Question For Fellow Atheists...

[The Grand Nudger]

I'm happy to concede it exists but the question is the nature of its existence.

QFT.

The boogeyman, much like god, produces very real effects in the world, and there's no need to refer to or even entertain the supernatural to show that. The fucker definitely exists. So do gods. I can find them in religious texts, I can find them in the minds of the faithful. In fact it;s trivially easy to find them. It's a little* bit harder to find one that flits off the page or out of someones skull and starts doing shit all by it's onesies.

[Whateverist]

I'm happy to concede it exists but the question is the nature of its existence.

QFT.

The boogeyman, much like god, produces very real effects in the world, and there's no need to refer to or even entertain the supernatural to show that.  The fucker definitely exists.

Yep, there is a ghost alright but that ghost is located in the machinery of the observer not in the world apart from the observer.

[The Grand Nudger]

It would be nice to find some religious folks who appreciate, at least in principle, that it's irrelevant whether their god actually exists outside of their minds.  Instead, we get people who can't take their gods seriously enough to realize that they're so damned powerful that they can compel them to action even from the point of "nonexistence" - or, at least, what a believer would take to be nonexistence, in relation to their god. Unsatisfactory existence.

[robvalue]

I agree, gods do exist, in a sense. In the field of abstract concepts. One per theist (mostly), in their mind. And in general, they are indeed powerful because of the hold they have over that theist. They can even drive them to murder or suicide in extreme cases.

Can all of these gods be said to meaningfully map to one single being, somewhere? No. They're all too different. It would have to either be some massive compromise, or leave most people with a completely wrong "God" in their head.

But, you know, if something very unusual and relatively powerful showed up, you can bet your bottom dollar most theists would point and say, "I meant that!"

[Whateverist]

Can all of these gods be said to meaningfully map to one single being, somewhere? No. They're all too different. It would have to either be some massive compromise, or leave most people with a completely wrong "God" in their head.

At most there may be some similarity imposed by the fact that all the theists are human.  Maybe more similarities which come with being of the same culture.  But even then I'd guess there would be some distinctiveness too between what one believer in god X takes X to be and what other X-believers experience.

[robvalue]

Let's face it, "God" is just a human anyway, with super amazing powers. Virtually every description of God is given in terms of human characteristics. Theists regularly draw analogies between God and humans, in order to explain its motivations. We hear of "love" which is such a flesh-bag thing to do.

However, God is a shitty human. For example the Christian God isn't even able to forgive people like a human can, he has to do a bunch of stupid shit and impale an avatar of himself first because he's so stubborn.

Or, you know, drown everyone because he's so angry he can't contain himself.

[Autolite]

Reference "are christians delusional", Dr. Richard Carrier gives us this:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28PjVaW4kKI

[Cyberman]

Let's face it, "God" is just a human anyway, with super amazing powers. Virtually every description of God is given in terms of human characteristics. Theists regularly draw analogies between God and humans, in order to explain its motivations. We hear of "love" which is such a flesh-bag thing to do.

However, God is a shitty human. For example the Christian God isn't even able to forgive people like a human can, he has to do a bunch of stupid shit and impale an avatar of himself first because he's so stubborn.

[Autolite]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWjWLbSD7J8

I just watched "Religious" with Bill Maher for the first time.  Reference the OP, I am still having trouble coming to grips with the fact that we are surrounded by so many people this fucked-up.  I find it very unsettling if not almost depressing that so many adults buy this shit.

Is it just me?  Am I the only one who is bothered this much by this?  About the only way that I can deal with it is knowing that there is absolutely nothing that I can do about it...

[Cephus]

Is it just me?  Am I the only one who is bothered this much by this?  About the only way that I can deal with it is knowing that there is absolutely nothing that I can do about it...

When I find out someone has an imaginary friend as an adult, my level of respect for them goes right out the window.  They might be perfectly nice people, but my level of respect for them as intellectual beings pretty much goes to zero, at least with regards to their religious beliefs.

Rational people, in the act of being rational people, are not religious, period.