Topic: How would a world without God look? (Read 5835 times)

Heretic · « **on:** May 08, 2006, 12:38:55 AM »

Yes, I would ike to turn JL's question around and pose it to the theists. How would you imagine the world without your God would look like?

Please leave the "it wouldn't exist" answers at home, humor me and give that it does, has life and it is wholly natural and evolution driven.

What would you expect it would look like?

Bdean · « **Reply #1 on:** May 08, 2006, 08:02:39 AM »

Ok - bracketing the entire God as the source of all matter, reason, goodness, etc. piece, let me speculate. This gives me the freedom of a fantasy writer, with no rules, in essence allowing me to be a god and creator, so on with it...

A world without "my" God would possibly look a bit like this:

It would be void of life, death, war, famine, joy, hatred, language, and disease. It would be a world of complete and utter peace...unchanging. It would would be free of human passions, fears, and craving. It would be eternal bliss. It would be "the sound of one hand clapping", "the mind that does not understand", "No thought, no reflection, no analysis, no cultivation, no intention."

You get the idea, if there were no God, then I envision that it would be the world of the Buddhist.

Anthony Horvath · « **Reply #2 on:** May 08, 2006, 08:28:18 AM »

Without the presence of humans, I suppose?

Bdean · « **Reply #3 on:** May 09, 2006, 01:30:15 PM »

Quote

Without the presence of humans, I suppose?

Illusion.

Copernicus · « **Reply #4 on:** May 09, 2006, 04:37:16 PM »

Quote from: Bdean

It would be void of life, death, war, famine, joy, hatred, language, and disease. It would be a world of complete and utter peace...unchanging. It would would be free of human passions, fears, and craving. It would be eternal bliss. It would be "the sound of one hand clapping", "the mind that does not understand", "No thought, no reflection, no analysis, no cultivation, no intention."

This is actually what the overwhelmingly vast number of worlds are like. Our kind of life-sustaining world seems to be extremely rare. Where there is no competition for survival, there is no death, war, famine, joy, hatred, language, and disease. What we observe in all living creatures, not just humans, are these elements of the struggle to compete for existence.

David · « **Reply #5 on:** May 09, 2006, 07:20:44 PM »

Personally, I can't get over the suspension of disbelief.

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It would be void of life, death, war, famine, joy, hatred, language, and disease. It would be a world of complete and utter peace...unchanging.

Peace without hatred and war? Explain.

Bdean · « **Reply #6 on:** May 09, 2006, 07:46:16 PM »

David, I suppose that I was using the word peace to mean the absence of hostility.

Quote

This is actually what the overwhelmingly vast number of worlds are like. Our kind of life-sustaining world seems to be extremely rare.

Cop - That is an amazing insight that didn't even occur to me as I was writing out my thoughts initially! It also serves to inform (even to me) why I, as a Christian, chose to describe a world without God in such terms.

JustLiz · « **Reply #7 on:** May 12, 2006, 07:49:19 AM »

I do believe the world would not exist without God, but for the sake of argument, I'll buy into the whole evolution bit with a big exception.

In a world without God, we would not have free will. We would be like the animals simply following our instincts. Morality would not exist. I don

Deep Thought · « **Reply #8 on:** May 12, 2006, 01:05:46 PM »

Quote from: JustLiz

I do believe the world would not exist without God, but for the sake of argument, I'll buy into the whole evolution bit with a big exception.

In a world without God, we would not have free will. We would be like the animals simply following our instincts. Morality would not exist. I don

Zagzagel · « **Reply #9 on:** May 12, 2006, 01:34:00 PM »

IF the athiest is right, and we who believe otherwise are wrong, then my answer to Harry is....

The world would look exactly like it does now.

SML · « **Reply #10 on:** May 12, 2006, 04:39:14 PM »

Supposing evolution was possible and had happened, and that humans had evolved...

The world would be devoid of imagination and creativity of any sort. The poor, drug addicts, disabled, defective in any way would simply be put to death without any reflection on the action. War would not be about territory or ideologies, but about the right to reproduce. Women would gladly mate with the winners of such wars. Mankind would be excessively violent, but probably imaginatively cruel. Those among us who were perceived as weak would not be permitted to reproduce, if they were permitted to live for any reason at all. There would be no love. There would be no notion of right or wrong - these things requiring imagination and the capacity to reflect.

Deep Thought · « **Reply #11 on:** May 12, 2006, 05:26:25 PM »

Hm.

It's funny how people seem to think that a world without God is automatically a world without any kind of subjective morality.

Bdean · « **Reply #12 on:** May 12, 2006, 07:50:35 PM »

And in the world that I described above, it is not only void of subjective morality. It is void of all subjectivity. :)

Copernicus · « **Reply #13 on:** May 12, 2006, 08:23:16 PM »

Quote from: JustLiz

In a world without God, we would not have free will. We would be like the animals simply following our instincts. Morality would not exist. I don

Deep Thought · « **Reply #14 on:** May 12, 2006, 09:08:55 PM »

In regards to the body hair issue, it's quite hot where I am right now. I'm blessing the fact that I can recline in nothing but shorts, without some over-thick fur coat helping this lack of air conditioning to boil me in my own sweat...

Warm-blooded, half the year in considerable heat, with the resourcefulness to make coverings for ourselves depending on the various conditions under which we live... not altogether vulnerable, methinks. (Unless you're laboring under the delusion that evolution would have intended us to run about naked all the time, in which case, why would we have developed the curious habit of making ourselves clothes?)

Deep Thought · « **Reply #15 on:** May 12, 2006, 09:14:53 PM »

How would a world with/without God look?

Exactly as it does now.

Because whatever is, is; and whatever is not, is not. Whether we like it or think it should be that way is irrelevant, because our thoughts and opinions have no effect on what the truth actually is. So if a benevolent God exists, and the world is as it is, whether or not we think it makes sense, or is benevolent, makes no difference; and if no God exists, evolutionism is correct, and things have developed along lines that some consider ridiculous, it likewise makes no difference.

That's my thought on the matter. I realize this is about what a world with/without God would look like according to our own subjective imaginings, but that's the only answer my mind will come out with: Exactly as is, down to the last neutron.

Zagzagel · « **Reply #16 on:** May 12, 2006, 09:26:49 PM »

Speaking of body hair...one would think that the Eskimo's of the north would be much padded with fur by now...hmmm...maybe that is not animal fur they are wearing

Deep Thought · « **Reply #17 on:** May 12, 2006, 09:31:06 PM »

Quote from: Zagzagel

Speaking of body hair...one would think that the Eskimo's of the north would be much padded with fur by now...hmmm...maybe that is not animal fur they are wearing

Since they can get by with just their heavy clothing, it's obvious they don't need extra body hair. So the point is moot, sorry.

SML · « **Reply #18 on:** May 12, 2006, 10:40:39 PM »

As I was going about my day, another thing occurred to me...

If we merely evolved from other animals, we would lose making love. Sex would be a functionality related to reproduction only. Like all the rest of the animals, we would only mate in season. We would not find ourselves in season every month, so that babies would be born in the winter months and have higher mortality from illness. There is absolutely no evolutionary purpose for the *exercising discretion*, um, ... well, ... let's just say I love my husband and he loves me and I'm awfully glad we're created.

Heretic · « **Reply #19 on:** May 13, 2006, 12:16:08 AM »

There are animals that mate for pleasure. Watch the animal plant network once in awhile.

And sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't "make love". I have sex.

Author Topic: How would a world without God look? (Read 5835 times)

David