# To the theists: How would you behave different if there was no God? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 19, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732 "2010-06-19T00:14:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/21 "2010-06-20T01:57:55Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > If you also own a Harley we’re going to have to run our DNA just to convince me there isn’t some evil cloning thing gone awry here. 😃 lol. No, I don’t own a Harley. My car sounds a lot \*like \*a Harley, but as soon as I have the funds to change out the muffler, that will be taken care of. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/22 "2010-06-20T04:26:37Z")
I don’t think I’d behave differently, but it would still mean a big change. Most of what I get from religion is a sense of comfort, so I’d probably feel more alone than I do now. Sometimes we have a disagreement, and during those times when I’m on the outs with Mr. G. I’m generally kind of pissed off and feeling defeated. I’d hate to feel that way forever. ---
**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 20, 2010, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/23 "2010-06-20T04:32:21Z")
I’d eat bacon cheeseburgers til I could no longer move under my own power. Other than that, I’d act the same. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/24 "2010-06-20T06:06:21Z")
I wouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/25 "2010-06-20T16:59:03Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Oh hell yes, i would act differently. > > If this is the only chance we get at life or interacting with others, then I would certainly be more polite to my fellow humans. I would also be more active in alleviating poor living conditions if I were certain there is no “next world” where people get a reward. I am sure I would be more militant against injustice if this is the only justice we wil ever see. > > I think a definite lack of a deity would make me a more outwardly moral person. As it stands, I tend to slack off, since everyone is going to face divine judgement eventually and earthly justice is only a pale shadow of the Divine Will. This is exactly what happened to me when I realized I was an atheist. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/26 "2010-06-20T19:34:44Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > That’s a common belief about atheists among believers, but I don’t recall **smiling bandit** ever saying so; I think it’s probably a joke. Might not be. Smiling Bandit was complaining in another thread that atheists only act morally because they’d been taught moral behavior by theists, and without theists providing a source of objective morality for everyone, the world would go to hell. So it seems he really does think that a consistent atheist would logically become a sociopath. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/27 "2010-06-25T02:02:13Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > There have been quite a few times where my belief in God has been the only thing that has kept me from doing something immoral that would hurt me in the long run. I honestly think I’d be in jail or worse. > > And that’s assuming my recovery from being declared dead for 45 minutes as a 15 month old after everyone praying for me to come back from the dead was not a divine miracle. Nice that you are so important that God decided to let you live while people are starving to death in Africa. I guess they didn’t pray hard enough. God must be a prick. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/28 "2010-06-25T09:01:54Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I am _not_ a theist, and this thread intrigues me because we often hear theists seeming to expect atheists to be immoral. Instead, perhaps, it is those theists who would be immoral without their belief. > > Is **smiling bandit** joking? Does he think those of us who don’t believe in God are happy to rob, steal and plunder? Not necessarily, I know people who believe in the God of Punishment and who would therefore change their behavior if they weren’t sure that what they want to do would get them punished; I also know people who think that everybody has exactly the same defects/temptations/problems they do… wait, wouldn’t at least half the “trying to cure the ghey” pastors out there fall into that pot? Well, they’re not the only ones. Me, I wouldn’t. There was once in my life that I did something based… not so much in the belief that there is a God as in a refusal to believe that He’s a complete asshole (specifically, step away from a balcony I was seriously considering jumping off of), but I was 11 at the time and I don’t remember having done anything “because God requires it” after that. I’m more into the God of Freedom, Loving Creator, you see. I don’t do something or refrain from doing something because of some old dude who looks suspiciously like Zeus with a bad hair day. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/29 "2010-06-25T09:07:39Z")
> [@scamartistry](#): > > In a hypothetical (and I grant impossible) scenario: Tomorrow there is definite proof that there is no GOD. All religions are proven wrong. > > How would this change your life and the way you act? (except from attending church, if so) I don’t actually attend church, but I would not change anything in my life - other than I wouldn’t have to deal with missionaries banging on my door :D:D To be honest, it wouldn’t surprise me if most people just carried on as before. Not sure what the heck the various church hierarchies would do, would the pope be out of work? ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/30 "2010-06-25T09:18:58Z")
If it could be undeniably proven that all religions were wrong and there was absolutely nothing supernatural then I’d feel awful for all of the priests, rabbis, Imams, etc., whose purpose in life would be taken away from them causing them to re-evaluate their lives. Of course some would handle the news just fine but it would have to be devastating to others. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/31 "2010-06-25T12:10:42Z")
Nevermind ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/32 "2010-06-25T13:03:24Z")
> [@scamartistry](#): > > I hope though that these are all quality threads (not for me to decide). This is certainly an interesting one! And a little disheartening. I wonder about those theists who would pillage the world should it be proven that there are no gods. Would the world burn? Possibly. But I’d bet that after a week or two of mayhem they’d come to realize that we have social rules for very good reasons, above and beyond the fact that prison is just not very much fun. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/33 "2010-06-25T13:21:25Z")
I don’t think my daily behavior would change much. My Sunday mornings would certainly be different, because I sing and play guitar at two church services. There is one thing that I spend a lot of time on now that I’m pretty sure would simply cease. I am a volunteer for [Kairos Prison Ministry](http://www.kairosprisonministry.org/templates/System/default.asp?id=23761). I spend about 20 hours per month attempting to build Christian communities at a maximum security prison. One of the reasons for my strong belief in God is the fact that I feel guided to do certain things by God, as a result of prayer and meditation. Taking part in this ministry, which is definitely outside my comfort zone, is something I have felt guided to do. If the situation in the OP came to pass, it would not only remove the validity of the subject of my prison visits, it would invalidate the spiritual experience that prompted me to get involved. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/34 "2010-06-25T14:14:59Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I don’t think my daily behavior would change much. My Sunday mornings would certainly be different, because I sing and play guitar at two church services. > > There is one thing that I spend a lot of time on now that I’m pretty sure would simply cease. I am a volunteer for [Kairos Prison Ministry](http://www.kairosprisonministry.org/templates/System/default.asp?id=23761). I spend about 20 hours per month attempting to build Christian communities at a maximum security prison. One of the reasons for my strong belief in God is the fact that I feel guided to do certain things by God, as a result of prayer and meditation. Taking part in this ministry, which is definitely outside my comfort zone, is something I have felt guided to do. If the situation in the OP came to pass, it would not only remove the validity of the subject of my prison visits, it would invalidate the spiritual experience that prompted me to get involved. So … could you not change the focus from spiritual to worldly? Instead of a community based on the spirit and afterlife, base the community on paying back society for the crimes done by realizing that you [the prisoner] did wrong to society, and that working to change your self by community service would build character in a positive way so that when released if eligible] you [the prisoner] would be ready to do what it would take to become a contributing part of society - even if that meant moving out of the comfort zone of the hood onto a sheep farm in montana and working a job to earn a living and hence keeping out of temptations way to slide back into crime? If not eligible for parole/release, you can still work towards changing in a positive manner by educating oneself and helping to educate and mainstream a prisoner who ultimately can be released [community service while in prison] Redemption can be nonspiritual =) ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/35 "2010-06-25T14:50:41Z")
I’d pay a hell of a lot less for meat, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/36 "2010-06-25T15:07:29Z")
As a devoutly practicing atheist Reform Jew, I’m never sure whether to answer threads aimed at “theists” or “atheists” on this board. My life and practices wouldn’t change much because my religious activity is based on community and self-reflection and improvement. I don’t think the synagogue I’m part of would change much, either, although I think people would probably be a bit annoyed at all the PR fuss assuming we would. On the plus side, Jonathan Sacks almost certainly wouldn’t want to or get to be Chief Rabbi any more, and hopefully the progressive liberal congregations of all religions would become the mainstream face of each of them. > [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > I’ve often wondered this. Surely a truly skeptical religious person - if such a thing can exist! - would experiment a little, and maybe try taking a year off to see if they noticed anything different? I’ve done this (more like 2.5 years in university, really) and completely second it. It’s a really great way to figure out what (if any) parts of religious practice are good/useful for you, and why. If you end up leaving religion permanently, it wasn’t the right choice for you in the first place, and if you go back (or choose a different religious practice), you can know what parts are valuable to you and which parts you can safely let be. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/37 "2010-06-25T15:11:07Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > So … could you not change the focus from spiritual to worldly? Instead of a community based on the spirit and afterlife, base the community on paying back society for the crimes done by realizing that you [the prisoner] did wrong to society, and that working to change your self by community service would build character in a positive way so that when released if eligible] you [the prisoner] would be ready to do what it would take to become a contributing part of society - even if that meant moving out of the comfort zone of the hood onto a sheep farm in montana and working a job to earn a living and hence keeping out of temptations way to slide back into crime? If not eligible for parole/release, you can still work towards changing in a positive manner by educating oneself and helping to educate and mainstream a prisoner who ultimately can be released [community service while in prison] > > Redemption can be nonspiritual =) I’m not sure I could change the focus. My urge to do what appear to be altruistic things, like donating blood and working on Habitat For Humanity projects, predates my transition from atheism to Christianity. I’m pretty sure I would continue those activities. The prison ministry is different. The only reason I go there is because I had a spiritual experience that left me with the intense feeling that it was what God wanted me to do. I am often left with the feeling that what I am doing is futile, but I keep doing it because I feel it is God’s will. This is the one area in my life that is like this. If it were proved to me tomorrow that God doesn’t exist, I think I would just find something more agreeable to do with my time. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/38 "2010-06-26T02:06:47Z")
> [@scamartistry](#): > > In a hypothetical (and I grant impossible) scenario: Tomorrow there is definite proof that there is no GOD. All religions are proven wrong. > > How would this change your life and the way you act? (except from attending church, if so) What you ask is actually impossible, so I am trying to comprehend what that would mean. In short if there is no good god, then nothing, absolutely nothing matters ( see Ecclesiastes) With the above, without a good living ‘force’ looking over everything there is no reason for anything. Love is meaningless. Without Love there is no reason to live. I don’t subscribe to religions, just knowing God personally, as you would know your brother. so to me all religions are already proved ‘wrong’. So it wouldn’t change anything based on your question. But if thwre was no God, I don’t see what the difference would be, to live like there is no tomorrow is what I do now, without God the result would be the same, the former because of my desire to serve God and be one with Lord Jesus, the latter because nothing matters. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/39 "2010-06-26T15:53:35Z")
I finally got around to this- I’ll read all the posts afterwards, so I’ll post my gut reaction right now… More sex, more despair, and a greater support for vigilante justice against predatory criminals since there will be no Ultimate Justice in the end. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732/40 "2010-06-26T15:59:18Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > I’d eat bacon cheeseburgers til I could no longer move under my own power. You forgot “from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday” (I post at Noon on Saturday so you won’t see this for at least eight hours.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-theists-how-would-you-behave-different-if-there-was-no-god/543732.md?page=3)