Do atheists want to believe but just haven't been convinced yet of God's existence?

Question

I've read a few stories of people that were atheists and set out to prove that God doesn't exist. That faith is just a psychological need. But after a few or many years, they found God and become completely convinced that God does exist and is our Creator. So I am wondering if most or some atheists are wanting to believe but just haven't found God yet?

Answer 1

I want to believe what is true not what is falsehood. I have made a reasoned evaluation based on decades of study and reasoning that theism is based on mythology and is false. I don't form my beliefs based on what I want. I form beliefs based on what is most likely to be true.

Answer 2

No, I haven't found God, and don't expect to. I was brought up by a very religious family, and attended church until I was about thirteen. The more I heard, and the more I learned, the more I was convinced of the impossibility of heaven and hell.
Now I am a believer in all things natural. The supernatural does not exist in my mind. I not only do not believe in religious superstition, I believe in NO superstition.
If a statement is not scientifically provable, or will never be provable as more and more evidence is found, it is not for me.
Think deeply about the trinity, pure double talk. Where is this heaven, and how do you know ? Who ever saw a "soul" ? If nobody ever saw one, what REAL evidence is there other than some superstitious person thousands of years ago says so ?
Religion can not stand up under hard questioning. I can't follow superstitious voo-doo.

Answer 3

I think it is possible that some people are truly ready to give up the earthly notions that we assign to God, and require no further investigation, or validation. I think that some feel they have been abandoned by God. I think that some may have experienced, or seen someone else experience a bad situation, and wonder how a loving God could allow such a thing to happen, and decide that there must not really be a God, or it wouldn't have happened. I think that some feel that there isn't a God, because they prayed for something, and maybe the answer was no, or maybe they weren't open enough to understand the answer, so maybe they thought the prayer was not heard. The ones in those situations ask for proof, because they have doubt, wherever the doubt originated. And they are entitled to that, if they seek God the way you think they should find it or not.

Answer 4

Most atheists wants to believe, but did not find it possible to believe as there are no proven fact.

Some atheists did not have any inclining towards any god or gods. These will be the ones that will believe only with hardcore evidence. These are also the ones which I had mentioned will question even proven theories and search for alternatives.

No atheists set out to prove there are no god, however, there are godless religion out there that prove to be more logical then religion with god.

Answer 5

I would imagine the stories you have read about are the only ones out there. I find that most atheists have lived significant parts of their lives in a religious family or community, trying to believe and understand, wanting to fit in, or completely believing, only to find that the more they study, the less it makes sense.

There are many atheists who very much wanted to believe, but simply could not. There may be some who wish they could accept such a simple, warm and fuzzy answer. However most simply do not see how it could make any sense, even after studying it. Those people are unlikely to want to believe, as are they unlikely to set out to prove God is false.

Answer 6

Okay, not all atheists are rebelling against anything. Many are anti-religious, but none are "Anti-God", as that implies that God exists and thus is antithetical to being "atheist" ie "without god(s)".

For many - me included - the notion of god-worship has just never been a part of life. So it is not that anything happened to turn me away, it is that nothing ever happened to turn me towards.

Equating belief with desire is rather a false comparison I would suggest. Say I like this guy but he treats with disdain bordering on contempt. I might _want_ to believe that his actions show he likes me, but if I am honest with myself there's no way any amount of desire can influence my belief.

Similarly equating belief with proof is pointless. There would, I venture to suggest, be some who would still refuse to believe in God even if there were proof s/he/it existed - you don't have to look far to find people refusing to believe solid evidence (well at least I didn't mention evolution oops yes I did). But seeing as it's pretty much impossible to prove one way or another, all we have to fall back on is faith.

Ultimately, you either believe or you don't, simple.

Answer 7

It is difficult to find a typical atheist. They vary as much as any other group one can name. In my case, Mom's father was a preacher, and I was sent to church regularly while I was home. I began to doubt the family religion when I waqs age 7 or 8, because the science in the Bible was obviously poor. One of Grampa's books gave Bishop Ussher's date of creation as 4004 BCE., while my dinosaur books said Earth is 4,700,000 years old and have much evidence to supoport it, while there is none for Ussher's account. Revelation says stars fell unto earth and the sky rolled up like a scroll. That displays a naive belief that the sky is a solid dome a few miles above us. Some ancient Greek thinkers knew better than that and thus more than the authoor of Revelation. As I grew older and learned more, I had ever more reason to see that i cannot believe the Bible. I do not think anyone shopuld want to believe anything. He shopuld look carefully at all of the evidence and formj his opinion based upon that. To believe means to be convinced something is true without any proof of it. I insist upon true knowledge, not blind belief. I see no real evidence that any gods exist, whether one means Yahweh god of Moses, Allah of Muslims, Brahma of Hindus, Ahuramazda of Zoroastrians or many others.

Answer 8

I was raised with god. Jesus was my savior. When I grew up I realized that the god that I was taught did not exist. I realized that Jesus taught much more about leading a good life rather than salvation. I put away my childish beliefs in god along with those that I once had in Santa and the Tooth Fairy.

I have no desire to believe that the universe needs some cosmic boogie man to keep it running and to keep people in line. I think the opposite is true. Christians would really like to think that they are good people without the need for a fear of god and hell.

Answer 9

No atheists don't want to believe. They are already convinced that He doesn't exist.

Even if they had proof of God's existence they would still hate Him. They don't like anyone telling them what they're doing is wrong. When they make the supposition that God exists, they say that He is unjust, and that He should let people believe in what they want and not be punished for it.

Atheists don't believe in God, and if they did, they'd hate Him.

Answer 10

i think people that many people honestly believe that there is not any kind of higher power. many people that dont believe are not denying that its possible that theres a god, they just wont believe it without proof. its just 2 sides of the same coin, some people believe without proof no matter what, their faith cant be shaken, others will never believe even if there was proof, their beliefs are just as strong as yours.

i dont know what the hell else there is. anyone's beliefs are fine with me, just dont force them on anyone, and dont deny any that anyone else's are just as valid as yours and mine. what bothers me is that people dont question their own beliefs, and those who do are usually the quiet ones. the majority of people that you hear talking about religion and spirituality are the people that are completely convinced that they have the answers and everyone else is wrong, but they're not willing to try and fathom that they MIGHT MAYBE POSSIBLEY COULD BE WRONG.

if you cant even honestly question your own beliefs, you're not sane enough to tell anyone you've got all the answers.

but, i'm sure atheists fall into all kinds of categories, just like religious people do. there are those that will never change, those that can honestly question their beliefs, and those who dont always believe what they say they do, but its whats easiest for them. just like some christians or jews or muslims, there will be those that take their faith to different levels of extremism, and others who dont care much about it in general.

Answer 11

What about all those atheists who have done research and (gasp!) confirmed their belief that god doesn't exist? Or christians that lose their faith in god?

I don't want to believe anything in particular, I just want to find out the truth. From all the evidence that I have, I have concluded atheism to be the truth.