For those who do not believe that there is a god, what would your reaction be if the mars rover sent back clear photos of a well built house on the martian surface(assuming that the photo was proven to be legitimate)? --I originally posted this query at the tail end of a very long thread and decided to make it a new one. My apologies to those who have already replied. I am genuinely interested in hearing what your opinions would be.
>For those who do not believe that there is a god, >what would your reaction be if the mars rover sent >back clear photos of a well built house on the martian >surface(assuming that the photo was proven to be >legitimate)? There is nothing about a house on mars that has any bearing on my belief in god. Now, if the residents would speak to me and if they claimed a god who created them and their god would give me the time of day then I would take that into consideration. Same rules of proof as applied here on earth. I'm not a hard guy to convince at all. Just stop running and hiding and I'll believe in you (respecting you requires more than that). JB
I have to find agreement with Turok on this one: The question as posed is immaterial to determining a proof for any diety. Furthermore, I know of no such proof. And Faith, by definition, means believing in things for which no proof is possible; in other words "whim worship" akin to "I feel it's true so it must be true." There are better ways to use our minds, I think. But I'm only 1 of about 5% of the human race who thinks this way. That said, I've lived long enough to know not to get involved in a discussion about any arbitrary assertions based in mysticism; the bottom line is that it's a personal choice and that those who want to share their beliefs with me have the onus of proof on them to justify such claims. Now, to honor your question in my own way and in the spirit of this chit chat board, let me offer you this quote from Epicurus made over 2300 years ago. It's as good a riddle as you posed, I think. I hope you enjoy it. "Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?" And, like a Zen koan, the answer isn't in actually responding to the questions; the real answer is to realize the whole idea of a God is preposterous. Cheers.
rg, I completely agree with the assertion above. That was not my intent. Rather, I am curious to see whether or not atheists would conclude as I would--"Aha, we are/were not alone". In response to your riddle, I must say that the riddle is flawed. One of the presuppositions is that evil exists. How can evil exist if there is no source for moral law? It is not "evil" when a dog tears apart another dog. However, most people consider what Jeffrey Dahmer did to be evil. What gives humans the concept of good and evil if there is no absolute right and wrong?
As an atheist....I am not sure we are not alone in the universe. Strikes me as there can be life on other planets. Would not change my feelings one iota on the god thing. I wonder, would they have any churches on Mars? And what day of the week would they go there?
Better to ask how a house on Mars would be reconciled with the tenets of a traditional anthropomorphic theology.