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Question145

Why do you, as an atheist, think that so many theists refuse to describe exactly what the god that they supposedly worship is, where it comes from, what does it look like, what is it made of, etc.?

• "Well if you could define it, it wouldn't be bloody ineffable, would it?"

  Sorry, got seized by the spirit of Pterry there. :) Seriously, though, I think that may sum up the problem. To define something is to set limits around it; and some flavors of theism want their god to be completely unlimited. Obviously, this doesn't apply to *all* theists, just those who *do* tend to be vague when one presses for specifics.

  It would, I suspect, spoil something for them to be able to tell you their god's height, weight, and blood type. Islam carries this to its logical conclusion with its ban on any anthropomorphic representation of Allah. "Familiarity breeds contempt," so to maintain that sense of awe, it's better not to get too familiar with one's god...

  Think of horror and suspense movies. Obviously, the monster with the zipper down the back isn't scary at all. But even the man in the hockey mask isn't as scary as the figure you never... quite... catch a glimpse of. It gives the imagination more scope. So too with gods; the god that's everywhere, all the time, invisible and intangible, is *much* more awesome than the one who lives on a mountain and might happen to be looking somewhere else right now.

  And of course, there's the obvious fact that it's often harder to disprove something poorly defined. Look at how easy it can be to disprove those parts of the Bible that *are* specific, occasionally down to the cubit. :) (April #1723)

• Because the ones that honestly try to do so wind up on the Deconversion List. (raven1 #1096)

• I think the biggest reason is that most of them haven't put much thought into it. They sort of 'take god for granted', and they worship this thing that they know little about. I have asked several theist why they believe and what their god does for them, and the answers I usually get are silence. They can't even answer these basic questions, which my opinion, if you are going to devote your entire life to soemthing, you should be able to answer these questions. So it doesn't suprise me that they can't answer much about anything else. They always talk about what god wants, what god feels, but they seem to be very good at over stepping the logics involved in figuring out where god came from, where god hangs out and all that. They also tend to brush these things off as unimportant. I think most of them believe because of the reward\punishment issue. And if that is why any person believes, the particulars become unimportant because you're trying to cover your ass. (Julie Kale #1029)

• Because as soon as they try the whole thing is so absurd that they have to stop. Actually, many theists today are not smart enough to figure this out, but the puppet masters of long ago were, and wrote in all sorts of prohibitions to prevent it.

  What better evidence for the long term decrease in human intelligence than that Christians of 1,000 years ago were not trusted with the Bible (obviously because to read it is to laugh) while Christians today are. (Scott Davidson #1045)

• Because they can't. If they start to explore for the answers they turn up nothing. That means having to face reality. Theists aren't interested in what is True, but what is comfortable. (k)

• I suspect very few of them think they know. Whenever the members of a given church try to discuss any characteristics or intentions of their god, they tend to split apart into two or more versions of the original church, each one claiming to be closer to the truth.

  Sort of like a virus or bacteria, they mutate and evolve into more distorted forms of the originals. With world-wide communications, disagreements arise quicker now than ever before, with fanatical fundies breaking off into splinter groups of two or more individuals trying to convert their associates into their new version of delusion. For many of the non fundies, "don't ask, don't tell" keeps the peace. (zach #33)

• The obvious answer is: because there's nothing to describe ;) but let's give it another try.

  They don't have an answer. They were indoctrinated in "there is a god, take my word on it" and never gave it a second thought. They can think in a lot of other issues, but starting from that basic premise they accepted as kids. (Angel Arnal #1443)

• Fear. Fear of being wrong. Fear of looking foolish. Fear of being alone. Fear of responsibility. Fear of self-reliance.

  The theists I know don't want to be without their head-in-the-sand security blanket. If they think about it too much - examine it too closely - they know it won't stand up to rational thought - so they don't give it any. As long as they go along with a woolly non-non-belief they reckon they've covered the bases. (Diem Marshall #1459)

• That's an awful lot of thinking for a theist. Seriously. If they thought that much and questioned that much about god they would be atheists. (ClayeSkye #4)

• Well first off, they don't *know*, do they? And the insecurity generated by that lack of data is bolstered by the superstitious conviction that if they get it wrong, maybe their particular god will nuke them, or keep them from getting that promotion they're bucking for, or give them cavities, or something. (Brenda Nelson #34)