Would you think that it is possible that there is a god contrary to the “loving and merciful” ones that most religions preach? Could this possibly explain the evil in the world, why a god would send you to an eternity of damnation if you don’t follow his ways, all of the flaws in humanity, etc?
Posted: June 14th 2009
brian thomson www
As other respondents have pointed out, “possible?” is not a very helpful question to ask. If you’ve ever read about quantum theory, it seems to imply that anything is possible, and the Uncertainty Principle implies that we can not be certain of anything, since the act of observation affects what it observes. A more useful question to ask is “how likely?”.
Douglas Adams had fun with these types of questions when he wrote The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which featured a spaceship that used an Infinite Improbability Drive to manipulate space-time, taking the ship anywhere the owner wished. The same technology could also make all the atoms in a person’s underwear move a foot to the side at the same time; something that is always possible, just extremely improbable.
When you phrase this question of the existence of gods as “possible or impossible?”, you are creating a false dichotomy, making it look as if those are the only two possible answers. The situation is more subtle than that. When you get in a car, you are placing a bet that you will arrive at your destination safely; you know that there are factors that could reduce the odds of a safe arrival, such as bald tires or a drunk driver, and you take those in to account when you decide whether to get in or not.
If I think that the existence of any particular god is “possible but extremely unlikely”, that would make me a “weak atheist”, but that’s fine by me. I don’t need 100% solid answers to these questions to live my life, I just need to judge the odds, based on what I see, just as you do not expect a 100% safety guarantee when you take a journey. If I observe anything happens that changes the odds, I’ll re-evaluate the situation.
Posted: June 20th 2009
Eric_PK
Is it possible...
It’s a fairly nonsensical question to me. I don’t think it matters what is possible – what matters is what is reasonable, and I spend my time in that arena.
However, it is clear that if the OT christian god existed, “sadistic” would be a reasonable label.
Posted: June 16th 2009
George Ricker www
Sure. It’s also possible “God” is an invisible pink unicorn who lives in my garage and reinvents the universe and everything in it every other Tuesday. It’s just not very damned likely.
There is simply no convincing evidence for the existence of a deity of any description and no compelling reason why one should exist.
Redefining the god idea to fit the lack of evidence is a favorite ploy of believers, but it does nothing to increase the probability a god exists.
Posted: June 16th 2009
Paula Kirby www
Well, if there were a god at all – certainly if it were omniscient and omnipotent, as Christians claim theirs is – then it would have to be sadistic rather than loving. A loving (omnipotent and omniscient) god is simply not compatible with the suffering in the world, or with the notion of eternal suffering in hell as being any kind of 'justice’.
But let’s not get carried away. There is simply no reason to believe there’s a god AT ALL. Evil is only a problem in a philosophical sense if you are trying to reconcile the reality of it with the notion of a loving god. Otherwise, it’s just the way things are, end of story. In fact, the very word is rather overblown and imbued with unhelpful religious overtones. There’s nothing 'evil’ about earthquakes and tornadoes and volcanic eruptions, however much suffering they may cause: they are just the result of well understood natural processes.
Similarly, humans are capable of great good, great compassion, but also of great harm. But we don’t need to look for supernatural explanations of this. Why should it be otherwise? There’s only a question to answer in the first place if you buy into the concept that humans were created perfect. There is no reason why evolution should have resulted in perfect beings. There is every reason why it should have resulted in beings that are good at surviving – something that will, in most cases, require behaviour that is compatible with harmonious living in groups, but which will sometimes lead to behaviour that is not. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to deal with the behaviour that is not – it doesn’t mean we have to accept it as ok; but it does mean we don’t need silly fairy stories to account for it.
And finally, we don’t need to explain why a god would send you to an eternity of hell if you don’t follow his ways – because there isn’t the SLIGHTEST reason to think that it really happens. It’s a story, nothing more. We no more need to explain why a god would send you to hell than we need to explain how Dumbo could fly.
Posted: June 16th 2009
SmartLX www
Sure. Anything’s possible, including that. A lot of disillusioned Christians, instead of simply losing their faith, are of the opinion that God is against them, or is at least indifferent and uncaring. There’s about the same amount of evidence for a bad god as for a good god.
It would solve the Problem of Evil at a stroke, that’s one good thing.
Posted: June 15th 2009