I did not intend to argue from a Biblical-only point of view, but from a general belief in God or gods. The peculiar beliefs of different religions about God is mostly irrelevant to my question as long as they believe God or the gods (by whatever name they use) was the Creator. How the question should be changed under the circumstances you mentioned seems straight forward:

For Muslims/Islamists "How would the world be different if there was no Allah".

For Buddhists "How would the world be different if there were no pure deities awaiting those who complete the Eightfold path to Enlightenment or whoever created the Earth and its lifeforms." Who do the Buddhists believe created the Earth and its life forms?

Etc.

Your father's advice about one-book-philosophies is wise.

I've made the argument before that if one well-believed religious book is false (e.g., the Bible or the Book of Mormon) then that places within the realm of distinctly possible that they are all in serious error. It becomes the duty of the believers to establish scientifically the validity of their scriptures. If Joseph Smith made up the Book of Mormon, yet millions of Mormons believe it is the Word of God, it means the Gospel writers could have made up the stories about Jesus, the Jewish Scribes could have made up the stories about Moses, the Muslims could have made up the stories about Mohammed, etc.

The religious method of ascertaining truth ("Believe my words because I have knowledge directly from God or the gods") is flawed. The scientific method, which expects competent observers and theoreticians to be able to verify each others work, is clearly the superior path to knowledge and enlightenment.

• Re: The Peculiar Beliefs About God Mostly Irrelevant. - arc180th - February 19, 2001 - 00:25 UTC