Does God Exist (the Barber Story)...

You don't have to agree with this...I thought I'd share...because I thought it interesting....
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Does God exist?

A man went to a barber shop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects.

When they eventually touched on the subject of a God, the barber said:
"I don't believe that God exists."

Why do you say that?" asked the customer.

"Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who allow all of there things"

The custome thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he did not want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt.

The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist."

"How can you say that?" asked the barber. "I am here, and I am a barber, and I just worked on you"

"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside."

"Ah, but barbers DO exist! What happens is, people do not come to me."

"Exactly!" - affirmed the customer "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist!
what happens, is people don't go to Him and do not look for Him, That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

 

hmm... interesting

 

Obviously not a "hippie" then.:sunglasse

 

I've heard this before.

Here's why this barber story doesn't give any analytical suggestion for the existance of God:

(1) Barbers are not omnipresent (everywhere at the same time).

(2) Barbers are not omnipotent (capable of doing anything).

(3) Barbers are not omniscient (all-kinowing).

(4) Barbers are not omnibenevolent (all good).

If a barber doesn't feel like going outside to cut some old homeless guy's hair, he isn't obligated to do such. But if God is truly all of the things above ... the only thing that this story shows is that God is not a barber. ^_^

 

Hikky STRIKES again!

Bad arguments BEWARE!

 

and pain and suffering don't ever happen to people who "go to Him" ???

 

exactly...

 

Beyond that ... those who look for him don't always find him.

Hell I've been looking for years and years. Praying while getting beat around by my father, picked on at school, all spices and varieties of Hell.

And eventually I realized the truth, and gave up my search.

And I have never been happier.

 

Amen

 

Interesting. The Man with the dirty long hair and untrimmed beard is unable to have his hair trimmed as he has insufficient money.

At some local pentecostal churches they give a 10min sermon every sunday before the worship session as to why you should give your money to the church (from a guy whose wages you are paying). Is this another one of those?

"Pay before you pray" right?

 

Good arguments - but also, the barber didn't cause or create the whole set of conditions in the first place.
Generally, this is the trouble with such metaphors - they are inaccurate, in this case because the status of the barber and God are completely dis-similar.

 

It's about as vague as all the parables in the Old and New Testements - It stands up to the first look, and sounds nice and purfect, but I've NEVER heard an arguement for the existance of a Supreme Being sound convincing enough to change how I think.

 

If come down from up there for a second you'll notice that hikaru wasn't arguing the existence of God but rather the nonsensical nature of the metaphor.

 

If you read my post you'll see I was actually agreeing with him. What I said applies to all three points he made - It didn't occur to me that anything was being said about the existence of non-existence of God.
My point revolves around the usual definition of God, whether God exists or not doesn't matter. The ontological status of the Barber is different from that of God and also that of a unicorn. That's the point.

 

Fuckin' beautiful, Meagain.

 

Ok, sorry...it was the "good arguments, BUT" bit. It sounded like you were saying "yeah, i get your point but you're wrong", i misinterpreted. Apologies.

Meagain, i second libertine, bloody good chap

 

is it not possible for a thing to exist without swallowing, hook line and sinker, every absurd bit of feted dingo's kindneys anyone ever comes up with about it?

what i am in the presence of, when i am alone with it out in the woods, bears not the slightest resemblence to anything christerism with all its devels and demons has ever come up with, nor any other chauvanistic organized belief.

=^^=
.../\...

 

In both of these examples, the characters have made an assumption of the reason that God, the barber and Santa Claus exist.

They have assumed that the reason God exists is to make people happy and ensure that there is no one experiences pain and suffering, because if there is pain and suffering then God does not exist or He is doing a bad job. They have assumed that the barber exists to make sure that everyone has a haircut, and if someone has long or bad hair, then the barber doesn't exist or he is not doing his job. For Santa Claus, the assumption is made that his job is to give toys to every child and make them happy, and if this doesn't happen, then he doesn't exist or is also doing a lousy job. By making these assumptions, you have defined whether a person exists and whether or not he is doing a good job by these criteria. Solely on the question of God's existence, if His purpose is something beyond eliminating all pain and suffering in the world, then God does exist even when people suffer. Although God is concerned with the pain and suffering that people experience, His purpose is beyond making sure that everyone is free from pain and suffering all the days of their life.

 

The metaphor is ass backward thinking.

The people that "Go to God" are responsible for the most horrific acts of ignorance, cruelty and violence. I do not believe the suicidal terrorists on 9-11 were screaming "barber, barber!" before they blew up thousands of people!!