What is the difference between existing and not existing as regards gods?

Question

Assuming they're conventionally invisible, intangible, inaudible and can only be "experienced" by self-suggestion (i.e. if you believe in them already)..... then irrespective of whether they actually exist or not, there will always be those who believe they've seen them and thus believe they exist.... and those who are 100% certain that they do not and cannot.

So where is the difference?
Can anyone honestly provide a difference between the existence or nonexistence of any god (including the one with a capital G) that isn't purely supposition of an active imagination?
And on anything besides a mental level and the consequences thereof... how is the life of someone who does believe any different from the life of one who doesn't?


{ For the record... I originally determined that God doesn't exist simply because any existence he might have is purely arbitrary and not perceivably necessary, thus eliminating him by Ockham's Razor. }

[ Edit :~ Yes... I'm fully prepared for a whole slew of suppositional and highly imaginative (yet unoriginal) answers that aren't based on anything other than hear'say and personal desire.... and am consequentially going to ignore those. ]

[ "Jesussaves" :~ Having an "open mind" is not the same as being completely accepting of everything you're told. If you can only sound convincing to those who already believe as you do then you're not really achieving anything by it anyway.
When you learn to come up with arguments that can actually convince someone to change their mind in your favour.... come back and try again. ]

Answer 1

I see the deluded objectivists are crawling out of the woodwork again mon capitan.

And the answer to your question is quite simple: Smiting.
Gods smite. It is what they do.
The existence of a god requires folk get smitten for doing wrong things. Given the current state of the planet and the distinct lack of smiting on any basis, it is safe to say that there is no god.

Answer 2

The difference here is that evidence of God is not agreed upon by all parties. Therefore no evidence can be used to prove or disprove God. That God exists or not is something that is independent of one's belief. The evidence of God is not limited to physical evidence, but once a person tries to use another kind of evidence, it immediately enters the realm of doubt, since there is almost complete disagreement on the validity of the evidence. That pigs fly or not can be tested by physical evidence. But even here you have to determine your premises. If pigs were herded onto an airplane (say, a C-130) and shipped to another place, then indeed those pigs have flown. Or you might have to define it more narrowly, saying they must grow wings, flap them, and get completely off the ground for a certain amount of time. For that matter, chickens fly in that manner, though not very well. For an argument to work, evidence must be accepted by both the parties in the argument. Whether the premise is true or not has nothing to do with the way an argument is set up, or even a belief system.

Answer 3

Your opening remarks demonstrate your pre-conception regarding the spiritual. You propose that 'gods' can only be believed by people that believe in them already. Well, you obviously discount out of hand the testimonies of people who would state that their belief in their 'god' came about because of some very tangible experience that convinced them of their existence. Whether you choose to believe their story or not, to just disregard out of hand such stories from people who would give no indication of irrationality or dishonesty, is to start from an arrogant position, which will color the way you proceed from that point onward. It is just as logical to say that many people choose to disbelieve the spiritual IN SPITE of experiences that could easily have been evidence of it's existence. It's like saying that I don't believe love exists because I haven't experienced it. Such a person will be able to argue away the evidence that love exists because of a negative pre-conception (eg. all 'love' is just enlightened self-interest - which some people do argue).

Just because I might not have had a particular experience doesn't mean that I can reject it out of hand just because of that. I have never seen a ghost, a UFO, or many other mysterious things, but I don't just reject them, I just reserve judgement until (or unless) I have explored the issue further.

That is why I can have respect for agnostics, but not atheists.

This is not meant to be a complete answer. I could go on. To provide one would take pages, and time I don't have right now.

Answer 4

God exists as a force in society. To deny this is to say that our current society was not shaped by the belief in a god.

God exists as a force in men. When men believe they are righteous they will act without regard to common laws and be more determined.

God exists when all other hope has been removed by man. Example Christian thrown to the lions, maintains the conviction that the man who forced him into the arena will be judge by a high power.

For me there are no believable gods, only the power of belief.

Answer 5

Existance or non-existance has never been a question as regards the God - The Creator and Lord of universe! Knowledge of God is engrained in human soul! Hnce no one can deny the existance of God. We know that nothing is created without a creator!

Mankind is wondering in search of the creator since long - may be when they formed groups /societies.

The main difference is not in the existance but it is in the imagination of God which created thousands of gods & goddess for the benefit of certain societies and cultures.

Now there are only two types of God - The real God - the creator and the Imaginary gods created in search of real God!

The real God is beyond our 5 senses - we can't see or touch him hence some additional source, contact or guidance was required to understand a non-material being.

The required contact was provided to humanity through some guided and chosen personalities called Prophet of God. According to human history some 124,000 prophets came to guide the humanity.

These 124,000 prophets and their miracles are the undeniable evidance of the existance of real God!

You may start from 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 again! but it would be waiste of knowledge & wisdom acquired in centuries!

Answer 6

I believe a god's existence depends on belief and worship. The larger the pool of belief, the more likely that god is to exist... if not in the tangible world, in the minds and hearts of those who subscribe to the belief.

Gods die as worship dwindles, and gods are born as cults grow in power.

Past the existence of a god in the mind, I do not believe we can prove or disprove the existence of such beings.

Answer 7

There is no difference. The only real god, that can be 'seen' or 'felt', is as you say, in the minds of the believers.
Going by the bible, god hasn't physically walked around and spoken to people in a very very very long time, which does make me wonder if it's all a fairy tale. Either that, or he's particularly lazy.

Answer 8

It depends on what the individual can perceive. If they rely only on the 5 senses, then there is no god that can be perceived.

But if they culture the inner light, then they might be able to perceive that which cannot be seen by others. It's a subjective experience.. not objective.

This resource explains it better than I can.

Answer 9

The difference is the same for existing and not existing as regards to gods as it is to anything else. A thing exists regardless of our consciousness of it. Honestly, I truely believe that doubt of the existence of God is often grounded in the confusion about objective truth. Without objective truth, the mind is completely isolated within itself and has lost it's connection with the outside world. In modern times, I believe the loss of belief in objective truth is connected with loss of belief in God.

You might want to take another look at Thomas Aquanis. It is only common sense that things exist and exist in and of themselves. We are compelled to believe it by the sheer impact of everything new we discover every day. Those of high intelligence would do well to stop reducing everything in the world to only what they percieve.

Answer 10

Simple. Gods either exist or don't.

There are more evidences that they exist.

Common sense dictates that gods exist. This is the reason all people are religious, including atheists.