How's this for a God?

Question

"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones."

The quote was from a Roman emperor, and is not aimed at Christianity or any religion in particular. It's a brilliant quote that does a good job of countering Pascal's Wager when applied to atheism, but let's take it a little farther.

Consider a God in Heaven who, in similar fashion to the Abrahamic God, has some totally arbitrary rules for us. His first and most important rule is that organized religion is the ultimate sin, because it leads to intolerance and needless conflict. Any act defying logic in the name of religion would put you in serious danger of eternal punishment.

*continued*

Would he not, then, be the God of Atheists? I make this point only to ask just how fair you think it would be if Our Father was the patron and guardian of unbelievers. To an unbeliever at least, it certainly seems that God hasn't put evidence of himself here for us to believe in. What God would reward those who are duped by foolishness, while ignoring your good works on earth?

Of course, I don't think that a just God would send people to Hell for being religious any more than I think that a just God would send anyone to Hell. However, it is not unrealistic to suppose that this God of the Atheists would have the same kind of totally arbitrary criteria for afterlife selection as the Abrahamic God.

May Pelor shine upon your questions. May Balthazar grant you strength to resist hatred. May Athena bless your answers with wisdom.

~Your friendly neighborhood atheist

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Because you asked, here's the guy. This quote is at the very bottom. It's unconfirmed so take it with a grain of salt.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius

Don't get me wrong. This isn't my belief. If I had to choose a belief besides atheism, it would probably be pantheism. I was mostly looking for general reactions to the idea of this God of the Atheists. Maybe I'll repost under a more provocative title.

Answer 1

Dude, are you really an atheist? I mean, of course you are, but like, do you have agnostic leanings? if so, i understand why you think that way. if not, that's rather....no offense, I'm lacking a better term.....ridiculous.

Answer 2

His first rule is to Love Him.
The second rule is to love your neighbor.

These rules are encouched and made sacred by religion.
To do away with religion does away with these rules.
Religion is man's expression of his love for God. True, some are more fanatical than others, but we all wish to appear perfect before Him, nes pas?

You see, it has everything to do with the Original Sin, which was disobedience. I believe this elaborate religious ideology is set there to test us, very much to see if we are noble or not. An ignoble person breaks the rules and hurts others and thinks only of him/herself.

As for atheists with gods. That's an oxymoron, isn't it? You are probably a skeptic.

Answer 3

That quote of yours is quite possibly the most sensible thing I have heard all year.

Which emperor was it? It doesn't sound very Roman (or, really, very ancient) to me, but I'm not a huge history buff.

Edit: Wow, I like you. You get a star. Very close to my own personal philosophy.

Answer 4

I like it. The whole concept of religion as insurance is so wrong. Who was the emperor who said that?

Additional: Wow that Marcus Aurelius was a clever fella. I'm gonna be reading up about him.

Answer 5

Very interesting! This is,no God I've ever heard of. It's a shame!

Answer 6

that is a good question, let me star it, how many days till christmas.

Answer 7

Umm...No