Given the horrible things God is believed to be responsible for, I would hope we would at least try to hunt it down and kill it.

(February 8, 2013 at 8:53 am)FKHansen Wrote: Here's a fun one…
Let's say that science proves the existence of God - A perfect logical proof (with evidence) that clearly states that the universe was created by a creator. Nothing more, nothing less...

What will happen to the people on earth?
What religion would they cling to?
Would there be world peace?

In the instant that (any) god is proven to exist through empirical evidence and repeatable testing, the belief ceases to be faith and becomes science.

The religious would be confused. Many are already confused by science and think it evil (though have no problem using its benefits).

Warfare is not dependent on religion; there are perfectly good secular reasons to invade another country and kill its inhabitants. Warfare in the name of religious belief would cease, of course, because religious belief would cease.

The vast majority of people on Earth go about their daily lives and routines as if they were atheists anyway. They are not monastic hermits that only spend their time in contemplative prayer. The actual amount of time devoted to religious faith out of a twenty-four hour day is vanishingly small. All that would happen to those folk is they would gain a few more minutes for something constructive.

For the fanatic that cannot be swayed anyway, any "proof" would be equally meaningless if it did not square with his fanaticism.

The religious do not need proof: they believe without evidence anyway. It is unlikely that much would change in religion.

I suspect it might be something similar to the Deep Thought supercomputer subplot in the Hitchhiker's Guide; in which all the competing religions and philosophers, knowing that there really is an Ultimate Answer to be found, were kept busy for millions of years arguing about what the computer was eventually going to come up with. In this case, we would know beyond question that a god does, or at best did, exist, and so the gravy train would rumble on with arguments and debates about the god's actual nature. I further suspect it won't be an entirely bloodless process. Religions are like that, when you strip away all the fluffy, shiny window dressing and get right down to the basics.

(February 11, 2013 at 6:38 am)Confused Ape Wrote: The OP isn't saying that the universe needs a divine creator. It's just meant to be a fun exercise speculating about what would happen if science proved that God created the universe but said no more about God.

Speculating about what would happen if science proved we were in a computer simulation run by a mad scientist would be a different topic.

I'm not sure it is a different topic. I mean even if science did prove the universe was created it wouldn't necessarily mean a god was the creator. Hence I would still be an atheist.

However, if it really were shown that god exists I would have no choice to believe. As I'd imagine most other atheists would. What it would take to make me believe probably is a different subject though.

(February 8, 2013 at 8:53 am)FKHansen Wrote: Here's a fun one…
Let's say that science proves the existence of God - A perfect logical proof (with evidence) that clearly states that the universe was created by a creator. Nothing more, nothing less...

What will happen to the people on earth?
What religion would they cling to?
Would there be world peace?

Here's an even funner one.

Let's say that science never ever proves the existence of god.

Will you still cling to your religion?

Oh, this is how it already is, LOL.

You're just weak.

---

(February 12, 2013 at 4:24 am)jesus_wept Wrote: However, if it really were shown that god exists I would have no choice to believe. As I'd imagine most other atheists would. What it would take to make me believe probably is a different subject though.

But you wouldn't go from non belief to belief.

You would go from "non belief" which is the logical stance considering the lack of evidence, to "knowing".

There is actually no place for "belief". Once you have been shown that something is true, then you "know it".

I think what it boils down to is the fact that atheists like us tend to go on what we can emperically prove. And any proof requires unambiguous evidence. And I also think that most atheists would freely admist that if such evidence were forthcoming, we would be perfectly willing to entertain the notion. So for you religionists - got anything like that?

(February 8, 2013 at 9:03 am)festive1 Wrote: I'm with Kichi, if we come to discover that some god-like-being set off the Big Bang, it's still not proof of a personal god that answers prayers. I think the "best" that could be proven is a disinterested-god that set the wheels of our universe in motion. People would still try to argue that god is looking out for them, but the amount of pain and suffering in the world, to me at least, proves that if there is a god-like-being, it's not the personal god most believers claim. End result: it would be a good day for Deists. Theists would try to claim it's a good day for them, but they would still have to overcome the evidence that god just doesn't care, and the debate between atheists and theists would continue. That's my two cents.

Such a discovery wouldn't tell us much about the nature of the Creator. It would mean theists worldview is correct while atheists worldview is incorrect. It would be a huge blow to atheists but I agree the debates would continue.

(February 15, 2013 at 5:57 pm)Drew_2013 Wrote: Such a discovery wouldn't tell us much about the nature of the Creator. It would mean theists worldview is correct while atheists worldview is incorrect. It would be a huge blow to atheists but I agree the debates would continue.

Not really. The discovery of a disinterested god would mean that each individual theist is just as wrong as any atheist... or at least, any antitheist. Because, at least in my agnostic atheism, the position has never been that there's no god, just that there's no respectable evidence for one yet. The thing about finding scientific evidence for god would be that... well, that would be evidence. It'd literally be exactly what was needed to change our minds.

Since the atheist worldview has only ever come down to "believe in things that are factual," we'd hardly be incorrect so long as we began to believe when god becomes something factual.

This disinterested god that, even when proven, doesn't yet belong to any religious denomination.

(February 16, 2013 at 2:23 am)Esquilax Wrote:

(February 15, 2013 at 5:57 pm)Drew_2013 Wrote: Such a discovery wouldn't tell us much about the nature of the Creator. It would mean theists worldview is correct while atheists worldview is incorrect. It would be a huge blow to atheists but I agree the debates would continue.

Not really. The discovery of a disinterested god would mean that each individual theist is just as wrong as any atheist... or at least, any antitheist. Because, at least in my agnostic atheism, the position has never been that there's no god, just that there's no respectable evidence for one yet. The thing about finding scientific evidence for god would be that... well, that would be evidence. It'd literally be exactly what was needed to change our minds.


You're equating theism with religion. Theism is the non-religious philosophilcal belief we owe our existence to a Creator commonly referred to as God. So the theistic part of the belief would be correct. As to whether there is respectable evidence in favor of that belief is in the eye of the beholder. Of the evidence available I believe it tips in favor of theism.

Since the atheist worldview has only ever come down to "believe in things that are factual," we'd hardly be incorrect so long as we began to believe when god becomes something factual.

You may be the one exception but in my travels I have found atheists beileve in many things with a modicum of evidence to supoort it as long as it comports with their worldview.

This disinterested god that, even when proven, doesn't yet belong to any religious denomination.

Neither does theism. There is no church of theism that I am aware of.

(February 15, 2013 at 5:57 pm)Drew_2013 Wrote: Such a discovery wouldn't tell us much about the nature of the Creator. It would mean theists worldview is correct while atheists worldview is incorrect. It would be a huge blow to atheists but I agree the debates would continue.

The atheist worldview, if there can be said to be such a thing, would be along the lines of "don't believe in god claims until there is evidence to do so". The discovery of the existence of a god would be the ultimate evidence. As such, far from being a huge blow it would actually confirm that position. I would just find the situation depressing, from a personal perspective, especially if the god proven was the hair-trigger psychopath of Abrahamic tradition. It would have a lot to answer for, whichever it turned out to be.