"No one ever proved the non-existence of Zeus. People simply tired of worshiping him after 3000 years. Time kills all gods."
Your god is already dead. You just haven't figured it out yet.
"God either doesn't exist, is powerless, or is a huge asshole."
No matter which way you cut it, he's not worth worshipping.
His best defence for baby cancer would be not existing.
Hii! This may be a bit of an unusual question, but would you tell your (little) children that Santa Claus exists? Or do you think it is better to teach them the truth from a young age and not encourage any false beliefs?
I don't think I'd need to tell them about Santa Claus, as it's culturally pervasive. But I wouldn't ruin it for them, as I wouldn't want them to miss out on the fun. Nor ruin it for other kids. You can show a child, "hey, that's Santa Claus," the same way you would point at someone dressed as Aladdin at Disney Land and say, "hey, that's Aladdin." You don't have to claim he's actually real. You just go to see Santa each year and get a photo taken, the same way you get your photo taken with Goofy.
Keeping children's imaginations alive as long as possible is also a virtue as well - crushing a child with unvarnished reality at a young age is just unnecessarily cruel.
It's worth noting that we don't perpetuate the belief that Santa is real into adult and terrify children into sticking to believing it no matter what doubts they form about it. Nor do we make Santa a part of everyday life. Children figure out he's not real, and we don't contest it or claim it's a moral failing. It's a transient idea that falls away naturally.
And when they do start to doubt, we can say things like, "what do you think?" to help them examine what they understand or think is likely or real.
I don't think it's necessary to be obsessively honest with kids, especially younger ones. It's okay to fudge things, simplify them down, or leave out some details so they can comprehend them.
But it's important not to scare them with a false understanding of the world. Santa Claus isn't scary. Telling a kid about hell, or that if they eat all their Christmas candy, they'll balloon up and won't fit through the door any more is a great way to give them unhealthy fears and obsessions.
Ultimately, as a parent, your household is not a democracy, and not everything is a debate. My mother used to say, "I don't have time for three good reasons why." While a general preference for the truth - or the vicinity of the truth - is desirable, I think it's okay to pick your battles on what's important to be truthful about, and what ultimately won't matter in the long run. Lying about their "immortal soul" being damned to eternal hellfire is not one of those "won't matter" type of things.
And in more cases than I think people realize, the easiest thing is to not suggest anything at all to the child and ask what they think.
Them: God is spaceless, timeless and immaterial. Me: You know what also matches that description? Nothing. Literally nothing. So how do you distinguish between the two?
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: believers will tell you themselves that their god isn't real. You just have to let them describe it.
It's only fair. There's not enough room for you, me and your imaginary friends.
"When you stop imagining God, he goes away. (And takes all his invisible friends.)"
Christopher Hitchens: Now I see with a horrific clarity why you didn't like my mention of Sigmund Freud. Nietzsche was supposed to have said god was dead, Freud is supposed to have said god was dad.
In [Freud's] "The Future of an Illusion," his best essay on the subject I think, he says that it's impossible to study religion without noticing its connection to wishful thinking. That people would like, as they expire, to think, I'm not going anywhere, I'm just going into the arms of a loving father. Who wouldn't like to believe that?
Who here decides what they believe on the basis of their wish though, I may inquire? Do any of you decide to believe things cause they would console you?
What about a word like... it hasn't come up yet in our discussion. Big, interesting, important word, begins with e: evidence.
All the evidence says that the cosmos doesn't know we're here. That evolution doesn't know it's created us. That the stars don't look down on us, that there is no one who knows about or cares about or supervises our existence. That we have to face this on our own responsibility. All the evidence is that way. There is no serious evidence any other way.
But there is a strong desire that we could abolish and dissolve our responsibility, and just relax and say well, I'm so glad that, as I check out, daddy will be taking care of me.
I don't think it's moral to be preaching that kind of thing, I'm sorry to say, and I think it's positively immoral to be preaching it to people who are ill, suffering and defenseless. I think it's hateful to tell lies to people in that condition.
Q: What would you tell them?
Hitchens: I would not encourage them to delude themselves. And when my turn comes, I won't listen to any rubbish of that kind.
"Religious people often assume that I'm an atheist because of a tragic occurrence. They think that I must have lost someone. In a way, they're right. I did lose someone. It was my imaginary friend."
All gods die and fade away.
By: Megan Brenan
Published: Jul 20, 2023
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The percentages of Americans who believe in each of five religious entities -- God, angels, heaven, hell and the devil -- have edged downward by three to five percentage points since 2016. Still, majorities believe in each, ranging from a high of 74% believing in God to lows of 59% for hell and 58% for the devil. About two-thirds each believe in angels (69%) and heaven (67%).
Gallup has used this framework to measure belief in these spiritual entities five times since 2001, and the May 1-24, 2023, poll finds that each is at its lowest point. Compared with 2001, belief in God and heaven is down the most (16 points each), while belief in hell has fallen 12 points, and the devil and angels are down 10 points each.
This question asks respondents whether they believe in each concept or if they are unsure, and from 13% to 15% currently say they are not sure. At the same time, nearly three in 10 U.S. adults do not believe in the devil or hell, while almost two in 10 do not believe in angels and heaven, and 12% say they do not believe in God.
As the percentage of believers has dropped over the past two decades, the corresponding increases have occurred mostly in nonbelief, with much smaller increases in uncertainty. This is true for all but belief in God, which has seen nearly equal increases in uncertainty and nonbelief.
In the current poll, about half of Americans, 51%, believe in all five spiritual entities, while 11% do not believe in any of them. Another 7% are not sure about all of them, while the rest (31%) believe in some and not others.
Gallup periodically measures Americans’ belief in God with different question wordings, producing slightly different results. While the majority of U.S. adults say they believe in God regardless of the question wording, when not offered the option to say they are unsure, significantly more (81% in a survey conducted last year) said they believe in God.
Belief Highest Among Frequent Churchgoers, Protestants and Republicans
Frequent churchgoers, Protestants (including nondenominational Christians) and Republicans are the most likely subgroups to say they believe in the five spiritual entities.
Other notable findings:
- Protestants are more likely than Catholics to believe in each of the five entities; however, broad majorities of Catholics still believe in each. The Protestant-Catholic differences are smaller on belief in God and angels than on heaven, hell and the devil. In both religious groups, the minority of people who do not express belief in God are more likely to say they are unsure than express nonbelief. In contrast, no more than 25% of Americans without any religious affiliation believe in any of the spiritual concepts, and they are more likely to express nonbelief rather than uncertainty.
- Majorities of adults who attend religious services at least monthly -- particularly those who attend weekly -- express belief in each of the five concepts. Most of those who seldom or never attend believe in God and angels, but less than half believe in heaven, hell and the devil.
- Between 78% and 87% of Republicans believe in the five entities, while 51% to 68% of independents do. From 56% to 66% of Democrats believe in God, angels and heaven, while less than half say they believe in hell and the devil.
- Americans with annual household incomes under $40,000 are more likely than those with incomes of at least $100,000 to believe in each of the entities. Yet, majorities in the two higher-income groups believe in each spiritual concept.
- Adults aged 55 and older are most likely to believe in each of the concepts, but majorities of those in the 35 to 54 age range also believe in the five. Fewer of those aged 18 to 34 believe in each of the five concepts, but majorities profess belief in all but the devil.
- Women are more likely than men to believe in all of the spiritual concepts except for the devil, which 58% of both groups say they believe in.
- Adults without a college degree are more likely than college graduates to believe in each of the five entities.
Belief in the five spiritual entities has declined among most of these subgroups since 2001 but has held relatively steady among weekly and nearly weekly or monthly church attendees, Protestants, and Republicans.
Bottom Line
Gallup has documented sharp declines in church attendance, confidence in organized religion and religious identification in recent years. Americans’ beliefs regarding God, angels, heaven, hell and the devil have also fallen by double digits since 2001. Still, U.S. adults’ belief in each entity remains at the majority level, and regular churchgoers, Protestants and Republicans, in particular, remain largely resolute in their beliefs.
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Equivalent headline: Number of adults who believe in Santa Claus declines, still not zero.
Source: news.gallup.com
"GOD: Because even though the idea of a magic man that can solve all of your problems for you is nice, once you've seen behind the curtain, you realise that you have to do stuff for yourself."
"God is the only being who does not have to exist in order to reign." -- Charles Baudelaire
Lazy fucker. Can't even be bothered existing, yet still gets temples and monuments and people fighting over how to make him happy.
Give me that job - I'll actually put in the effort to exist.
"Dear imaginary friend...
... please fix my real problems for me."
Grown adults asking Santa for wishes.