I'm impressed with how patient you are, Sarn.

WTF that is really profound.

Now that was just mean.

You know damn well he isn't going to get any bigger than he is.

I'm sure someone has echoed a similar point maybe. Whenever I think about the possibility of god, and what role it would play, I seem to think that if a real, true god did exist, the world would be no different than it is.

Put it this way: when you run a simulation, sometimes it's fun to just watch it run. If the AI is written well enough, it's interesting to see the interactions one player has with another. How will they respond to an attack? How will they approach an entrenched enemy? Does the AI just give up when it's half destroyed, or fight on?

Poor examples, I know, but if a god did exist, I don't see it interfering that much because it wouldn't be, well, fun. If god went and prevented every murder, stopped war, made love, peace, and daises, you'd never find the true depth of human character. You'd never know just what exactly humans are capable of; and isn't part of the fun of creation seeing what it can do? What it can be used for? Just like raising a child, at a certain point you just observe and watch them grow, because if you dawdled over them too much you'd stifle their independent development.

So yeah, that's my two cents. If a god did exist, I don't think he'd exist in any other way than an observer. To me the "evidence" supports that claim, and logically to me it makes sense. The Christian/Jewish/Islamic/etc concept of god is filled with contradictions. He loves everyone, maybe, but some get sent to hell, which he kinda can't help. The OT god is as cruel as can be, and acts in some ways like the a Sim City player who after trying to develop an area, fails, and then targets it with a meteor strike.

A calm, observant god who wants to see the extent of the capabilities of his creations makes sense. The other models that who if you talk to him or pray hard enough may do something, may not, and works in "mysterious" (read: illogical) ways does not. Plus, what's with the whole praying thing? The need to be worshiped always bothered me. What, does he have some confidence issues? Is he attention deprived? I don't think humans were created to worship their maker all day, or hell, any day. And I don't think god would want to interfere in the beautiful and wonderful simulation of life that he would have created. If, that is, I can attribute "wants" to an abstract construct.

God watches people die for funsies.

Richard Dawkins is going to be on The O'Reilly Factor tomorrow night.

If there was a creator, could it logically (assuming that it's capable of logic) hold it against us that we don't believe in it, considering the fact that there isn't a single shred of evidence that supports its existence? Why would a creator bless us with the capacity for logical thought if what it really wanted was a child-like mind (e.g. faith)?

I am SO watching that.

So what about the people who don't consider or question it because it would really have no impact on our day-to-day lives?

My opinion is thus: If God created people in His own image, then that makes us our own Gods. We choose to believe or not believe, to give it a second thought or think about it only in passing, etc.

All I know is that the only person who has proven that they can affect my day to day life is me, and I'm fine with that.

Surely other people can affect your day or am I confusing what you're saying? Like say some idiot comes up and throws a drink on you, it will have an effect on your day.

Yeah, but I love being moist. I'm talking more long-term effects. Like getting hit by cars, which in most cases is my fault. Being shot however was not. Neither have had serious long term effects. If I get crippled one day, I should have just walked on the other side of the street.

The real question then, is if god did not give any meaning to your life would you still believe in him?