It would seem like a fairly important question in the fight against ignorance, yet I couldn’t find the equivalent of “Does god exist?” in the archives. Was there ever an article about this or equivalent topic?
Cecil replies:
The Lord and I chat frequently. She’s a font of information, but the phone bills are murder.
Cecil tends to answer questions that are answerable with factual answers. Every once in a while, he delvers into hypotheticals, like but these are usually still in the realm of scientific knowledge. Sometimes he explains theories (such as What’s a meme?) and on a few rare occasions, he indulges in fantasy (like How would the US Military fight a zombie army?). So, while he might (but hasn’t, I don’t think) explain the difference between Coptics and Gnostics, he wouldn’t tackle the existence of God.
Also, since this is a thread about Cecil and his columns (rather than about Chicago), I’m moving it to the more appropriate forum.
Well, he did weigh in on the existence of Santa Claus. Not too far removed, really.
Powers &8^]
Look at the type of questions that Cecil handles. Here’s some examples:
What causes sleep paralysis?
Why does everybody get so worried about radiation levels in milk?
Can spy satellites read the headlines of a newspaper on a park bench?
Do “close door” buttons on elevators ever actually work?
There’s the loud pedal and the soft pedal, but what’s the THIRD piano pedal for?
What does “DO NOT HUMP” mean on the side of railroad cars?
What’s worse for your health, bacon or cigarettes?
Is it possible to build a machine that generates more power than it uses?
Why does asparagus make your pee smell funny?
When secretaries switched from manual typewriters to electrics, did they gain 20 pounds?
Is there a pill that can turn water into gasoline?
Does suppressing the urge to toot endanger one’s health?
Why do we call it the “bathroom,” even when it has no tub?
What would it be like walking around on a cube-shaped planet?
Did New York water pressure drop due to toilet flushing after the Super Bowl?
Why do outhouse doors have half-moons on them?
Cecil has more sense than many SDMB posters in this. He doesn’t try to handle deep philosophical questions that have been debated for centuries. If there have been hundreds of books published that discuss the various issues in a question, that’s a sign that you’re not going to answer every little aspect of the question (or even a reasonable fraction of them) in a one-page article. If he were to try to answer such questions in such a small space, he would find that posters on the SDMB would create another endless thread quibbling about every tiny aspect of the question. I get the distinct impression that, unlike certain SDMB posters, Cecil doesn’t really enjoy endlessly discussing issues that don’t get resolved. He enjoys learning new facts and letting others know about them, not letting some debate take over his entire life.
Heck, Cecil has weighed in on the historic existence of Jesus & some Dopers still debate that.
I know some believe the Bible is the word of God, and since the phrase: Who wrote the Bible, brings up a top hit of the SD column, this might count.
Debate whether Jesus existed or whether Cecil weighed in on the question?
This thread might have your answer (ironically, it appears to be a zombie thread, so don’t sweat the date on the OP).
Here’s the original article. Which reminds me, did Unca Cece ever get around to giving those southpaw, Anabaptist sunsabitches their comeuppance?
Please note that in none of the links given in this thread does Cecil attempt to answer a deep philosophical issue. Most of the links don’t even go to something that Cecil wrote, but instead to something written by another member of the staff. The “Who Wrote the Bible?” articles was written by various staff members. The “What’s the Deal with Angels?” article was written by a staff member. The “Why Is Satan Shown As Having Goatlike Features?” article was written by Cecil. The “Who Invented Hell?” article was written by a staff member. The “Did Jesus Really Exist? And What’s with the Shroud of Turin?” article was written by Cecil. And note that the article about Satan doesn’t claim to show whether he existed or not, just why there’s a tradition of drawing him with goatlike features. The article about Jesus and the Shroud of Turin doesn’t claim to show whether Jesus was God, just whether such a person existed and whether the Shroud of Turin proves anything. None of the articles by other staff members really address the question of whether God exists either. Cecil is willing to say that the Shroud of Turin is a medieval fake and is willing to let other staff members comment on when and how the Bible was willing, but he’s not willing to claim that he knows whether God or Satan exists or whether Jesus is God.
I’m pretty happy that Cecil has avoided this question. Otherwise, the discussion would be:
[ul]
[li] Cecil (believes|doesn’t believe) in God just like me. Boy, I’m so smart![/li][li] What! Cecil (believes|doesn’t believe) in God? That’s the complete opposite of me. I thought he was suppose to be the Smartest Man in the World.[/li][/ul]
I hate it when two otherwise bright, intelligent people duke it out on this particular question and end up suggesting the other one is delusional or closed minded because that person doesn’t believe like they do.
I personally don’t think it makes much difference what one believes or doesn’t believe. You can be a good person either way (or a complete a-hole).
You are right, of course. (Although I count 7 links to articles, 3 of which were Staff Reports, all of the latter being links I added). Despite being in the forum “Comments on Cecil’s Columns/Staff Reports”, the question specified Cecil.
Is “…the question of god[sic]” necessarily a deep philosophical issue? No doubt, some would take even this thread as being philosophical for having mentioned the deity.
But children go to Sunday School and learn about God, is that deeply philosophical?
bldysabba doesn’t specify, the deeply philosophical question of god…, but I acknowledge that the idea is very likely implied.
Still, others have asked questions they no doubt thought were pretty deep and received flippant answers in response. If any mention of God is inherently an invitation into the black morass of never-ending philosophical drudgery, I’m thankful he’s dodged the issue.
Those are personal perspectives, not philosophical answers. (Although I believe there have been discussions about the changing nature of Satan throughout the bible, which are also Staff Reports.) Regardless of what anyone writes on the subject, people are going to respond based on their personal perspectives and likely drive the question into deep, philosophical waters.
That said, the question itself isn’t necessarily a deep philosophical one. Many people believe or don’t believe and leave the deep philosophical churning to the philosophers.
But none of that answers the question at hand, which I think we both agree can most easily be answered with an unceremonious: no.
The term “deep philosophical” is perhaps misleading, but (regardless of what small children are taught), philosophers have debated such questions for centuries. Cecil also doesn’t tackle “What is justice?” or “What is truth?” Whether “deep philosophical” is appropriate as a designation (I think it is, but YMMV), these are questions to which there is no answer, there is only belief. Cecil doesn’t usually deal in hypotheticals or unprovables or non-factual questions.*
The seemingly related questions all have factual answers. I wrote some of those staff reports, and the focus was always historical rather than existential. That is, the history of angels is about the way different religions viewed and classified angels, not about whether they actually exist in history. “Who wrote the bible” presented the (two major) different viewpoints from an historic perspective. Etc.
- For those who think the existence of God is “factual,” it is certainly true that there is no hard evidence. If God does exist, it’s pretty clear that He doesn’t want there to be any scientific evidence available to us, so there is only belief.
I appreciated those articles very much, and I appreciate your response. I do think it is self evident that a topic need not be deeply philosophical to engender generations or querulous debate.
More to the point, isn’t there a history of god that is very similar to the history of angels? (Similar in the sense that one could look at different religions and societies and their relationship with god or gods?) I think both NOVA and PBS did specials on the issue.
Not really. When dealing with a history of angels, one can limit oneself to the Abrahamic religions, which are, compared to known human religions as a whole, very similar to one another. But now you are asking a question that ranges over all religions—even atheism. And they all evolve their own ways and, frequently, influence each other. The subject needs a book, not a column.
Same problem.
First, I’m not arguing that there should be a column. But I see no reason that such an article couldn’t be limited in scope to the Abrahamic God.
PBS did a 4 hour series…
Surely with a little help on the editing, Cecil could come up with something (perhaps another multi-parter).
And while I understand CK’s comment’s about “deep philosophical” questions, I doubt I’m the only who thinks the issue need not be bogged down in academic forensics.
As part of their series on evolution, NOVA did an episode on God that was less than an hour (link is to the episode). I’m willing to concede that God is nothing more than an insoluble philosophical riddle, but I challenge the idea that the question can’t be meaningfully treated outside of a book.
I agree, the “history of [Abrahamic] God” would be a great Staff Report… but it’s too long for a column. The main publication place for Cecil’s columns is not online, but in alternate newspapers like the Chicago READER, and the column is syndicated, so there’s a limited amount of space. Staff Reports didn’t have that limitation, but (alas) we’re not doing them anymore.
There is, I think, a book on this topic: http://www.amazon.com/History-of-God-ebook/dp/B005DB6LSG/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2 I haven’t read it, so I can’t comment other than its existence.
Congrats, Bldysabba, Cecil has taken your question to launch his current (4-Nov-2011) column: Is there a God? - The Straight Dope
Thus proving (a) that, even after all this time handling his mail, I can’t predict what Cecil will take on; and (b) he does read the SDMBs from time to time.