Before We Discuss Whether God Exists, I Have A Question

[Catholic_Lady]

Jenny, I think where people may be getting hung up is that having hope is part of having faith. The 2 go hand in hand. There is no concrete proof that God exists, but we *hope* that He does.

Non of this relates in any way to the OP.

Of course, if it was somehow made 100% clear that God indeed was not real...

No. The stipulation was:

Unless you are willing to consider the possibility there is no god, than there is no point in the discussion.

"Willing to consider", not "demonstrate non existence of".

OMG, he spoke to me!! 

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Jenny, I think where people may be getting hung up is that having hope is part of having faith. The 2 go hand in hand. There is no concrete proof that God exists, but we *hope* that He does.

Of course, if it was somehow made 100% clear that God indeed was not real, there would be no reason to hope anymore and I would just face the reality. But as everyone knows, It's almost impossible to disprove a negative and probably impossible to disprove the existance of God. So there will always be room for faith and hope, and people will keep hoping.

But that is exactly the point of my question.  Discussing the existence of something when one person is emotionally invested in belief through faith and the other only wants to believe in it if it's actually true, is not a dicussion, it's a conversation attempt.  And with relatives, it's likely to lead to a guilt trip as well.  So, it's a conversation I'd really rather not have.  The point of my question is to avoid the the conversion altogether.

Not that I mind debate. I rather like it.  But that isn't what conversations with faithful relatives leads to.

But that's what I'm saying though. Of course we (well, at least myself) only want to believe in it if it's true. If I found out God didn't exist, trust me, there would be no reason for me to lie to myself. But the point is it's impossible to know with 100% certainty whether it actually is or is not true. 

There currently exists legitimate reasons to think that it is, and legitimate reason to think that it isn't. A person usually takes the position that is most convincing to them and makes the most sense to them. But without concrete proof they are only left to hope that they are right, and that's where the faith part comes in. It doesn't mean they want to believe in it even if it isn't true. It means they think it probably is, and fill in the uncertainty part with faith/hope. 

It's interesting for me personally to discuss the reason for whatever position a person takes on the issue, but I can see why it would be frustrating for either party to try to convince the other person when there is no concrete proof either way.