Calling all Atheist or those unsure if there is a God?

Question

I sincerely want to know and understand why you believe there is no God. I’m not asking to debate the issue, I’m not asking to change anyone’s opinion. It’s never been an issue to me that we were created by design and not just chance. So if you could help to understand why you believe in no God, and what you believe.

Also if you are unsure if there is a God, why?

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

Someone much wiser than myself described it as the "surprise factor" -- when you look out upon the world, the things you see happening would come as no surprise if we were living in a world where a god or gods did nt exist....:

Religions demand faith and discourage attempts to verify their claims through test and experiment, and this fact is less surprising under atheism than theism.

Science is a very effective means of gaining knowledge whereas revelation and scriptural study is not, and this fact is less surprising under atheism than theism.

Many religions attempt to suppress outside examination and criticism, and this fact is less surprising under atheism than theism.

Many religions have histories of intolerance and violence, and this fact is less surprising under atheism than theism.

Many religions have cruel or morally unacceptable doctrines, and this fact is less surprising under atheism than theism.

Religious societies reflect the prejudices of their time, and this fact is less surprising under atheism than theism.

There is a vast amount of religious confusion and disagreement between many different belief systems, and this fact is less surprising under atheism than theism.

Religions are fragmented into sects that cannot agree on key issues of doctrine or ethics, and this fact is less surprising under atheism than theism.

Religions emerge in isolated areas and only then spread in space and time, rather than appearing in every society at once, and this fact is less surprising under atheism than theism.

The mind has a physical basis, and this fact is less surprising under atheism than theism.

Gratuitous evil and unnecessary suffering are abundant, and this fact is less surprising under atheism than theism.

Naturalism is the norm, and this fact is less surprising under atheism than theism.

There is no clear evidence of the existence of any gods, and this fact is less surprising under atheism than theism.

Religious texts contain many contradictions and historical inaccuracies, and this fact is less surprising under atheism than theism.

Arguments for God's existence suffer from irreparable logical flaws, and this fact is less surprising under atheism than theism.

There are moral, fulfilled, happy people from all religious backgrounds and also among nonbelievers, and this fact is less surprising under atheism than theism.

Answer 2

Physics and chemistry account for the existence of everything we see in the universe, including all living organisms. Fundamental physics shows no pattern or design - we just happen to live in a universe which was conducive to the existence of life. So, there is no *need* to invoke a god.

Furthermore, a moment's thought will reveal that the idea of an intelligent entity existing without a universe for it to exist in is a nonsense. Intelligence is a product of the universe, not the other way round. How can you have intelligence just exist out of nowhere? That would be like saying there was absolutely nothing existing, and then , suddenly a fully formed human appears.... only worse. Surely you don't really believe that could happen, do you? Order and complexity and intelligence is a result of billions of years of unthinking and undirected natural process acting on plain old atoms and molecules. This is reality. Anything else is just imagination.

Answer 3

God for me is a rationalization of a human need. I accept that man creates God, and that believing in a higher power comforts me sometimes. As an agnostic it would be impossible to know for sure.

Oh yeah. If a pretty flower or how a banana perfectly shaped for our hands is a proof of a God, then what about a cactus? What about mosquitos? Will the circle arguement be that God put those there to test our faith? Or is that Satan at work?

Answer 4

As an agnostic I believe it's possible there's a God, but unproven.
What I sincerely believe is that no religion on this planet has it right. I don't know if you're a Christian or not, but have you ever examined the bible? Its messages and themes are so full of holes that just can't be explained, it's a wonder to me that anyone can take it seriously. (That's why I stopped being a Christian after 22 years of total belief).

Answer 5

I believe in realism through historical values of humanity.

Too many people take the bible by face value, and they forget that the time period which it was written in - there were no printing presses or newspapers.

If you look at ANY history books, movies, etc - the crowds used story tellers and minstrels and bards, etc; to pass on information - and much like todays' difference of knowledge between a astrophycisist and a child in Ethiopia, for example, the knowledge was separated quiet greatly in the time.

So, instead of going around trying to tell all the big details to these people, they made up *stories* and *metaphors* to discuss the things that the governments were trying to teach others. It was their form of education. In fact, it was such a great deal that our form of speech is specifically tailored to it STILL: for example, we give examples, and we use metaphors in our speech to describe something else so that someone can get closer to understanding it through relativism.

Anyway, God is just another word for Energy. If you go through the bible and take the symbolism of each thing: and you try to see it in NATURE - and not in humanity - you will see how closely the metaphors apply to real things. It was a fact Christians still parott today "Well its stories and metaphors about how we should lead our life."

Exactly, don't take it for it's face value.

So, that's why I don't believe in "God." I believe in something much more complicated than Christianity allows - proof given through Christianity being so popular: if you want somethign to be mass produced and passed through everyone, you have to dumb it down. Look at reality TV shows, it's a dumb way to protray life, but it's #1 in all americans' home.

Answer 6

I believe in God, but there is no objective evidence of God. The Universe appears to exist without a God making God superfluous. Evolution explains the origins of life without God. A higher physical reality can explain the Big Bang through string theory. But, does a higher dimension need a God? Not being on that higher dimension makes that question impossible to answer.

Answer 7

God is a character in the Bible. He is one of many supernatural entities humans have dreamed up. You take the Christian God for granted as being real because you were taught to since you were a child. If your parents were Hindu, you would have different beliefs. Once you realize WHY you believe in your own particular God, you can realize why others don't. I don't believe in anything supernatural. Once you understand that we are animals, and what we have in common with other animals, including DNA, and how long life has been developing on Earth, you won't need to believe in magic.

Answer 8

A god, a creator of people, an all knowing - all powerful being capable of infinite love could not allow the horrors existing here.

Somewhere today - some innocent child will be savagely killed by some adults carelessness. It will suffer horribly and die.
An all knowing- all powerful god would intercede on the childs behalf.

Somewhere today - a young girl till be raped to death by someone she trusted.

If it were up to me - I'd save her.
Why is it that I have more love in me for a stranger than the god that made her?

Answer 9

You sound sincerely interested, so I'll give you a serious answer. I consider myself an atheist because I don't accept the description of any "God" that I've encountered. God(s) tend to have too many human characteristics to be truly divine. An omnipotent, all-seeing, all-knowing Creator would be so different from us that we would have no reference point to use for comparison to ourselves. On one hand, this being is supposed to be all-powerful, the absolute apex of everything, yet he (?) is also encumbered by the most basic human emotions: anger, jealousy, love, selfishness, arrogance, vengefulness, the list goes on and on. This says to me that man created God in his own image, endowing him with human properties. Basically, I can't believe that a Supreme Being would need an ego, that he would require life forms so inferior to himself to worship and obey him. It makes no sense.

I believe that everything (and everyone) is part of everything else, that we are all part of the same energy, that we move and change and ebb and flow according to our own efforts. Whether you know it or not, your own actions and reactions create your personal reality. Your perception defines your world. I choose to take responsibility for my life, and make my life what I want it to be. Those who turn that over to someone (or "something") else get what they get.

There's so much more to this concept, but I believe I've answered your question.

Answer 10

The god or gods proposed by most do not have logical basis’s, are contradictory, and even at the most basic levels do not make sense.

I believe that there is a possibility of something "out there" but, have not an inkling of what it is, or what it is like. If there is a god it is nothing like what it has been described as.

Answer 11

Here is the reason...evolution in terms of a belief that we can come into existence naturally. Many people in intellectual and scietific circles believe this. As a result, one is forced to conclude that God does not exist, for why should he, if we can come into existence without him.

This is the issue that has to be objectively fought.