A view of God atheists and believers may share

Q1.    Is it rational to believe in God?

A1.    Yes, if it makes us happy and good.

Q2.    Is it necessary to believe in the existence of God?

A2.    God already exists as a concept.  We are already discussing this concept (and Him), now.

Q3.    Is society happier and better without God?

A3.    Liberals say they are happier and better without God, but liberalism is fast becoming discredited, and there may be regime-change soon.

Q4.    Repeated question: Is it necessary to believe in the existence of God?

A4A.  It is necessary to believe in the existence of God if you cannot be happy and good without believing in His existence.

A4B.  It is not necessary to believe in God if you can be happy and good without believing in His existence.  Each to his or her own.

Q5.    Who or what created God?

A5.    Man created God when he first conceived of Him, gave Him a name, described Him and then conjured Him into existence by behaving as if He did indeed exist.  (The power of imagination, eh?)

Q6.    If Man created God, can he destroy God?

A6.    You cannot destroy an abstract concept or an idea though you can of course suppress and discredit it.  The need for something - anything - cannot be destroyed.  This is because need is spontaneously generated where there is want and imperfection, error and suffering.  To destroy these emotions, you would have to destroy the agents of these emotions, ie kill the human beings who feel these emotions, ignore their suffering, or make things better for them so they no longer suffer and therefore no longer complain to you or blame you.

Q7.    How do you make things better for the people who suffer?

A7.    We could try doing as God (if He exists) commands.

Q8.    What does God command?

A8.    His commandments may be found in the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Koran.

Q9.   Which is the best version?

A9.    The most reasonable and recent one.

Q10.   Is the Koran the most reasonable version?

A10.   It is arguably a synthesis of the Old and New Testament and repeatedly exhorts us to use our God-given reason.

Q11.   But why are the Muslims so backward then?

A11.   Because they don't follow God's commandments as they should.

Q12.   Why don't they?

A12.   Because they prefer to be willfully blind rather than change their ways.  Many people take up bad habits which they find they later cannot quit.  Because of the length of time they have indulged in it, it has become second nature.  They don't follow the Koran because they have this curate's egg called the Hadith which often contradicts the Koran.

If the Koran says "all animals are equal" (Animal Farm by George Orwell) then the Hadith says "but some animals are more equal than others".

You would have thought that Muslims would be falling over themselves to know the Koran as well as possible and to assess the likelihood of they and theirs falling victim to the evil consequences that Koranic commandments are designed to prevent, but  they do not.  They are rather like people who won't read instruction manuals to the equipment they own, even though they risk damaging their equipment by improper use or not getting the full benefit of all the features of that gadget.  Perhaps they feel already happy and good enough and don't want more happiness and goodness, or perhaps it is just a combination of pride and sloth.

Q13.   What should be our attitude be towards God?

A13A.  If you believe in His actual existence then you ought to love Him.  If you do indeed love God then you would want to know as much as possible about Him as it is possible to know, and do what you think would please Him, thereby gaining his favour and protection, as if He were a parent, lover or powerful friend.

A13B.  If you are sceptical about His existence or even disbelieving of it, then you must take a more analytical and teleological approach.   Most man-made things can be understood by reference to their purpose.  If you believe God was created by Man then God's purpose can be easily established: to comfort and protect Man from the vicissitudes of life and his fear of death.

The  most rational view to take of God is therefore to:

• acknowledge the existence of God as a concept - which most certainly exists
• decide whether His commandments would make us good and happy
• follow as many of them as we can in order to keep well and happy

In this way can agnostics and atheists have the best of both worlds: the option of internal disbelief while having the benefits of the practices and prohibitions that would keep us good and happy in this life, and perhaps in the afterlife, if it exists.