Not_Scarevangelist Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Dr. Richard Dawkins answers the question on this video: What is your answer to this question? I guess the question will go this way: Imagine that one day you die as an atheist. You believed that there are no Gods, but you see there is God... or you believed in a God but the real God turns out to be different. How would you answer this question - in your own way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overcame Faith Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 I liked Dawkins' answer. I think my answer is that if the Christians are wrong then it is not that they have lost nothing. They have lost a great deal. They have lost the chance to live this one life free from the shackles that are the Christian religion. They remain bound to the fear of hell, the fear of a vengeful god, fear of judgment, fear of satan, fear of commiting some sort of sin, etc. They have lost their one chance to really live and enjoy their lives. And that's a terrible loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 My answer would be....If the god of the bible is there, I really don't even want to know him. He is the most dispicable character in all of literature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxy Methoxy Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 The question "What if I'm wrong" has to be dealt with in many areas of life. If you're unable to be definitive about your actions, beliefs, and principles, you'll be inconsistent. I accept I could be wrong about a lot of things, but I'm not allowing that to make me second guess myself. What if I'm wrong? Then I will deal with the consequences knowing I stayed true to myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stryper Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 It doesn't matter if I am wrong or not. This body will die. My spirit will go elsewhere. Perhaps I'll return again in 100 -1000 years and see the changes and live again. If there is a god, I am pretty sure he's not as described. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivingLife Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Well if I am wrong, he will have to pause dying and all that shit for some time as he and I are going to have one long fucking conversation after I have bitch slapped him around a bit. This what if is anyway a last appeal to emotion. Anyone that has already got to this question is only offering Pascal's wager as a last resort. Probably 50% of believers are in the Pascal category if not more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilentLoner Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 I just found out Richard Dawkins is coming to my university on April 5th!!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest I Love Dog Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Dr. Richard Dawkins answers the question on this video: I guess the question will go this way: Imagine that one day you die as an atheist. You believed that there are no Gods, but you see there is God... or you believed in a God but the real God turns out to be different. How would you answer this question - in your own way? If when I die I see that there is a god I would be very surprised. If the god is the one that Christians are always saying is a loving and forgiving god then I'm sure I'll be forgiven for not believing that he/she/it existed. If it's the god of the bible, then I could be in deep trouble, 'cos he's nasty! But hey, only 25% of the planet's population believe in the Christian god, so there'll lots of people getting the same surprise that I'll get! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
par4dcourse Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Then I will deal with the consequences knowing I stayed true to myself. If there is a god, I am pretty sure he's not as described. These two sum it up for me as well. If he's there, and i'm pretty damn sure he's not, then I am absolutely certain he is not "bible god." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxy Methoxy Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 You know what would really suck? If Jehovah's Witness was the right answer. Fuck that noise. Go ahead and obliterate my soul on Judgment Day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searska Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 "Wrong" implies that there is a "right" answer. There may not even be a "right" answer! And if I'm wrong that there is no god, and I end up in hell, well, I'll be among friends. No one I know and like is going to heaven anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OpheliaGinger Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 My answer would be, "If I am wrong about the existence of Yahweh, then I would cannon ball into the lake of fire because I wouldn't want to be considered worthy to worship an unworthy tyrant. If I'm wrong about Zeus, then my fate wouldn't be any different from anyone elses because I was neither egregiously evil or a hero. If I am wrong about Ra, then my fate would be much the same as yours since, I assume, you and I lack knowledge of the book of the dead which guides the soul through the turmoils of the afterlife. "But then, I have to ask you what if you are wrong about the other gods as well? Are you spiritually prepared to go through their tribulations because you were an unbeliever? They all have the same amount of the same quality of evidence Christians purport for their god. Are you prepared?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discern Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 I didn't think Dawkins' answer was very good. His reasoning might apply to perhaps someone brought up in Islam, where the religion and culture are so intertwined and very difficult to get out of. But a christian response to Dawkins would be that christians are evangelizing to all those other countries, trying to reveal to people the one true God. They'd say it doesn't matter what country you grew up in, at some point you would likely have encountered a christian and been given a chance to accept Christ. And if you refused that opportunity, then you have no excuse on Judgment Day. Personally, my response to "what if you're wrong" would be that the supposed loving, compassionate God of the bible failed to provide His divine instructions to mankind beyond reasonable doubt. If He's going to throw me in the New Testament version of Hell after providing a bible full of holes and contradictions, then He really is a schizophrenic maniac and at the end of the day, there'd be nothing I could do about it anyway. If God turned out to be some other religion's God, then again, that God has failed to justify their existence beyond reasonable doubt and therefore can only expect the sheer number of atheists and members of 'false' religions in the world. It's like God sets the trap AND lures us into it: he gives us a brain and free will to choose him, fails to prove he exists, then throws us in hell for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not_Scarevangelist Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 As a starter of the thread it's time for me to present my answer. What if I'm wrong and there's a vindictive God who sends people to hell? Then... I'm wrong. I would have tried to detrone such God even from Hell... sorry if this sounds silly, but if I'm wrong on the subject - then... the world was created by a vindictive monster. Let's hope I am not wrong... but the thoughts still haunt me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Margee Posted February 16, 2011 Moderator Share Posted February 16, 2011 If I meet bible god when I die - I am going to put him over my lap and give him a good spanking and then I am goin' to make him stand in the corner with gum on his nose for 24 hours as he writes 10,000 times on the blackboard: ''I will be a better god the next time around''. Then we will sit down and talk and I will tell him exactely how I feel about what his good book did to many billions of people. Yes - I have become a 'gutsy' lady! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaraOlive Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 You know what would really suck? If Jehovah's Witness was the right answer. Fuck that noise. Go ahead and obliterate my soul on Judgment Day. That would suck more than an eternal hell? I believe that I'll be "annihilated" when I die, and JW's believe that's what will happen to me too, so no argument there. It beats burning in the lake of fire forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pratt Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 what if I am wrong? I will wrong with more than probably 80% of the alreadyl dead people (total 6,000 of earth's history as according to the bible), and one third of the angel's population. Well, I need to convince another 2/3 of the angel's population and rest of the "chosen" people to revolt. The last revolt, Lucifer lost, and this time, we probably will be able to convince the "dead" and the angels against the tyrannical egotistical dictatorial monarch "god" and throw him and his son and his lover, the holy ghost, into the lake of fire he created. DOWN WITH TYRANT..... POWER to DEMOCRACY,,,,,, :woohoo: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShackledNoMore Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 You know what would really suck? If Jehovah's Witness was the right answer. Fuck that noise. Go ahead and obliterate my soul on Judgment Day. That would suck more than an eternal hell? I believe that I'll be "annihilated" when I die, and JW's believe that's what will happen to me too, so no argument there. It beats burning in the lake of fire forever. "I'm afraid it was the Mormons. Yes, the Mormons were the correct answer." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seeboh Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 If I'm wrong, then nobody's life has purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilentLoner Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 If we're wrong, this will happen: If xtians are wrong though: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddbird1963 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 What if am wrong and the one true god out of 2800+ gods worshiped by humans throughout history is the "god of the bible" , then I will take what is coming to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Valk0010 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 If I am wrong, then I did my best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxy Methoxy Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 You know what would really suck? If Jehovah's Witness was the right answer. Fuck that noise. Go ahead and obliterate my soul on Judgment Day. That would suck more than an eternal hell? I believe that I'll be "annihilated" when I die, and JW's believe that's what will happen to me too, so no argument there. It beats burning in the lake of fire forever. The punishment in Christianity is worse than in JW, but the reward of going to heaven is better than what you get if you're a witness. If you're a good JW, you still don't get into heaven because it's already full and Big J has no plans for expansion. You're stuck with the consolation prize of roaming the Earth forever doing good deeds for Jehovah. I'd rather be obliterated than live that dream of paradise. But I agree it's preferable to be obliterated than to go to hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzy Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I'm sure the "what if I'm wrong?" question is what keeps many people in the fold. I know my father often brings up Pascal's Wager a lot in an attempt to convince me I should go to church. But I always got instinctively repulsed by this argument, even when I still described myself as a Xtian. I think it's a reflection on my father's motives to be a Xtian (fear of hell) and I don't think it's a good thing if that is your motive. I bet that's the motive of a lot of Xtians! So they are basically emotionally blackmailed into a belief system. To me that's what Pascal's Wager is - not at all a good argument for the reason to believe. Like so many said before me if I'm wrong and if the Biblegod is really the one and only god then I would still be disgusted by many of his actions in the Bible: from the physical cruelty to the emotional abuse described above. Then it seems the world was created by an evil, sadistic god. Would I want to eternally serve such a being just to save my life? In this case maybe Lucifer is the good one, only he is being smeared by the PR machine of God? Hmm.... BTW, what if it's Muslims who are right? Then all Xtians will go to Hell, along with the atheists.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 What if I am wrong? Have been wrong about other things, its possible. Then of course I must take the consequences. However, in this case I think it most unlikely. I liked Dawkins answer on this too. Dwelling on this is not something that is conducive to being more peaceful or loving so I dropped it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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