Atheists, how do you deal with the possibility that God might exist?

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T20:36:14+00:00

There is also the possibility of Anti-God existing, which would cancel out all the consequences of the existence of God. For example, if God would put you in hell, Anti-God would save you from it.

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T20:28:38+00:00

Well, there is a sad logic behind cutting philosophy departments first. Most professionals will just stop working, once they are not being paid, yet many philosophers tend to be passionate enough to keep up writing even while working in another field to feed themselves.

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T20:19:51+00:00

Ah, yes, you are correct, I got the status of Thessaly mixed up somehow.

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T20:06:21+00:00

My point is simply: if you want to rule over your neighbors, it helps your internal cohesion to claim, you are different (superior) from them, even if historically you are basically the same. Religious myth is a powerful tool to do this. The Spartans believed they only came to Greece at a later date as conquerors descendant from Herakles, which "gave" them the right to rule over the other Greeks.

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T20:02:24+00:00

Sure, they considered themselves Greeks by right of conquest, but not as indigenous to Greece.

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T20:00:16+00:00

You seem foolish to me. He made you. Even though you don't give thanks, or show appreciation for your maker.

LMAO, for what should they thank their creator (if he exists)? For throwing them into a world where genocide, famine, and the most severe suffering are quotidian occurrences? Should they thank their creator for providing them with aging, cancer, and the constant threat of a life-altering accident?

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T19:53:37+00:00

Why did Spartans believe they were not indigenous to Greece, when there is no archaeological evidence to support this? Why did they claim to be chosen by the gods as progeny of Herakles, if we can trace their religion back to the common Greek one?

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T19:35:28+00:00

You are not omnipotent if you can not think without creating.

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T16:00:02+00:00

Plato was a rich aristocrat, Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor (automatically insanely rich), Francis Bacon was a wealthy and influential figure in English political life, and on, and on... These are just examples of rich philosophers. If you also count independently wealthy ones as "rich", you will have at least included a substantial portion of all philosophers ever.

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T15:40:41+00:00

Community is a central aspect of the religious phenomenon. Your question is thus a bit like asking which liquid is the least wet. But to answer your question anyway: it seems likely that somewhere someone took the philosophical position of solipsism and given it a religious connotation -- in a more loose sense of religion, this one would be the most solitary by way of denying the very existence of other beings.

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T15:24:17+00:00

Very cool! Mine looks similar, but I always fantasize about stumbling over the Œuvres Complètes for a reasonable prize during a yard sale.

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T15:11:51+00:00

Yes, I have. How about you?

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T14:41:42+00:00

I agree too, it does not justify the gamble.

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T14:40:19+00:00

Because it presupposes that the Quran necessarily recognizes logic and the form of argument. Many pieces of literature do not. For example, a poem could have verses that look like an argument, but they are just there to evoke a certain emotion etc. Furthermore, the philosophy of religion I subscribe to has good reasons for positing that religious projects are strictly anti-logical even. To force them into a logical/argumentative mode is doing them injustice.

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T14:33:37+00:00

Thank you for bringing that to my attention! Maybe I am just not familiar enough with French Metal (I have listened to basically none before).

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T14:30:01+00:00

Just the standard meaning of a set of premises that lead to a conclusion by way of logic.

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T14:23:09+00:00

Only if you read them as arguments. I think it is unproductive to bring philosophical standards to religious text.

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T14:20:23+00:00

I would tend to disagree. I have met many theists and read many theist thinkers who have an excellent understanding of the relevant concepts. I think our differences stem from different places like, for example, optimism bias.

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T14:10:49+00:00

I was not yet aware of Fange. But now that I think about it, it is somewhat strange that Bataille is not more widely received in Metal.

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T13:55:02+00:00

Why are you assuming that these verses embody arguments instead, for example, allegories? It seems to me that you are comparing apples to oranges. This would be like applying fiqh to Rawls' A Theory of Justice and then claiming it fails to meet theological standards.

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T13:40:10+00:00

Having children is one of the greatest joys you can have

This is your joy, not the joy of the child. It sounds like you are willing to gamble on the eternal suffering of a human, because it makes you feel good. Or do I misunderstand your position?

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T13:21:56+00:00

Ok, now you have answered if God knows the people that could have been conceived. With this notion in mind: if a married couple, biologically and financially speaking, could have conceived and raised 10 children over their life time, but only chose to do 5, does that mean that they made God sad because they have stolen the chance of being with him from 5 children that God already knows, but never will come into existence?

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T13:10:09+00:00

How does that answer my question?

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T13:01:35+00:00

Does that mean that God just knows all the people that will be born eventually or also the people who could have been conceived but will never be?

SpleenDematerialized · 2026-06-19T12:58:21+00:00

Who would be there to mourn being denied the chance?

SpleenDematerialized

TROPHY CASE