Quote:
Originally Posted by nroberts
I'll tell you why it matters to me.
First, trying to figure out why we are here I think has a lot to do with how we got here. Furthermore, trying to figure out where we are going likewise has a lot to do with how we got here.
Also, I think it has a lot to do with how best to live. How we got here, how we were "made", and how we were programmed has a lot to do with what will make us happy. Trying to get the most out of life has a lot to do with how that life came to be.
Furthermore, the question of God strikes me as particularly interesting because I frankly don't want there to be one. Every god I've ever met, with one possible exception, has been a total asshole. The God of the Christians is a personality that I don't particularly like. But at any rate, if there is one it's worth understanding...if for no other reasons than to pick sides.
But the God proposal actually makes sense of nothing. To much degree you have a strong point with, "Why does it matter," since to answer any of the really great questions you have to remove God from his thrown and cast him as an equal...or just plain lose the idea all together. Questions of morality, first causes, the nature of thought...etc...etc... God adds nothing to the answer, in fact he more often than not blocks our way to the truth.
It is for this later reason that I've concluded that either God does not exist, or he doesn't interfere. Well, or he's malevolent or ignorant and confused.
At an even more basic level, it is clear that God, should he exist, is an entity...a being....one among many. What is it about this being that dictates the title "God"? Is it power? Do we worship a being because it can squash us? Is it wisdom? Is it benevolence? Is it simple knowledge? Is it because it took the title? Is it a combination of some or all of these things? If a seemingly supernatural entity showed itself to you and said, "I am God..." what would your first question be? How would you decide if it was telling the truth or would you bother to find out?
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I have to think in terms of "if I were God" and I always then think that if you built a house for the purpose of worshipping me, I'd keep it cool in the summer and warm in the winter, and free from damage from any elements.
That would be the very least I could do.
He doesn't. If he's not going to get involved in our lives, I have to wonder why his existance matters.
I've been asked what I would do differently if I could relive my life. After much thought, I concluded I'd prefer not to have lived it at all. Moments of pleasure and joy are FAR outweighed by times of pain and stress. It's a very poor balance.