie set in a world or universe where different or no gods exist?

Of course. But these are different worlds, different dimensions, maybe. That is not THIS world. You cannot just "imagine" my God out of existence. Asking me what I would do is an attempt to make me imagine it, to bring it into an alternate plane of existence, to entertain the possibility. I'm not going to deny God, like Peter denied the Christ three times, and frankly, you cannot make me. You'd have to kill me first, and hopefully, you're not exactly prepared to go *that* far.

Originally posted by Suzianne
Even though you wrote this to sonship, I have to answer it too.

No, I don't get any doubt because my faith is strong, and I don't get sidetracked by these lame attempts to get me to abandon my faith.

Too much fun? Oh, Please!!

There was a time when I thought I was "having fun", drinking every night and waking up in a different bed every morning wi ...[text shortened]... This is why RJH lifts his eyes to the heavens and cries, "Hallelujah!"

Hallelujah, indeed!

you seem to misinterpret almost every post i write.

i didnt question his faith, my comment was that he was able to answer the hypothetical without calling into question his faith. you seem to automatically take everything as negatively as you possibly can. did i try to get sonship to abandon his faith? have i ever tried to get you to abandon your faith?

Too much fun? Oh, Please!!

it was a joke, do you really think i advocate a life of debauchery? you need to switch off you auto-atheist-response mode.

im glad you are happier now. its good to be happy.

Originally posted by Suzianne
Of course. But these are different worlds, different dimensions, maybe. That is not THIS world. You cannot just "imagine" my God out of existence. Asking me what I would do is an attempt to make me imagine it, to bring it into an alternate plane of existence, to entertain the possibility. I'm not going to deny God, like Peter denied the Christ three tim ...[text shortened]... e me. You'd have to kill me first, and hopefully, you're not exactly prepared to go *that* far.

these different worlds, different dimensions that you enjoyed watching and reading about....do you think the writers were blasphemous for imagining what they did?

Originally posted by stellspalfie
it was a joke, do you really think i advocate a life of debauchery? you need to switch off you auto-atheist-response mode.

okay, that's pretty good, made me chuckle at least.

I'm trying to give you a glimpse of where we Christians are coming from on this issue. Not only how important it is to us, but why. Christ is our life, man... literally. Yes, life itself. I can't even begin to imagine life without God, and I don't want to.

It's just too bad that the atheists' first knee-jerk reaction to this is that we're "scared" to go against our "indoctrination".

Originally posted by stellspalfie
these different worlds, different dimensions that you enjoyed watching and reading about....do you think the writers were blasphemous for imagining what they did?

No. Hell, man, I enjoy sci-fi, it's my favorite genre. But it's fiction. The OP was asking us to imagine really, actually being without God. Asking us "what would you do" puts us right in the thick of that fiction, imagining it in our heads and asking us to come up with a plan of action.

And that's just too much. God DOES exist, thankfully, and I'm just not going to deny him and all he's done for me. This is dangerous, blasphemous and disrespectful. Next will come "See? You CAN live without him!"

Sorry, no, I can't.

Originally posted by Suzianne
No. Hell, man, I enjoy sci-fi, it's my favorite genre. But it's [b]fiction. The OP was asking us to imagine really, actually being without God. Asking us "what would you do" puts us right in the thick of that fiction, imagining it in our heads and asking us to come up with a plan of action.

And that's just too much. God DOES exist, thankf ...[text shortened]... emous and disrespectful. Next will come "See? You CAN live without him!"

Sorry, no, I can't.[/b]

answering a hypothetical is also a work of fiction. you are imagining a made-up scenario, its no different to an author creating a universe. he still has to ask himself 'how would people act in a world without god' just as all you are asking is 'how would i act in a world without god'.

but, alas, i feel we are going around in circles. one more thing (he says like an atheist columbo). did you feel sonships attempt to answer the question was blasphemous?

Originally posted by Suzianne
okay, that's pretty good, made me chuckle at least.

I'm trying to give you a glimpse of where we Christians are coming from on this issue. Not only how important it is to us, but why. Christ is our life, man... literally. Yes, life itself. I can't even begin to imagine life without God, and I don't want to.

It's just too bad that the atheists' first knee-jerk reaction to this is that we're "scared" to go against our "indoctrination".

I'm trying to give you a glimpse of where we Christians are coming from on this issue.

The "issue" of a hypothetical question? Now you're giving me a good chuckle. It's quaint and all that you would consider yourself a Lorax of sorts for Christians, but I would certainly hope a lot of them would take issue with your presuming to speak on their behalf on "this issue". Surely a good chunk of them can identify the utility and harmless intentions of these kinds of thought exercises. I would still tend to give the benefit of the doubt.

Come on Christians...the ones who actually understand the point of a hypothetical, I mean. Are you going to let this shrieking harpy represent your interests on "this issue"? Yikes.

Originally posted by LemonJello

Come on Christians...the ones who actually understand the point of a hypothetical, I mean. Are you going to let this shrieking harpy represent your interests on "this issue"? Yikes.

That's interesting. What is the point of the hypethetical anyway ?

Originally posted by vivify
If it could actually be proven that the Christian god doesn't exist, how would that change your life, if you're a Christian? Is this something any of you here have given real thought to?

Assume for this thread that this hypothetical really happened; if (somehow) proof was given that even Christians here HAD to admit that God doesn't exist, here are my que ...[text shortened]... d appreciate thoughts from Christians (or other theists with the question applied to their god).

If it could actually be proven that the Christian god doesn't exist, how would that change your life, if you're a Christian? Is this something any of you here have given real thought to?

Of course. The nature of faith is always something that is accompanied with the thought "But what if it is really not true."

I don't know as I said mostly.
It depends much on if I could be convinced of a better way to live.

Assume for this thread that this hypothetical really happened; if (somehow) proof was given that even Christians here HAD to admit that God doesn't exist, here are my questions:

What would you go through emotionally?

First I'd probably think I need a good nights sleep. Look at the matter again in the morning.

You think none of us have ever been challenged by life or life's "logic" to doubt ? Of course we have.

Would be afraid? Do you think you could realistically fall into a serious depression? Would you feel anger?

Not if it was the truth.

You going to prove that God does not exist ?

Originally posted by Suzianne
No. Hell, man, I enjoy sci-fi, it's my favorite genre. But it's [b]fiction. The OP was asking us to imagine really, actually being without God. Asking us "what would you do" puts us right in the thick of that fiction, imagining it in our heads and asking us to come up with a plan of action.

And that's just too much. God DOES exist, thankf ...[text shortened]... emous and disrespectful. Next will come "See? You CAN live without him!"

Sorry, no, I can't.[/b]

I am in agreement with Suzianne here on this point, I lived a life without
God for the first 25 years of my life, no thank you on going back to that.

Originally posted by LemonJello

I'm trying to give you a glimpse of where we Christians are coming from on this issue.

The "issue" of a hypothetical question? Now you're giving me a good chuckle. It's quaint and all that you would consider yourself a Lorax of sorts for Christians, but I would certainly hope a lot of them would take issue with your presuming to speak ...[text shortened]... an. Are you going to let this shrieking harpy represent your interests on "this issue"? Yikes.

Most of us Christians are not ignorant to the schemes and devices of Satan and choose not to be caught up in them. 😏

Originally posted by Suzianne
Oh, please, this thread is ALL about whether God exists.

As usual, the atheists can't *prove* it, and so they do an "end run" around that inconvenience.

Sorry, not buying it.

I disagree with you on the intent of the opening post. The hypothetical question is like : how would you feel if you found out your spouse had been cheating on you? That is a legitimate question, even if you know your spouse has not been cheating. Just as it is a legitimate question, what difference it would make to your life if you came to doubt the existence of God (granted that you have no reason to doubt it now). Saying that your spouse has not been cheating does not answer the question; saying that God does exist does not answer the question--because the question was not "has your spouse been cheating / does God exist", but rather "how would you feel if ..." (i.e., how much does it matter in your life?)

So, let us examine the responses which this thread has evoked--"but God DOES exist!" "the premise is FALSE!!!!" "the mere supposition of God's non-existence is blasphemy" etc. All that emphasis is not mine, it is quoted or paraphrased from other correspondents here; and I particularly note not merely the cognitive content, but the vehemence of those answers. What that shows, in my opinion, is that it would feel very bad indeed. It would call a lot of what one considers worthwhile in life into question, if THAT were called into question.

It would feel SO bad that one does one's best to invalidate the question.

Which is the answer to viv's question, backhandedly.