# Battleground God **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 30, 2002, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battleground-god/106494 "2002-04-30T16:41:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![PBear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@PBear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PBear)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battleground-god/106494/41 "2002-05-01T20:44:43Z")
Hey erislover. Agreed, morality can exist outside God, and I so answered Question 2. From that, it does not follow however that morality must exist outside God. And recall that Question 12 posited as an _assumption_ that God exists, and so therefore was really asking whether timelessness of morality is a necessary attribute of God. All of which is a side issue. I take it you also got a bullet on 15 notwithstanding answering 12 differently. The significant problem, then, is 7 v. 15. Agreed, it’s an extreme hypothetical problem. But my objection is more in the nature of your response to SuaSponte. FYI, so we’re on the same page, my responses were the same as yours, except I answered Question 1 false (rather than don’t know), true to Question 9 (torture morally wrong) and true to Question 12 (which, as noted, we interpret differently). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battleground-god/106494/42 "2002-05-01T22:05:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ResIpsaLoquitor \* > That’s my whole point: logical exercises are essentially a closed universe problem. Conclusions can only be made from the information which is gathered. No, logic is about conclusions that are made indepedent of facts. For instance “If (A and B) then (A or B)” is true regardless of whether A/B are true. If something is a syloogism, then it’s a syllogism no matter what the facts are. > [@](#): > > [Remember: this is purely a question of **logic** , not **truth.** But it’s not **true** that your syllogism is **logical**. So really it’s a question of both. ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battleground-god/106494/43 "2002-05-01T22:56:34Z")
Another one-hit wonder here. I also “bit the bullet” on the 1+1=72 thing. I reasoned that God should be able to define reality however he wishes. I answered “false” on the serial rapist thing. It seemed sort of circular. “X believes A. Therefore, is X justified in beleiving A?” Justified in _believing_? You’ve just stated that he _does_ believe. So I took the question to mean, “X believes A. Is he correct?” and I answered “No.” Which was apparently the right answer. For the Loch Ness Monster question, I answered “False” on the basis that “No evidence” does not equal “Proved false.” That’s a fun site. I’m going to go back and see what happens when I change some responses. ---
**Author:** ![PBear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@PBear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PBear)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battleground-god/106494/44 "2002-05-02T00:07:16Z")
FYI, I won’t be checking back into this (or any other) thread. Don’t care to discuss why. Doesn’t have anything to do with this discussion. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battleground-god/106494/45 "2002-05-02T02:46:30Z")
Sua, if your beliefs are justified, in what manner would actions based on those beliefs _not_ be justified? That’s what I don’t see. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battleground-god/106494/46 "2002-05-02T03:21:15Z")
You took zero direct hits and you bit zero bullets. The average player of this activity to date takes 1.29 hits and bites 1.06 bullets. 36874 people have so far undertaken this activity. So, what does this mean? Is it cool to bite bullets? Is foolish bad, and should I assume that rationality is the ultimate yardstick? I don’t really get it. ## Tris “” is not a recognized response. ~ Some interface programmer ~ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battleground-god/106494/47 "2002-05-04T00:31:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by erislover \* > \*\*Sua, if your beliefs are justified, in what manner would actions based on those beliefs _not_ be justified? That’s what I don’t see. \*\* Suppose someone is on a jury. Would it be possible for them to have enough evidence to feel justified in believing that the defendent is guilty, but not enough to be justified in acting on that belief (i.e. voting to convict)? ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battleground-god/106494/48 "2002-05-04T00:54:42Z")
Hmm, I’m not sure **Ryan**. I can see why some might choose not to act on a justified belief, but I can’t really think of a way that one _wouldn’t_ be justified in acting on a justified belief. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battleground-god/106494/49 "2002-05-04T01:37:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Triskadecamus \* > \*\*You took zero direct hits and you bit zero bullets. The average player of this activity to date takes 1.29 hits and bites 1.06 bullets. 36874 people have so far undertaken this activity. > \*\* I just realized that I didn’t get a Medal! How odd. Do you have to bite bullets to get medals? Now I really don’t get it. Tris ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battleground-god/106494/50 "2002-05-06T01:19:40Z")
What if someone believed that they were not justified in acting on their beliefs? Would they be justified on acting on that belief? ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battleground-god/106494/51 "2002-05-06T01:57:03Z")
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