Is God imaginary? One example

[pastafari]

There are literally thousands of religions being practiced today. Here are 20 of the most popular, along with an estimate of the number of followers:

Christianity: 2.1 billion
Islam: 1.3 billion
Hinduism: 900 million
Chinese traditional religion: 394 million
Buddhism: 376 million
African Traditional & Diasporic: 100 million
Sikhism: 23 million
Juche: 19 million
Spiritism: 15 million
Judaism: 14 million
Baha'i: 7 million
Jainism: 4.2 million
Shinto: 4 million
Cao Dai: 4 million
Zoroastrianism: 2.6 million
Tenrikyo: 2 million
Neo-Paganism: 1 million
Unitarian-Universalism: 800 thousand
Rastafarianism: 600 thousand
Scientology: 500 thousand
[Source: Encyclopedia Britannica]

If you believe in God, you have chosen to reject Allah, Vishnu, Budda, Waheguru and all of the thousands of other gods that other people worship today. It is quite likely that you rejected these other gods without ever looking into their religions or reading their books. You simply absorbed the dominant faith in your home or in the society you grew up in.

In the same way, the followers of all these other religions have chosen to reject God. You think their gods are imaginary, and they think your God is imaginary.

In other words, each religious person on earth today arbitrarily rejects thousands of gods as imaginary, many of which he/she has never even heard of, and arbitrarily chooses to "believe" in one of them.

The following quote from Stephen F. Roberts sums up the situation very nicely:

"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."

A rational person rejects all human gods equally, because all of them are equally imaginary. How do we know that they are imaginary? Simply imagine that one of them is real. If one of these thousands of gods were actually real, then his followers would be experiencing real, undeniable benefits. These benefits would be obvious to everyone. The followers of a true god would pray, and their prayers would be answered. The followers of a true god would therefore live longer, have fewer diseases, have lots more money, etc. There would be thousands of statistical markers surrounding the followers of a true god.

Everyone would notice all of these benefits, and they would gravitate toward this true god. And thus, over the course of several centuries, everyone would be aligned on the one true god. All the other false gods would have fallen by the wayside long ago, and there would be only one religion under the one true god.

When we look at our world today, we see nothing like that. There are two billion Christians AND there are more than one billion Muslims, and their religions are mutually exclusive. There are thousands of other religions. When you analyse any of them, they all show a remarkable similarity -- there is zero evidence that any of these gods exist. That is how we know that they are all imaginary.

[boymom]

If one of these thousands of gods were actually real, then his followers would be experiencing real, undeniable benefits. These benefits would be obvious to everyone. The followers of a true god would pray, and their prayers would be answered. The followers of a true god would therefore live longer, have fewer diseases, have lots more money, etc. There would be thousands of statistical markers surrounding the followers of a true god.


This premise is false, because not all gods are benevolent.

[pastafari]

(06-04-2011 10:27 PM)boymom Wrote:  If one of these thousands of gods were actually real, then his followers would be experiencing real, undeniable benefits. These benefits would be obvious to everyone. The followers of a true god would pray, and their prayers would be answered. The followers of a true god would therefore live longer, have fewer diseases, have lots more money, etc. There would be thousands of statistical markers surrounding the followers of a true god.


This premise is false, because not all gods are benevolent.

If your benevolent god existed this would be true. It's not true, therefore...

[boymom]

The followers of a true god would therefore live longer, have fewer diseases, have lots more money, etc.

Your list of benefits is too narrow and rooted in the physical world. Also, many of the religions that you listed do not worship any gods. For example, Buddha was not and is not a god. My God is benevolent, in ways you cannot or choose not to fathom. Many gods are not. Their believers worship out of fear.

[phil]

Pasta,

Why do you feel the neede to dismiss everyone who does not hold to your epistimology and worldview as irrational?
"A rational person rejects all human gods equally because all of them are equally imaginary." You do that in that sentence. Of course a rational person is you and one that holds to your epistemology and worldview. You just go ahead and desribe yourself as the epitomy af a rational person. Have you prove that all god's are imaginary? What do you mean by human gods? God's that are human or god's that are belived to exit by humanity? Your senario is simplistic. Just imagine this god is real-well the peole your talking to alrady beleive there is a god so why have them imagine it?What these "undiniable benefits"? Just the one you list? How do you know that that those who believe in god don't get answer to prayer? Have you asked any of these people? Why does there have to be thousands of statistical makers/ What makes your hypethetical senario true? You make this scenario your evidence that's supposed to be so sure.
You sound just as fundametalistesque in your post in that you seek to deny rationality to all but yourself and those that hold to your views or lack of religious or metaphysical views.

[Elijah Craig]

It's some kinda arrogance to callously dismiss the views of one third of the people alive on the planet today.

[greg]

What seperates Christianity from all other faiths is that we serve a risen Saviour. Paul said "If Christ be not risen then our faith is in vain."

[pastor's wife]

(06-04-2011 10:25 PM)pastafari Wrote:  If one of these thousands of gods were actually real, then his followers would be experiencing real, undeniable benefits. These benefits would be obvious to everyone. The followers of a true god would pray, and their prayers would be answered.

Actually, this in a way is the situation God set up with the nation of Israel. He chose a nation of people who were to follow Him. When they did, they were blessed. There were two problems with this:
1) although God clearly laid out His requirements, they didn't obey. Then their nation suffered defeat and difficulties.
2) they didn't obey, because they didn't want to. Their sinful natures gravitated away from His holiness. Thus God sent Jesus Christ, Who kept the law perfectly and then paid the price of disobedience in His own body, accepting the punishment on our behalf. Now we needn't despair when we fail to keep God's law, because Christ has kept the law for us and we are forgiven.

As far as the contention that if God exists, He should offer His followers incredible blessings so soon everyone would believe in Him alone, that is what the book of Job is about. Satan told God that Job only followed Him because God gave Job many blessings. If God took those blessings away, Job would turn his back on God. God allowed Job to lose all his possession and prestige, his children, and his health. He STILL believed in God, although He grieved and questioned.

God wants followers who seek HIM for Himself, not those who simply want the benefits He gives them. Most men wouldn't want a girlfriend who kisses up to him just because he gives her jewelry, cars, and exotic vacations. Instead he wants to be loved for who he is, even without the gifts. In the same way, God wants worshippers who worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Quote:There is zero evidence that any of these gods exist. That is how we know that they are all imaginary.

There actually is evidence that Jesus existed. And Jesus said He came to show us the Father. But in the end, it's a matter of faith. Like Indiana Jones on the edge of the chasm, we take a step out in faith, believing, and the bridge appears below us, sustaining us.

[boymom]

(06-04-2011 11:47 PM)phil Wrote:  Pasta,

Why do you feel the neede to dismiss everyone who does not hold to your epistimology and worldview as irrational?
"A rational person rejects all human gods equally because all of them are equally imaginary." You do that in that sentence. Of course a rational person is you and one that holds to your epistemology and worldview. You just go ahead and desribe yourself as the epitomy af a rational person. Have you prove that all god's are imaginary? What do you mean by human gods? God's that are human or god's that are belived to exit by humanity? Your senario is simplistic. Just imagine this god is real-well the peole your talking to alrady beleive there is a god so why have them imagine it?What these "undiniable benefits"? Just the one you list? How do you know that that those who believe in god don't get answer to prayer? Have you asked any of these people? Why does there have to be thousands of statistical makers/ What makes your hypethetical senario true? You make this scenario your evidence that's supposed to be so sure.
You sound just as fundametalistesque in your post in that you seek to deny rationality to all but yourself and those that hold to your views or lack of religious or metaphysical views.

I noticied this too. For someone who claims to be all about the science, he sure relies heavily on assumptions and presumptions.

[oneflewoutofthecuckcoosnest]

I never said I dismissed all other theistic worldviews except the Christian one.

"Faith consists in being vitally concerned with that ultimate reality to which I give the symbolical name of God. Whoever reflects earnestly on the meaning of life is on the verge of an act of faith."
Paul Tillich