I'm an athiest, why should I believe?

Question

I know that sounds like a set-up, it's not.
I really want to know how faith makes you feel.
I don't want to hear the same rhetoric I've always heard, or Bible quotes.
If I'm right about this, faith comes from within, not from a book.
Tell me how YOU feel, and how I can feel the same way.
I can't hear the voice of God, so the only one I can hear is you.

Answer 1

honestly, I don't think about it that often. I think that if there is room for a belief in your life, you might be surprised how often you hear the 'voice' of god. I'm not a church goer, though I was raised with religion. When I started questioning 'why', and not accepting everything I was being spoon-fed, I started my ongoing conversation with god. Now, when ever poetic justice is meted out, I know the poet. I have cause for thanks in my life, and god is the only person I feel I can thank. (who else would it be?) I use god as a check and balance system for my conscience. You know, I never realized how lucky I am to have conversations with god, until I dated a boy who was never raised with religion. He had never prayed before eating, and he thought it was amazing! I listened for the first time to what we were doing, and we were pausing and reflecting on what we were celebrating. It forces you to be conscious. And, it's different for everyone. I read a great question today, it said 'is it more important to believe in jesus, or to believe jesus. The point being, it is more important how you live your life, than it is to worship something. I know more atheists that donate their time and money to needy causes, then I know christians who do. Religion is a private thing. What I call reflecting on the days events, or my conversation with god, others might call praying. If you have inner dialog, you are having a conversation with god, in my book. Also, if there were no god, chicken wouldn't taste so good...

Answer 2

Well, you can't hear God because you don't believe or just not recognizing Him. Your right, faith does come from within but it is really hard to keep. Christianity is hard, but in my belief, the payoff is wonderful. But, lets say you believe in God, have all the faith in the world live a great life helping others and being kind, then you die. What harm has it caused if there is no God? You lived a good life and you will be remembered well. In my personal experience, God has done wonders, let me give you an example, my father died this last february, I hadn't seen him or talked with him in years and finally found out two weeks after the fact. I prayed and prayed and then God gave me a dream to let me say goodbye and ask for forgiveness. My life has made a complete turn around since I became a christian. I hope you don't think this is rhetoriacal, just my experience.

Answer 3

How does it make me feel? Well, feelings are subject to change and aren't trustworthy, but when I'm in the Bible and my relationship with God is good, I am more at peace and more contented with life in general. However, Faith is belief not a feeling. As for faith not coming from a book, Our faith is in God and the Bible comes from God, thus our faith ties into the Bible


Well I don't know what the "same rhetoric you've been hearing" is so I'll tell you some that I think makes sense.

If Christians are right Then We go to heaven and are happy for eternity and Atheists go to hell and suffer eternally.

If Atheists are right the die and go into nothingness. You won't even have the satisfaction of knowing you were right. You won't even know you are dead. Christians will also die and go into nothingness. We won't have the disatisisfaction of knowing we were wrong. We also won't even know we are dead

For you it's a lose-lose situation
For Christians its a win-win situation

Answer 4

I believe in God and I feel him. The voice of God is not a physical voice but it is your conscience and the thing that helps you feel the difference between right and wrong. Even when you decide to do something you felt was wrong, it is the guilty feeling you feel and being compelled not to do it again. I can't say I'm the most devoted guy but when I do wrong I pray about it and let it go instead of letting it eat me up inside. I do feel better having hope that there are other people who check their morals instead of just going crazy and doing whatever they feel because they don't want to have to answer to anyone. Faith comes from within and it's about having hope that when all the miserable things of this world come to an end, there will be a place for everyone who strive to treat themselves and everyone else with respect.

Answer 5

Faith is a gift from God (which is possible to refuse), that he gives differently to everyone. Some people find God through beautiful music, or a great book; some people can reason their way to belief (cf. Thomas Aquinas five proofs).

Try Pascal's Wager. He said (more or less) that if there is no God, then believing in him or not will make no difference, but if there is a God, believing in him might make all the difference. So give it a couple of weeks, or a month. Live as though there is a God. Try to talk to him, and see what happens. Usually He answers.

Answer 6

Just because you don't believe in the Abrahamic sense of God, doesn't mean you can't believe in a "god." This is often an argument I hear from athiests, "I don't hear God" or "the Bible isn't true." That's fine, but that doesn't mean absolutly NO gods exists. You can define god as the connective force the links everybody or everything (panthiest) or that god can be a stoic unemotional being. Or even god can be a evil god (which some gnostics believe). Some define God as just the flicker of energy that ignitied the Big Bang. I find it funny that atheist can be so dogmatic about there being NO god(s) as much as Christians beleive that their God exists. Both sides can be wrong. So my point is find something that fits with your beliefs, do some research, and find your own path.

Answer 7

Buzzard........ The fact that you just asked this question proves you have the desire to know of a higher power...... Which happens to be that you know their is a GOD....... Faith makes me KNOW I have a Hope for all things that man cannot control..... There are so many to list but what comes to mind first is an end to hunger, and racism, disease, old age, etc... It is just by chance that we were not born in a country where they live out of tents and eat what ever they can get..... I watched pieces of the Korean documentary last night and had to change it because of my babies.... Evil is all around and Satan desperately wants you to feel the way you do........ GOD is patient, not slow respecting his promise.... He is patient with all of us...... The people who are suffering in third world countries will see things we take for granted and will have more faith than so many people.... You can feel the same way by choosing not to stay ignorant.... And I don't mean this in an offensive way..... Ignorance is lacking knowledge...... Seek truth and you will find the very wisdom your asking me to help you feel....... If you check out my profile you will see that I am an imperfect person and I don't claim to be perfect.... I am by far not perfect........ I hope this helps you to start your journey on seeking out truth from fiction....... Best wishes to you......... And also I do not hear the voice of GOD...... I see him through the course of my life, it is not a voice you will hear it is what you will see and feel as your life opens up to trusting in HIM.........

Answer 8

God put us here and He takes care of us. He does not give us anything more than He knows we can stand. In my heart I know my Lord is real. He is everywhere. No matter where we go or what we do-He is there. When we do bad, make mistakes, do good or whatever the case may be He does not leave us. But it is our choice - as an individual - to decide to have God in our hearts. If God isn't real-then how did we get here? Or who made the plants, animals, water, sand , everything? So many amazing things-The rainbow, thunderstorms, wind, the ocean. With God-All things are possible. You just have to trust Him. He will not let you down. You ask why you should believe. I can't give you that answer. This is something you have to decide for yourself. But before you go to bed or anytime during the day-pray to God. God answers prayers. It may not be in the time spand you want Him to answer-but He will answer-In His own time. God has all of our lives already planned out. He knows which of us are going to Heaven and he knows who is going to Hell. If you do want to believe-don't give up. He has never give up on you and He never will. We, as people, are the ones who give up on him.
I hope I helped in some way.
This is how my heart feels.
I love God.
I will pray for you.

Answer 9

You believe there is no Creator? So human beings with all their infinite complexity - and all the other living things on the earth with their infinite complexity - DNA, atoms, etc. just all happened by chance? If you believe in chance put 10 different colored balls in a bag and try to guess without looking which color you will draw each time... There has to be a God simply because there are so many millions of things that science and evolution cannot account for... If humans are evolved from apes, why are there still apes??? Really reflect on the work of art that is your own mind - how you process information, remember, and problem solve -- all this in a lumpy mass of gray matter and electrical impulses? Is it really so simple? Really go inside of yourself and you will hear the voice of God in the miracle of your own beating heart...

Answer 10

Thanks For Your Question :)

But if You really want to believe ask God to guide you and read more search for the true religion (I'm not saying Christianity by the way) I was just telling some friend here to search for The Book that have the answers for all your questions, The Book that people memorize it from 1st page till last one, The Book that has never been changed since it was created, The Book that has many things that prove the existence of God which is scientific facts, The Book that never contradict the logic or itself search for The Book of God

Answer 11

There is some emerging research that shows that the likelihood of a person having religious tendencies is to some extent controlled by genetics. Not having been born with this predisposition, I can't help you. I have tried and tried myself, but there just isn't anything else out/in there. Similarly, when I was a child, I very much wanted to believe in Elves. Apparently, they ain't real either. Oh well, so much for the scientific method mucking up faith....