Suppose God (christian) was proved to exist (imperically)?

[PickelledEggs]

I want to party and beat up giants.... :(

[Solitary]

What is this God that is proved to exist empirically? The Judeo-Christian-Islamic God and all other gods have already been proven to exist empirically (observation) by neuroscience haven't they? What has changed since they were?  The insane, neurotics, delusional, those that hallucinate from drugs or prefrontal epilepsy still hear, see, and talk to them and Him may believe in them, and those that are sound and critical rational thinkers don't.  Solitary

[trdsf]

I think this is kind of a nowhere question -- in the first place, I don't know how you prove a deity to begin with, how you differentiate one from an exceedingly advanced but otherwise perfectly natural extraterrestrial, much less how you specifically prove Christian mythology without at the same time at least half-validating both Jewish and Islamic mythology.

Even then, which Christian god?  Even though they use the same name and the same books, I'm hard-pressed to say that Quakers and Catholics and Evangelicals and Orthodox worship the same god with such radically different interpretations they put on the poor guy.

If you want to prove one mythology, I'm with Stephen Fry -- give me the Greeks.

[Poison Tree]

I agree with trdsf, calling it "Biblical God" eliminates non-biblical gods but does nothing more to define this god--as a casual glance at the myriad of Christian denominations will show.

But I'll play along and echo Aroura33 with an analogy: If I were suddenly transported to North Korea what would I do? Being fundamentally a coward, I'd lick Kim Jong-un's boots. But I wouldn't actually like Kim Jong-un just like I would not actually like Biblical God simply by his existing. Fear could compel me to feign worship Biblical God while internally continuing to believe him to be an immoral monster but, to quote Richard Dawkin's comment on Pascal’s Wager, Biblical God "had better not be of the omniscient kind or he'd see through the deception".

[SGOS]

As a thought experiment suppose, just for the moment that it was proven that the Christ and   Biblical God did, in fact, exist.

How would it affect your atheism?

I would believe in God, I suppose.  Would I want to worship him?  I dunno.  Depends on how wonderful he was, I guess.

This is a good thought experiment, because when I do it think about it, I have to question why such a wonderful entity deserving of worship would demand to be worshipped in the first place.  Once again it confirms my belief that if there were a god, it could not be an Abrahamic god.  It would have to be something so far removed from Biblical teachings, that it would turn the world upside down.

[doorknob]

if there were proof I guess I'd have no choice but to believe in him/it. But I'd be suspicious of any proof being fake or falsified. Still if it was beyond a doubt I'd believe.

I wouldn't worship the christian god though. Maybe some other god but not yaweh, he's too much of a hypocritical prick for my taste. In that case I guess I'm going to hell.

[La Dolce Vita]

As a thought experiment suppose, just for the moment that it was proven that the Christ and   Biblical God did, in fact, exist.

Ok. (though we can now for a fact that he isn't real, given how the jews were polytheistic/henotheistic up to about 500 B.C.)

How would it affect your atheism?

Erm ... You are aware what atheism means, right? Atheism means that you do not believe in the existence of gods. It does not mean that you believe there are no gods. It is typically the position of: "no evidence supports this, so it's baseless to believe in it".

In the case that one or more gods were shown to exist, the position of atheism would no longer be needed, and, as it is the evidently true position, I would become a theist.

How would you reconcile yourself to embracing the need to worship him, :worship:  to denying your atheism?

As stated, atheism is only the position I hold due to lack of evidence. It's just like not believing in big foot. If big foot is found I'd believe in big foot. If something is evidently true, why deny it or hold on to a logically reached position of refraining from judgment until evidence arrives. But then  for the oddest question of all:

How would you reconcile yourself to embracing the need to worship him, :worship:

Why would I worship a disgusting monster. As Dawkins and others have described Yahweh he truly is the most heinous character in all of fiction (or at least one of them). I would hope I would remain a moral person and dear defy this evil creature.

That said, of course I could crack under the threat of torture, just as I could have given in to torture by fascists, communists, and other tyrannical ideologies. But then again, given that Yahweh is supposed to be all knowing, faking it would be useless.

Would you study the Bible?

Religious scriptures are interesting. I have already read the new testament and large portions of the old testament. (Despite being raised in a secular family and country). If Yahweh was demonstrated to be real I'd probably show even more interest in the scripture. It only makes sense.

P.S. Based on your questions I can't help but wonder if you aren't a christian disguised as an atheist. Your questions strongly imply that you don't know what atheism is.

[antediluvian]

Never happen

[Desdinova]

Heres my take on this. As Stephen Fry had put it in the interview he had with a bishop. As an atheist, I look at religious belief in the same comfort state a child has to fictional characters like father christmas or the tooth fairy, they are just the rambling stories of cults trying to control people on mass.

However, if in an alternative reality where it were possible for god to exist, I would put it like Stephen did. Why the fuck should a worship a capricious, mean minded, stupid god, who creates a world so full of injustice and pain. Why should I worship a deity that claims to love us, when he would just as easily drown us, kill our children to prove a point, and set out wars between mankind just to prove he 'loves us'/

If god was real, I would say fuck you to him, and if he would send me to hell for it, good, I'd sooner go there, at least the devil was right about him.

^This.

Fuck him.  I'll go to hell with Munch.  I can't imagine worshipping an entity that created so much pain and suffering. 

[GSOgymrat]

I can't imagine worshipping an entity that created so much pain and suffering. 

Perhaps if you believed in the Christian God you would believe he was a loving, all-powerful parental figure who had your best interests at heart and you would accept that pain and suffering served a greater purpose. I suppose you could also be like those Christians who believe in God but are angry that He allows such suffering, such as when a Christian's child die of an illness and they become angry that God "took them." Honestly, I'm happy that I don't think that way.

[trdsf]

I would believe in God, I suppose.

If you have proof, though, it's not a matter of belief.  And in the absence of faith, whither godhood?

[Ro3bert]

If you want to prove one mythology, I'm with Stephen Fry -- give me the Greeks.

My secret feeling too. GO GREEKS

Robert

[trdsf]

My secret feeling too. GO GREEKS

Robert

I mean, really.  Muscular and willing men who couldn't keep their khitones, khlamydÄ"s and himatiÄ" on if they were molecularly bonded to their thighs (if they even bothered wearing anything in the first place), and about all you needed to do to attract their attention was lounge about near a stream with a Pan flute and a smile... sorry, ain't nothing any of the modern religions got can compare with that.  Granted, I seem to recall that most liaisons between gods and mortals generally didn't end well for the mortal, but what a way to go.

[The Skeletal Atheist]

Of course ask the most important question of all: how often do you crap and fart?

[Fidel_Castronaut]

As a thought experiment suppose, just for the moment that it was proven that the Christ and   Biblical God did, in fact, exist.

How would it affect your atheism? How would you reconcile yourself to embracing the need to worship him, :worship:  to denying your atheism?

Would you study the Bible?

I would be in deep shit, my belief is so ingrained I don't think I'd be able to make the change.

Robert

This question has been posed several times, and my answer has never changed.

Would I 'believe' in this god (defined) existing? Yes.

Would I worship it? Depends on the god. If it's the Abrahamic one, certainly not, no.