[RELAYER]

"fighting God", now there's a thought that misses the point of the concept of divinity entirely.
One too many JRPGs, lads.

[Uchip]

"fighting God", now there's a thought that misses the point of the concept of divinity entirely. One too many JRPGs, lads.

depends which gods we are talking about
many ancient gods took part in battle

[Herpes Reasons]

depends which gods we are talking about many ancient gods took part in battle

How about the God of Israel?
The part where he will destroy all sin and smite the world by the meer words he'll speak

[angrybus]

Evidence and logic and reason are just fine by me.

Word. Faith is such a bullshit virtue. It means and stands for nothing. If anything, it only resembles the arbitrary cultural and psychological values which make up those bothersome flaws of religion and religious belief.

[Pixel Pete]

I think yes, religion would arise again in some form, because superstition is a difficult habit to break.

[jaxword]

I really wonder sometimes if any 'atheists' really understand the meaning behind faith.

[Net_Wrecker]

If we deleted religion from existence it would just be-

HOLY CRAP THAT THING IS SO SHINY AND PROVIDES US WITH DAYLIGHT. BOW DOWN TO IT, WHAT A MYSTICAL BEING OF IMMENSE POWER.

-ahem......created again.

[Haly]

If god exists: Depends on his/her/its/their mood.

If god doesn't exist: No.

[Uchip]

faith

so faith is punching professors in the face because they don't believe in what you do?
sounds about right

[Buckethead]

http://i.imgur.com/PRRqE.png

[jdogmoney]

How about the God of Israel? The part where he will destroy all sin and smite the world by the meer words he'll speak

"And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron." - Judges 1:19

I think we'd stand a pretty good chance.

[kevm3]

Religious texts were destroyed and banned in many of the secular nations such as many of the communist regimes. That sure produced a utopian society of perfect logic and enlightenment.

[jaxword]

Religious texts were destroyed and banned in many of the secular nations such as many of the communist regimes. That sure produced a utopian society of perfect logic and enlightenment.

If by "destroyed and banned" you mean "replaced by the exact same thing except using cult of personality-based leader worship".

[Pixel Pete]

Religious texts were destroyed and banned in many of the secular nations such as many of the communist regimes. That sure produced a utopian society of perfect logic and enlightenment.

yeah, these bits here are the important bits.

[daviyoung]

Yes, there would be no theists and no atheists. What a wonderful world indeed.

[mclaren777]

Faith is clinging to a belief without evidence or despite contradicting evidence.

That is a terrible definition.

[jdogmoney]

Yes, there would be no theists and no atheists. What a wonderful world indeed.

Well, if no one believed in any gods, they would all be atheists by definition.

That is a terrible definition.

Have you got a better one?

[Haly]

You need to be able to understand what a "God" or "deity" is to say they don't exist.

The OP's scenario is removing the concept of god from people's minds entirely.

[Teknoman]

I just had a weird thought. Let's say we destroyed every single document/image/text(online or print) of anything religious along with wiping every single person's mind of such a concept and memory. Would "God" then be forced to come down and reintroduce himself to us?

That sounds like an awesome premise. People destroying all religious works to summon God down to Earth. And when he does descend from that beam of light, we will fight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-ETxWmgjaE




As a gaming side insight, this seems like it would be a good plot for a Shin Megami Tensei game. Kinda think of it...there was a game called Last Bible, but I dont think it was about that.

[Metal-Geo]

Well, if no one believed in any gods, they would all be atheists by definition.

But the word 'atheist' wouldn't exist then. :o

[daviyoung]

Well, if no one believed in any gods, they would all be atheists by definition.

There would be no possibilty of god. There would be no god. There would be nothing to not believe in.

[SmokyDave]

If Jesus was called Dave, he'd have been 80% cooler.

I would like to think this was a parody.

[OttomanScribe]

Religious ideas underpin most of the political and moral ideologies that exist in modern society. I don't know how one would begin to eradicate that influence.

[jdogmoney]

There would be no possibilty of god. There would be no god. There would be nothing to not believe in.

And so they would lack belief in a god or gods, and thus would be atheists.

[daviyoung]

And so they would lack belief in a god or gods, and thus would be atheists.

But they are not non-believers. There is no opposition.

[jdogmoney]

But they are not non-believers because the belief isn't there. There is no opposition.

This is like some kind of koan.

It's simple. They don't have a belief in a god or gods, and so they would be atheist, even if they don't have the language or even the concept of it. A flower is still purple even if it doesn't know what colors are.

Maybe you're thinking of anti-theists?

[esquire]

Pure conjecture here because it's appropriate for a thread like this, but if religion as we know it, were stopped and re-conceived today given everything we already know through science and collective human knowledge, God would very likely be thought of as the Earth itself. The Earth already has all the attributes of a God, does it not?

[daviyoung]

I don't want to get into dictionary definitions of a/anti-theists or agnostics because somewhere you're going to have to believe there is no God or consciously reject a fundamental idea. So fine, if there was no God or concept of God everyone would be atheist.

even though they wouldn't be :P

[Log4Girlz]

Religious deities are dictated, not discovered.

[jdogmoney]

I don't want to get into dictionary definitions of a/anti-theists or agnostics because somewhere you're going to have to believe there is no God or consciously reject a fundamental idea. So fine, if there was no God or concept of God everyone would be atheist. even though they wouldn't be :P

Why do you think this is so? What's wrong with not being convinced by your experiences that there's such a thing as God?

[mac]

The New Yorker did a story about the religious temple of Göbekli Tepe. Apparently it predates agriculture, yet, the only reason people think we have religion is that it allows you to create a moral code and framework needed for agricultural people. This temple may reveal that in fact our quest to find God lead to us creating civilization.

THE SANCTUARY - The New Yorker

The idea of a religious monument built by hunter-gatherers contradicts most of what we thought we knew about religious monuments and about hunter-gatherers. Hunter-gatherers are traditionally believed to have lacked complex symbolic systems, social hierarchies, and the division of labor, three things you probably need before you can build a twenty-two-acre megalithic temple. Formal religion, meanwhile, is supposed to have appeared only after agriculture produced such hierarchical social relations as required a cosmic backstory to keep them going and supplied a template for the power relationship between gods and mortals. The findings at Göbekli Tepe suggest that we have the story backward—that it was actually the need to build a sacred site that first obliged hunter-gatherers to organize themselves as a workforce, to spend long periods of time in one place, to secure a stable food supply, and eventually to invent agriculture. This was the decadent late stage of Neolithic life. Schmidt characterizes the people of Göbekli Tepe as “the victims of their own success.” Their way of life had been so successful that it found material expression in the form of a gigantic stone edifice, a reification of a spiritual world view. The very process of construction changed the world view, making the monument obsolete. Schmidt believes that’s why Göbekli Tepe was abandoned: “They did not need it anymore. Now they are farmers and they find new expressions of their religious beliefs.”

[Metal-Geo]

This is like some kind of koan. It's simple. They don't have a belief in a god or gods, and so they would be atheist, even if they don't have the language or even the concept of it. A flower is still purple even if it doesn't know what colors are. Maybe you're thinking of anti-theists?

If smoking was never invented, how can people be 'non-smokers'?
If the concept of God doesn't exist, how can people be atheist?

You're using words (names, rather) that derive from a concept that wouldn't exist. :p

[jdogmoney]

If smoking was never invented, how can people be 'non-smokers'?

By...not...smoking?

If the concept of God doesn't exist, how can people be atheist? You're using words (names, rather) that derive from a concept that wouldn't exist. :p

Yes. I realize that the people in this scenario wouldn't know what the word means, or even know what the concept entails...but we do, and by our usage of the word they would be atheists. If this imaginary culture had a word for "people who can't fly under their own power" than you and I could be called "aflighters" or whatever.

[Black_Stride]

I just had a weird thought. Let's say we destroyed every single document/image/text(online or print) of anything religious along with wiping every single person's mind of such a concept and memory. Would "God" then be forced to come down and reintroduce himself to us? Now, I don't really believe in God as he is commonly described(I think we'd be stupid to even try and conceive or understand such a being or entity). And from how he is generally depicted, he would be forced to show himself or bring back zombie Jesus, yeah?

Religion would come up again....we would have another messiah and/or some sort of first man all over again.

[jaxword]

"fighting God", now there's a thought that misses the point of the concept of divinity entirely. One too many JRPGs, lads.

The God-empowered Saint of Killers finally confronts his maker.

[JGS]

Assuming God would allow that to happen would mean God doesnt exist anyway. In any event, religions would start up to replace the ones destroyed.

[Mista Koo]

So basically destroy all humanity?

[Woody Invincible]

That sounds like an awesome premise. People destroying all religious works to summon God down to Earth. And when he does descend from that beam of light, we will fight.

brb writing a book.

[Always-honest]

People would come up with the concept of god again, ofcourse.

"We" created god in our own image.

[ReBurn]

I'd like to know how the OP would go about eradicating religion from the world. That would make for an interesting discussion.

[BGBW]

He'll leave his business card. The question is does he reverse the charge?

[jaxword]

I'd like to know how the OP would go about eradicating religion from the world. That would make for an interesting discussion.

National religious obsessions tend to decrease in countries with focused, quality education. US does not count, our educational system is a political quagmire. People still argue against evolution for God's sake.

However, I don't see that as the goal the OP is looking for.

Honestly one way I can see his idea working is through a focused group of charismatic political leaders (and I mean Clinton, JFK, Ghandi level) leaders who are able to convince hundreds of millions that religion isn't good for the world. Then, over time, each successive generation absorbs that idea and in 100-200 years it is reduced to a "tradition" which has very little impact overall on the world in the big picture.

This isn't going to happen, since politics = religion and thus there's no reason to destroy such a useful tool.

[JGS]

Good luck with that. The religious have been smart enough to convince atheists not to even bother running. Mwahahaha!

Anyway, the US doesn't have a religious public education system so religion remains a purely voluntary endeavor here just like most other places.

[jdogmoney]

Assuming God would allow that to happen would mean God doesnt exist anyway. In any event, religions would start up to replace the ones destroyed.

JGS, you should really read Preacher. Does a great job at portraying the Christian God as he comes across to a lot of people.

Even if they're wrong or whatever, it's good to understand the other guy's perspective.

[Crunched]

I'm skeptical of this. Much of science (though can be deduced) came by chance. If humanity restarted, E=MC^2 might never be found again as the circumstances that led to its discovery will not be present. But, since science is science, I'm sure it would be replaced with a similar formula.

This boils down to the argument about whether math and science is created or discovered. I say it is discovered. Numbers and the consequences of them are inalienable qualities of the world.

1 + 1 = 2, and even if the world was restarted the same would be true. Atoms and elements would be described the same for the same reasons.

[BladeoftheImmortal]

He defintiely doesn't need to be reintroduced, we're almost rid of him already.

[marrec]

We'd come up with some other bullshit to take it's place.

[Kurdel]

If angering God could summon him, we would have manifested a long time ago.

Didn't show up when millions of Jews were killed.
Didn't show up to help the Muslims or the Christians during the crusades.
Didn't show up in China to save millions from death from a godless monster.

If there is a God, it is either a watchmaker type who only made existance and cannot intervene or a heartless tyrant that doesn't care what happens to people, as long as they jump through His hoops or face eternal damnation.

Over 12,000 years of civilization, people have tried to appease or summon Gods. At least we are slowly starting to understand it is pointless.

[JGS]

JGS, you should really read Preacher. Does a great job at portraying the Christian God as he comes across to a lot of people. Even if they're wrong or whatever, it's good to understand the other guy's perspective.

I'll try to check it out.

Over 12,000 years of civilization, people have tried to appease or summon Gods. At least we are slowly starting to understand it is pointless.

Well, if we are talking Judeo-Christian God than the biggest error regarding him is the notion that he is supposed to intervene at any point in time like a genie. Things that are major to us have no reason to be of consequence or a big deal to him. In most of the timeframe of the Bible, he lets nature take it's course even in connection to his followers & even Jesus.

He shows up when it counts. I would imagine one of those times would be if all information about him that is easily available all of a sudden disappears or is banned. But even then, it would be a matter stopping everyone from thinking the one thought which is easy to do without any intervention. This would be the case even if the world was 99% atheist- a figure that will never be reached anywhere including Western Civilization.

[KillGore]

God probably wouldn't appear anyways. Another religion would appear though.