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Read a book, watched a film, have a hypothetical question?

BerberElla

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Imagine (I know this is hard for a few, but try anyway ;) ) as the world stands now, with all the differing faiths and their depictions of the end of the world, atheists and their lack of belief.

If beings that looked like the so called description of angels, descended on to earth and began to wipe out humanity, would we stand and fight as humans til our last breath, or would all religions and atheists somehow find a way to believe that this was their apocolypse, and just lay down and take it?

I read an interesting book that depicted this scene and then slowly you were made to question whether they were aliens instead of angels, simply cloaked in what we were most vunerable to.

Personally I think the book is a true depiction of what events would look like, and humanity did not fight to save itself, instead it lay down and accepted it's fate. It was only once too much time had passed and still no appearance of a god did the few remaining survivors start questioning what was really going on.

What a shame it would be if humanity were so easily conquered by using their silly beliefs against them.

Would you fight or would you lay down and believe?
 
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Phantonym

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Hmm. This reminds me of the animation Battle for Terra :laugh:

Anyway, I think some would yield and some would fight, as usual. Some would definitely re-think their beliefs.

Since I don't believe in "angels", I'd definitely be doubtful of the "beings". For somebody to just start wiping out humanity...if that doesn't make people suspicious then I don't know what will.
Laying down and starting to believe in something without concrete evidence or explanation of why this was even necessary is really not my thing. Neither is fighting for ridiculous causes but in this case, I would definitely fight. Even if it was solely for my own survival.
 

Night

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Survival instinct generally holds greater influence over our behavior than something with as much psychological malleability as belief - even when the belief is fundamental to our emotional consciousness, as spiritual belief often is.

I suspect common sense would eventually win out.
 

Habba

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Survival instinct generally holds greater influence over our behavior than something with as much psychological malleability as belief - even when the belief is fundamental to our emotional consciousness, as spiritual belief often is.

This.

Plus I'd expect spiritual leaders (Pope, MacGyver) of Earth to tell their people to fight back.

I mean, if any god would want us dead, we wouldn't even be given a chance to fight back. So if we can fight back, it's most likely not an act of god.

By the way, doesn't this kind of set-up happen in movie "Legion"?
[YOUTUBE="tGE_zSdCzDU"]Legion - Official Trailer[/YOUTUBE]
 

The_Liquid_Laser

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Does it really matter? Let me ask this question:

If you saw an ICBM (nuke) heading for your city, would you simply accept your fate or would you be ready to fight that ICBM to your last breath?
 

BerberElla

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This.

Plus I'd expect spiritual leaders (Pope, MacGyver) of Earth to tell their people to fight back.

I mean, if any god would want us dead, we wouldn't even be given a chance to fight back. So if we can fight back, it's most likely not an act of god.

I know each religion depicts it differently if it depicts it at all, but I was brought up believing (not that I do anymore) that jesus and an army of angels descend and start cutting heads off, that's how the world ends, being slowly slaughtered. Plenty of time to fight back wot wot? :D

By the way, doesn't this kind of set-up happen in movie "Legion"?
[YOUTUBE="tGE_zSdCzDU"]Legion - Official Trailer[/YOUTUBE]

I can hardly wait to see that movie, saw the trailer about a month ago as someone forwarded it to me because it resembled the books I had been reading.
 

BerberElla

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Does it really matter? Let me ask this question:

If you saw an ICBM (nuke) heading for your city, would you simply accept your fate or would you be ready to fight that ICBM to your last breath?


No, but then it's a hypothetical question and they often never matter. ;)

I don't compare a nuke to an angel, i'd prefer to imagine that nuke heading towards some killer angel being ready to blast it out of the sky, along with it's mighty sword. :devil:
 

The_Liquid_Laser

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No, but then it's a hypothetical question and they often never matter. ;)

I don't compare a nuke to an angel, i'd prefer to imagine that nuke heading towards some killer angel being ready to blast it out of the sky, along with it's mighty sword. :devil:

I guess it depends on how you are imagining this hypothetical scenario. I suppose if the angels are only a bit more powerful than humans like the aliens in Independence Day, then you can ask whether a person can fight back or not. I'm imagining the angels as agents of an omnipotent being. In this case the whole event would be over before anyone knew it even started. Or even if the events happened slower, every attempt to fight back would be less than futile.
 

Habba

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...but I was brought up believing (not that I do anymore) that jesus and an army of angels descend and start cutting heads off, that's how the world ends, being slowly slaughtered. Plenty of time to fight back wot wot? :D

That doesn't make much sense now does it? :D

Couldn't omnipotent being just make us disappear as easily as we blow out a candle...?
 
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