# The most rational way for a believer to view God and the afterlife **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 17, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-rational-way-for-a-believer-to-view-god-and-the-afterlife/625452 "2012-06-17T20:13:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-rational-way-for-a-believer-to-view-god-and-the-afterlife/625452/101 "2012-06-22T17:34:44Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > [Pandas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panda) are bears. Aren’t they marsupials? I guess God is real then. ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-rational-way-for-a-believer-to-view-god-and-the-afterlife/625452/102 "2012-06-22T17:54:54Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > , though it clearly is possible. Go ahead, show that it’s possible. Since it is so clear, you shouldn’t have any problem showing that the existence of God (including all the baggage that this form of the word carries with it) is possible. Ball’s in your court. > [@](#): > > fills you with such fear No fear here. Nothing to fear. Realizing that there are no gods is the single most freeing thought imaginable. > [@](#): > > But I also know God Great, then you know how to reach him. Tell him I’m still waiting for the $100 million in cash that I prayed for (and so he owes me) back when I was still stupid enough to have faith. ---
**Author:** ![florez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9e5f3/32.png) [@florez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/florez)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-rational-way-for-a-believer-to-view-god-and-the-afterlife/625452/103 "2012-06-22T18:35:18Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > So how about it? What is an “existential force” anyhow? How do you know such forces exist? How do they work? Moi needs answers. Maybe the “existential force” liberates 2ManyTacos from distress over the complexity and perversity of his brute physical world. Perhaps he creates a plate glass of existentialism to shield him from a breakdown in his drive toward spiritual understanding. But I also wish for 2ManyTacos to share more information on this “existential force”. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-rational-way-for-a-believer-to-view-god-and-the-afterlife/625452/104 "2012-06-22T19:14:19Z")
> [@Docta\_G](#): > > Aren’t they marsupials? I guess God is real then. Koalas aren’t bears. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-rational-way-for-a-believer-to-view-god-and-the-afterlife/625452/105 "2012-06-22T19:54:43Z")
> [@Docta\_G](#): > > Aren’t they marsupials? I guess God is real then. Nope, bears. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-rational-way-for-a-believer-to-view-god-and-the-afterlife/625452/106 "2012-06-25T10:20:54Z")
> [@fumster](#): > > Well actually existence has to be “E”, but we’ll put that aside for the moment. > > So a creator can just be “be” but the universe can’t? This is pretty much argument by definition: if something has always existed we’ll call it “the creator”. You could just as easily call it “the universe” and leave out all the implications the word creator implies. The universe is in existence,if it were not in existence it wouldn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-rational-way-for-a-believer-to-view-god-and-the-afterlife/625452/107 "2012-06-25T11:10:26Z")
Oh, how con_ven_ient, a way of looking for God that doesn’t require looking through a telescope. Get back to work! ---
**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:** [June 25, 2012, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-rational-way-for-a-believer-to-view-god-and-the-afterlife/625452/108 "2012-06-25T11:50:20Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > The universe is in existence,if it were not in existence it wouldn’t exist. Are you defining “existence” as a condition, or as a location? For the purposes of this discussion, can we just pick one and stick to it? ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-rational-way-for-a-believer-to-view-god-and-the-afterlife/625452/109 "2012-06-26T12:11:14Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Are you defining “existence” as a condition, or as a location? For the purposes of this discussion, can we just pick one and stick to it? It would be a place, one needs a place to be, before they can exist. Perhaps a condition is just the way one exists? ---
**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:** [June 26, 2012, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-rational-way-for-a-believer-to-view-god-and-the-afterlife/625452/110 "2012-06-26T12:36:27Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > It would be a place, one needs a place to be, before they can exist. Perhaps a condition is just the way one exists? If something exists, it is a place? ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-rational-way-for-a-believer-to-view-god-and-the-afterlife/625452/111 "2012-06-27T12:43:59Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If something exists, it is a place? Where else would it exist if there was no place? Existence must exist, or it wouldn’t be existence. If something doesn’t exist it is nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Incomprehension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5ac83/32.png) [@Incomprehension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incomprehension)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-rational-way-for-a-believer-to-view-god-and-the-afterlife/625452/112 "2012-06-27T16:03:42Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > I know God, I have met Him, and I have seen His ‘spiritual’ world and have been privileged enough to see the illusion of our physical world He has provided us from His prospective. > > As far as ‘believing \*in \*God’, I don’t take that statement as ‘believing that God exists’, as He obviously does, but I do believe that statement (taken from scriptures) refers in His ability and saving power from our physical world, and has nothing to do with believing in His existence, as even the scriptures state that demons believe God exists, so belief in His existence is not what is referred to. It’s said that part of the Homo-Sapien brain is solely for religious experiences. It’s to help one accept death. You are looking at this the wrong way, matter is one as a whole solely defined by it’s chemical makeup. When you die you will decompose back into these simple structures and make life possible for others. Do tree’s have an afterlife, do dogs, how about fungus, or possible cancer cells? You are looking at this in an arbitrary way and claiming that Humans are more superior than all living life. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-rational-way-for-a-believer-to-view-god-and-the-afterlife/625452/113 "2012-06-28T12:06:13Z")
> [@Incomprehension](#): > > It’s said that part of the Homo-Sapien brain is solely for religious experiences. It’s to help one accept death. You are looking at this the wrong way, matter is one as a whole solely defined by it’s chemical makeup. When you die you will decompose back into these simple structures and make life possible for others. Do tree’s have an afterlife, do dogs, how about fungus, or possible cancer cells? You are looking at this in an arbitrary way and claiming that Humans are more superior than all living life. All things change back to the atoms etc. as they were before coming into earthly existence). If you burn a piece of paper (as I understand it) it becomes carbon or what ever atoms were in it. There is no way of knowing if a human has an after life, anymore than an animal, or plant. Just the hope that there is! ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-rational-way-for-a-believer-to-view-god-and-the-afterlife/625452/114 "2012-06-28T13:16:45Z")
> [@Docta\_G](#): > > Many people claim to be god. Many people think aliens taught Egyptians to build pyramids. Many people think pandas are bears. Many people think Elvis is alive. Many people are fucking idiots. Giant pandas are bears, red pandas are not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-rational-way-for-a-believer-to-view-god-and-the-afterlife/625452.md?page=5)