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How do you respond to the question "Do you believe in God?" asked by a stranger?

I've a couple thoughts on this question. First the assumption that comes from the answer is going to be different whether the question is being asked by someone in your community vs say someone in Calcutta, India. You know what I mean? God is a very broadly defined term yet to many it is a very narrowly defined term.

For me I lean towards the answer of "Yes, but not the one you believe in". Kind of says yes I have beliefs but I keep them to myself and they are personal to me and me alone. What say you?

FvckY0u 8 Oct 24
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32 comments (26 - 32)

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4

I would tell them that I'm a Taoist so fuck off.

@FvckY0u I noticed that. I like the fuck off better, though.

4

For me, it’s not a matter of belief.
God’s existence is self-evident.
No proof needed.

My dictionary defines God as the supreme being.

It defines supreme as the largest, ultimate, or most powerful.

It defines being as something that exists.

So already, God exists by definition.

What is the largest, ultimate thing that exists?

Some call it the universe, nature, or reality.

So does the entirety of reality exist?

Self-evidently, it does… by definition.

If you say, “Well thats not what most people mean when they say God.” Well that’s true, but now you’re discussing God’s nature - not God’s existence. And most religions themselves caution against thinking you know God’s nature.

Neither I nor any religious person, nor any scientist knows fully the nature of the universe, but I’ve never met the person who denies its existence.

skado Level 9 Oct 24, 2022

I promise you most people would have zero interest in having that long and in depth a discussion with you, but suit yourself....

@TomMcGiverin
If a stranger asks me such a question, he doesn’t get to choose what kind of answer I give. If he doesn’t have patience to listen, all the better.

@Garban
I’m not aware of any evidence that supports the existence of any such sentient being. But that’s a question of God’s nature - not of God’s existence.

@skado Few would have the patience to listen to all that, so If I were you, I wouldn't even bother to begin an answer, but suit yourself....

I deny its existence.

@Garban Personally, I do not have a big serious problem with people saying that god is equivalent to the laws of physics. It is just my opinion that, if god is equal to the laws of physics, then it would be better to call "It" the laws of physics, just to avoid confusion. While if people want to say that the laws of physics are worthy of worship, then I would say, that it is better not to worship anything, but if you must, then the laws of physics (Biology chemistry etc.) are probably better than anything else I know of.

But you have also to consider, that attemps to sow confusion may sometimes be deliberate, since confusion makes a good smoke screen for a hidden agenda, or an empty vault.

@Garban That is one of the most amusing disections of the simulation problem I have heard.

@Garban
I don't really approach it from a physics perspective. I approach it from the angle of human experience. It is human nature to anthropomorphize things, and to assign agency to things that are just random occurrences. It appears to me that that is what early (and current) humans have done with the collective existence and movement of the universe. But just because they attribute agency and human characteristics to something that, in reality, doesn't have any, doesn't mean that something doesn't exist. It just means its nature is different from what they assumed.

@rainmanjr
OK, now I've met one person.

@Garban I'm not so different. I don't tend to anthropomorphize things either, myself. Just trying to understand how 80% of my species came to be the way they are, and find a non-inflammatory way to regard and interact with them that doesn't compromise my sense of objective reality. If it allows me to find some common ground with my fellow humans, I'm willing to learn a new language. It doesn't prevent me from speaking my native tongue also. I don't tolerate literal interpretations of symbolic language in my personal worldview. Symbols are just a linguistic expedient.

4

Sure, just as much as I believe in Santa. 🙂

Betty Level 8 Oct 24, 2022

Or the Easter Bunny.... or Linus's Great Pumpkin....

@TomMcGiverin Oh! Don't forget the Tooth Fairy and the Boogeyman...

3

my reply is
"Of course not."

If I am feeling polite.

And if you are feeling somewhat less than polite?

@anglophone Anything I feel like saying up to and including oh just fuck off already.

3

Some version of, “That’s none of your business.”

2

Me: "What is God?"

There is never a satisfactory reply that can withstand further questioning., e.g.,

Believer: "God is who created the Earth."
Me: "So God didn't exist before creation?"
Believer: "Yes. He did."
Me: "So God is a male? Does he have a penis? What does he use it for?"

1

"Oh my god! 🙄
No way!!"

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