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A Question For Believers

Into It

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Believers of a specific God, I ask you:

If I were able to prove that your God did not exist, would you want to know?

Edit: I should have made this a poll; I don't even plan to respond. I just would like to know how you would answer this, because my religious friend just told me "No," which was surprising.
 

Fluffywolf

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How does one prove the non-existence of something?

I think he means hypothetically. If it was possible. Would a person rather be held ignorant. Or face the truth.

I find the question very interesting. But I'm no believer. :p
 

Take Five

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This is like the "can God create a rock so heavy he can't move it?" question.
 

ThinkingAboutIt

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Believers of a specific God, I ask you:

If I were able to prove that your God did not exist, would you want to know?

Edit: I should have made this a poll; I don't even plan to respond. I just would like to know how you would answer this, because my religious friend just told me "No," which was surprising.

I know He does exist because He talks to and guides/helps me daily, so the question really is pointless to me.
 

Lady_X

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yes, of course.
 

Nyota

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I don't understand how, being a Christian and a searcher of Truth, it would be okay to answer "no" to the original question. But, then there's the thought that it is/will always be impossible to prove that God is not real.
 

Totenkindly

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Believers of a specific God, I ask you:
If I were able to prove that your God did not exist, would you want to know?

The question is so hypothetical (since it can never really be accomplished) that most people can't give it serious consideration.

People with enough faith really don't care what "evidence" accumulates going against their belief, since faith is not about drawing conclusions but rather about believing despite lack or accumulation of evidence. They'll figure simply that your evidence is wrong or that ultimately they'll be shown to be right even if evidence now points otherwise. "Evidence" is irrelevant and, really, it only gets dragged in by believers so that they can defend their faith against antagonists or to use as a lever to "force" someone else to believe.

I just would like to know how you would answer this, because my religious friend just told me "No," which was surprising.

It doesn't surprise me anymore, but I spent a lifetime in that environment. I think the first time I got that response, though, it blew my mind.

I'd want to know... but like I said, there is no possibility of someone giving "definitive for all-time proof," so it's hard to even process the question.
 
O

Oberon

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Believers of a specific God, I ask you:

If I were able to prove that your God did not exist, would you want to know?

Edit: I should have made this a poll; I don't even plan to respond. I just would like to know how you would answer this, because my religious friend just told me "No," which was surprising.

I may know why he told you 'no,' and it has nothing to do with a hypothetical "If I could know everything and absolutely prove" question.

When you asked the question, your friend probably thought that it was a prelude to you actually taking a swing at disproving the existence of God, or at least the Christian God. And believe me, Christians have heard it all when it comes to people of other faiths or creeds, or none at all, chipping away at their beliefs.

Your friend probably just didn't want to have that discussion.
 

Immaculate Cloud

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Maybe this detracts from the original question - but I want to point out that if an INFJ is someone who cannot live without 'purpose' as in 'an INTJ cannot live without 'knowledge' then, an INFJ without belief in some higher power or some 'pattern' in the Universe must feel his life is without purpose, that any knowledge or skill he acquires is ultimately pointless. Or that who he becomes is not so important anyway. I'd say that any INFJ needs to have this sense of mission - not saying Messiah complex or messianic calling. Just a sense of living his life according to some higher set of values than the normal 'eat, drink, sleep, reproduce' pattern.

Saying that one can prove the non-existance of God is also a dogma. Atheists can be as dogmatic about their 'beliefs' as the religious nuts. Modern man has become so blase, so jaded, so much in a hurry and lost all sense of wonder. Wonder at the intricate spider webs or the way that birds nests are woven for instance - all this is bound to make one wary of drawing absolute conclusions about the non-existence of God...
 

Thalassa

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My counter question is that if I could prove God did exist, would YOU want to know?
 

The_Liquid_Laser

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Believers of a specific God, I ask you:

If I were able to prove that your God did not exist, would you want to know?

Yes of course.


How does one prove the non-existence of something?

You can construct proofs by contrapositive or contradiction in order to prove such a thing. Of course this refers to logical proofs. Often when atheists or agnostics are asking for proof they mean scientific proof rather than logical proof.
 

Meatbot

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How does one prove the non-existence of something?

You first define the object in question. Then you look to see if that definition is self-contradictory. If it is, that object can't exist.

For example, an object that is both a circle and a square cannot exist because it's definition is self-contradictory. However, a flying pink space unicorn CAN exist because it's definition is not self-contradictory.

It so happens that the most common definition of god is self-contradictory. Omnipotence and omniscience cannot coexist, therefore a god who supposedly possesses both attributes cannot exist.
 

Warm

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People with enough faith really don't care what "evidence" accumulates going against their belief, since faith is not about drawing conclusions but rather about believing despite lack or accumulation of evidence. They'll figure simply that your evidence is wrong or that ultimately they'll be shown to be right even if evidence now points otherwise. "Evidence" is irrelevant and, really, it only gets dragged in by believers so that they can defend their faith against antagonists or to use as a lever to "force" someone else to believe.

I agree that faith is all about believing despite what others might see as evidence, but I have to shake my head at the forcing thing because it's not my style.
 
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