EvC Forum: Daddy, is God real?

Iz writes:

I like the response letter. The editor doesn't come out and say that Santa doesn't exist. Instead, he forgoes the simplistic answer and makes it a philosophical issue.

Bingo. My point exactly. The answer to "Daddy, is God real" is not as simple as one might be lead to believe.

God is real to those who want to believe he is real, just as much as Santa Claus is real to those who to believe.

I think that the ideas embedded in our beliefs are more important than if our beliefs are real. Is Santa real? It doesn't matter because Santa, as modeled after St. Nicholas, represents generosity. Doesn't knowing that your generosity made someone happy make you happy as well? Santa represents an idea and the idea behind Santa is probably more important than any question of the physical existence of Santa.

Exactly. I like the way you think Iz. To the human race, God is real and the affects of this have shaped civilization for thousands of years.

Since to much of modern humanity, God (and as Izanagi poignantly points out, the "good and decent" God of the Bible) symbolizes that which is good and moral in the world, the question has to be asked: How long will humanity continue to believe in God and what are the ramifications if they stop believing. How will the affect our moral compass and our judeochristian values. Or will this be just another false belief that humanity casts off in their forward progress of technology and greater human rights for all.

I am not sure what the answer is but I have to agree with Izanagi's point below:

Iz writes:

That's why it should not matter what the answer to the question of God's physical existence is. Whether God is physically real or not, the idea behind God* - to lead a good life - is more important.

*: I am assuming the more benevolent God of the NT, not the fire and brimstone God of the OT; that is, love, forgiveness, justice, compassion, wisdom, and other feel-good ideas are what God represents

Watch out, you may be making a god of your own making not the god depicted i.e. the Bible. It is readily evident that the nature of God has and will continue to change as the mores of our cultures change. In other words God changes because we change. Not the other way around. If humanity has to latch onto the values of judeochristianity in order to survive than so be it. However, fundamentalist extremism on any religious front I believe is an attempt to slow down the slow march of human rights and equality.

Edited by DevilsAdvocate, : No reason given.

One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge -- even to ourselves -- that we've been so credulous. - Carl Sagan, The Fine Art of Baloney Detection

"You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe." - Carl Sagan

"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World

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