# If you saw a miracle tomorrow **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 11, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792 "2010-06-11T13:19:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/81 "2010-06-12T18:03:28Z")
I’ve seen a lot of wild stuff on tv, I don’t believe that either. My first thought when [David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear](http://www.metacafe.com/watch/806470/david_copperfield_statue_of_liberty/) was how the illusion worked, not how he made it happen in reality. And certainly not that he was a god. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/82 "2010-06-12T18:27:58Z")
Given that anyone who gives a damn about how I approach God has been telling me I’ve been doing it wrong for the past forty-odd years, I will not be surprised if someone with higher authority confirms that I am destined for Hell. If form of worship is 90% of our final grade, then we are all screwed for not banging the proper drums when Mars is retrograde (or whatever capricious thing pleases the deity). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Crap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.crap/32/3131_2.png) [@Dr.Crap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Crap)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/83 "2010-06-12T18:54:14Z")
I’d hire a Muslim to kill him and make a post on a hypothetical third coming. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Crap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.crap/32/3131_2.png) [@Dr.Crap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Crap)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/84 "2010-06-12T19:43:49Z")
What about you, **Marmite Lover**? How would you react to prophet Jesus crashing the World Cup? How do you think the media would react? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/85 "2010-06-12T20:11:00Z")
I would despair and my heart would be completely broken, and I would scream and cry in terror and fear. Everything, everything humans made or did or accomplished, down the drain of a vengeful, vindictive, and above all cruel and heartless God. So we were nothing, ever. Just pawns. Just toys. Happy? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/86 "2010-06-12T20:11:07Z")
> [@Marmite\_Lover](#): > > Jews killed him. Well then, we can do it again. Back then we only had a mob- poorly armed and unorganized. Today, we have the IDF and Mossad. **WhyNot** Sekhmet doesn’t worry me. Nor do any of the Egyptian pantheon. Our G-d went toe to toe with Ra, Horus and the rest. They lost. I’ve always wanted to write a mummy story in which the monster is stopped by a devout Jew. On A Serious Note Look, either my life of various good deeds is enough to earn my way into heaven, or the Lord is a hideous, vain monster I’d want nothing to do with. Any G-d who’d cast me into hell just because I failed to pray to the right Name can kiss my tuchas. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/87 "2010-06-12T20:21:18Z")
Knowing soccer fans they’d likely be booing Jesus for delaying the game. ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/88 "2010-06-13T15:45:29Z")
> [@Cyningablod](#): > > Besides, nobody here said that they “can’t imagine” it. They simply refused to play into **Marmite** ’s thinly-veiled theistic _argumentum ad baculum_, preferring instead to call him/her out on the stupidity of the proposed scenario. It has all the sophistication of those bumper stickers that say “Don’t believe in God? You’d better be right!” with flames across the bottom. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/89 "2010-06-14T12:43:10Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Well, I don’t watch soccer and neither does anybody else I know, and I don’t watch the news or any broadcast TV at all, so either I’d hear it secondhand (possibly the next day, believe it or not), or judgement would kick in before I found out. > > If I heard it second hand, I wouldn’t believe it at first, for obvious reasons. It probably wouldn’t take too long to convince me though, making reasonable assumptions about this making the internet news. That sounds _exactly_ like what I went through when Janet Jackson showed her tit at the superbowl. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/90 "2010-06-14T12:50:17Z")
> [@Marmite\_Lover](#): > > What would be going through your mind. Sorry, can’t hear you over the vuvuzelas. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/91 "2010-06-14T12:58:56Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > **WhyNot** Sekhmet doesn’t worry me. Nor do any of the Egyptian pantheon. Our G-d went toe to toe with Ra, Horus and the rest. They lost. I’ve always wanted to write a mummy story in which the monster is stopped by a devout Jew. Now who’s fighting the hypothetical? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/92 "2010-06-14T13:09:09Z")
I’ve not read any of the responses, but assuming that I actually _believed_ what I saw (and I’d probably doubt it) I’d probably think “wow, I knew god was an asshole but that Jesus guy is a lot more of a dick than I thought.”. As for what I’d do in the next few minutes, I dunno. From your scenario, it doesn’t appear there’s much I _could_ do anyway. So I might try ignoring it until it goes away. In my experience, that works well on god(s). ---
**Author:** ![Marmite\_Lover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/93 "2010-06-14T13:46:16Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > You can easily imagine exactly what this would be like. Just picture a god YOU don’t believe in showing up and doing exactly the same thing. > > You’re watching a soccer game on TV and suddenly the winged serpent Quetzalcoatl flies down out of the sky and lands on the pitch. He announces to everyone that the only true gods are the gods of the ancient Aztecs. Judaism, Christianity, Islam … all the other religions are meaningless bunk. > > They’ve been biding their time for the last 500 years deciding how to punish humanity for rejecting them, but now they’re back and they’re pissed. Anyone who doesn’t immediately worship them will be ritually killed. > > What do you do, **Marmite Lover**? Do you abandon your current beliefs and bow down to your true gods? Hmmmmmmmm… that’s a good one. Well I suppose I’d probably think it was some kind of test. Could it be the devil playing tricks? Testing your faith. I think in that situation I’d probably think that was the case. I suppose though that the next few minutes or hours would prove to me one way or the other what was beyond this life. No one knows for sure do they. ---
**Author:** ![Marmite\_Lover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/94 "2010-06-14T13:50:47Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > c)They actually preached something totally at odds with what has come down through history as their message. > > What do you do then? great point a distorted message That is what the Quran says happened and will happen. ---
**Author:** ![Marmite\_Lover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/95 "2010-06-14T13:55:38Z")
> [@firstname](#): > > I’d be skeptical, If god and jesus want to come have a few beers and explain that they’re real I’d be happy to listen, I’d certainly want them to explain why I should worship them though. I’m an atheist because there is no evidence, if there was evidence i’d be happy to reassess my beliefs, but i still don’t think i’d become a christian or join a religion. but that’s the point you don’t have to follow a religion it’s all about believing in a creator ---
**Author:** ![wmfellows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@wmfellows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wmfellows)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/96 "2010-06-14T13:57:38Z")
> [@Marmite\_Lover](#): > > T > Jews killed him. I suppose I’d wonder why he’s such a git as to give the Roman Empire a pass for being the actual judge and executioner, and if it was all part of the plan as it were, allowing people to whine about this for centuries. ---
**Author:** ![Marmite\_Lover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/97 "2010-06-14T14:01:06Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Amen. > It’s a _what if_ people! > I’m an atheist, but I can answer the _what if_; heck, I could answer “What if pi were actually found to be exactly 3?”. > > * * * > > Many of the properties of god, particularly as depicted in the “Abrahamaic” faiths, are irrational, contradictory and fit the pattern of (human-invented) myths IMO. I agree and that is why we if we are interested that is question what is real. What was really said, what happened and what was distorted by man. How much of the bible is fake? How much of the stories about the prophets are fake. How much is true? ---
**Author:** ![Marmite\_Lover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/98 "2010-06-14T14:03:41Z")
That’s why the Quran makes much more sense to Muslims than the Old and New testaments. Problem is the Muslims have the hadith as fakery I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Marmite\_Lover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/99 "2010-06-14T14:16:06Z")
I have to correct something. The Jews did not kill Jesus. Christians believe the Jews condemned him to death I think is the right words. They chose Barrabas over Jesus? It was the Romans who carried out the execution. Romans killed him technically. Muslims don’t believe Jesus was crucified. In many ways Jews and Muslims are more alike in their beliefs than they are with Christians. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792/100 "2010-06-14T14:18:18Z")
What I like about this thread - aside from the Opening Post -is the way **Marmite Lover** is actually considering the counterexamples - what if it were Quetzalcoatl, what if Jesus said ‘y’all got it wrong’. Good for you, ML. (Weirdly, he also seems to be converting to Islam over the course of the thread, but that’s another selling point.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-a-miracle-tomorrow/542792.md?page=6)