NationStates Jolt Archive

What if everyone is wrong?
What if the Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Taoists, Wiccans, athiests, agnostics were all wrong? What if we are all wrong?
What if every religion and belief system on earth got it all completely wrong?
Then what?

The way I see it, if we're all wrong when after we die we'd be caught in a flux between reality and not.

But what if *gasp* I'm wrong?

Then everyone would be really damn confused after they died xD

I don't think that *every* religion has it *all* wrong. The only way that could be is if God (or all gods) is a vindictive, evil being - in which case it would be wrong to worship God anyways.

Chances are that every religion has pieces of it right, and the trick is trying to fit together the pieces.

What if everyone is wrong?


What's scarier to me is what if they're all right.

What if this wasn't the real world?

What if it was the matrix?

If all religions got it wrong then God should probably sack his PR team and invest in better prophets.

If the one true faith was some god from a small tribe in the south pacific. I dont think there would be a problem. Small religions dont need to have bad things happen to disbelievers. Because they arent expansionist. They are instead held together by communal beliefs. And fear of the Great vengeful god of course XD

If all religions got it wrong then God should probably sack his PR team and invest in better prophets.


Hahahahah ... you said "sack"

What if everyone is wrong?
What if the Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Taoists, Wiccans, athiests, agnostics were all wrong? What if we are all wrong?
What if every religion and belief system on earth got it all completely wrong?
Then what?
well then i hope the REAL "god" isnt pissed at us for it!

seriously, i think that its possible, (and even GOOD) to live a religious life that would still meet the test of "wow i had a great life" even if it turns out that this life is all there is. religion should enrich your life not restrict it.

i would even suggest using it as a kind of test "would i live this way even if god were a myth?" if you say NO, you need to take a good hard look at your life. *running different religions around in my head* i cant think of any religion that, if you follow the teaching of the founder, would lead you to live a bad life. so for example, if you live a good christian life as outlined by jesus, you wont regret it even if you never get to heaven.

and if there IS some other god that we missed, its his OWN damned fault for not being more forthcoming.

I don't think that *every* religion has it *all* wrong. The only way that could be is if God (or all gods) is a vindictive, evil being - in which case it would be wrong to worship God anyways.

Chances are that every religion has pieces of it right, and the trick is trying to fit together the pieces.

I think that for the most part, all religions are right to an extent. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are all very, very similar. The Jews don't believe Jesus was the Messiah, they believe he was a heretic. Islams claim that Jesus was a prophet but not the son of God. They also say that Mohummad was their saviour...I think they are all right somewhat. The Jews were correct in that there was one God, Christians were correct in thinking that Jesus was the son of God. Islams were right, Jesus was a prophet, but was also the saviour, I believe that Mohummad was a prophet, who led his people in the right direction that there was one God.

With my luck, it'll turn out that the Scientologists are right, and I'll spend the rest of infinity as John Travolta's footstool.

the only right religion is clearly Judaism. It has been around a long time. and you cant argue with that.

Hmmm I just realized something. Agnostics can't really be wrong. They say they can't be sure if there is a god... therefore they can't really be wrong since they aren't actually taking a specific stance.

the only right religion is clearly Judaism. It has been around a long time. and you cant argue with that.
Hinduism has been around longer.

the only right religion is clearly Judaism. It has been around a long time. and you cant argue with that.

Animalism has been around for longer. If I remember my ancient histroy well, (And I dont) Mother earth was the first god. She was a fat pregnant woman with dogs for armrests.

Animalism has been around for longer. If I remember my ancient histroy well, (And I dont) Mother earth was the first god. She was a fat pregnant woman with dogs for armrests.
You mean animism. Yep, its older than even hinduism. In fact, it was the world's very first religion followed by shamanism and wiccanism. Then polythiesm then monotheism.

<i>the only right religion is clearly Judaism. It has been around a long time. and you cant argue with that. </i>

using that logic, then buddhism and/or most animistic belief systems must be correct, as they date back farther than Judaism.

as for the original question. assuming there is a God and all religions are wrong, it will be up to God to decide what happens. if there is no God, then i don't know what will happen, but then again, neither does anyone else. it's all speculation, and really a pointless idea to debate.

She was a fat pregnant woman with dogs for armrests.

Sounds like my friends mom

What if everyone is wrong?
What if the Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Taoists, Wiccans, athiests, agnostics were all wrong? What if we are all wrong?
What if every religion and belief system on earth got it all completely wrong?
Then what?

Then everyone will die in peace, no resistance, no fear. They will have lead good lives and they should be proud of what they have done and will die with dignity.

Of course we all know the oldest of all the religions.

Cthulhu Fhatagn!

http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~tabby_cat/cthulhu/cthulhu4.jpg

(I am such a Fanatic XD)

What if everyone is wrong?
What if the Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Taoists, Wiccans, athiests, agnostics were all wrong? What if we are all wrong?
What if every religion and belief system on earth got it all completely wrong?
Then what?

Well, being a Christian I cannot say that I am wrong. ;) I have faith in what I believe in. However, let me humor you with... If I am wrong, and there is nothing after this life, then I am safe either way, right? Becuase if I'm right I go to heaven, if I'm wrong then it doesn't matter. So I will keep believing what I believe, because I do have faith that I am right. But that is an interesting question. :)

y'all might want to try reading neil gaimans "american gods"

it details (kinda) what happens to gods who dont have worshipers anymore.

and its by neil gaiman so you KNOW its worth reading.

using that logic, then buddhism and/or most animistic belief systems must be correct, as they date back farther than Judaism.


Judaism (c. 1500 BCE) is older than Buddhism (c. 400 BCE). The Bhagavad Gita wasn't written until 200 BCE, but Hindu is reported to be founded in India around 2000 BCE.

Animism and Nature worship are man's oldest spiritualities, but none of that was Organized until Wicca (1950s CE).

So ... if we're going on old ... Hindu's got the upper hand.

Well, being a Christian I cannot say that I am wrong. ;) I have faith in what I believe in. However, let me humor you with... If I am wrong, and there is nothing after this life, then I am safe either way, right? Becuase if I'm right I go to heaven, if I'm wrong then it doesn't matter. So I will keep believing what I believe, because I do have faith that I am right. But that is an interesting question. :)

You bring up another point of debate. I do not in any way mean to question your faith, but shouldn't one look at religion not as a means of getting to Heaven or Nirvanna or whichever, but a means of happyness in life through the worship of your particular god?

I DO think everybody's wrong in that everybody thinks they know if God exists, or what religion is best, etc. Nobody knows or can know if God exists, and there is no "right" religion. It's all a thraveshamockery.

If everyone was wrong, I'd be able to sleep soundly at night.

Judaism (c. 1500 BCE) is older than Buddhism (c. 400 BCE). The Bhagavad Gita wasn't written until 200 BCE, but Hindu is reported to be founded in India around 2000 BCE.

Animism and Nature worship are man's oldest spiritualities, but none of that was Organized until Wicca (1950s CE).

So ... if we're going on old ... Hindu's got the upper hand.

I used to be Jewish and Hindi is older than Judaism. Actually, I think it's older than 2000 BCE, 2400 BCE perhaps...

the only right religion is clearly Judaism. It has been around a long time. and you cant argue with that.
So have a ton of other "less publicized" religions all over the globe based on nature and other things that the locals respected.

You bring up another point of debate. I do not in any way mean to question your faith, but shouldn't one look at religion not as a means of getting to Heaven or Nirvanna or whichever, but a means of happyness in life through the worship of your particular god?
But if there are no gods, then atheists can say they can do whatever they want cuz no one will punish them. People have always wondered what will happen after they die cuz no one knows, so I think that's the original reason for religion.

What if the Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Taoists, Wiccans, athiests, agnostics were all wrong?
Agnostics cannot be wrong, since they proclaim to know nothing. Being agnostic means that you proclaim not to know. How can you be proven wrong, unless you're not really agnostic?

Cthulhu Fhatagn!


Cthulhu always wins.

But if there are no gods, then atheists can say they can do whatever they want cuz no one will punish them.

Except Society.

Originally posted by Nimzonia
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rubidiana
But if there are no gods, then atheists can say they can do whatever they want cuz no one will punish them.



Except Society.
But then society would be made up of the atheists. However, if it was an athiest society with good morals and some sort of rigid enforcement system, the situation would not be as bad.

I truly believe in my religion, but I recognize that religions are exceptionally useful tools for maintaining society against the many forces of entropy (of course, some religions can go too far, thus increasing entropy). If we somehow learned that all religions were wrong, and that atheists have been right all along, then I would set about constructing a system to stand in place of religion.

the only right religion is clearly Judaism. It has been around a long time. and you cant argue with that.

Atheism's been around longer.

Agnostics cannot be wrong, since they proclaim to know nothing. Being agnostic means that you proclaim not to know. How can you be proven wrong, unless you're not really agnostic?

Well, if agnostics really do know, but don't know they know, then they're wrong about not knowing.

I think.

What if everyone is wrong?
What if the Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Taoists, Wiccans, athiests, agnostics were all wrong? What if we are all wrong?
What if every religion and belief system on earth got it all completely wrong?
Then what?

That's why I like Discordianism. Doesn't say that it's right, and makes fun of itself all the time.
"A Discordian is prohibited from believing what he reads"

You mean animism. Yep, its older than even hinduism. In fact, it was the world's very first religion followed by shamanism and wiccanism. Then polythiesm then monotheism.

i)Wicca was invented in the 50's.
i)There may have been, as some feminist authors suggest, a religion centring on Mother Earth at some point in prehistory, but it is perfectly possibly people were practising religion before that; it is naïve in the extreme to arbitrarily denote a set of beliefs to be the oldest.

Except Society.
But society's punishments are only temporary. They don't last forever. Society cannot mete out eternal punishment and for many people it is only the fear of eternal punishment that prevents them from doing bad.
If society's punishments were truly all that were needed, we wouldn't have all these psychopath killers, rapists and child molestors running around.

But then society would be made up of the atheists. However, if it was an athiest society with good morals and some sort of rigid enforcement system, the situation would not be as bad.

I truly believe in my religion, but I recognize that religions are exceptionally useful tools for maintaining society against the many forces of entropy (of course, some religions can go too far, thus increasing entropy). If we somehow learned that all religions were wrong, and that atheists have been right all along, then I would set about constructing a system to stand in place of religion.
Would that not become a religion in itself?

But society's punishments are only temporary. They don't last forever. Society cannot mete out eternal punishment and for many people it is only the fear of eternal punishment that prevents them from doing bad.
If society's punishments were truly all that were needed, we wouldn't have all these psychopath killers, rapists and child molestors running around.

Ahh, that explains why the largest percentage of prisoners in the United States are religious :rolleyes:

It is really frightening that some people think that the only reason people don't running around killing and raping is because they are afraid of eternal punishement. Makes me wonder if that is all that is keeping the people who say such things in check.

1) What if? Who cares? I'm living a good life to my moral compass. I make people I care about happy. What do I care if magical bug people created the world from lumps of space-monkey whisker-tongues? Why should I care if there's a punishment or reward? If the most evil being imaginable ruled existance, still I would follow my path, be I damned or blessed. If the most good being imaginable ruled existance, still I would follow my path, be I damned or blessed. I am, beyond all other things, myself, and I shall live my life AS myself, for myself, for my reasons, and I will die for those reasons if needbe. I will never allow any potential threats from magical creatures to control me.

2) If you need religion to keep you acting in a societally-healthy manner, you need to be locked up NOW, before you do something. I'm kind because it's who I am. If hell was the penalty for kindness, still, I would be kind.

If they've all got it wrong... then there must be something we haven't thought of yet. Then again, I think "all religions have it wrong" may in fact be a religion of its own... so therefore there would be one that was right. Only, not, because if all religions are wrong then that one is also wrong... which would have to make something right... best not to get too involved in conversations like this.

If they've all got it wrong... then there must be something we haven't thought of yet. Then again, I think "all religions have it wrong" may in fact be a religion of its own... so therefore there would be one that was right. Only, not, because if all religions are wrong then that one is also wrong... which would have to make something right... best not to get too involved in conversations like this.
It is … well more “all religions probably have it wrong” or they cant understand sort of thing can be lumped in agnostic(not really a religion but group ... not taking it on faith that there IS no god ... rather just unsure if we already know or understand) as well as several other groups

What if everyone is wrong?
What if the Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Taoists, Wiccans, athiests, agnostics were all wrong? What if we are all wrong?
What if every religion and belief system on earth got it all completely wrong?
Then what?
how the hell can agnostics be wrong?

i mean, by definition, to be agnostic means that you don't know.

how the hell can agnostics be wrong?

i mean, by definition, to be agnostic means that you don't know.
Lol I was just going to say … lol he sounds sorta agnostic with that sort of statement

the only right religion is clearly Judaism. It has been around a long time. and you cant argue with that.
Hinduism has been around longer.
Atheism has been around even longer.

oh yeah.

Atheism has been around even longer.

oh yeah.
Fairly sure agnostics (while not a religion still a viewpoint) has been around about as long if not longer then atheism :)

What if everyone is wrong?
What if the Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Taoists, Wiccans, athiests, agnostics were all wrong? What if we are all wrong?
What if every religion and belief system on earth got it all completely wrong?
Then what?

How could they all be wrong? God either exists or doesn't exist, so either atheists or theists must be right. Also, many agnostics just say that they don't know, so you can't go wrong there.