Question for Atheists (and a bonus question for theists too)?

Question

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Are6sjziG32g8oh6Njq.hszzy6IX?qid=20060808083844AAr4kKm


Based on the above question, I read that to mean I should believe in God becase,

1. God exists
2. If I don't believe God exists I will be spending eternity without God.

So my question to you, Atheists, is, if you don't believe in God, why would you care about spending eternity without him?

So to the people who do believe in God when you share with non-believers the benefit of an eternity with God, wouldn't it make sense to first show that there is a God?

1. Can you show that there is a God on yahoo answers?

2. In real life, are you able to produce empirical evidence of God?

I just see this cycle going back and forth and am wondering, in the interest of producing a database of questions and answers, if some of the theists could list the empircal evidence of God, that way, when an atheist is told they will spend eternity without God, it will actually mean something.

Answer 1

Excellent point. It is like they are trying to scare us into believing - but what is there to be afraid of? Why would I be afraid of spending an eternity without something or someone that does not exist? To me/us that is like saying that we will spend eternity without ever being close to bigfoot ,aliens, or unicorns. Why should we care or be afraid of not spending eternity with mythical beings? Should I be terrified to not be close to Poseidon the Sea God and spend an eternity without him/it?

Fear should not be a motivation for belief - period. For those who only believe in God because they are afraid of the alternative - you're cowards. It seems more like they are playing it safe than strongly believing.

Answer 2

Here is the delinma with your question.

If there is a God and it is in fact the Christian God as described in the Bible then:

1)God requires belief through faith based on personal evidence gathered through a relationship with Him and though study of his Word

2) If God left empirical evidence(say a video taped miracle or the fossil of an angel) then wouldnt all men believe in God not because he appeals to them but of the evidence that he exist and therefore hell and heaven must also be a reality.

3) This God only wants a people who will willingly serve Him and see how good and just he is. IF the only reason people worship God is out of fear and because they know their is no alternative, then sin would once again restart in heaven because these people will not have changed hearts and behaviors and will sin as soon as they get a chance.

Answer 3

Religion's been used for many purposes such as installing rules and discipline as well as bad such as excuses for war. It seems man kind has always felt that some desire to believe in a greater being, in early days natural objects were worshipped such as the sun, moon, water etc. Now there are many religions and many gods.

Taking your question aimed at christianity, there is no proof that the mythical 'god' exists other than in the mind of those that believe. Science has disproven the majority of the bible yet still it's preached as if it's the truth. Now I have nothing against any religion providing it's not thrust into my face.

Answer 4

Of course no one can produce proof that God exists, or we would all believe. I actually envy those who can truly blindly believe that they will spend an eternity in heaven. Wow, what a relief that would be. I myself feel like one day, I will just be dead. Game over....end of story....lights out....etc. I hate going to bed at night because this is when I obsess about my coming death which I hope will at least be another 50-60 years from now, but that still seems like it is too close. I quietly beg people who have died before me such as my grandad, my husbands grandad.....so on.. to let me know that there is indeed life after death, but ....no ...they have not answered, and the sad thing is....they never will.

Answer 5

Gee, I didn't say anything about that but since you are asking....

When there is no evidence, I acknowledge that I might be wrong. Hard to believe but I have been wrong before. If I am wrong, I apologize in advance since it appears that I wouldn't know until I was dead and only able to come back as static noise.

If I am wrong, I am prepared to pay for it with an eternity without God. Only fair, I would say.

Alive, my job is not to offend anyone who has beliefs in anything that does not infringe on the rights of others.

Answer 6

i am one of those believers and I'm not sure if i had told you about why " I " believe in god
but my proof isn't something i could show on yahoo although always willing to point people in good direction for the type of proof i have had .... however this isn't my aim in coming here because it matters not to me whether you believe or not because personally i don't feel it is going to matter in the end as long as you live a good life... so no burning in hell in my book :o)
in real life yes i have and others have in my opinion given great proof that there is something more than just this life .. but that's all relevant and personal to the person
if you wish any more answers from me concerning this i am happy to share xx

Answer 7

I would think that if God exists and is really an all powerful being, Perfect (by any definition of the word), it wouldn't care if you believed in it or not.
The God(s) I see these people talking about are egotistical sadistic a$$holes and I would rather spend eternity in hell than be in heaven, on my knees.

Answer 8

i can only give you a personal adress.
aprently according to religious folks god is in everything
inturn in this yahoo answer and all around the net i gather
not to mention everything else.
i think that that is the anwser for both questions.
but the eternity thingy
well i think allot of folks have asked and prayed
and meditated and begged
yet nobody seems overly sure
it is one of those anwsers we should know
we have been dien' almost as long as we have been livin'
so i guess that maybe we should take it as a suprise
and not worry about eternity
cause apparently it shold be coming up
in a little while

Answer 9

LOL!
Good luck with the "empirical evidence" quest Jim. After all, most christians wouldn't know empirical evidence if it bit them in the bass and danced a jig afterwards.
The fact is, there is NO evidence to support the existence of any supernatural being. None.
And there will continue to be none. I will happily live in the plane of existence we call reality. Christians can stick to fantasy and mythology if it makes them happy...

Answer 10

Think about it.... the bible was written by who??
-Men
Men based the bible off of....?
-Dreams and Visions
Men Dream.
When a human being gets too hot, he hallucinates...
When a man dreams, he can do anything, such as flying.
If a man can fly in his dreams... cant he see angels and god?

So the Bible was based off of dreams and visions?
And what makes man perfect enough to write a book about god?
Because god was in a mans dreams?
Innacceptable evidence to provide there is truely a god..


After your physical body has shut down, also known as death, do you truely have a spirit that goes to heaven or hell?? Prove it! Show me a spirit the leaves this realm and transfers to another. There is no such proof.. ANYWHERE!