jlujan69
Full Member
unenlightened, backwoods, no-count fundy
Posts: 113
|
Post by jlujan69 on Oct 3, 2010 2:15:10 GMT -5
I'm going to ask that we borrow a page from Barney the Dinosaur's book and use our imaginations a bit. I'm assuming that all of you here who either reject the existence of God or the teachings of the Christian religion have made an informed choice. So, it's sometime in the future and we're all standing before the God of the Bible for judgment. For those who died in unbelief, God gives each a chance to speak on his own behalf. What do you imagine you'd say to Him?
|
|
jlujan69
Full Member
unenlightened, backwoods, no-count fundy
Posts: 113
|
Post by jlujan69 on Oct 3, 2010 2:19:00 GMT -5
Please don't act too surprised that I'd ask this question. After all, I am some kind of a fundy!
|
|
|
Post by ironbite on Oct 3, 2010 2:19:07 GMT -5
Fuck you.
Ironbite-not to you but to God.
|
|
|
Post by ironbite on Oct 3, 2010 2:19:31 GMT -5
On second thought....fuck you.
Ironbite-both of you.
|
|
|
Post by tolpuddlemartyr on Oct 3, 2010 2:22:11 GMT -5
I'd ask which way to Valhalla, I have mead to imbibe and wenches to service!
|
|
|
Post by Art Vandelay on Oct 3, 2010 2:32:32 GMT -5
Well, being omnipotent and omniscient, God surely not only knew my reasoning for my conclusion (probably better than me for that matter) but also fully intended for things to happen the way they did, so what could I possibly say or do that'd make any differance? In fact, what would be the point of me saying anything to God in the first place? Like I said, he already knows everything there is to know about me and can and will do as he pleases, so why go though the charade of trying to justify my thoughts and actions to the very being that's so supposedly displeased with the way HE made things?
So yeah, I'd essentially ask that sort of question. Not that'd I'd likely get an answer, but it's more productive than grovelling in any case.
|
|
|
Post by priestling on Oct 3, 2010 3:13:27 GMT -5
I serve Anubis now. Everything has their time, even if it's not to my liking. My friend dying of cystic fibrosis and my murdered uncle come to mind. But, despite that, I know that they have peace, and so shall I, serving the Jackal God as I'm meant to. No thanks to your skydaddy fuckwit.
So... what would I ask? I'd ask him why he didn't just remove the fucking tree in the Garden of Eden if he's so fucking omnipotent. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go snuggle with Anubis in my dreams.
|
|
|
Post by Napoleon the Clown on Oct 3, 2010 3:38:51 GMT -5
"I don't blame you for some real assholes among your followers."
Or maybe a crude joke. I like to improvise.
|
|
|
Post by Undecided on Oct 3, 2010 4:37:59 GMT -5
There are several subtleties which have been glossed over when you ask that question. The most vital of these are epistemological: how, exactly, do I know that I am dead and standing before the God of the Bible for judgment? Where did I, a person who would not accept these statements on faith, acquire this knowledge? In fact, how did I reach the situation in the first place? Since the situation is so far removed from my previous experience, what basis do I have to confirm or reject the statements about my situation that have been offered to me?
Even if I accept as absolute truth the statement that I am before the God of the Bible for judgment, there is a great deal of ambiguity as to the theological significance of the statement. Some 2.2 billion people are Christians: surely there are at least as many viewpoints on the nature of the Christian God. Soteriology is a point of particular variety and relevance: is there universal reconciliation, unconditional election, or instead one of the many possible circumstances in between? Does Hell exist, and if so, what is its nature?
If one chooses a particular flavour of Christianity with particular answers (consistent, for arguments sake, with classical theism) and assumes that these answers are known absolutely, then a remaining knot is finding any meaning in addressing God given that he has the attributes ascribed to him. It seems vacuous to present one's case to the omniscient, futile to fight with the omnipotent, and unnecessary to seek mercy from the omnibenevolent. What, then, is there to say of value?
|
|
|
Post by Sleepy on Oct 3, 2010 7:18:03 GMT -5
"Did you see the rack Eve was carrying??? Mmm mmm."
|
|
|
Post by Rime on Oct 3, 2010 7:37:03 GMT -5
Depends. Is there going to be this huge movie about my life where his fan club get to laugh at me and then God is going to stop periodically, ask me to justify myself and then Him and His fan club laugh at my answer, scold me and generally make me wish I could go to Hell so I could avoid the scorn? On the other hand... I'd go with Undecided's notion: It seems vacuous to present one's case to the omniscient, futile to fight with the omnipotent, and unnecessary to seek mercy from the omnibenevolent. What, then, is there to say of value?
|
|
|
Post by lighthorseman on Oct 3, 2010 8:15:24 GMT -5
there's a special place in hell for Pascal's wagerists.
|
|
|
Post by matante on Oct 3, 2010 9:32:25 GMT -5
Given that I'm not a great orator, I'd probably just shout: "Now what!!! >:C"
|
|
|
Post by Aqualung on Oct 3, 2010 10:26:59 GMT -5
As others have already said it would be pointless to try to reason with it, so I'd tell God to get his ass back down to Earth and fix shit!
|
|
|
Post by Sigmaleph on Oct 3, 2010 10:27:13 GMT -5
"Since you are asking me a question, I must presume you don't already know the answer, otherwise anything I say is irrelevant. Evidence points towards you not being omniscient, and thus not the God of Abraham as traditionally depicted. Further, many of the reasons I doubted you when I was still alive apply. The world was not consistent with an omnipotent, benevolent-towards-humankind entity existing. Neither is the threat of eternal punishment. The world looked exactly as if naturalistic processes created it, and while one might argue as to the reason those naturalistic processes took place, Ockham's Razor (part of the brain you allegedly gave me) told me there was no reason to assume that reason was a sentient being of any particular kind, let alone the one claimed by any religion. If I was not to trust my reasoning and the evidence of the world, this is once again inconsistent with a god that wants us to believe in him.
All the reasons believers gave me could have as easily applied to the gods of other religions, or other imaginary entities. Indeed, many drew different conclusions from the same kind of evidence, which just shows that it was not valid to base my conclusions. So all this leads me to conclude that you are not, in fact, the God of Abraham. Maybe you are a hallucination, maybe some other entity taking that form. If I'm wrong, then I still declare that, given the brain I was given and the universe I found myself in, I had no reason to act otherwise, and further since if I'm wrong you are both omniscient and omnipotent, my destiny was irrevocably sealed by your decision to make me the way you did.
So, having answered, I in turn, ask you: Who are you, and what is really going on?"
Maybe not quite that eloquent, I'm better in writing than in speech, but something along those lines.
|
|