What would you do if you found out God existed

[Minimalist]

When my life has plenty of lip service to God but almost nothing but rebellion against him, there isn't much good I can do but self loath.

How fortunate for you that 'god' is just a phony human construction, then.  Stop wasting your life on primitive bullshit and grow up.

[Whateverist]

I can't continue hating something I didn't hate to begin with.

The what if of it is so hard to answer because there's just nothing within my comprehension that could ever explain away all the terrible things that have ever happened.

But...let's say he did exist and he somehow did explain it. I would be okay with that, I would believe if I was given all the evidence and all the answers. Assuming for the sake of argument that I didn't just write it off as myself having gone insane.

Would I want to worship him? No. Would I understand his need or desire to be worshipped? No.

I already regret all the things I've done wrong in my life, I don't need a god to tell me to feel remorse over the mistakes I've made.

Exactly.

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If God showed up, proved himself to exist, proved himself to be only the good things in the Bible and denounced and proved that he did not command that women be subservient (1 Cor 14:34) or that slavery was allowable (Ex 21) or that the cost of apostasy was death (Deut 13:9) or that gay people should be stoned to death (Leviticus 20:13), or that bats were birds (Lev 11:19), etc etc etc. If he proved to me that these were in fact the codified prejudices of ignorant people, then I'd be grateful. I'd then ask if he were omnipotent, and if he says yes, I'd ask why he didn't make Stephen Paddock's gun explode in his face, mortally wounding him, or better yet, just made him disappear as soon as he broke the window. I'd ask why, if he wanted everyone to be saved, did he make it look exactly as if he didn't exist, what with the sheer amount of randomness and pain in the world. But if he answered all of these questions (and probably a lot more) satisfactorily, as I am assuming your hypothetical is proposing, then I'd happily follow him.

I'd know that the Bible would then be mostly useless, and I'd ask him to point out the parts that were "inspired," if any. Maybe I could write a new one. I'd be pretty famous, having talked to God and whatnot.

Since no mention was made of his explaining/justifying what was attributed to him in the bible, I assume he would disavow the bible entirely.  Otherwise I'm fine with accepting the hypothetical premise that all was explained to my satisfaction for the sake of this mental experiment.  After all nothing really rides on it and obviously it isn't really going to happen whether we wanted or didn't want it to happen.

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As I said in another thread, whether any gawd is worthy is more important than their existence. If your buy-bull gawd were proven, as described in the buy-bull, it still wouldn't be worthy of worship.

Yep, existent or not, whether or not this divinity is worthy is something that cannot be "explained' to us.  That is where the rubber meets the road.

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What is interesting to me is that proof that a good god exists would be proof that a Christian God does not exist.

Well a bible-defined Christian god at any rate, which seems to be the only kind anyone wants to allow anyhow.

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@CL do you really think it's fair of you to make the assumption that people who don't believe in God feel no remorse for things they've done wrong?

No, it isnt fair. But I didn't make that assumption. What I meant was would you feel remorseful towards God for those things.

Sorry, I should have made that clear.

I think there is an important difference between not wanting to disappoint ones god -as I certainly would not want to do in the case of the worthy (non-biblical) god I can imagine- and feeling remorseful towards that god.  Remorse is something I feel because it is I that did the thing that I cannot take back but wish I could.  There is no way I can imagine directing that feeling toward god.  My regret for disappointing god would be something additional but not the remorse itself.  Do you understand what I mean?

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Ok. I wouldn't. Can you explain to me why a person would feel remorseful towards God for a mistake they made that did god no harm? I don't get it. If I had sex with Carl's wife, why would I be sorry to God for that? I genuinely don't understand.

Because the belief is that our wrongdoings hurt God. Specifically those wrongdoings that hurt other people, because each one of those people are God's children.

...Anyway, that's the idea behind why we ask forgiveness from God, so that's what I was going for when I mentioned feeling remorse on the OP.

Yikes.  God has just got to toughen up.  If he wants to create creatures with our limited capacities and imbue them with free will, he had better be able to handle some disappointment.  Don't let God make his hurt your problem.  You have your own hurts to deal with.  God is a big boy and can handle his business, believe me.

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It was a gorgeous reply. I loved it.

I get you wanting to love your unrealistic idea of your god. Every battered partner wants to think they can fix them, change them, believe in them and hope for the best in them to manifest itself and stay for good. But I look at you with your black eye and broken teeth and I want to weep; and I look at what that poisonous partner you idealize has done to you and want to shove his face into a meat grinder.

Poignantly insightful.

[WinterHold]

Humility and introspection are good qualities, to be sure. But this degree of self-loathing seems more like inverted megalomania.

Darkest of souls? Deserving worse punishment than most people on earth? Really?  

You don't understand what I been through, I understand my madness more than anyone else. I don't understand other people's madness well, I understand my own.  Mine stemmed from me being brought to a blessed place but then holding on a to a cursed sword till it brought me to the shadows and till I forgot the blessed name of God and cannot distinguish falsehood from truth.

In the rebellion, I deceived myself that I didn't know God to the extent I made arguments against His Glory and Praise which some of you might remember (it was before CL was even here).

I have been so immersed in delusion, and my company from the demons, the dark spirit, is what I embrace, while outwardly drawing knowledge from the light.

The veils are increasing and the dark night is getting darker and the evils increasing and my vision further and further from God...because even now when I outwardly write these words, I barely care, I barely move towards God and try to subdue the darkness.

It's almost like it's all the same, the darknes and the light, the uncleaness and blessings, like it's all the same.... the wicked and good.... like it doesn't matter.

That is the saddest story I ever heard.

So I should:
1- Cut you a slack because you're crazy ! so you can say any kind of shit (including shit like this, that includes death threats to almost all humans who defy you in your faith):
https://atheistforums.org/thread-51114-p...pid1624137

2-You just poop on me; and I leave you because you are crazy ! reminding me with that terrorist taking refuge behind women and children to escape slaps.

3-Be a man and handle the shitty faith you carry. Shiite Twelver faith is pretty violent, and nothing justifies the amounts of blood it calls to spill. Be a man and quit hiding behind excuses like "I'm crazy". If you're crazy; you should be put in a hospital because you spread dangerous "crazy faiths" just like any respectful cultist. The KKK or ISIS are not asked about "if they were crazy" or not. We know they are twisted, fucks. Hitler was a crazy fuck. Stalin was a crazy fuck. All have been "through a lot"; just like Saints who went through a lot too.

But Saints don't practice Twelver Shiite faiths that call to massacre most of the world (especially Sunnies):

https://atheistforums.org/thread-51114-p...pid1623364

4-Crazy fucks blow shit up. People die; because crazy fucks are not put in hospitals. You're not the first human to have "mental problems", many on this forum have health problems, but once we feel the symptoms we go get treatment instead of whining and calling for the "grand Jihad against Sunnies". Terrorists are all crazy fucks, the modern age is defined by mental illness, many humans went through a lot, and many are overloaded with threats from crazy fucks hating other shit with passion.

5-Alhlu Bayt/ if you fail to convert anybody, then you saw God/ if you fail to convince anybody, then you are possesed by demons/ if you are confronted with the danger your ideas cause, you take refugee behind mental illness.

1 Last thing..Did you take the shower I told you take? And I'm waiting for you to shift your personality into "Hamza; the funny" or "Hamza the victim".
And remember: missionary business requires brains. You didn't find the proper pussy in Shiite forums?

[Whateverist]

It's not out of the woods if you know God exists, then comes truly knowing the path to him and taking it, which is recognizing his name among the false names. Knowing God exists is easy, knowing who God is and the I path to him, that takes another level. And knowing that path, and taking it, is exactly a whole different thing, and knowing the path and way and door doesn't mean you will enter it and take it.

All praise to God of all the guidance and insights and proofs he has helped me with and I ask forgiveness for every ungrateful act of disobedience and every lack of will towards embracing his name and submitting to him.

Take a flying fuck through a rolling doughnut, MK.  At least CL actually talks to us like human beings.

The file you addressed is not available at this time.  The real, fuller MK version is offline for now.  Peace be upon him.

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 You just do not understand, not even the what if put before you. I can answer those questions of yours the Bible deals with them and you would know if you cared to read it. Sin answers most of your questions, and God did not create sin Lucifer brought it into existence and man swallowed it hook line and sinker and now we suffer for it. If God were to appear before you you wouldn't be able to say anything, but hey believe as you wish but one day soon enough you will meet Him face to face and you will be speechless.

GC

That's a load of horseshit and you know it. The bible most certainly does not answer any of those questions. 

FWIW I have read the bible. It's one of the reasons why I am an atheist. 

If god were to appear to me, you have no clue what I would or wouldn't be able to say because 1 - you don't know me and 2 - you don't know me well enough to know how I would react in a situation like that. 

You don't know how anyone would react. I might just sucker punch him for shits and giggles so he can see what it's like to "suffer" from something that was beyond his control.

I must take issue with my bolded.  Give credit where credit is due but not just willy nilly to all comers.

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Not that I believe in any god but I've heard the phrase, "God doesn't make junk." The implication of course is that you shouldn't loathe what God made (you).

God created everything good, and he called me gently and good way, I rebelled, the evil with me is more mine than his, and the good with me is more his than mine.

I call you guys not gently, but just egoistically just to serve my dark delusions,  I misrepresent what the path I should be upon due to the knowledge I have, and gave you a false impression of the path Quran calls to. The way I been talking to you guys is among the crimes, that I use God's Name to feed my ego, while ignoring the path of his name, and call of his name, and etiquette of his name.

You guys see how evil I am. I don't know what is so hard to admit. Why blame God when you guys hate me from my choice of etiquette as well.

I don't hate you at all and I don't think you're evil.

And neither do I.  But I disagree with MK's self analysis.  His very real psychotic break is not a failure of will and is not god's punishment.  It is just a disease he is getting through.  I would say his faith, far from being of any value to him now in his time of need, is actually adding to his suffering.

@MK - just leave it alone.  It will never get better if you keep picking at it.

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Ok, so let's suppose that God really does exist and that He proved His existence to you. He showed up and did exactly whatever was needed to convince you personally that He is real.

You had a conversation with Him for many many hours, over the course of many days in a row, and He even showed you things... like certain things in the future of humanity so you could see how everything will ultimately fall together. He took you back in time so you could see particular events, including many moments from the life of Jesus. He showed you what the afterlife is like, fully answered every single one of your questions about why He allows certain things to happen, etc, and cleared up all misconceptions and misunderstandings you have had that made you think He was bad.

Let's say you came away from all that realizing God isn't who you thought He would have been, but is actually completely good. Would you then want to be with Him? Want to follow His ways? Feel remorse for the times in your life when you acted wrongly?

...Or would you feel angry and continue on hating the idea of God (even after learning He actually is good), hating the idea of having to "answer" to a higher being, etc?

Thank you for this Thread, CL.  Honestly, it would be pretty cool to make contact with a sentient lifeform who is more advanced than humanity, provided that this life-form is friendly: it would be awesome to see how this lifeform views/understands the reality around us, because IMO, it would show people that reality does not revolve around human thought patterns and sense-making processes; thus, humbling humanity's self-importance/conceit. 

Out of curiosity, if such a being presented itself to humanity, then how could humanity be sure that this being isn't just showing each individual human precisely what it wants to see in order for them to believe in it? Also, as per your op, if such a life-form presented itself, then what happens if all of humanity, especially practitioners of the worlds major religions, were wrong about it and completely misunderstood its intended message? In your opinion, would humanity's theists engage such a lifeform with an open mind, or would they deny that this lifeform is the supposed god that they worshiped because it did not conform to their preconceptions and expectations of what a god is? Would you be open to a completely new definition/understanding of what god/supernatural actually is?

P.S. I apologize for my inquisitiveness and by no means am I expecting you to respond to me.  I just found your thread to be interesting, as it made me curious.  Thanks again.

And the winner is ... the Kernel of course.  C_L would you prefer to take this (my bolded) up in a new thread?  I for one would really appreciate your considered opinion on the Kernel's hypothetical.

[Joods]

Not that I believe in any god but I've heard the phrase, "God doesn't make junk." The implication of course is that you shouldn't loathe what God made (you).

God created everything good, and he called me gently and good way, I rebelled, the evil with me is more mine than his, and the good with me is more his than mine.

I call you guys not gently, but just egoistically just to serve my dark delusions,  I misrepresent what the path I should be upon due to the knowledge I have, and gave you a false impression of the path Quran calls to. The way I been talking to you guys is among the crimes, that I use God's Name to feed my ego, while ignoring the path of his name, and call of his name, and etiquette of his name.

You guys see how evil I am. I don't know what is so hard to admit. Why blame God when you guys hate me from my choice of etiquette as well.

It is not you that is hated. It is religion. It is the preachy-like MK that we have been getting instead of the rational, reasonable, "other" MK that we knew. But we don't hate you. 

All this negative talk about yourself is very alarming. I really wish you would look to see the good in yourself and learn to appreciate that instead of all this blaming yourself for basically not being a perfect human. You do understand that there is no such thing, right?

[Edwardo Piet]

I couldn't find out God existed because they're indistinguishable from a highly advanced alien pretending to be god.

But, let's assume I falsely believed that God existed after ending up in what appeared to be heaven after I appeared to have died. I would imagine myself not really reacting until the good heavenly feelings happened.

[Succubus]

If said god were indeed completely good, as you postulate, I think I'd still be disappointed, as to me, science makes gorgeous sense, even if I don't have a degree in it. If it resembles, say, the Christian God, I'd be scared, because he creeps me out. 

Even if this god gave me 72 virgins, and I somehow caught up on that piece of my development, I'd be scared of hygiene. Plus, I'd be overstimulated trying to keep track of that many folks.

What if they're all Justin Bieber fans? That's not heaven, it's hell!

[LastPoet]

I can't answer your question CL. What are gods?

Gods lack the precise definition required. Could be just an advanced being trying to sheep us all to do its bidding.

I guess I would have a lot of questions for that thing.

Counter Question: if there was this advanced species that looked and do like the catholic god (think the Vorlons from babylon5), and everyone saw their miracles and awesome abilities, hence believed in it, but you knew they were simply advanced being and you didn't believe in it.

How would you go about disproving them as not the true god?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

CL is hypnotized.

[henryp]

I'd feel bad, but at the same time, I think god being coy about his existence up until that point would share a bit of the blame. I'd certainly join team god lickety split, though.

I also think knowing people will have an eternal existence would completely reshape our philosophical outlook on things. I can't imagine what the explanations would be, but I can't imagine a lot of things involving God, so in the hypothetical, none of it seems impossible once we get beyond there is a god.