Why doesn't God make his existence too obvious to ignore?

Perhaps he does not exist.

Because we are all God trying to forget.

I’d link you to my full blown, holistic “Kevin” answer I gave in another question but I’m too lazy to look it up.

I guess people would see that as taking away some level of “significance” to it. It’s something that has to be internal despite lack of evidence and that’s what gives it power and significance, otherwise it would be “superficial”. Believe me, this is all part of the reason I am an agnostic atheist today. We’re supposed to believe in God despite lack of evidence and be punished eternally if we happen to not pick up on a virtually undetectable presence? It doesn’t encourage my belief, let’s put it that way. It does the opposite. It seems very counterintuitive. But I’m a puny insignificant human and I just fail to comprehend the incomprehensible…

Since his existence is not obvious, obviously you can ignore his existence.

The way I see it if he exists, he doesn’t care. So, if he doesn’t care for me why should I care for him. Either way, I save a lot of worshiping time doing much more interesting things like riding my bike or masturbating.

Perhaps because there is something special about people who have faith without demanding proof.

The answer should be obvious to anyone. Liable.

If a god of some kind exists and it is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent then said god would be liable for all kinds of things. All it would take is one phone call to a no win no fee ambulance chasing law firm and you could sue for millions.

Sure god could just poof all the money he needs in to existence at will, but that would be counterfeiting and would land him in jail. His only option then would be to have his representatives on earth bail him out by parting with their money.

It is much better to just stay hidden so that pedophiles in funny hats can molest children surrounded by walls that are covered in priceless pieces of art.

Simple!

I found it (without too much trouble):

Once upon a time there was an omniscient/omnipotent force that had no beginning nor end.

What this force had was a capacity for boredom. It was everything and everywhere for Christ’s sake. It lacked surprise and wonder.

One day this force, its name was Kevin, decided to scatter and partition its infinite consciousness into the whole of its being. BANG! Suddenly Kevin was hurtling through his newly created reality in the form of uncountable subatomic particles.

Each particle, and the space in between them, was Kevin but he had removed from himself the part that remembered they were all part of a whole.

Every particle hurtling through space was Kevin. The space they hurtled through was Kevin. The planets they became were Kevin. The stars that held them in place were Kevin. The entire universe was now a particulated Kevin, experiencing every single aspect of reality, as a distinct and separate consciousness.

As Kevin expanded, evolved, and became ever more complex a funny thing happened. He began to remember himself. Not a full recollection, but a feeling that all of his little separate Kevins were actually part of a whole.

A majority of these Kevin pieces were content to feel this pull and know that they were part of a bigger picture.

A minority, that called themselves humans, felt the pull a little stronger. Some believed the pull they felt was the call of their Creator and they began to imagine ways they could be reunited with this Creator. They developed a mythology and a set of rituals that they believed would help them achieve this goal.

Some felt the pull as a challenge to understand and map what this pull was and why it affected everything around them. They sought to find, through methodology and experiment, why this pull drove them so.

Still others were happy to be in the dream and did not want to wake up. They whispered in the ears of any who would listen that we are all individuals. Who were any of these other groups to try and wake us from our wonderful dream? Who were any of these others that wanted to explain to us we were simply insignificant parts of a whole we couldn’t even truly comprehend?

And now here we are, confused, divided, and arrogant in our forgetting.

Methinks somebody is starting a new religion ^

@HungryGuy . . . Anyone interested in donating is free to PM me.

For a modest fee I’ll be happy to change “Kevin” in to the deity of your choosing.

@Blondesjon GA! Let’s all pray to Kevin. By the way, Kevin drew the drawings I was using today, I’ll call him tomorrow to praise him and remind him that he is not omnipotent because I found a couple mistakes that need cleared up.

Zeus does every time there is lightning.

I don’t believe in God or any god, but I would guess part of the reason would be that faith in and of itself is one of the most important things, at least with regard to the “Christian God” (however folks want to define that term), so if God revealed himself, or made himself obvious to people, then they would not need to engage in faith and that would make the whole idea fall apart. It seems like a cruel trick, but maybe it’s not, maybe that’s just the way it works.

Because he is a master at the fear tactics.

I don’t know why faith is a required tool for worshiping God, for lack of better words, but it is generally accepted that faith is what connects one to God. So He can’t be obvious, otherwise there would be no reason for faith, and it’s one of the main Christian things.
Not a Christian or a believer of any kind, and I’m not any good with my Biblical history or its teachings, so I’ll gladly stand corrected if it isn’t quite what I said. But if I do understand right, faith is essential, which means God can never make Himself fully known as a fact, at least until one dies, I guess. But then some people say they find God. So I guess maybe that’s what faith is for. Some stuff in The Bible would seem to indicate this, like the verses talking about the separation from the sheep and the goats? And like, God tends to His garden, clearing away the weeds in order to let the flowers bloom. I can’t remember if that’s actually in The Bible or not though, but it was definitely related.

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

John 20:29
Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

(and a bit earlier we see the problem with this whole idea of God showing Himself)

John 20:25
The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the LORD. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

Even those who saw the miracles had trouble with doubts. If a true sign was given, people would find ways to doubt it still.

The Pharisees of the bible continually asked Jesus for a sign. The problem was they wanted a sign that fit their requirements while at the same time being utterly blind and hard hearted to what was right in front of them.

If you don’t seek, you won’t find.

Matthew 7:7–8
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Q: If we are required to believe in and worship God…

A: It isn’t required. We have to choice to believe or not.
We only must believe to gain entry to Heaven.

@filmfann This is something that confuses me. Does one want to worship God because of the values He teaches while living, or just to secure a place into Heaven? Or does one lead to the other?

Maybe he doesn’t want to claim what he made. I know I may want to lay low after seeing what men and women can do to each other.
Even if we had absolute proof, it wouldn’t stop the evils of the world.
Just look at children. Many children know their parents will punish them for this or that and yet many still rebel. You don’t want to know your children will only behave when they know you are looking. You want them to behave for their own sakes, whether your around or not. For some people, proof wouldn’t mean a thing. Many do just fine without proof.

You sure ask a lot of god related questions.

You’re assuming believing in god is based on some kind of fact.

Perhaps we have disappointed Him or He is ashamed of us and His failure to make man perfect. I’d shut the door on us too.

To me, His existance is too obvious to ignore.

@Symbeline Does one want to worship God because of the values He teaches while living, or just to secure a place into Heaven?

Certainly I am not an expert at this, but this is what I think:

One worships God because he is God.
You don’t do it just to secure a place in Heaven. The magnificence of Heaven is being with Him.

Perhaps because the major religions are wrong and we are here to focus on this life, not the next. According to the teachings of Silver Birch we are here to experience ‘life’ as a learning experience for the enlightment of our souls. We are here to interact with others, be in service to others and to treat people kindly, and those latter things are what is important, not faith.

@bkcunningham And me!

He does.

@filmfann Well, I like that explanation. I figure this should be valid during the mortal coil, as I imagine God would want peeps to enjoy their life.

Or better yet why doesn’t he manifest Himself like he used to in the old bible days now that we are a more sophisticated intelligent scientifically advanced species? Same goes with the so-called ancient aliens!