• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Would you vote for a Satanist?

Which is exactly what I am describing...?
If god knows that then we cannot possibly have free will. We may have free will from our perspective but true free will requires that omniscience is impossible at any level.
 
Sure he can, when he can see all of time.
Then there is no free will. Omniscience and free will are incompatible. It must be one of the other and it has to be absolute. There can be no partial omniscience.
 

I brought it up because “Pastafarians” exist but no one actually worships the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

The best evidence we currently have supports the Big Bang Theory.
 
Then there is no free will.
Sure there is. When you can see all of time, you are like you or me looking at the past. God isn't seeing the future. The best way our 3D time minds can grasp this is to consider it as knowing the entire past.
 
Then there is no free will. Omniscience and free will are incompatible. It must be one of the other and it has to be absolute. There can be no partial omniscience.
Help me out here Lisa. I want to grasp this but I'm having trouble. Can you word it differently?
I'm not blaming you. I know it's my fault for struggling.
 
Sure there is. When you can see all of time, you are like you or me looking at the past. God isn't seeing the future. The best way our 3D time minds can grasp this is to consider it as knowing the entire past.
You are not describing omniscience then
Not that it is relevant to anything here as far as I can tell
 
You are not describing omniscience then
Not that it is relevant to anything here as far as I can tell
Thank you.
 
Of course I am. Such a being knows everything for all time. What does he not know?
I'm with you. I just can't figure out how that would end free will.
If everybody had that knowledge, that would be a different story.
 
Help me out here Lisa. I want to grasp this but I'm having trouble. Can you word it differently?
I'm not blaming you. I know it's my fault for struggling.
Omniscience means that your god, that you claim exists (this is a theoretical question) knows w what we will do before we act, all the way to e the end of our life for everyone who will ever live. The fact that your god is claimed to know everything means that we do not have free will because he already knows what we will do before we ever consider the question, or even take a breath as an infant. The fact that he knows all means that we do not have free will.

Without free will there can be no sin because all of our decisions, good and bad have been predecided, so we have no choice. if we have no choice then we cannot possibly be punished for making the wrong decision(sin) if we never had a choice because his free will is already predetermined for us.
 
That is irrelevant because it is only from our perspective. God is claimed by believers to know everything from the beginning of time to the very end.
Let me back up a little bit and advocate for something I don't believe.
Lisa, how would you look at it if you knew those people were wrong?
You mentioned Deism before. Are you torn between being an agnostic, atheist or deist?
 
If god knows that then we cannot possibly have free will. We may have free will from our perspective but true free will requires that omniscience is impossible at any level.
But if it is free will from our perspective, how is it not free will to you?
After all, your perspective is human.
And if is free will to you, then it is free will.
 
But they weren't predecided if we haven't decided yet. That would be like seeing the Super Bowl game before it started. Just because God knew what the score would be doesn't mean the players actions weren't consequential to us. If a player committed the "sin" of fumbling, it doesn't mean he wasn't responsible for his actions.
 
Free will that only exists from our own perspective doesnt matter and it doesn't change the fact that free will can not exist with your (claimed) god's omniscience. They are already determined even if we are not aware of it.
 
Free will that only exists from our own perspective doesnt matter and it doesn't change the fact that free will can not exist with your (claimed) god's omniscience. They are already determined even if we are not aware of it.
I'm still not getting it. Of course free will from our perspective matters.
And how could it not be free will from God's perspective?
Knowing the score of the Super Bowl before it happened doesn't mean the game didn't happen. Nor does it mean that the game happened but it was meaningless.
 
If an omniscient god knows what we will choose to do years before we are ever born then logically we cannot have true free will. We may have free will from our own perspective but that is meaningless if your god is omniscient because he knows everything that will happen in the future.
 
If a politician declared themselves to be a Satanist, would that sway your vote one way or another?
It would make me more likely to vote for them, just because they were willing to push against the norm.

I would of course have to look at their history and positions, not to mention stated goals if elected.
 
I guess we should just agree to disagree since we can't grasp the other's perspective.
I mean, when I open a surprise gift it never bothers me that the person who wrapped it knew what it was. It wouldn't even bother me that they knew in advance I would open it....or even when and where I would open it. I'd just be happy I got it because I would have never received it without them. I'm not going to let their omniscience ruin my gift.
 
The best evidence we currently have supports the Big Bang Theory.
Back to Questerr....I agree...but it does cause a problem with where the Big Bang came from and what caused it. It couldn't have come from nothingness. Even if the concept of nothingness was valid, there had to be a probability, possibility or potential that a Universe would appear. Probability, possibility and potential are not nothing from a scientific viewpoint....or anybody's viewpoint for that matter.
Would you agree that something needs to be eternal for anything to exist?
There is a really old question that asks "Why is there something rather than nothing?"
 
Last edited:
Would you agree that something needs to be eternal for anything to exist?
No. Such a question may have no meaning whatsoever, like asking what is north of the north pole.
 
I don't think we can technically prove that there is something.
Since we can only witness what our brains tell us is there based on the signals they receive.

OR something like that.

But for practical purposes, there's something because we witness it.
---------
Edit: To put it another way, does the universe exist if we aren't here to see it?
 
Did it exist before there would humans? I would say yes.
 
Did it exist before there would humans? I would say yes.
The evidence we have gathered indicates it did.

But when you start to question how real what we see and think about is, everything becomes less solid.
 
The evidence we have gathered indicates it did.

But when you start to question how real what we see and think about is, everything becomes less solid.
Very true. But I still won't try to walk through my wall.
 
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…