Anyone have any ideas on how to kill God? I was thinking a out it and I think for a lot of people “God” is just this undefined “thing” out there that they can attribute other things to.

Like imagine a caveman kid talking to their caveman parent and asking questions like “Why is there a day and a night? Why is sky blue? Why is dog died?”

And the caveman parent just makes something up.

When people don’t know the cause of something, they can create a cause out of their imagination.

God will always be lurking in the imaginations of stupid people, and we will always have stupid people on this planet.

For a while this scared me because I’m a stupid person with an imagination, so I knew the idea of “God” will stay with me till I die (since I can’t think about anything when I die).

So I think the only way to kill God is if everyone dies. But even then it’s a gamble because there’s a whole “if a tree falls in a forest?” aspect.

Anyone else have any ideas?

15 points

permalink
report
reply
6 points

God will always be lurking in the imaginations of stupid people, and we will always have stupid people on this planet.

I’d be careful there. I’m guessing there are people who would call you stupid for the things you believe.

And there are plenty of very smart people who simply happen to be incorrect about their beliefs. Not even god belief things. Linus Pauling has insane beliefs about vitamin C being a panacea. Bobby Fischer believes antisemitic conspiracy theories.

Believing something silly doesn’t make you stupid, just wrong.

permalink
report
reply
1 point

I called myself stupid in my own post, so I have no problem with other people reaching the same conclusion.

Believing something that is wrong can make people dangerous, and I think that’s cause for concern.

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

True, but that still does not make them stupid. As I said, very smart people believe things that are simply wrong.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

I probably should’ve used “ignorant” or “uneducated” instead of “stupid”.

What I was trying to say is that as long as people continue to have imperfect knowledge of the universe there will always be room for speculation/imagination.

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

Stop believing in him. End of procedure.

permalink
report
reply
2 points

If I can’t seem him he can’t see me! Perfect!

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

We need more science education, and basic epistemology taught at every level. Not What to believe, but How and Why; and the What’s follow from there.

I have a dear friend who fell down the Flat Earth rabbit hole some years ago, and only upon discussing the topic with him did I learn just how bad his science education had been all his life; and trying to get him interested in actual science proved impossible because the conspiratorial mindset was already in place alongside the “you’re being lied to” defense.

Like, yeah, I personally can’t detect the Cosmic Microwave Background of the Big Bang with the Observatory that’s not in my back yard. But that’s not proof that the scientists are lying, making up stories. Reproducibility can be a problem in science; but not with basic physical facts of the universe that have been reproduced across the continents, multiple times.

Education may not be a magic bullet, but it’s definitely a fantastic tool to begin the journey towards the more rational.

permalink
report
reply
1 point

Yeah, I absolutely agree. I think encouraging a scientific perspective (forming conclusions based on testing, while being open to the idea that those conclusions might change with additional testing) is incredibly important because it fosters the attitude that there are a lot of things we can’t know “for sure”, but we can be confident enough in our knowledge to take action, and humble enough to admit when we’re wrong.

You can get pretty far in life just by applying the scientific method and the golden rule.

Sorry about your friend. I hope that despite their distorted world view they’re still able to maintain healthy relationships and find/provide love and happiness, because at a personal level I think that’s the most important thing someone can achieve.

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

When it comes to the Christian God, that’s easy.

https://biblehub.com/judges/1-19.htm

The LORD was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had chariots fitted with iron.

https://biblehub.com/1_kings/6-7.htm

In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built.

While the Bible never says what was used to fix Jesus to the cross, tradition says it was three iron nails. There are two reasons why the account of the crucifixion is atypical of normal Roman executions: first of all, they didn’t usually waste good iron nailing victims to their crosses. They tied them to the posts. Secondly, crucifixion victims normally took days to die of dehydration and suffocation, which is why the Romans did it that way. But Jesus allegedly died in hours, not days.

So clearly, Yahweh has a weakness to iron. I fear no gods I know how to kill.

permalink
report
reply
2 points

He could have died quickly if soldiers were piercing his heart with the spear of Longinus.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

Sure, but the text claims he was already dead by that point. So we’re back to my original claim.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point
*

Eeeeeh, depending on your interpretation, the physical body Jesus died from the iron spikes, the spirit Christ did not. The passage about the iron tools seems to be more symbolizing keeping as much of the labor away from the temple as possible.

It is a fun idea to think of the Christian God as a demon, weak to iron as some folk lore describe them. Kinda fits with the Gnostic demiurge too, but that’s (the demiurge) distinctly not Christ.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

That’s pretty weak tea, especially considering how so many Christians (but not all, I know) insist that Jesus and Yahweh are the same person, just different aspects.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point
*

I’d say it’s as fair as any other approach hahah. We’re talking about fairy tales essentially, so I find it a pretty compelling argument to point out the wildly disparate beliefs of actual people throughout history. Just because they’ve homogenized largely to this point (there are still VAST differences in even just the abrahamic religions of today, but not as much as there were during its active spread and creation) doesn’t really remove that history.

Either way, not trying to punch at your original comment, just love exploring and expanding on the different beliefs of the past, particularly apocryphal ones.

permalink
report
parent
reply

Atheism

!atheism@lemmy.world

Create post

Community Guide


Archive Today will help you look at paywalled content the way search engines see it.


Statement of Purpose

  • This is a support and conversation community for people who don’t believe in gods.
  • Superstition hucksters have no reason to subscribe or post here at all.
  • If you are looking to debate or proselytize, options will be linked lower in the sidebar.

Acceptable

  • Honest questions or conversations.
  • Discussions on parenting or advice.
  • Struggles, frustrations, coming out.
  • Atheist memes. We can have fun!
  • News headlines relevant to atheism.

Unacceptable

Depending on severity, you might be warned before adverse action is taken.

  • Anything against site rules.
  • Illegal and/or NSFW material.
  • Troll posts and comments. There will be no attempt to explain what that means.
  • Leading questions, agenda pushing, or disingenuous attempts to bait members.
  • Personal attacks or flaming.

Inadvisable

  • Self promotion or upvote farming.
  • Excessive shitposting or off-topic discussion.

Application of warnings or bans will be subject to moderator discretion. Feel free to appeal. If changes to the guidelines are necessary, they will be adjusted.


If you vocally harass or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

Likewise, if you are a member, sympathizer or a resemblant of a group that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of any other group of people, and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you you will be banned on sight.

Provable means able to provide proof to the moderation, and, if necessary, to the community.

 ~ /c/nostupidquestions

If you want your space listed in this sidebar and it is especially relevant to the atheist or skeptic communities, PM DancingPickle and we’ll have a look!


Connect with Atheists

Help and Support Links

Streaming Media

This is mostly YouTube at the moment. Podcasts and similar media - especially on federated platforms - may also feature here.

Orgs, Blogs, Zines

Mainstream

Bibliography

Start here…

…proceed here.

Proselytize Religion

From Reddit

As a community with an interest in providing the best resources to its members, the following wiki links are provided as historical reference until we can establish our own.

Community stats

  • 771

    Monthly active users

  • 722

    Posts

  • 8.6K

    Comments

Community moderators