What would God have to do?

[Ihateyoumike]

he or she or it would need to send people online to infect atheist message boards with extremely ridiculous questions and always the same circular logic over and over and over again.

Wait, what was the question/point of this thread again?

[karadan]

A challenger appears!

Ok then:

[curiosityandthecat]

"Oh, don't grovel!  If there's one thing I can't stand, it's people groveling."

[SektionTen]

He must be great at parties.  

[Kylyssa]

The Christian God could do nothing to prove to me that it was a God.  Wait, if it were real, it could prove to me that it was.  However, the creature described in the Christian Bible is evil and would be a demon rather than a god.  In the Bible it torments its followers, it punishes the innocent, it condemns people for things they are not responsible for (such as the actions or beliefs of their parents), it supports the most evil of actions such as slavery and bigotry, and many, many other things considered evil.  

Aside from the suggestion that it is evil that comes from the Bible, were God to prove itself real, there would be real world evidence that it is evil.  The "free will" garbage and the "original sin" bullshit only go so far.  Seriously, you allow children to be born with cystic fibrosis and slowly drown in their own secretions because two people thousands of years ago did something willful?  What kind of evil prick tortures children for their distant ancestors transgressions?  

On a tangent here - but how come the original sin was an actual sin?  Their sin was to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil - since they had no knowledge of good or evil before they ate the fruit, how could they know that they were doing something wrong?  They were totally ignorant, they didn't know about evil.  A serpent came up to Eve and suggested she give the fruit a try - how was she supposed to know the serpent was evil?  And why did God put the tree there anyway?  It's like keeping mice as pets and putting De-Con in their cage.  Why would you put something so dangerous in with a couple of innocents?

[Graham]

I myself spoke to a man from Pakistan who used to be a muslim. He had never even seen a Bible before, let alone read one. The only thing he knew about Jesus was what he read in the Quran. He had a vision of a man that shown bright like the sun, and this man told him in arabic, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." He did not know what it meant but he searched out a Bible and read. He became a Christian, but he had to flee his whole family out of fear that he would be beheaded. He is now in America. Did you know that hundreds of muslims are having similiar visions and are turning to Christianity. But, I guess the accounts of hundreds of people don't count?

I once spoke to a couple ballers who didn't agree with me, philosophically. See, I used to live in West Philadelphia. I was born and raised there, and spent quite a bit of my time on the playground, chilling, relaxing, playing basketball, you know. Unfortunately, one day after school a couple of guys started making trouble and my mother, being overprotective, got scared after I got into one little fight. She decided to send me to live with her sister and brother-in-law in Bel Air.

So, I called a taxi. When it came close I noticed the license plate said "FRESH" and some dice were hanging from the rearview mirror. I thought to myself, 'Well, this is a rare sight,' but quickly dismissed that idea. "To Bel-Air, my good man," I told the driver.

After a long drive, we pulled up to a rather stately home, whereupon I thanked the driver and sent him on his way. I surveyed my new castle and felt rather royal, and thus decided to take my place upon my throne as the Prince of Bel Air. Did you know hundreds of people are also getting in fights and moving to California? I guess the accounts of hundreds of people don't count.

Ahhh yes, neon colors and flat tops. But I don't get your point. Are you saying these people are making up their stories. Seems like a crazy thing to make up with the treat of loosing your family and getting your head removed.

I think that someone saw an exit and wanted it bad. Time for a new and better life in America.

[ProRealism]

I don't know that "God" could do anything to convince me other than use  god-like powers to take control of my brain.


Other than that I don't know that I would care even if I did believe she/he/it/they were  God.
Great let's create a planet that thrives on the death of other living things.
Sounds like some sadistic game show.
I don't think it was my choice to exist originally.

[Heretical Rants]

He would have to speak to a prophet.  The prophet would have to transcribe the conversation and then publish millions or even billions of copies of the resulting book.
Edited editions of said book are permissible.

The people around me would have to pray to this god regularly and disparage anyone who does not.  Prayer would preferably be to the east.

Prayer would preferably be hypnotic in nature.  There would have to be a requisite day of prayer throughout my life to stifle doubt and leave a permanent impression on my young mind.  Power hungry leaders would have to oppress me and my people in order to do implement this.
I would have to be isolated and kept away from knowledge that might lead me to other ideologies.  This god would have to keep me ignorant.  I must be taught to hate others that do not share my beliefs.

There would have to be some kind of punishment for me to fear should I not obey this god, and some kind of reward for worshiping him/her/it.

[VanReal]

On a tangent here - but how come the original sin was an actual sin?  Their sin was to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil - since they had no knowledge of good or evil before they ate the fruit, how could they know that they were doing something wrong?  They were totally ignorant, they didn't know about evil.  A serpent came up to Eve and suggested she give the fruit a try - how was she supposed to know the serpent was evil?  And why did God put the tree there anyway?  It's like keeping mice as pets and putting De-Con in their cage.  Why would you put something so dangerous in with a couple of innocents?

Yes, this is why the devil said (in The Devil's Advocate) that god was a prankster and set the rules in direct opposition of human nature and free will.  It's kind of like how I don't like my cat playing with my hairbows but every now and then I "leave one in the open" so she can get it and I can watch her because she looks so cute and happy when she "steals" it!  Then I go over and say "Gracie Lou!  You are not supposed to have that!" and take it back from her and put it away telling her she is on punishment.  She gives me the middle finger, and I deserve it, as would any god that would be so petty, childish, and just plain unreasonable as to care what impure thoughts race through my head or whether or not I think it's the greatest.