What would it take to stop believing?
If you seriously believe in something (specifically facts, not necessarily ideals), you’ve got to consider what it’d take to change your mind. Religion is a good one: Whether you’re an atheist or believer in the divine, what would it take to convince you that you’re wrong?
The question is sort of like a litmus-test for open-mindedness, in some respects – because if you say, “nothing could make me lose my faith in what I believe,” then you’re literally crazy.
As for myself, it’d be pretty easy to convince me that there is a god – if he were to pay me a visit. And I don’t mean in the “death by visitation of god” sense of the word – I mean just me and God, maybe me and Jesus, hanging out and talking over lunch. That might sound corny, but I’d love for that to happen. Facing mortality with no prospect of an afterlife is a pretty sucky situation… but I’d rather be bummed about having to die then delusional. And all it’d take to change that would be a visit.
What would it take for you? Do any of my religious-type-friends read this blog? What would it take to convince you that god doesn’t exist?