At 11:27 AM -0600 11/29/02, Mia McDavid wrote: >Lydia said: > >> >This makes no sense to me. Are you saying that if God didn't exist, >you wouldn't want to know? You'd rather continue believing in >something that wasn't true? If it were possible to prove God's >non-existence, it would be possible to prove his existence, and may >the best theory win. >> > > >Consider. I believe that God does indeed exist as the wellspring of >love, the source of all goodness, the marvelous mind that created >the universe in all its age and infinite complexity. I believe that >God has sustained me through the trials in my life, that he is the >home of the faithful and the comfort of those who mourn. He is >every good thing that I have ever dreamed of and all those I have >not yet thought to dream. Ok. I'll consider. But that doesn't answer my question. Hypothetically, if someone came up with a test which would absolutely detect the presence or absence of god, providing incontrovertible evidence of existence or non-existence, would you be interested in the results of this test. If the test showed that, after all, God didn't exist, would you prefer that no one tell you, even if they do run the test? If the test does show that God exists, would you want to know that? If the test proved that God didn't exist, would you continue to believe in him anyway? > >Imagine, also, since I *do* believe God exists, how I must feel >about the thought that someone wants to surgically remove my belief. Imagine how I felt when someone wanted to surgically remove my primary understanding of who I was. I had been depressed for so long that it had become an essential part of my self image. Learning to be undepressed was difficult. Learning that the world was not as sad and grey and full of despair as I thought it to be was a good thing, but it happened because I had a mood disorder which got medically treated. If, _if_ belief in the irrational is actually a disorder, indicative of a brain dysfunction, then it would seem to be horrid to wish that someone not be able to get treatment if they wanted to. > If that happened, in my view, God would *still* exist, and I would >be crippled in my response to him. This confuses me again. The PK in me can only parse this along the lines of "Oh ye of little faith." If you're that certain about God, then how can any test, regardless of what people claim for it's truth and veracity, affect your faith? If you believe in science, and it proves that God doesn't exist, how could you want to cling to what is, in a rational world, ignorance? If you are certain of both, then the test must necessarily show the existence of God, and you have nothing to fear. -- Lydy Nickerson lydy at demesne.com lydy at lydy.com Dulciculi Aliquorum