What if there was no god?

[Metanoia]

What if you found out with absolute certainty, that there was no god? No god, and no heaven or hell. (really think about this!) Would the knowledge that there was nothing after this life awaiting us, change the way you lived your life?

[crazefest456]

my answer would seem awful, but I'd commit suicide...really, because I'd feel nihilistic towards everything I lived for, so far. I'm not trying to say that life sux or anything; I mean that everything would lose it's value, it's Real-ness.

[Dark Muse]

It is a little presumtious to assume that just becasue God and Heaven and Hell are proven not to exisist that there would be nothing as there are many other relgions out there. For example even if there was no God or Heaven and Hell, the Buddist path could still prove to be true, as there are many many forms of Buddism, the first and early Buddisim did not worship a god figure to begin with, it was later Buddisim forms that turned Budda into a deity.

Nor is there any heaven or hell in Buddisim

[Scheherazade]

What if there were God?

[one_raven]

What if you found out with absolute certainty, that there was no god? No god, and no heaven or hell. (really think about this!) Would the knowledge that there was nothing after this life awaiting us, change the way you lived your life?

Why does "no God" necessarily equate to "nothing after this life awaiting us"?

Nor is there any heaven or hell in Buddisim

Sorry.
You are wrong there.
The pop-culture view of Buddhism states this, but Siddhartha's words state otherwise.

[Dark Muse]

The Buddhist's concept of Heaven and Hell are entirely different then what one normally callisfies to thinks of as Heaven and Hell

The Buddha's Teaching shows us that there are heavens and hells not only beyond this world, but in this very world itself. Thus the Buddhist conception of heaven and hell is very reasonable. For instance, the Buddha once said, 'When the average ignorant person makes an assertion to the effect that there is a Hell (patala) under the ocean he is making a statement which is false and without basis. The word 'Hell' is a term for painful sensations. 'The idea of one particular ready-made place or a place created by god as heaven and hell is not acceptable to the Buddhist concept.

Heaven is a temporary place where those who have done good deeds experience more sensual pleasures for a longer period. Hell is another temporary place where those evil doers experience more physical and mental suffering. It is not justifiable to believe that such places are permanent. There is no god behind the scene of heaven and hell. Each and every person experiences according to his good and bad kamma. Buddhist never try to introduce Buddhism by frightening people through hell-fire or enticing people by pointing to paradise. Their main idea is character building and mental training. Buddhists can practise their religion without aiming at heaven or without developing fear of hell.

[AdoreroDio]

If there was no God then there would be no me.

[one_raven]

Buddhist never try to introduce Buddhism by frightening people through hell-fire or enticing people by pointing to paradise. Their main idea is character building and mental training. Buddhists can practise their religion without aiming at heaven or without developing fear of hell.

True, and I have a great amount of respect for that (among many other things that Suiddhartha taught).
However, Siddhartha DID acknowldge the existence of heavenly relams and teh multiple layers of Hell that was the commonly accepted Brahman notion at the time.

[littlewing53]

if there was no God it would be a very dark place

[one_raven]

I suppose it depends on how you define God.

[Dark Star]

Realizing that its likely that that there is no such being or an afterlife has changed my life tremendously. Its left me with less psychological issues since I don't have to worry about superstitious fears (demons, ghosts, and the like) since there's no evidence for boogies in the night haunting me (scumbag humans are enough to worry about, I don't need non-existent supernatural forces to worry about too). For that matter, I'm not tormented by this great fear of going to hell for well....being human. I quite like the idea that once I live life once it is not forced upon me again and certainly like the idea that I won't have an eternity of pointless worship of a dictator forced upon me. It's also quite life-affirming since it makes me realize that I only have one life to live in and to make some sort of an impact during my time, and to live it well. I really don't think many who believe in an eternal afterlife have thought very hard about eternity; in particular one in which your entire life is spent worshipping and praising someone. Or being tortured. And it never ends...ever. Scary as hell when one puts some real thought into it, in particular since most people can't seem to figure out what to do if the television goes out for a few hours...much less forever.

[one_raven]

The Pragmatist's God

I have always felt that the best way to look at anything, my personal life, my political leaning –what have you– when attempting decide the best course I should take, is pragmatically.
I look at the situation and attempt to determine what the results of an action should be, and if those results align with my ideals or take me closer to my goals, that is the right choice to make.
Having this pragmatic outlook on life, whenever I was asked if I believed in God, I would always reply that I was agnostic, because, to me, it seemed the only pragmatic path.

I certainly didn’t believe in the Judeo-Christian version of the white-bearded, cognizant, intelligent, creator and master of the universe, father figure in the sky watching us and judging our actions. I stopped believing in Him at about the same time I stopped believing in Santa Claus. Abraham’s God, if not wholly allegorical, simply held nothing for me at all.
I didn’t see evidence of him in my everyday life.
I had never seen any evidence of him at all, for that matter.
The concept of Hell was ludicrous, at best, in my mind. What benevolent creator would create a world rife with difficulty and pain; give us no evidence for, or instinct to believe in, his existence; allow us to live here for barely a speck of time; then base our existence – for eternity – on how well we followed the rules he supposedly invented? We are supposed to follow rules that go against the grain of the very human nature he created us with. He didn’t even make these rules known to all mankind - he had only spoken to a select few in ancient history, and we were all supposed to take these fables on faith that they not only happened, but the stories of the occurrences were absolutely accurate and uncorrupted by retelling over and over again. Not to mention purposeful corruption due to corrupt human beings.
"There is a granite mountain so high that a raven can barely fly over it without touching it. In its beak, the raven has a scarf. Once every thousand years, it flies over the mountain, the very tips of the fringes rubbing against the granite. When the entire mountain has been ground into dust; that is one moment in eternity." – Hindu expression
I was not about to base, not only my life, but my future for all eternity on what basically amounts to a Chinese Whisper.

If this God existed, he was playing with a stacked deck and we were all doomed to Hell. If THIS was God, I wanted nothing to do with the sadistic bastard, anyway.

Aside from that, why would this perfect being even create a pre-world for us to live in before going on to either Heaven or Hell for eternity?
Did he give this all to us as a gift? Heaven is a perfect paradise, but earth is a gift? If someone told me that he built my dream house on a tropical paradise in the South Pacific and I could live there forever if I wanted, but first, I have the wonderful privilege of living in a roach and rat infested apartment building in Newark, New Jersey, what kind of gift would that apartment be? No, if Heaven exists, this is no gift.
Did he do it to test us? He, the perfect being, created us - what’s to test?

Besides, I had no reason to believe that this God was anything more than the fantasies of a people puzzling over the same unanswerable questions that people have been asking for all of humanity, and making up gods to answer.

None of it made any sense to me at all, and I simply have never had the capacity, nor did I want the ability, to have faith in something that doesn’t make any sense to me. If God created us, one thing I firmly believe is that the greatest gift he gave us is our intelligence and ability to reason. Not only should he expect us to use that intelligence, but to not use it would be a grave insult to him.

If this God ever existed at all, then, if anything, he would be the deist version of an absentee father who, upon creating everything and setting it into motion, either turned his back, disinterested, or sat back and watched the world.
One thing I was sure of is that if this God did still exist he certainly had a policy of non-interference.
Perhaps, at one time he was involved with human life, but I was convinced that he hadn’t shown his face around here in quite some time.
It doesn’t really matter why he wasn’t around, he simply wasn’t.

Whatever the truth may have been, the laws of nature were already in place whether they were “designed by God” or they were simply inherent in the system.
The rest of it all – morality, our future, our impact on nature, our impact on other living beings – was entirely up to us.
We are a self-determined animal. We have the capacity to determine for ourselves how we will treat others beings. We have the freedom to create our own ideals and morals, and the freedom to either act in accordance with those beliefs or in defiance of them. Whether or not God ever existed, or exists now really has no bearing on the situation. People chose to break “God’s rules” incessantly, and I have yet to see Him come down and smite anyone as a result. Some people choose to take some sort of sordid comfort in believing that the sinners will be punished in Hell. As I already pointed out, I do not believe in Hell. Furthermore, I do not see eternity in Hell as a just punishment for any sin, regardless how atrocious it may have been, so I would not wish that fate upon any human even if it did exist. I refused to follow in God’s sadistic footsteps.
Morality, it seems to me, has nothing to do with what God supposedly wants, rather what actions would produce the best results for the greatest number of people. Morality, simply stated, is what defines the right and proper treatment of others. That can quite easily be determined by anyone who is not a sociopath without the aid of any God. Again, I apply the pragmatic point of view. Only one simple question needs to be asked: Can I reasonably conceive that the results of this action will hurt others?
My definition of morality is roughly equivalent to my idea of how the ideal democratic government should function – the people should be the beneficiaries of their actions and efforts, and those whose efforts work against that intended goal are in the wrong –regardless of whether or not the action is sanctioned by the laws of man or God.
Given that I saw Abraham’s God as absent and unnecessary, it wouldn’t change my life, or how I live it, one bit if I found out tomorrow that He actually does exist. If that’s true, what’s the point of believing in him?

One day, I decided to take that pragmatic lens I relied upon to guide my life and morals and point it at God, or at least popular depictions of God.
There are quite a few different points of view regarding what God is out there, of course, but there are some traits and attributes that are fairly universal, and I focused on those.

Who or what is God?

He is the Alpha and the Omega.
He is Volition, Driven.
He is Desire, Realized.
He is Will, Rendered.
He is Word, Incarnate.
He is Intention, Revealed.
He is Karma, Manifest.

He cannot be seen by human eyes, but people can feel His presence.
He is omnipotent: He can force the hands of people and turn the tides of fate. He cannot be stopped or contained. The sum of all humankind’s power combined cannot compare to Him. No one person can control Him, but everyone can influence Him - He knows the fears, wishes, glories and prayers of every person, and responds accordingly. His power should be recognized, revered, feared and respected - to deny His existence is folly at best. His power reaches into the deepest recesses of every person’s subconscious mind and exercises influence on all, regardless of faith or belief.
He works in mysterious ways. There is none as subtle and graceful as Him. He can wholly control nearly every aspect of a person’s life, without that person even knowing He is present.
He is omniscient: He is greater than the sum of the knowledge, wisdom, experience and emotions of everyone, past and present. There is nothing that happens that He does not know. There is nothing that has happened that He does not remember. His knowledge of and influence over the future is unfathomable. No future, however, is inevitable.
He is omni benevolent: He is greater than the sum all the benevolent influences of all people combined.
He is omnipresent: There is no place anyone can go without being affected by Him.
He is eternal: He has existed since before the dawn of humankind's consciousness. Long after the last human has expired, He will still exist.
He has created, and continues to create, humankind in His own image.
Humankind has created, and continues to create, Him in its own image.

This general definition of what or who God represents was my starting point.

Does something with the traits and attributes of "God" exist?
I think so.
Does that thing affect my life on a regular, even constant basis?
I think so.
Does that thing react to my actions, therefore, in effect, acknowledge my existence?
I think so.
Does that thing have an immense power over people’s lives all around the globe, whether or not they acknowledge its existence?
I think so.
Does this thing deserve to be respected and even praised for its power?
I think so.
Do I benefit from acknowledging this thing as an integral part of my life?
Yes, I think I do.

I determined that there actually IS something that all those attributes could be ascribed to.
It has all the power that the “universal God” has, I could see its effects in my every day life, I can contribute to it, I can learn from it, I am affected by it every moment of every day and it deserves all the praise and worship that is lauded upon the God(s) of different religions.
If I respect the power of it, act with integrity and be mindful of all my actions and what I contribute to it, I could clearly see the results of those actions.
I could see the direct and indirect results of living a virtuous life, while recognizing, acknowledging and revering something bigger than myself that is not distinct and separate from myself.

This thing, for all intents and purposes, is equivalent to common depictions of the “Universal God”.

The Devil and God are indistinguishable.
Both reside in the collective intentions, actions and knowledge of man, and they are in a constant struggle with each other.

Every action you take affects the lives and decisions of countless people around you and each one of those actions that were affected by your action affects many more.
It is an endless collection of ripples interacting in an infinite pool of time.

Any decision you make, regardless of how insignificant it may seem on the surface, could ultimately end up affecting the lives of millions of people that you don’t even know, and many that you do know.
What is most important is being mindful of the contributions you make to it by virtue of simply existing and interacting with other life.
It is important to acknowledge the fact that we and our lives are so intrinsically intertwined and powerfully influenced by this, and that we would do well to keep that in mind when we make the choices we do.
We certainly are self-determined animals, but we are constantly inundated with influences in our lives, and while that is certainly no excuse to absolve yourself of your responsibility and accountability of your actions, not being mindful of such influences will cause you to fall prey to it. The immense power of this is something that should be revered, not blamed, because the source of the blame is placed squarely on individuals and their actions.

Although its existence cannot be seen, heard, measured or quantified, it certainly has very real effects.
It swept through the Deep South many years ago and convinced people that they were justified in lynching human beings based on the color of their skin.
It pulled people together at home to gather their efforts and cooperate while their sons and husbands were off fighting World War II.
It made Michael Jackson a star.
It made Michael Jackson a pitiful laughing stock.

Every attribute of God and the Devil, every bible story, every ideal and ideology can be ascribed to it.
It is Karma, Manifest.

All the major theistic religions have their own specific ideas about the truth of the nature of God.
I think they all have it right, but none of them have the whole picture.
The truth is an immense mirror, large enough to reflect all of humanity. Organized religion, wielded by human self-absorption and fear, is the hammer that humankind took to this mirror.
When the pieces fell, hordes of people ran up to it, stepping over one another, clamoring for a piece of the truth they can possess and call their very own.
Everyone now has a tiny piece of this huge shattered mirror, and they think they own God.
They look deep into their little, personal sliver of truth, searching for God and find him in a reflection of their own selves looking back at them.
This convinces them that their beliefs are correct, and everyone else's must be wrong.
If people were willing to just put all their pieces back together and reform the mirror, when they looked into it they would see the whole of humanity looking back at them.
However, people would rather own a piece of the truth, than give up their piece in search of the whole. They are scared that someone will run off with their precious piece. They would rather die than face the insecurity they fear will descend upon them if they would give up their piece. They would rather kill than give up their piece. Killing in the name of God – how utterly debased and disgusting humans have become in their quest to protect their measly, little piece that really doesn’t even make much of a difference to the whole.
I also suspect they fear what they will see looking back at them when they take a good look at themselves.

I often hear people say "I am God", or "God is within me" what they should be saying is "We are God" or "God is within us".
The further we get away from each other, the further we get from seeing, understanding and knowing the truth for what it is.

[Redzeppelin]

The absence of God creates the reality that we have no coherent explanation for the structure of the universe, the existence of morality, the existence of evil, the character of human nature, or the existence of life in a universe clearly geared to be hostile to life.

[Auriga]

That was a very well thought out and interesting post, however, I have a hard time following the continuity. You start out by asserting the fact that you're an agnostic, because you find no practical reason for believing the existence of a God or other such supernatural being. However, you begin to delve into the possibility that all religions may have some validity in their claims, but they're all missing the bigger picture, implying your belief that there very well may be a God or higher power, watching and, potentially, judging our actions based on our mis-understanding of his "teachings".

I'm just curious if through the act of writing that extremely interesting post, did you begin to question your own beliefs and were you, in a sense, creating (maybe subconsiously) a new philosophy for yourself?

In either case, I was very intrigued by your response, and it was certainly thought provoking, regardless of which stand point you decide to sway with.

I was particularly interested in your visual display of how all the religions of the world may only be potential shards of a larger truth that they are too stuborn to work towards. I, too, have always shared this view.

The only issue I'm having with most of the other responses to this question are that they are relying too much on the notion of what the world would be like if we came to the understanding that there existed no formalised version of God, for instance, our commonly refered to Abraham God, or Judeo-Christo God.

I suggest, for the moment, that people forget what they know about commonly accepted popular religions, and focus on the simple concept of a god (small "g") and try to fathom the implications that NOTHING created us. That we simply are, without pre-conception and no necessary teleological conclusion.

Personally, as an atheist of sorts (leaning towards agnosticism), I wouldn't find it particularly difficult to accept. However, living in a society where the majority of the population are devout religious followers of some sort, I think that even if we came up with some brilliant and un-disputable scientific explanation as to the creations of the Universe, leaving God out of the equation, many people would simply refuse to believe it. I do not think they would even refuse to believe it out of a blatant and conscious decision to disregard science, but they would honestly be un-able to accept the fact that nothing created them; the notion of creationism would be so deeply ingraned in their existence that it would be like taking the shell off of a snail. They would just look for another one and move on.

Let's be honest, without the concept of god, we automatically replace it with a notion of infinity. Modern notions of gods suggest that they have some form of an end, a final effect from a series of causes which have lasted for thousands of years. If we take away god, we get the notion that the universe existed for an x amount of years before us, but can continue to exist for an inndefinite amount of years to come. Infinity is a very tricky and confusing concept.

All of our lives, we are surrounded by states of finitism; where things, or occurances last only for a specific amount of time. Life, in and of itself, is a finite journey through space and time. People find comfort in this notion. They live this life for a pre-determined amount of time by some higher creation, either consciously or simply as a result of his first cause, and then they move onto another state of being which also lasts for a finite amount of time. Granted, this second stage may not, at first glance, be concidered to be finite. But it is. The way modern language interprets religion states that people go to heaven for "The rest of time", "Until the end of time", etc. These all suggest that time, eventually, will end.

I suspect that to introduce a concept of eternity for most of the world, would be a bit of a shock and difficult to accept. And I don't mean the religion version of eternity, where it will eventually end. I mean the half of a half of a half kind of eternity. There is no end, ever, not at all, no chance in hell.

[Redzeppelin]

Our universe had a beginning. Of the two "infinities" (potential and actual), only potential infinities can exist (those created by the continues adding on - like seconds on a clock). Actual infinites cannot exist in reality. As well, because we have a "now" we know that time had a beginnning. You cannot logically have an infinite amount of moments before a "now."