What are the top three reasons you believe or disbelieve in god(s)?

Question

OK, now that I am thoroughly convinced that God is purple, chubby, smooth, shaped like a womb, and tastes great with pasta (but also why hymns about eggplant are difficult to compose):

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AsUGcYRwDLkA0mBWmq.NmiDsy6IX?qid=20060831075230AASoI9a


Let's consider one of the more serious questions suggested by someone today:

What are the top three reasons you believe or disbelieve in god(s)?


I only ask that people try to be concise in their answers. No one reads it when someone cuts & pastes 5 chapters from a book anyway. Oh, and try to be concrete as possible.

this may start an interesting discussion.

Professional, I mean no offense, but you're posting your conclusions.

The question asks for your reasons, or the basis for your conclusions.

To tailor it to you:
What are your top 3 reasons for believing that it is logical, etc,etc,

Answer 1

1. The origins of the god of Abraham are well known, and it is simply a collection of the pagan and Hebrew myths of the time. The names and gods were changed to fit the "universal" theme of Christianity.

2. If the god of Abraham is the product of cannibalized mythology from a variety of cultures, then any "threats" that the bible makes for nonbelievers are just as false as the stories.

3. If there is no validated, truthful consequence for not believing in god, and there is no evidence supporting the existence of said god, then I see no reason believe in one.

Answer 2

Three reasons are not all that easy to define but I will try:
1) The contradictions in the Bible, the facts for disputing the bible are all around us (fossils and the like) add to that the fact that it was translated, changed and personified by scholars that had no idea what we would find around the bend. I mean if they knew dinosaurs were coming up you would have thought they would get at least a verse or maybe a footnote.
2) This one is more from the heart. I dislike the intolerance and absolutes of the Bible; it makes for some viscous followers down the line. If Neo-cons are what we have now as a result of it’s teachings what’s next? If the Bible were a structurally sound book you would think God would assure us of what to believe and not to believe. Why is it so vague? And why are the articles that Bible is so vague about the ones that hurt people most? (Homosexuality, accepting of all,etc.)
3) And lastly why can’t they just file the dang thing in fiction?
Whew, that taxed my little brain.
But thank you.
And I am loving ya’ back…;)

Answer 3

Wow, you picked my question...

Don't "believe"

1) The Bible as a source for the belief system - The bible is a social commentary of the time when the individual book was written. That is why there are so many contradictory items.

2) Man's desire to explain the unexplainable - Whenever man doesn't understand something, they tend to attribute it to a god (e.g. the sun rising and setting) once science prove how it happens, the myth disappears (except for some hard core believers)

3) Observations - In my almost 40 years of life, I have not see physical proof of a divine deity.

Answer 4

1. When I was in an abusive relationship and being strangled by my X's violent control, a warm, comforting presence showed up and showed me what to do...

2. I started knowing the future and how I should react to certain events in order to be safe....I never heard any voice, thank God, but I would just suddenly know certain information....Sometimes I would have to use a dictionary to look up certain words as some of the words were not in my vocabulary.

3. I knew that when I got through that time in my life that I would be married to my soul-mate and have a baby girl....I have been married to Buddy (a perfect spiritual/ physical/intellectual match) for 14 years and Leah is 13 years old.....I am happier than I have ever been.

Answer 5

For background, I'm agnostic.

1) Why believe in something for which there's no concrete proof?

2) Life is short. Live this life as you have it. Why bother with genuine belief or genuine disbelief when there may be nothing at the end of the tunnel anyway.

3) To get somewhere in this life, you need an intelligent, thinking brain. Much of our thinking abilities are "use it or loose it" (according to science). So why not use our ("god-given") brain and practice critical argument (for/against one side or the other)?

P.S.
To bleedcoltsblue:
I think you raise some very interesting points. Some disbelievers would like to challenge the believers to explain them!

Answer 6

I am a non-believer. These are my main reasons why

1. God supposedly created racism and warfare by dividing the peoples and confusing their languages..... all this was to keep people from building a tower.

2. Why create a whole world and billions of people if you are just going to 'save' Christians and Jews?

3. Christianity and Judaism are NOT the oldest religions in existance.... so where was the christian god when these other religions were being taught and spread?

4. God is all knowing, yet he seemed to be shocked when Lucifer and the other third of the angels turned on him.

5. If God so loved the WORLD why are there a chosen 'people'?

Answer 7

lots of that's because of the fact of human background. For the longest time, there became no clarification for why the international is how that's, why organic forces behave the way they do, and why human beings are the way they're. Gods, and finally, faith, progressed as a thank you to describe this. the assumption in gods now's purely a carry over from those situations. faster or later, in my opinion, human beings will stop utilising "god" as a catchall clarification, and start up off accepting a naturalistic worldview.

Answer 8

Hard to narrow it down like this. Okay.

#1 - God wants you to be saved from a hell, he himself created, but refuses to do so unless you play his little game and do what he tells you to do (be his slave). This is utter BS, I wouldn't want to spend eternity with a God like this.

#2 - The bible is a total crap story with some good parts, but the majority is killing and raping and stealing. How can you support a book (supposedly written by God) that endorses those things?

#3 - He has the knowledge to foresee problems, yet screwed up and had to send his own son to forgive our sins. Sins I might add that would not exist if he chose to say "ehh, that's not a sin anymore." He also has the power to do everything yet lets innocent people suffer horrible deaths without doing anything to stop it.

Answer 9

I am an atheist. I don't have reasons for disbelieving. When someone provides me with evidence - the kind of evidence that convinces me my cat exists - that a god exists, I'll believe. Atheism isn't (for me) about denial - it's believing what is positively verifiable, with allowance for shifting my position if the evidence changes.

Answer 10

1: A creator god is logically impossible.

2: The world is exactly as you would expect it to be if there wasn't a god.

3: All the arguments and evidence I've ever heard of as justification for a belief in a god are invalid.