Question to Atheists

[Celsius]

What if God does in fact exist? What would go through your mind knowing that he has the power to do anything?

And don't say this is stupid because I have seen some pretty stupid question towards Christians and Muslims.

[DekuTrash]

Dude.....just don't. Don't even bother.

You're just setting up another flamefest

[Tigrul]

I don't quite understand what you ask of us. If I knew that god existed, then I would, out of intellectual honesty, believe that god existed. What would have to go through my mind knowing that god can do anything? Should I feel sorry or anything? Should I fear it? I don't understand what you want, could you please elaborate?

[Poach]

If God irrefutably proved himself to exist I'd send up a prayer demanding to know why he set up the Universe in such a way that the logical conclusion to reach would be that he most certainly did not.

[Playfishpaste]

If God irrefutably proved himself to exist I'd send up a prayer demanding to know why he set up the Universe in such a way that the logical conclusion to reach would be that he most certainly did not.

That's a pretty dumb question that's easy to answer yourself, I would much prefer to ask him why he's such an idiot.

[Avendiel]

Well, it depends on what kind of God you mean. Do you mean the personal Guy in the Sky God, or the kind of abstract Power that deists seem to like?

The second I'd probably just ignore, the first....not sure.

[uos_spo6]

What if God does in fact exist? What would go through your mind knowing that he has the power to do anything?

And don't say this is stupid because I have seen some pretty stupid question towards Christians and Muslims.

What would go through my mind knowing he has the power to do ANYTHING? Well first and foremost I would chastise him for his tyrannical rule of the universe according to the will of one and not taking in to account the trillions of sentient beings beneath him and their desires and wishes. Then I would ask that if he has the power to do anything, please justify the suffering of individuals of many species and him allowing it to persist rather than simply snapping his fingers and righting all wrongs with some excuse other than the typical avenue of it being "our test here on earth.

If God existed and I came to meet him in the after life and he gave me an oppurtunity to rebuke my lack of faith, I would decline due to the fact that I did not find him a sufficient God to begin with. If God cannot understand the plight of mortal man and really seeks our praise, than I think something is wrong with God.

IF God exists, he is more like a universal baby daddy than any essence of a "father."

[Czar9109]

What would go through my mind knowing he has the power to do ANYTHING? Well first and foremost I would chastise him for his tyrannical rule of the universe according to the will of one and not taking in to account the trillions of sentient beings beneath him and their desires and wishes. Then I would ask that if he has the power to do anything, please justify the suffering of individuals of many species and him allowing it to persist rather than simply snapping his fingers and righting all wrongs with some excuse other than the typical avenue of it being "our test here on earth.

If God existed and I came to meet him in the after life and he gave me an oppurtunity to rebuke my lack of faith, I would decline due to the fact that I did not find him a sufficient God to begin with. If God cannot understand the plight of mortal man and really seeks our praise, than I think something is wrong with God.

IF God exists, he is more like a universal baby daddy than any essence of a "father."

Agreed. He rules in a way that does not tolerate anyone that disobeys him. It makes no sense on the "God Bless America" part when the truth is democracy is actually the exact opposite of how god wants it.

[Baron von Sky Hat]

I'd say, certainly in terms of how it's supposed to be meant, atheism isn't about hating the idea of God and specifically wanting him/her/it/them to not exist. It's scientific, in that the evidence, as it stands does not suggest that there's a God, and hence even though it could be argued that there is no specific evidence that there objectively isn't a God, to believe in one is illogical.
As such, if new evidence came to light (lets assume the dying and being at heavens doors kind of thing), such a theory would simply need to be altered, as is natural for science. Whether that should mean that you should worship him/her/it/them is another matter though, I suppose.

There's a comedy radio show from BBC radio 4 in the UK called `Old Harry's Game', written by a rather awesome writer called Andy Hamilton (imo, anyhow), which deals with this scenario, albeit with a twist. Two men, one a selfish and generally unwholesome man and the other a kind professor die in a car accident. They find themselves in hell, greeted by Satan (who is primarily sardonic, sarcastic and admittedly rather sadistic, with a lot of annoyance at having been cast out of heaven in the first place, which he believes wasn't really entirely his fault and wasn't warranted...). The radio series follows their various activities and discussions in hell. It may sound like an odd premise for a comedy, but my point relates mainly to the professor. In hell because he didn't believe in God, he adjusts his beliefs accordingly based on the new evidence. Meeting God at several points, he's refused entrance to heaven still because, although he accepts God exists, he has a habit of asking awkward questions to him (iirc, he attempts to psychoanalyze God, believing him to be quite needy, this does not go down well), and additionally doesn't see his existence as a reason to actually worship him....

As to why the professor isn't being actively tormented in hell as is good and proper, being scientific to the extreme, the demons mostly refuse to torture him on the basis that it's too difficult. Any attempt is mostly met by questions, inquiries about their biology as demons, and queries regarding how they feel about this sort of thing and what their motivation is... Mostly this leads Satan to not really bother, as he's not entirely invested in the whole `hell' thing anyway, really.

There's a lot more to the series than just that, it's very good in my opinion, I'd recommend giving it a listen if you have the chance. Well, anyhow, that's mostly off topic, but probably just about related enough to not feel too bad about simply using this as an opportunity to plug a radio show I consider to be good...

[Copperknickers II]

What if God does in fact exist? What would go through your mind knowing that he has the power to do anything?

I wouldn't be too worried, he never actually uses his power. If he was anything to be afraid of then i would believe in him already.

[chamaeleo]

Are we talking about spontaneously "knowing", or an awkward Pearly Gates "Oops!" realization?

Former: I'd have my head examined. Maybe start drinking, or start my own church.

Latter: Not much I could do about that. Perhaps point out that His representatives on Earth did a poor job making Him look like an attractive deity, and ask Him why exactly someone so Almighty needs/expects us to grovel and ask Him for favors whenever life gets us down. His likely response: "most of those priests are in Hell, and I no less expect worship than you did while frying ants with a magnifying glass as a kid...BTW, that was cruel! Why you little guys ever assumed I was so selfish, petty and insecure, I'll never know." (turns away, to continue hurling solar systems into black holes and laughing maniacally...).

[Homeros]

What if God does in fact exist? What would go through your mind knowing that he has the power to do anything?

And don't say this is stupid because I have seen some pretty stupid question towards Christians and Muslims.

I'm sorry, but what sort of God are we talking about?

I guess you do believe in God, but what if God would not be the God you believed in? What would go through your mind?

What do you mean when saying "God has the power to do anything?" Surely God cannot do anything. God is eternal right? That means he cannot kill himself, right?

[uos_spo6]

That means he cannot kill himself, right?

Of course not. Suicide is a sin and if God ended up in hell, who the hell is going to keep things running smoothly in heaven? The Holy Spirit?

Not even the Catholics really know what that a-wholes job is!

[Celsius]

I'm sorry, but what sort of God are we talking about?

I guess you do believe in God, but what if God would not be the God you believed in? What would go through your mind?

What do you mean when saying "God has the power to do anything?" Surely God cannot do anything. God is eternal right? That means he cannot kill himself, right?

I may not or may not believe in God. But answering a question with a question is pathetic.

[Homeros]

I may not or may not believe in God. But answering a question with a question is pathetic.

Its called the Socratic Method.

[Holger Danske]

What I would think?... Meh, zap me if you must, you old dirty man...

[Tankbuster]

Depends in what situation.
If I figured out while I was alive, I wouldn't really care. I've lived fine so far without a belief a God, why should I throw myself at his feet for the time that I have left?

If I saw him at the gates of paradise, it might be different. He might be a really cool guy with a beard, of course. He'd greet me with a loud belly laugh, and say "Don't you feel like the most stupid person in the world?", and I'd say: "Yeah, but you tricked me." We'd get ourselves a pint of beer and go watch football.
I'm a pretty social guy; we'd get along just fine.

[nce_wht_guy]

What if God does in fact exist? What would go through your mind knowing that he has the power to do anything?

"I'm still not going to worship you"

[GuineaPig]

I've got a question to theists: What if God does in fact not exist?


I hate dumb threads like this when the OP says "Assume I'm right. Would you still be retarded and not see things my way?"

[Lord of Lost Socks]

Wouldn't make much difference, really. It's just another discovery(a large discovery). But I'm not actively denying hiis existence. I'm just waiting for proof.
EDIT: To GuineaPig, so you decided to do the same thing? k.