Why do you believe/ not believe?

Question

What are some good reasons to believe in anything supernatural or spiritual?
What makes you believe?
I would like to hear some realistic answers please. I don't care to hear the I can't see air argument
Also what makes you believe in the soul?
This is also open for non-believers if you like, tell me why you don't believe and at what point in your life you made this decision

Since I am asking, I will tell you. I have been an Atheist, for as long as I can remember. The reasons for not believing are many and just make more sense to me. I have experience some strange things but I believe all of them can be explained rationally

Answer 1

Non belief is our default setting and remains that way until something happens to change that setting. If you have an education based on factual knowledge and a contented life, you live and die an atheist. If your mind, especially when it is young and most vulnerable, is brain washed with religious doctrine; the default setting can be overridden. A traumatic event can also trigger, as part of your survival mechanism, a coping device in the form of desperate, sometimes temporary, belief in something supernatural. The concept of a soul is just a throwback to the days when man could not rationalize how a physical body could be inherently sentient.

Answer 2

I became atheist a few years ago. I was raised as a christian but I started reading the bible when I was a teenager and could not get any answers to certain questions. On top of that, people acted like I was a teenager with a bad attitude since I was questioning the bible. I thought something was wrong with me and did not open it back up for several years.

I started reading the bible as an adult and found that I simply could not go for it. The OT really turned me off, as did the christians who told me that those laws changed after Jesus came. However I don't have faith in a god who says that a woman should be stoned to death if she is not a virgin on her wedding night. If god is so powerful and loving he would have put a stop to the horrible treatment of women. He certainly would not have condoned those societies or given power to the man who wrote those laws (Moses).

I could go on and on about the stupid things I was taught as a child but there is really no need for it. Put it this way, the reasons for not believing the bible make much MUCH more sense to me. I am sure my fellow atheists agree.

Answer 3

I don't believe in the Bible because there are too many contradictions and too many absurd things (virgin births, people living to be 800 years old, talking animals, giants, the list goes on and on) that the book just totally defies logic. And I don't believe in the Christian God just because there's no evidence. There's also the fact that prayer doesn't work, but my rejection of God is mostly due to the fact that there's no evidence.

In my opinion, if God really existed, he wouldn't even ALLOW the establishment of other religions. There are Hindus and Buddhists and members of other religions out there who are living in far-off countries and are never going to hear about Christ in their lifetimes. Why doesn't God do something about that? Why doesn't God reach down and show them to the truth somehow? The argument is always "well, if they didn't know about Christ then they go to Heaven anyway!" -- but why would God let them venture down that "wrong" path in the first place? If Christianity is totally correct, why do we even HAVE Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and all the other thousands of religions? So God is giving us an opportunity to make an honest decision and convert to Islam, and then not do anything about it and damn us to Hell? It's just so preposterous.

Granted, I don't reject every single supernatural and spiritual topic. I think there is truth in some of them. I'm not the kind of person who will sit here and tell you that human beings have uncovered every single aspect of life and the universe yet. I believe it's possible that there are mysterious things out there. But all this stuff about Noah's Ark and virgin births, and there being only one incredibly narrow path to salvation (and EVERY other path leads to Hell) ... no, that's ridiculous.

Answer 4

I'm agnostic and have been for sometime. I was not raised to go to church or be religious, but we did celebrate christmas and easter. When I was in my early twenties, I hit some hard times and was seeking solace, so I started going to this church that my mother was going to (she became a hard-core bible beater about ten years ago). After I went to her church a few times, I realized how ridiculous it all was and decided that it wasn't for me. The big change happened when I started paying attention to how my mother started treating people and judging them and when I went to college and studied world religions. I don't know for sure if there is a god or multiple gods, but I can distinguish what is man-made (i.e. organized religions). I think we probably have a soul just because it's depressing to think this is all there is. I think reincarnation is a possibility because I have done a lot of research on past lives because I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I don't really believe in anything, but I have my ideas.

Answer 5

I was 53 when I finaly came to the point that no one but God could help me... I know for a fact that God did... I can not "prove it" to you and I will not even try. I know with absolute certainty that God is real... I do not claim to know every thing about Him and I for sure do not Know all of His Word and Will for me or for mankind... I do know for a fact that only those who are of The Church of which Jesus The Christ is The Head will enter Heaven... all others will be eternaly seperated from God.
I was a mocker of any thing to do with "religion" when I got up on the morning of my Salvation. 4hrs later I was the newest member of The Church.... no man, priest, pastor, evangelist, man invented doctrin or dogma involved, Just God and me. I did not even own a Bible.

When / if you come to the realization that you need God and call out to Him and He answers.... you will have the proof you need... you will, at that time still have the option of refusing God... but I do not think you will... When you know, and you will know, who it is that is there for you, you will accept as I did and there will be no turning back from God... You will Know The Truth... and when one knows The Truth .... nothing else can equal

I accept email questions concerning the basics of The True Christian Faith. one honest question receives one honest answer to the best of my ability....

Answer 6

I don't beleive in God. It's part Nature, part Nurture.

My Mom was Methodist, my father was Jewish. When they married, neither one of them had strong religious beliefs, so I never consistently attended Church or Synagogue. Nobody in life was ever able to convince me that a supernatural being exists. As a logical thinker, I could never rationalize how a God could exist without any kind of evidence.

I'm not saying that believing in a religion is silly, because I respect those who are religious (as long as they aren't pushing it on me). But, for me, I need tangible evidence before I can believe.

Answer 7

This is my experience becoming a 'believer'.
As a child I was raised in a 'christian' home. But I found no answers to questions I had about spiritual or supernatural matters. So I went my own way. I believed I was good enough if there were a God.
One day I went over a friends home and their dad was watching some preacher teaching from the Bible. After the tv program was over, that dad began to talk to me about what I believed.
As we talked over things like God, heaven, sin and hell, He opened the Bible to show me what it had to say.
One by one, I found that what I believed was not much. And no matter how good I thought I was. I knew I was a sinner.
That man showed me in the Bible how God cannot accept 'good enough' and that we all should be punished. But he also showed me that God provided a free gift. That gift of salvation, not by our works, but by the work that Jesus did by taking our sins on Himself and taking our punishment on the cross. He died for us.
It was up to me to believe it or not. I confessed to God I was a sinner and deserved hell. I told God I believed that Jesus died for me. And at that moment, something happened to me. I knew I was saved and my sins forgiven. I didn't know what happened, but I knew I was saved.
I ran from the room crying. What joy to know that God had heard me and forgiven me. I knew something spiritual and, yes, supernatural happened as God changed my heart.
That's been some years ago, but that life changing experience has totally changed me...forever.
Religion? It will confuse and people will be people. By I know my God lives and he saves those who seek him with a pure heart.
Yes, I believe. Yes, you can know God too.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

Answer 8

no one has ever seen the wind but everyone has felt the effects of the wind so therefore the wind exists. GOD is like the wind. all one has to do is look at the glories and wonders in the Heavens and Earth to see GOD'S Handiwork, yet GOD, HIMSELF is invisible to the 5 senses of human nature while on this plane of existence. this description will not ever convince a non - believer but for me it is sufficient

Answer 9

Because the concept of "god" hasn't been proven. The burden of proof rests with those who make the positive assertion. Christians say "god exists" and therefore it is their responsbility to provide proof to the non-believers. Since skepticism is the default philosophical stance, non-believers are standing on solid philosophical ground. They are justified in their non-belief since positive claims needn't be trusted or subject to refute or rebuttal until the burden of proof is met.

Answer 10

I believe because I can feel it in my heart. It is a feeling not something you can see. Gravity you can not see but it is there. Faith keeps me going. When you feel something tugging at your heart and you feel empty, that is God knocking. He wants to be in your heart and soul and give you joy. Yes, there will be hard times just like everyone else has but if you have God, those hard times are easier to get through.