# Is God real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 1, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750 "2013-01-01T15:49:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/21 "2013-01-01T18:50:26Z")
No. But faith exists and that’s what is really important to those that have it. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/22 "2013-01-01T18:52:56Z")
> [@Anonymous User](#): > > There was a really good Indian movie on that topic; it’s _Oh My God!_ > > It’s about a man who did something mischievous and then is business is destroyed by an earthquake. He goes to the insurance company, and they say it’s an “act of god”, so then he goes against god in court! And then there’s a big scene where everyone is dancing and singing. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/23 "2013-01-01T19:31:22Z")
H > [@YogSosoth](#): > > He is, but not what you think. He looks like [this](http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100119202037/southpark/images/b/b7/God.png) But [what does he sound like](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX5USg8_1gA)? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/24 "2013-01-01T19:39:23Z")
> [@Ishmael\_Jankem](#): > > I believe He is. What do you think? “Real” in what sense? That there is some all-knowing, all-seeing intelligence that consiously makes decisions regarding events that happen to you and everyone else? And that this intelligence somehow makes these decisions in a way that, for all intents and purposes, isn’t arbitrary or random? ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/25 "2013-01-01T19:40:14Z")
> [@Ishmael\_Jankem](#): > > I believe He is. What do you think? An OP like this from a first-time poster usually means no-returnsees, but okay, I’ll answer. Gods are as real as all other historically mythological beings, like the Medusa, the Kraken, the Cyclops, the Fates, the Sirens, etc… _[yeah, guess what literary kick I’m on lately]_. All have no basis in reality, yet all, except your chosen deity, have been appropriately chucked into the fantasy bucket. That people continue to believe in something with no more of an evidentiary foundation than the existence of Santa Claus, and a book of pure allegorical composition and dubious origin, exacerbated by their innate fear of the unknown, and their misunderstanding and unwillingness to accept the now known, speaks volumes about the weakness, malleability, and fragility of the human mind. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/26 "2013-01-01T19:45:38Z")
Actually, I’ve determined that Santa Claus is real. Of course, he’s a little different than the elaborate mythology built up around him. But the real Santa Claus is named Steve Krapinski. He lives in Tampa Florida where he works as an insurance adjuster, wears business casual clothing exclusively, doesn’t have a beard, never gives presents, and hates children. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/27 "2013-01-01T19:48:30Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > _If_ there is a god, it’s in your left sock, as well. Or it _is_ your left sock, as well. > I’m not hung up on it. Your ‘god’, as stated, doesn’t remotely qualify by the requirements I posted in #6. Why should I even consider it as a possible ‘god’? Can you tell me why I should _care_ whether such an amorphous god as you present, here, actually _exists_? Unless you _can_, the question “Does it?” is really fucking irrelevant. Show me why I should _care_ about your ‘god’. Until you do, we have nothing to talk _about_. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/28 "2013-01-01T19:48:49Z")
He is real, and he needs your spaceship. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/29 "2013-01-01T19:52:42Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Show me why I should _care_ about your ‘god’. He didn’t say you should care. The nice thing about believing in that sort of god (not that I do) is that a watchmaker type god doesn’t tell you what to do and don’t ask for money. In other words, if you don’t find that type of god logically or psychologically satisfying, you can shrug off its existence because it would make no difference to anybody anyway. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/30 "2013-01-01T19:59:17Z")
> [@Ishmael\_Jankem](#): > > I believe He is. Why? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/31 "2013-01-01T20:08:12Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Foolish electrician. God is a number. > > See Pythagoras. Or Lucian of Samosota He’s totally irrational at that. Didn’t anyone here see the movie _Pi?_ ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/32 "2013-01-01T20:09:18Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Why? Yeh! Why? ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/33 "2013-01-01T20:10:29Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > He’s totally irrational at that. Didn’t anyone here see the movie _Pi?_ Yes, I did. Decent movie, although the main character was completely bonkers…but I guess that was part of the point. 🙂 ETA: It kind of reminded me of A Beautiful Mind, but grungy, and with Hasidim. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/34 "2013-01-01T20:16:38Z")
ts;dnr ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/35 "2013-01-01T20:17:48Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > ts;dnr Heh. 🙂 ---
**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:** [January 1, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/36 "2013-01-01T20:39:28Z")
No. And no. If you’re leaning towards biblegod, \*\*Ishmael, \*\*we’d have no choice but to find a way to destroy the evil creature. He’s homicidal, infanticidal, anti-women, anti-human, and certainly doesn’t like animals. Good thing he’s fictitious. I’m going to use my god-like powers to say, uuummmm… you like The Book of Ecclesiastes, Bay Of God’s Mercy and “Ghostfinger”. Am I right? If so, then I am your god. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/37 "2013-01-01T20:48:09Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Your ‘god’, as stated, doesn’t remotely qualify by the requirements I posted in #6. Why should I even consider it as a possible ‘god’? Can you tell me why I should _care_ whether such an amorphous god as you present, here, actually _exists_? Unless you _can_, the question “Does it?” is really fucking irrelevant. > > Show me why I should _care_ about your ‘god’. Until you do, we have nothing to talk _about_. I said “if”, and it was italicized. I’m not here to convince you of anything. Particularly not a supposition that begins with “if”. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/38 "2013-01-01T21:03:16Z")
“Real”? Two is real, rational and useful, but it does not exist. _i_ is unreal, irrational and useful, it does not exist. A _hippogrif_ is not real, has not ever existed and is not particularly useful. God is not real, does not exist and is ultimately useful in exactly the same way as the devil, to manipulate gullible people, which I personally consider the opposite of useful. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/39 "2013-01-01T21:23:28Z")
I used to think I had believed in God, then I had an experience that hit home what kind of God a lot of devout people actually believe in. One who orchestrates things that I know are not so orchestrated. An unnecessary god, who denies randomness, and in extreme versions, even the free will of persons who are not the believer. I think my childhood religion gave me a cognitive disorder, a sort of belief that God and the Devil were concerned with me, as if that absolved me of responsibility for the effects of my own actions. You want to believe in God, go for a remote and weak one. Saner and safer all around. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750/40 "2013-01-01T21:27:36Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > That’s so vague as to be nearly meaningless, and would include a huge number of things that almost no one would actually consider “God”. I might as well define “God” as my left sock and wave it around as proof that “God” exists. I believe you have a sock, even never having seen (or smelled!) it. That’s a lot more probable than there being a god. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-real/645750.md?page=3)