If you were God, what would you do/have done differently

Page 1 of 2 [ 19 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next


If I were God, I would be
Much more Conservative than the present Deity 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
A tad more Conservative than the present Deity 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Just like the present Deity 6%  6%  [ 1 ]
A tad more Liberal than the present Deity 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Much more Liberal than the present Deity 11%  11%  [ 2 ]
This poll is just plain silly 72%  72%  [ 13 ]
Just show the bloody results 11%  11%  [ 2 ]
Total votes : 18

pandabear
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Aug 2007
Age: 65
Gender: Male
Posts: 9,402

20 Mar 2011, 2:32 pm

This quote from the inimitable Ruveyn ( who must be one of the world's sweetest and most generous personnages)

Quote:

It is well for the Universe that I am not God. If I were, I would be a terrible and terrifying Deity.

ruveyn


motivated me for the first time to ponder what it would be like to be the Deity, and whether I might have done things at all differently.

So, if you were God:

1. Would you pay any attention to the human species at all, or just ignore them?

2. Would you have evicted Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden?

3. Would you have put those "dinosaur bones" in the ground, to tempt "scientists" into developing blasphemous ideas?

4. Would you have sent the flood?

5. Would you have told the Israelites to murder all of the Canaanites, Moabites, Midianites, and anyone else who got in their way?

6. Would you have permitted polygamy?

7. Would you have really made your "Chosen People" dress up so silly, and get anal about all those laws to follow?

8. Would you have chosen anyone else to be the "Chosen People."

9. Would you have impregnated that virgin?

10. Would you have made your "only begotten son" die on that cross? Or would you have come up with some other way to admit people to "Heaven."

11. Would you have permitted the Mohammedans, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses to have such successful religions?

12. Would you have inspired a Bible that was more internally consistent?

13. Would you have done anything else differently?

14. Would you have been maybe a tad nicer to Job?



Last edited by pandabear on 20 Mar 2011, 3:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Oodain
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Jan 2011
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,022
Location: in my own little tamarillo jungle,

20 Mar 2011, 2:41 pm

i would be of the "shake and bake" philosophy.
gather the ingredients in closed container, add moisture, shake and see what happens.


_________________
//through chaos comes complexity//

the scent of the tamarillo is pungent and powerfull,
woe be to the nose who nears it.


aghogday
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Nov 2010
Age: 63
Gender: Male
Posts: 11,561

20 Mar 2011, 2:59 pm

pandabear wrote:
This quote from the inimitable Ruveyn ( who must be one of the world's sweetest and most generous personnages)

Quote:

It is well for the Universe that I am not God. If I were, I would be a terrible and terrifying Deity.

ruveyn


motivated me for the first time to ponder what it would be like to be the Deity, and whether I might have done things at all differently.

So, if you were God:

1. Would you pay any attention to the human species at all, or just ignore them?

As God I don't concern myself about the Universe it is just there and humans are a tiny part of it.

2. Would you have evicted Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden?

Humans are already working hard at evicting themselves.

3. Would you have put those "dinosaur bones" in the ground, to tempt "scientists" into developing blasphemous ideas?

It was a great resource for special interests. I have thick skin, I don't care what people think of me.

4. Would you have sent the flood?

Of course, the world gets dirty, it needs to be washed down every now and then.

5. Would you have told the Israelites to murder all of the Canaanites, Moabites, Midianites, and anyone else who got in their way?

Other animals do it why should humans be any different.

6. Would you have permitted polygamy?

If it feels good do it. It might lead to an early demise, but at least you enjoy more of it. That's your decision.

7. Would you have really made your "Chosen People" dress up so silly, and get anal about all those laws to follow?

Things are really simple get food, shelter, reproduce, cooperate with each other to make it even easier; make it as complicated as you like, I don't care.

8. Would you have chosen anyone else to be the "Chosen People."

Hea don't blame me for that, they chose themselves.

9. Would you have impregnated that virgin?

All I get to do is exist.

10. Would you have made your "only begotten son" die on that cross? Or would you have come up with some other way to admit people to "Heaven."

Again, make life as complicated as you want; whatever works for you, works for me.

11. Would you have permitted the Mohammedans, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses to have such successful religions?

You get results, based on your actions. Nothing I can do to change that.

12. Would you have inspired a Bible that was more internally consistent?

I didn't choose your language, you did.

13. Would you have done anything else differently?

It is what it is and it ain't what it ain't; there is no difference to me.



AstroGeek
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 28 Jan 2011
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,582

20 Mar 2011, 7:10 pm

Hmm... I can see two possible routes I'd be likely to take. I'd either be totally indifferent to human problem (if I even bother to make humans) or I'd be a micro-manager. As best as I can tell, Christians and other religions view god as being somewhere in between those two extremes (correct me if I'm wrong--I was raised in a near religious vacuum). I'd probably take one or the other myself.

For the first, I'd probably set the big bang going, sleep for a billion years or so, and then watch as things became interesting. If people evolved on their own then I'd let them sort out there own problems. Being worshiped would probably irritate me, so that would count against you getting into heaven.

If I was the micro-manager, I'd try to make humans better then they are, regularly intervene to make the world what I want it to be like and probably be hated by most people. If I established a religion surrounding myself I would use it primarily as a source of ethics. These ethics would be eerily like those of Secular Humanists. People would get into heaven based strictly on how they behaved towads other people during their lives, and it would have nothing to do with whether they worshiped me or not.



pandabear
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Aug 2007
Age: 65
Gender: Male
Posts: 9,402

20 Mar 2011, 7:19 pm

i guess that they could just stop worshipping you if you irritated them enough.



ruveyn
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Sep 2008
Age: 87
Gender: Male
Posts: 31,502
Location: New Jersey

20 Mar 2011, 7:51 pm

I would immediately cease to exist.

ruveyn



pandabear
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Aug 2007
Age: 65
Gender: Male
Posts: 9,402

20 Mar 2011, 7:55 pm

ruveyn wrote:
I would immediately cease to exist.

ruveyn


Ah, Ruveyn. You never disappoint. :lmao:



naturalplastic
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Age: 69
Gender: Male
Posts: 33,873
Location: temperate zone

20 Mar 2011, 8:08 pm

Well, if I were setting up the universe I would have made it so that the diameter of a circle was exactly one third the circumfrence of the same circle.

Pi wouldve been exactly three, and not an irrational number like 3.14etc....



ruveyn
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Sep 2008
Age: 87
Gender: Male
Posts: 31,502
Location: New Jersey

20 Mar 2011, 8:10 pm

naturalplastic wrote:
Well, if I were setting up the universe I would have made it so that the diameter of a circle was exactly one third the circumfrence of the same circle.

Pi wouldve been exactly three, and not an irrational number like 3.14etc....


then circles would not be round.

ruveyn



pandabear
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Aug 2007
Age: 65
Gender: Male
Posts: 9,402

20 Mar 2011, 8:18 pm

Well, if God commanded them to be round, then believers would regard them as round. Then we would have another religious dispute on our hands, similar to the evolution debates.



naturalplastic
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Age: 69
Gender: Male
Posts: 33,873
Location: temperate zone

20 Mar 2011, 8:20 pm

ruveyn wrote:
naturalplastic wrote:
Well, if I were setting up the universe I would have made it so that the diameter of a circle was exactly one third the circumfrence of the same circle.

Pi wouldve been exactly three, and not an irrational number like 3.14etc....


then circles would not be round.

ruveyn

Ofcourse they would be round!
In an alternate universe in which God is on the ball and set up geometry right perfectly round circles would have a circumfrence exactly three times thier diameter.
Before he built the universe presumably he set up the rules of mathematics. I think he shouldve set up in a more clean streamlined way. Since you're a product of this universe you cant imagine the kind of circles that would exist in an alternate universe with different mathematics.



ruveyn
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Sep 2008
Age: 87
Gender: Male
Posts: 31,502
Location: New Jersey

20 Mar 2011, 8:31 pm

pandabear wrote:
Well, if God commanded them to be round, then believers would regard them as round. Then we would have another religious dispute on our hands, similar to the evolution debates.


The value of pi we have (a transcendental number) is what it is precisely because all the points on a circle are equidistant from the center, distance being measure along a straight line segment on the plane. Pi cannot be other than what it is given what a circle is. The properties of the circle logically determine the value of pi.

Even God cannot command a contradiction to be true.

ruveyn



John_Browning
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Mar 2009
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Posts: 4,456
Location: The shooting range

20 Mar 2011, 10:20 pm

PGD: if you are reading this, this thread is how you go about trolling! Read it and learn!

So, if you were God:

1. Would you pay any attention to the human species at all, or just ignore them?
Pay attention to them. That does not mean bad things wouldn't happen sometimes, and everybody has to die sometime, but it would be made up for in judgment day.

2. Would you have evicted Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden?
Yes. After they ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge, they would have likely eventually become defiant again and ate of the tree of life. Then they and their descendants would have been immortal and also stuck in an ever worsening state of sin. There would not have been any sacrifice (including salvation) that would have saved them from that mess had they got into it.

3. Would you have put those "dinosaur bones" in the ground, to tempt "scientists" into developing blasphemous ideas?
The dinosaurs would be given their time on earth just like everything else. God does not make confusion for it's own sake, so the dinosaurs would be there.
4. Would you have sent the flood?
Yes. I is necessary to wipe everything out before Noah and his family became corrupt beyond any hope of repentance and all of humanity would be lost otherwise.

5. Would you have told the Israelites to murder all of the Canaanites, Moabites, Midianites, and anyone else who got in their way?
Yes. Do you have any idea what was going on in the Caananite societies before the Jews came back? Not only did they all deserve it, but they would have corrupted the Jews in short order if they were left to be their neighbors.

6. Would you have permitted polygamy?
For the purpose of boosting the size of the population, yes. Otherwise, I would emphasize that the institution of a polygamous marriage inherently a unstable and happy arrangement compared to monogamous marriage.

7. Would you have really made your "Chosen People" dress up so silly, and get anal about all those laws to follow?
What you mean by silly, I don't understand. That was just the culture back then. As for the laws, yes. Some of the laws were to symbolize purity, some to show that being perfect was hopeless and that they would need to look forward to salvation someday, and some laws are for personal hygiene and for public health.

8. Would you have chosen anyone else to be the "Chosen People."
I would have been open to it if there were other groups interested. The list was pretty short at the time. An open invitation has since been offered to everyone.

9. Would you have impregnated that virgin?
Yes. Jesus had to live a normal human life and face human temptations.

10. Would you have made your "only begotten son" die on that cross? Or would you have come up with some other way to admit people to "Heaven."
Yes. In order to save people who had corrupt hearts and did things worthy of death. You are also overlooking that Jesus had free will to decide whether or not to go through with the crucifixion.

11. Would you have permitted the Mohammedans, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses to have such successful religions?
Yes. In order for people to love me and love each other, they must have free will. That includes free will to chase after false gods and do other detrimental things to themselves.

12. Would you have inspired a Bible that was more internally consistent?
The Bible is fine and people's hearts are the problem (see Romans chapter 1). People tend to get most critical from reading everything you can get condemned for first rather than the parts that lead to drastic changes in people's lives. Dwelling on every letter of the Bible instead of practicing the spirit of it either turns people off or makes them into prudes that turn other people off (a certain church in Kansas comes to mind).

13. Would you have done anything else differently?
No.

14. Would you have been maybe a tad nicer to Job?
No. Acually it was Satan that was the one that made him sick. While he was afflicted with what looks a whole lot like Stevens-Johnson's syndrome, he had a very enlightening life-changing experience that benefited him greatly (and he agreed),and for his faithfulness he was also blessed with double the material assets than he originally had and was given a very long life.


_________________
"Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars."
- Unknown

"A fear of weapons is a sign of ret*d sexual and emotional maturity."
-Sigmund Freud


LiendaBalla
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Oct 2007
Age: 45
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,736

21 Mar 2011, 10:50 am

pandabear wrote:
So, if you were God:

1. Would you pay any attention to the human species at all, or just ignore them?


Why ignore them when you can entertain yourself? In fact, humans could do most of the problem work for me, and still give credit elsewhere.

pandabear wrote:
2. Would you have evicted Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden?


Yep.

pandabear wrote:
3. Would you have put those "dinosaur bones" in the ground, to tempt "scientists" into developing blasphemous ideas?


... and plant seeds which someday turn into illegal drugs.

pandabear wrote:
4. Would you have sent the flood?


Certainly. A giant meteorite sounds lovely to.

pandabear wrote:
5. Would you have told the Israelites to murder all of the Canaanites, Moabites, Midianites, and anyone else who got in their way?


Of course! Then again, they can figure it out for themselves.

pandabear wrote:
6. Would you have permitted polygamy?


Yes, if some of them die painfully. :twisted:

pandabear wrote:
7. Would you have really made your "Chosen People" dress up so silly, and get anal about all those laws to follow?


:heart:

pandabear wrote:
8. Would you have chosen anyone else to be the "Chosen People."


:chin: Perhaps in a different way. Then we could have religious conflict in brighter colors.

pandabear wrote:
9. Would you have impregnated that virgin?


No. Kill her and her family.

pandabear wrote:
10. Would you have made your "only begotten son" die on that cross? Or would you have come up with some other way to admit people to "Heaven."


:? See #9.

pandabear wrote:
11. Would you have permitted the Mohammedans, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses to have such successful religions?


Yes, if we get to have fun with them later.

pandabear wrote:
12. Would you have inspired a Bible that was more internally consistent?


What? :duh:

pandabear wrote:
13. Would you have done anything else differently?


Yeah, I might have killed everyone from the very beggining, and started over fresh.

pandabear wrote:
14. Would you have been maybe a tad nicer to Job?


I'd still let him struggle as the rest of his species does! :?



jamieboy
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 11 Sep 2010
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,619

21 Mar 2011, 12:33 pm

God is a dictator by nature. If i were God i would try to as benevolent as i could. An uncle Fidel rather than a Pol Pot. So the world would have no free speech or independent organisation but it would have some decent classic cars, fine cigars and skilled amateur boxers.



Asp-Z
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 Dec 2009
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Posts: 11,018

21 Mar 2011, 12:46 pm

First thing I'd do to improve on the current deity is exist.