Jack asked:

I am working on a viewpoint called "The Fairness of Uncertainty" which tries to make a case that one
of God's attributes is fairness to humans of the past present and future. Within that framework I
believe that it is more fair to humans that no proof of God's existence exists and no proof could exist
because it would violate the "fairness principle."

Belief in God, Gods, spirit or whatever is best and fairest left to individual viewpoints and experiences.

Is there any philosophical thought along this line?

============

If God is to be fair He must be fair from beginning to end. Certain attributes of God's character impose
certain conditions on how God can act. If fairness is one of these attributes then God should create a
world where everyone has the same inclinations and experiences and motivations to find out if God
exists. For it would be unfair to create a world where some people have experiences that lead them to
believe in God while others have no such experiences or motivation. It would then be a matter of
constitutive luck that certain persons have the experiences or inclinations to believe, and constitutive
luck cannot, I think, be considered fair, especially if along with belief in God comes the belief that we
gain insight into the proper moral way to behave. In this case it would be pure luck that some people
were considered moral and this would be unfair since as Kant also thought morality should be open to
every one, not just those with the inclination or means to carry out the requirements of morality.

Since God has not created such an equal world he is not fair. In fact such a condition could be
ultimately self-defeating. For if God did create such a world then according to this line of thought this
world would itself be proof of God's existence.

So we have a dilemma: If God is fair he would have created a world of where people share equal
status, but if he created such a world this would lead to a proof that he exists and so violate your
fairness of uncertainty principle. But if he does not create such a world then he cannot be considered
fair.

Secondly, in terms of other typical theistic beliefs about God, if fairness is a attribute of God then we
would have to rethink issues such as life after death, divine rewards and punishment, forgiveness and
redemption. If God does exist, and decides it fairer that he does not provide any proof of his
existence, then to be consistent He must not be able to punish non believers or reward the faithful. To
do so would be unfair, since it is only a matter of luck that some believe and others do not. So there
could be no haven or hell or else He would have to let everyone posses eternal life.

Brian Tee
Dept of Philosophy
University of Sheffield