2d ago

Some theists believe God is immaterial and therefore unobservable by science, similar to multiverse theory

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I go to the fourth dimension on dmt and didn’t find god there either
- this is a witty comment and it made me laugh
"Oh, look, it's another corner that my fictional god can hide in! That's where he must be!"
No. That's not how reality works, and never has. Only fictional religions even consider this extremely flawed line of thought.
Prove it or shut the fuck up. Repeat that again, and keep repeating it until you fucking get it.
- God is fiction. That's the point. When you say, "fictional god," it comes with "shut the fuck up" which is angry and emotional. When I say, "fictional god," I say it with a sense of wonder in the same way that Albert Einstein had for his faith in his imagination ("Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world"). I think when you get more into science and math, you begin to realize that the intelligibility of the universe is so particular and odd when the universe could have been many other things. The background noise, the unintelligibility, the nonsense if you will, that might be the source of all creation. Another way of saying this is maybe a radio analogy. Think of our universe like a strong radio signal. There are many other radio stations in other geographic areas that your receiver can't tap into. We can hear the signal, but it would be a mistake to believe that's all there is.
I think this is where most theists go when you press them for evidence.
It isn't that they don't believe he exists, he's just someplace we can't see. (Or "see") and we should totally buy into their behavior rules because of it. Including giving money.
- Yeah, I agree with being skeptical of rules of churches. However, something must have worked out well for them to maintain an ideology or pattern of behaviors over the generations, from parents to children, parents to children, parents to children, on and on for hundreds of years. I can't even follow-through on my new years resolution, yet the church has figured out how to keep people praying beyond their lifespan. We could learn a thing or two as to how they are able to change patterns of behavior consistently for a long period of time. Rituals, concerts, rankings, aesthetics, events/meetings, these are all factors
  
  We could learn a thing or two as to how they are able to change patterns of behavior consistently for a long period of time. Rituals, concerts, rankings, aesthetics, events/meetings, these are all factors
  it's called being a manipulative asshole.
  More to the point, christianity's "popularity" literally has more to do with genociding everyone and everything else. Colonialism was literally because up until recently, Christians straight up thought and believed the didn't just have the right, but the obligation, to subjugate everyone else. This is why, for example, they absolutely genocided- or tried to- native peoples literally everywhere they went.
  They also don't stop behaviors that are very negative to society- rape, misogyny, being anti-science, or even things like murder, theft, or drunk driving. So no, I don't think christianity or any religion is going to be a net good. At best they're useless social clubs. At worst... use your imagination.
- It's just a con game. "Give me money or that guy around the corner you can't see is going to beat you up!'
  Asking why the unseen thug isn't appearing, visible, or existing just gets you another "Uh, he's around the next corner! Now give me the money/believe the thing I tell you to/do the religious thing I want you to!"
  Behavior rules my ass, they're common thugs. Stop treating them as if they had empathy, morality, or conscience - and start giving that extra effort to those sane, rational people that deserve it.
  
  This is a good point, and symbolically speaking, lying is almost like playing god considering that God is "all-knowing", and the liar is distorting knowledge. The liar assumes the power to know what others are thinking. Also, liars assume the power to change reality or perception of reality. Generally, lying is a power, which resembles god because he is all powerful. Using power to ill-ends is obviously undesirable. In the Adam & Eve story, snakes, generally, are symbols of lies, and the apple was a symbol of desire / knowledge / becoming god-like. So coming back to your point, conjuring up a boogieman, or conning someone, is diety-like because you are using the realm of imagination (i.e., god) to change reality, but it's snake-like or satan-like to manipulate imagination to harmful ends. Notably, imagination is also "timeless, spaceless, and immaterial" and in my opinion i think god is imaginary. "God is imaginary" is very atheist sounding, but It's also religious from a platonic forms perspective.
As a lifelong atheist, I just assumed that's what all theists believed.

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