For the purposes of this question only, I'd like to establish two groups: those who believe in one or more God(s), and those who don't believe in one or more God(s). Also, in the interests of clarity, I'm going to use singular forms ("God") throughout - I mean no disrespect by this.
Right, so, "Believers" - consider the two following possible responses to questions:
1) I don't believe in God
2) God doesn't exist
"Non-Believers", these are your possible responses:
3) I believe in God
4) God is real, s/he exists
So everybody, do you react differently to the different statements? Would you rather hear one or the other come from the "other side"? Is either more confronting, more common, more offensive, amusing, likely to make you listen to/respect the speaker, or anything else?
Just interested, no ulterior motive, although I do have some hypothoses...
Thanks, hope this isn't too awkwardly expressed (harder than it looks!)
2007-04-12 21:04:36 · 20 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Thanks people, I hoped it might be interesting to others too!
2007-04-12 22:02:10 · update #1
As a believer, I'd come closer to respecting someone using the "I don't believe in God" statement. It's just a statement of the speaker's belief (or lack of it) rather than the "God doesn't exist" statement, which goes a step beyond. Yes, the speaker may also believe that God doesn't exist, but the former phrase is less confrontational. In the same way, many non-believers would probably prefer me to say "I believe in God" rather than making statements suggesting an absolute provable knowledge of God.
2007-04-12 21:09:54 · answer #1 · answered by solarius 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It bothers me when people say they "know" no matter what side they take. Truth is we have a lot of hearsay on the subject, but no respectable amount of HARD evidence.
I work in a strip mall and recently there's been eight different Mormon missionaries that sorta camp out and patrol our parking lot looking for people to convert. I've been stopped at least once by each individual missionary and every time they say they "know" God is there. I ask them to explain the difference between "believe" and "know" and they start quoting scripture. They can only give me hearsay.
I personally believe that there is NO anthropomorphic diety. I believe that if there IS any sort of "God", it's just some force of nature or other that we have wrongly identified as some benign father figure.
2007-04-13 04:33:36 · answer #2 · answered by Luce's Darkness 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It really doens't make any difference because both camps are firmly intrenched in their thinking and are equally unwilling to consider the alternatives.
This is why questions of religion degenerate into shouting matches so easily.
I have alway taken the stance that I don't "believe" in any thing. In other words, I either KNOW, or DON'T KNOW.
I need hard evidence to understand something and then say I KNOW about it. Religion is not based on hard evidence. It's based on faith, an entirely different thing.
Faith is a belief or trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof. I am unable to accept things blindly or because it was drummed into me since early childhood.
Proof of god's existance is not the awe we all feel looking at something beautiful or cosmic. That happened after eons of evolution which includes our evolving minds to appreciate that beauty. If someone does not see the beauty of mathematics, physics, or music, does that mean that person is unable to believe in god?
2007-04-13 04:19:33 · answer #3 · answered by ThisIsIt! 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Right, so, "Believers" - consider the two following possible responses to questions:
1) I don't believe in God - Doesn't bother me in the least because the person is stating a belief. We all have a right to out beliefs.
2) God doesn't exist - Really doesn't bother me either because this statement merely tells me that the person has a different seance of reality than I have. We all have the right to define our reality.
2007-04-13 04:14:18 · answer #4 · answered by Nora Explora 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Non-believer.
3 is a statement of fact that I can accept (the person really does believe that a god exists) whereas 4 is a statement of fact that I cannot accept. I'm much more likely to challenge 4 than 3, because I'm confident that this kind of statement is entirely unjustified. The consequence is that someone who says 4 is usually more interesting to talk to than someone who says 3, since we can have a discussion about it.
2007-04-13 04:27:06 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
To me, the statement "I do not believe in God" and "God doesn't exist" are morally equivalent. In order for a person to be able to say the second statement, they must have already made the first statement, at least to themselves.
I do not take offense at either statement. It is simply a statement of what they believe to be the truth. I do not agree with their version of the truth and I hope that one day they may know the truth that I know, but I am not going to look down on them or think negatively of them. That person is just at a different place in their faith journey than I am. For myself, I am in a better place that I would be if I was in their place, but I am not going to say they are in a worse place than I am. They are where they are in their life.
2007-04-13 10:22:35 · answer #6 · answered by Sldgman 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I am a believer. I would rather hear I don't believe in God, than God doesn't exist. The reason...people have been known to say, I don't believe, but then have a change of heart. It is like by them saying I don't believe in God, well they want to believe in something???? The people I know that say, God doesn't exist, I seem to get more offensive.
2007-04-13 04:17:23 · answer #7 · answered by GraycieLee 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
On the first group of statements, it's basically the same thing. If a person says "God doesn't exist" what they're basically saying is "I don't believe a God exists" because it's impossible for them to say with absolute certainty that they know no Gods exist. If someone has no interest or belief in a God or Gods it really doesn't bother me at all.
When speaking of my religion, I nearly always say "I believe in" or "I don't believe in" such and such.
2007-04-13 04:38:33 · answer #8 · answered by Enslavementalitheist 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Ah Ha ! Point out my spelling failings will you !
http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/search?p=hypothoses&searchmode=normal
and what about us fence sitters ? It is easier for me to hear someone say "I don't believe in God" because that is a fact that can be proved, has been proved by them saying it(presuming they are being truthul.let's ignore that for a second). To say God doesn't exist, to me, cannot be proven.
Same goes for I believe in God - proveable; God is real - not proveable.
Is that you in your avatar ?
2007-04-14 14:07:09 · answer #9 · answered by =42 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'd rather say I believe in God than God does exist.
2007-04-13 04:10:51 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋