# Atheists: If there had to be a god, what would you want it to be like? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 5, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280 "2020-10-05T18:37:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/61 "2020-10-14T01:42:36Z")
are we talking about a deity in this universe or an entirely new universe? in this universe I’d prefer a God who is benevolent and full of love but mostly powerless. the question of evil can’t be resolved with a God who is both loving and powerful, God has to fail at least one of these based on the conditions of our universe. with the universe as it is with its pain, decay, death and bad luck I’d prefer God be a creature of pure love who is powerless to do anything about it and who watches helplessly as sentient creatures suffer. I find that vastly superior to an all powerful evil God. For a novel universe? God should be a mix of pro social agendas (love, kindness, mercy, etc) as well as all knowing and all powerful. it should create universes where suffering and ignorance are literally impossible and all sentient creatures enjoy existence for eternity. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/62 "2020-10-14T05:18:28Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > are we talking about a deity in this universe or an entirely new universe? Up to you. You could imagine it as a more preferable version of this Earth, or make it an entirely new universe. But the focus is on the deity. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/63 "2020-10-14T15:22:29Z")
I vastly prefer a universe with a loving, powerful, all knowing deity who cares about the autonomy and well being of sentient life forms. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/64 "2020-10-16T01:48:45Z")
If there had to be a God it would be beyond human understanding as, perhaps, it is. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/65 "2020-10-16T02:07:05Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > If there had to be a God it would be beyond human understanding as, perhaps, it is If there _was_ a god of the magnitude usually described it would have the ability to boil it down to something we could understand. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/66 "2020-10-16T11:16:18Z")
Gods “of the magnitude usually described” are well within the scope of human understanding. ---
**Author:** ![Mirtha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@Mirtha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirtha)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/67 "2020-10-16T12:27:46Z")
I’d have no expectations from them (goddesses / gods). It’d be appreciated, if they reached down with one of their tentacles and helped a few folks out, though. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/68 "2020-10-16T12:50:31Z")
Since, so far, all the gods described have been generated by humans. Dan ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/69 "2020-10-16T14:22:57Z")
> [@Dandan](#): > > Since, so far, all the gods described have been generated by humans. That _is_ what this thread is all about, y’know. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/70 "2020-10-17T12:17:57Z")
it would have to be a deistic, non-intervening type. Set everything in motion and then do nothing. A universe created by such a god would be indistinguishable from one that had no creator, no heaven, no hell, no prayers, no favours, no punishment, and no apparent need for a higher power at all. As luck would have it that appears to be precisely the universe in which we find ourselves. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/71 "2020-10-17T14:15:46Z")
Except my God is, by definition, beyond human understanding. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/72 "2020-10-17T14:19:02Z")
Amen! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/73 "2020-10-17T15:55:37Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > Except my God is, by definition, beyond human understanding That is not a definition-it is an excuse, and for what reason would someone worship something they have no evidence or understanding of? To have no understanding is to say you don’t know anything about your god. Its motivations, its desires, its goals, its ethics etc. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/74 "2020-10-18T14:19:44Z")
You are correct. I carry the burden of defining and pursuing a righteous life. For political purposes, God clubs canonize extant social norms as the motivations, desires, goals and ethics of their God. Over time that process has encompassed about anything you can imagine as being righteous. Worship? For God clubs worship is ultimately measured in cash. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/75 "2020-10-20T19:48:56Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > Except my God is, by definition, beyond human understanding. So, a nonsensical god then? One that is incoherent and irrational? Wait, no, I learned to understand nonsense a while ago. Hmm. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/76 "2020-10-21T12:05:27Z")
Indeed, the world runs on nonsense. My God is well beyond that. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/77 "2020-11-13T21:16:28Z")
If there had to be a god, I’d want him/her/it to be like the Krispy Kreme CEO. You stop in every day, swear you’re being good and get a free glazed donut. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/78 "2020-11-13T22:38:39Z")
If there has to be one, I just want there to be zero ambiguities. Interpretation by man should be removed entirely from the equation. There should never be some huckster playing semantic games with religious texts to con stupid people. And if there are going to be rules, there should be active enforcement, none of this “you have free will, but I’ll judge everything you ever do once you’re dead” bullshit. You prohibit thievery, then thieves should be struck down in the street in front of everyone, and everyone should know what is happening, and why. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/79 "2020-11-14T17:13:55Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > And if there are going to be rules, there should be active enforcement, none of this “you have free will, but I’ll judge everything you ever do once you’re dead” bullshit. You prohibit thievery, then thieves should be struck down in the street in front of everyone, and everyone should know what is happening, and why. Or, make the rules unbreakable. If thievery is prohibited, it is just impossible to do. Like in RPGs. If you are in a non-PVP zone, you can’t attack others. It’s not that you get in trouble for doing so, it’s just something that cannot happen. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280/80 "2020-11-18T08:35:05Z")
Guns no longer work. Tanks no longer work. Dropped bombs from planes automatically make a b-line to the nearest ocean. If someone is about to commit rape, they immediately pass out before it starts… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-there-had-to-be-a-god-what-would-you-want-it-to-be-like/922280.md?page=5)