What do you have to lose if you love God?

[IamRAMBO24]

To answer the original question: your sanity.

I personally know people that have turned into religious zealots and talk to themselves on facebook about some god that they worship relentlessly. I'd delete them but besides their lunatic like rants they're ok people.

What if they're right and you're wrong? What if we don't truly die and our consciousness passes into a different realm where we will have to answer to God.

I think it is a very shallow view of reality to only see yourself as nothing more than a body.

[Is He Ill]

What if they're right and you're wrong? What if we don't truly die and our consciousness passes into a different realm where we will have to answer to God.

I think it is a very shallow view of reality to only see yourself as nothing more than a body.

What if? So we should all just believe in God out of fear so that the batshit crazy overlord doesn't punish us for not bowing down to him, despite there being absolutely no evidence that it actually exists? Like taking out afterlife insurance? Nah, I'm not wasting time trying to please an imaginary entity. If religious nutbags actually turned out to be correct, I would simply be dumbstruck at how asinine the creator of the universe is. I actually am open to the possibility of there being some kind of higher power. If anything, I'm probably a pantheist. That said, you're advocating Pascal's Wager and that is just ridiculous.

[Scholar]

So OP, do tell: what God do you think we should believe in to be on the "safe side"? Is it the Jewish God? Is it the Muslim God? Is it the Christian God? Is it the Catholic God? Should we believe in Zeus just to avoid disrespecting him?

I mean, there are just so many gods to choose from... Which one should I go with? Should I love them all to keep all bases covered? Because I'd love to be on the 'safe side' (whatever that means). I just need an enlightened path set before me. I'm a mindless sheep just like the rest of 'em, so please tell me where to go!

[Myth]

Read about Pascal's Wager OP. You have a lot to lose by going with this dumb strategy and hoping for the best.

Was going to bring this up if somebody else did not.

[pauk]

So OP, do tell: what God do you think we should believe in to be on the "safe side"? Is it the Jewish God? Is it the Muslim God? Is it the Christian God? Is it the Catholic God? Should we believe in Zeus just to avoid disrespecting him?

I mean, there are just so many gods to choose from... Which one should I go with? Should I love them all to keep all bases covered? Because I'd love to be on the 'safe side' (whatever that means). I just need an enlightened path set before me. I'm a mindless sheep just like the rest of 'em, so please tell me where to go!

All those religions essentially believe in the same one and only god and same things, they just differ somewhat in details.... even in Islam, "Allah" is only an arabic word for God... same gray haired dude in white pyjamas Christians believe in, they believe in Jesus aswell, lots of Islam is based on Jesus "enlightment", but they believe in him as a prophet just like Mohammed etc.... they are not so super different religions... same goes with those other religions....

You could go with any of those religions you mentioned and you will be safe.... just be a good guy, dont become some psychotic extremist and you will be good.. :P

[MavsSuperFan]

I'm not talking about loving religion; I'm talking about the idea of loving God.

If you have a scientfic mind and refuse to believe what you can't prove, then why not love God for the hell of it because you can't disprove him either? Either way you're going to die, so how would you know if he exist or not? Why not just be safe and show a bit of respect for him? See it as a contigency plan.

Because in practice a belief in god deters scientific progress.

Atheism among elite scientists is far more prevalent than among the general population

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oxTMUTOz0w
The Erosion of Progress by Religions

Here Neil deGrasse Tyson explains why so many stars have arabic names, and how islam allowed white europeans to overtake the arab world scientifically.

The original sin in the bible was when eve ate a fruit from the tree of knowledge... The bible is basically teaching that the greatest sin is to search for knowledge.

[Swaggin916]

What do you have to gain?

Hmm the apple and knowledge thing is interesting... One would like to think the elite weren't just hoarding all the knowledge and money (therefore power) and deterring others from trying to get it, but it definitely seems that way.

Edit: Oh yea it was called the tree of knowledge... I mean how obvious can you get? Bunch of bastards.

[Scholar]

All those religions essentially believe in the same one and only god and same things, they just differ somewhat in details.... even in Islam, "Allah" is only an arabic word for God... same gray haired dude in white pyjamas Christians believe in, they believe in Jesus aswell, lots of Islam is based on Jesus "enlightment", but they believe in him as a prophet just like Mohammed etc.... they are not so super different religions... same goes with those other religions....

You could go with any of those religions you mentioned and you will be safe.... just be a good guy, dont become some psychotic extremist and you will be good.. :P

I'm already aware of all that.
I grew up a Muslim.

[pauk]

I'm already aware of all that.
I grew up a Muslim.

Ah ok, cool, where are you from? I am from Bosnia/Croatia, catholic/muslim parents, aint actively religious at all though... well, i dont eat pork... :P

[OhNoTimNoSho]

I'm not talking about loving religion; I'm talking about the idea of loving God.

If you have a scientfic mind and refuse to believe what you can't prove, then why not love God for the hell of it because you can't disprove him either? Either way you're going to die, so how would you know if he exist or not? Why not just be safe and show a bit of respect for him? See it as a contigency plan.

I'm losing mental and emotional energy wasted on thinking about fairy tales.

[chosen_one6]

What if they're right and you're wrong? What if we don't truly die and our consciousness passes into a different realm where we will have to answer to God.

I think it is a very shallow view of reality to only see yourself as nothing more than a body.

I don't worry about what if's. I worry about what I can control, which is my body and where I go in life.

It's funny to me that people have to have some sort of religion or god to justify moral behavior. I'm a generally good person (we all make mistakes) and I've never believed in any higher being, despite it being forced down my throat as a child (which I think is wrong.)

This whole concept of fearing a god so you don't go to some horrible afterlife is meant to keep the sheep that believe that BS in their lanes.

[Scholar]

Ah ok, cool, where are you from? I am from Bosnia/Croatia, catholic/muslim parents, aint actively religious at all though... well, i dont eat pork... :P

California.
I'm not religious at all (in fact, the complete opposite) but for whatever reason I cannot eat pork. I guess it's been instilled in my brain so much that now even after denouncing my religious affiliations I still find myself preferring being hungry over eating pork. Weird. It's a running joke with my Atheist in-laws now.

[K Xerxes]

All those religions essentially believe in the same one and only god and same things, they just differ somewhat in details.... even in Islam, "Allah" is only an arabic word for God... same gray haired dude in white pyjamas Christians believe in, they believe in Jesus aswell, lots of Islam is based on Jesus "enlightment", but they believe in him as a prophet just like Mohammed etc.... they are not so super different religions... same goes with those other religions....

You could go with any of those religions you mentioned and you will be safe.... just be a good guy, dont become some psychotic extremist and you will be good.. :P

All those 'same' religions = the three Abrahamic ones. And I honestly doubt that Jews and Christians believe that their 'successors' believe in the same God. Only Muslims believe that all three believe in the exact same God, with the Torah and Gospels being barstardised versions of the Qur'an.

Now, you've got how many other religions that aren't Abrahamic? Polytheistic ones? What about religions that died off? Hell, can you be sure that the true religion is one that has been revealed to mankind?

What about a God who values logic and rationality, and thus decides to throw those who believe in God to hell for having 'faith' while rewarding atheists heaven for using common sense. I mean, it's possible.

There is an infinite amount of supreme beings who *could* exist and they may all use different criteria for reward and punishment (if at all). Probability says that it's not worth wasting your life believing in a specific God for that reason. If you're gonna believe, fine, just don't let it be Pascal's Wager.

[gigantes]

there are specific meditations based on sending out love (or metta) to the cosmos and/or receiving love from the cosmos. no middle-god required.

of course it takes practice, effort and learned skill, but my sense is that such a thing truly does strengthen a person in mind and body.

the point is that it seems artificial and strained at first. that's the part you have to work through over time.

[Inactive]

All those 'same' religions = the three Abrahamic ones. And I honestly doubt that Jews and Christians believe that their 'successors' believe in the same God. Only Muslims believe that all three believe in the exact same God, with the Torah and Gospels being barstardised versions of the Qur'an.

They all recognize that they worship the God of Abraham. It would be pretty hard to argue that they worship different gods, given that they all share the old testament.