If you knew indisputably that there was no God, would you feel liberated, or depressed?

I think depressed is the likely choice for most folks to say the least. We live out our life here on earth against a backdrop of faith. That is, we folks who live in the "civilized" portion of the world live against the backdrop of faith.

Others live against the backdrop of fanaticism. Faith comes to us in many ways. For some it is a direct faith in God.

For others, its a faith of life beyond the present one. For others, it the sense that their life has a special meaning. If it is proven there is no God, then faith of any kind may be dealt a very serious blow and some chaos could result.WB.

I would be curious as to how it was "proved". Uri Geller used to bend spoons on national T.V. Until The Amazing Randi showed everyone the trick behind it. If someone claimed he could prove God doesn't exist I'd hold tight to my wallet and car keys.O.K. , an answer above got me to turn off my wiseguy for a minute.

Why would most people be sad? That's dumb. That only goes to show that for the masses religion IS the opium.

Opium is used to escape the drudgery of day-to-day living, a reward, a way to escape mental anguish. Instead of hoping, praying, wishing, or planning to go to that Giant Opium Den in the Sky after death, it is SO-O-O-O much better to live each day as fully as one can, making the best of the here and now, and living without guilt or inferiority of being mortal. What a relief - screwing up like everyone else on the planet and it is NOT sin.

Means we are human. Like all the rest.

Good Day ChasukThere is a Slovenian philosopher called Slavoj Zizek. He quotes another philosopher (I forget who, maybe Hegel? ) who turns this traditional maxim "If there is a God nothing is permitted; and if there is no God everything is permitted" upside down.So, Zizek, quoting this other philosopher, says that "If there is a God everything is permitted; and if there is no god, nothing is permitted.

" As counterintuitive as this sounds, I think it makes sense. If there is a God (and I suppose we're talking about "God" in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic sense? Vaguely "western") with all that comes with this concept including the forgiveness and redemption, then it means that one can be a total moral and ethical typhoon, leaving emotional carnage in your wake everywhere you go and all that, but at the last moment (Its never too late with "God," you know) you can win a spot in Heaven during the late innings of your life (perhaps even on your deathbed) by "accepting Jesus into your life as your personal Lord and Savior," and so on and so forth.

A case can be made, that, in a way, this somewhat trivializes life, reduces it into a kind sports competition, in that there is "always" time to "win it" in the "late innings" or "late rounds" or something like that. Therefore it might be said that living without God is the real challenge, in that one is forced to take each day seriously. One is forced to consider his behavior and life in terms of what they mean for the world.

What would it mean if everybody acted like him. I think the French Existentialist philospher Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) when he wrote "Man is condemned to be free."We are free but we must recognize that it is a burden or responsibility as well as a liberation. Take care.

I personally wouldn't change how I feel. I've never believed in god and i'm still amazed that some people do. For many though , I think depression would be a sure thing as I think many people believe in god because they need something to believe in to help them make sense of the world around them.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.