I'm a christian and I have had faith issues but I believe in God and the bible. But lets just say that you are right and there is no God. What do I have to lose? Nothing. On the other hand, if you are wrong what do you have to lose? Pretty scary if you think about it.
I didn't post this to argue about who's right or wrong. I just wanted to give unbelievers something to think about.
How can you look at this world and all that's in it and not wonder how it all got here?
2006-09-10 19:19:24 · 29 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
In response to yahoo blows. Been there done that. I was never happy but now I am so still, what would I have to lose? There are so many ways to have fun without all that crap and I have great sex with my husband!
2006-09-10 19:28:26 · update #1
I'll try to explain to you the way I see it. Before I get started I just want to make it clear that I do not mean to offend anyone, I will just try to explain what I think religious people have lost if there is no god and no heaven and hell.
If religious people are wrong they have wasted the only life they got. They've wasted their life living for something that doesn't exists, followed and imposed on others rules (some of which make little sense, no offense) that were made up by other people thousands of years ago based on the culture and morality of those times. They've caused harm to others by failing to do what's right rather than doing what they were taught to believe a superior being wanted from them.
They've also missed out on so many things that their religion didn't allow them to explore. Instead of exploring with a free mind and learning about the world, life and all the amazing things that exist and gaining understanding about them and really letting those things and experiences challenge and nourish their mind they've accepted to be spoonfed nonsense made up and passed on by other people and spent their life in fear for angering "the almighty" if they didn't do exactly as written in the book and lived under threats of hell and torture if they questioned his existance or whether what the church preaches is true. They also constantly waited for something better that they were promised they'd get after death, while I really think the best and only is right in front of us and they're not only missing out on that, but flat out spoiling it for others with wrong actions they take in order to please their god.
I think they would have missed out on a lot, but most importantly, they wouldn't have lived right. Instead of using common sense to tell what's right and what's wrong they did what the book said was right even when that meant harming others (which I will always see as WRONG), cause they were so obsessed with pleasing the imaginary god.
I feel like people are wasting their time and energy (a life they get only once) on religion and could be using it for something better, like actually helping people in this life and trying to make this world a better place for our successors rather than "saving people" from a scary, imaginary afterlife or killing/oppressing those who have different beliefs.
That's just the way I see it. So to put it simple, if atheists are wrong they will have to take god's horrible punishment and if Christians (and other religious people) are wrong they have wasted the only life they got.
Now, if I'm the one who is wrong and there really is a god and heaven and hell, it's a risk I'm willing to take. If god will torture me for the sole reason that I did not believe in him despite me being a good person and always doing what I really feel is right, then god isn't someone who I respect or would be willing to listen to and obey. No way. I rather do the right thing, be true to myself and take the consequences, knowing I did what felt right to me.
2006-09-11 00:50:04 · answer #1 · answered by undir 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you believe just because you're afraid of what will happen if you don't believe, then you're really only pretending to believe. That's the same as bearing false witness, which is breaking a commandment. ;)
As for what you have to lose when you "choose" to believe, it's your judgment and sense of logic. People having blind faith in religion leads to a lot of problems in the world. When something bad happens, it's a lot easier to just make up stories about how God is punishing us than it is to deal with the actual problem. Two examples of this are Hurricane Katrina and 9/11. Both of these events were called vengeful acts of God by many religious people. If everyone thought this way, we would never address our problems. Instead of going after al Qaeda for 9/11 (and possibly re-thinking some of our foreign policy), we would just use this as an excuse to start attacking gay rights (like some conservatives have done). Instead of addressing global warming and the wisdom of building low quality dikes to support a city that is built below sea level, we would just say that New Orleans was destroyed because of its decadance.
I do wonder how it all got here when I look around at this world. How can you think that you have the answer and not continue wondering?
2006-09-10 19:37:05 · answer #2 · answered by Todd H 1 · 2⤊ 1⤋
What if you believe in this God but it turns out to be another God who is the ultimate God? You sure that you have nothing to lose? Maybe this is something "believers" can think about.
Btw when I looked at this world and all that's in it I really can't believe that there is Someone out there still in control, and I cannot all the more believe that this Someone is supposed to be perfectly compassionate. Pardon me, I don't mean to be disrespectful or rude, this is only my viewpoint and it's alright to me if somebody can accept what I can't.
2006-09-10 19:49:01 · answer #3 · answered by Ttraveller 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can't make yourself believe in something, could you wake up tomorrow and suddenly not believe? If you can then you didn't really believe in the first place. So I can shout to everyone I believe but do you really think if there is a God he wouldn't know what I really felt. The argument of erring on the side of caution just doesn't work.
Do I ever wonder how this world and all that's in it got here, yes of course I do, I just don't believe that there is a God who created it.
2006-09-10 19:26:10 · answer #4 · answered by curls 4 · 3⤊ 1⤋
you are right we do have everything to lose. I atleast do wish i believed. it would make my life a great deal easier. But that is not the point. With something so important it would not do justice to pretend. It would be a sham.
I would also be able to believe if i had some proof. And i do hope that i am wrong. for the sake of the billions, i hope that i am wrong. It gives you hope, religion does and in some cases that's all a person has.
2006-09-10 19:24:41 · answer #5 · answered by snowteller 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
"But lets just say that you are right and there is no God. What do I have to lose? Nothing."
Why does having morals have to be tied into some religion for them to be deemed good or bad?
Push religion to the side for just one minute...how do you feel? Do you feel like robbing someone? Do you suddenly want to kill a family member you hate?
It is simple really...you are either a good person who causes little or no pain to your fellow humans or you are a bad person who cares little for the pain and suffering which you cause to be brought upon other humans.
Books and religions be damned....most christians are merely sick sinners in disguise....most all people who thump a book are sinners using religion as a distraction to others so that they can sin in the shadows.
It is simple to see through the disguise though...if you have the special glasses. :-)
2006-09-10 19:37:55 · answer #6 · answered by stephenjames001 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Seriously tho, you are putting all your faith and belief into something you have never met, cannot see and do not know as a 100% fact because of these 2 reasons.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I'm not trying to say don't believe, but there is too much evidence to suggest a GOD does NOT exist.
2006-09-10 19:35:30 · answer #7 · answered by kirstalina81 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You have your"god given" autonomy to lose. Ha. You are letting other people tell you what to believe. When a diety actually approaches me and proves beyond a reasonable doubt they exist then I'll believe. If they cannot or will not provide incontrovertible proof they exist they do not deserve to be looked upon as real. A real god would make sure his creations know he exists. A creature pretending to be god will play with the issue.
2006-09-10 19:23:23 · answer #8 · answered by thexrayboy 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I don't believe I have anything to lose if I am wrong. I am happy with the way I live my life and if some god has a problem with it then he is the one with the problem. If you are happy with the way you live your life then that's fine. But what if all the religious people are wrong, they have spent their whole lives repressing their emotions and worshipping something that doesn't exist.
2006-09-10 19:27:05 · answer #9 · answered by vampire_kitti 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Pascal's Wager states:
If I believe and there is a God, I am infinitely rewarded.
If I believe and there is no God, nothing happens.
If I do not believe and there is a God, I am infinitely punished.
If I do not believe and there is no God, nothing happens.
Let's replace 'God' with 'Odhinn'.
If I believe and there is a Odhinn, I am infinitely rewarded.
If I believe and there is no Odhinn, nothing happens.
If I do not believe and there is a Odhinn, I am infinitely punished.
If I do not believe and there is no Odhinn, nothing happens.
So... I should believe in Odhinn too?
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As for wondering how it all got here, I do wonder about it, every day of my life. But I don't need to invoke a deity to begin to get an idea of how it got here -- I can get that out of the science books.
Sure, the concept of initiation is complex, but to invoke a deity just to be the initiator is foolishness. Many modern theories of the creation of the universe incorporate a scientifically sound initiation, OR, fall back on an eternally existing, non-intelligent and non-omnipotent quantum function refered to as the 'inflaton'. No need for a deity.
2006-09-10 19:23:07 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 2⤋