Ignosticism (Prove to me there is a God)

[Cowhead418]

You really needn't look any further than 'Red Dwarf' for an answer. Kryten summed it up nicely: 'Human Heaven? Goodness me, humans don't go to Heaven! No, someone made that up to prevent you all from going nuts!'

The only annoying thing is that when you all finally do die and nothing happens, none of you will actually realise it!

Hey! Someone with my exact views! There are a few points/views I'd like to make/raise:

@ Sasaki - I'm atheist but I still can't sleep in because I work on Sundays! There, your divinity is disproved.

@ DC - I have heard this argument several times. To put it in other words, you are telling me that I should believe in God because it is the convenient thing to do. I will not dispute this notion, though I think this argument is absurd. Yes, I would like to believe that after I die I will go to a paradise and everything will be fine and dandy. However, life rarely works out that way and I fail to see why I should make an exception here. There are many negative aspects of life that I'd like to not believe in, but sadly there is often no alternative option. Yes, many of these aspects are concrete and religion is not, but this argument just provides evidence to my theory that people believe in Heaven because they can't face up to the possibility that there is not happiness after death. To me it is why fairy tales are so popular. And it is also why you will sad endings are much rarer in books and movies. People just won't accept a 'bad' ending.

@ lancelot - it is a bit ridiculous, isn't it? I was raised Roman Catholic, and they preach that God's love is unconditional, and that he is very forgiving of even the most extreme of sins. Yet Christians hold the belief that the simple act of disputing the existence of said God is enough to damn you to the fiery pits of Hell for all eternity. I've even heard some Christians say that Gandhi is in Hell just for choosing not to believe in the Christian God. It doesn't paint a very loving or forgiving picture of God, does it? It seems to me that this God is not loving after all but actually evil and intolerant.

Finally, @ GB - I agree 100%. I do not believe there is a God and the arguments about the creation of the universe are absurd because the same arguments could be used against the existence of God. Also, my view of life after death is that there is none. After you die you go back to the same state you were before you were conceived - oblivion. Unfortunately, in this view, it means that we will never actually know if God existed, because after death we won't be able to say or think: "Oh, I guess I was wrong/right after all." On the bright side, at least we won't be able to think: "Well, this really sucks." Yes, it is quite a pessimistic view because we won't actually discover what death brings, and I hope it doesn't occur this way, but my beliefs are what they are.

[Quietus]

Never heard of Ignosticism before but I've had similar arguments months ago.

Understanding is a function of knowledge. No knowledge, no understanding. Hence one cannot define anything without any knowledge of it.

Example:
1) Define "Yfkgmaoggwokf". Try.
a) You have no knowledge nor any proof of "Yfkgmaoggwokf".
b) You can't define it either.
c) You can't claim it exists.

However, if you replace it with "GOD":
1) Define "God". Well?
a) You have no knowledge or proof of "God"
but magically,
b) God is the creator of the universe etc etc.
c) and God exists.