If you're an athiest, can you share with me your reasons for doubting the existence of God?

Question

I am not trying to start a debate. I am just curious.

Answer 1

I see no reason to doubt or deny the existence of something I don't believe in.

Answer 2

unlike some others, i will take this as a chance to shed some light.
1. You can't get one paragraph into the Bible without wondering what the person was on when they wrote it. Creationism is cute, but not true. And if any part of the Bible can be proven to not be His literal word, then why should we treat any of it as if it is? Even if some of the morality parables were "divinely inspired" (which can mean God or the human spirit or whatever else you want), you can't be sure. So the only smart thing to do is try things, and if they work keep doing them. This doesn't prove God, it just proves that some old people had parts of life figured out.
2. Positive effects should be the only selling point needed. But way too many people rely on other tactics, fear being the big one, pseudo-science the other. If the Bible/Koran is the best guide ever, how do so many people get it so wrong. If i wrote a book about how to live and knew people would follow it, the first thing on my checklist would be to make it as simple as possible to minimize any errors in interpretation. God din't do this. Am i smarter than God? i hope not.
3. The idea of miracles. I think it is cool when claims of supernatural events are made. They make fiction writing and maybe even life in general more interesting. But it seems they are always very vague, like Mary's face on a piece of grilled cheese (i've also seen a potato chip shaped like Jay Leno- act of God?) Or cancer going ino remission. Our medicine is great, but not perfect. Some things we just don't know yet. Now if people were floating up to avoid speeding cars, or amputated limbs magically reappeared, then that is a case for God, specifically the one that people prayed to for it. But "answered prayers" are always things that could have happened anyway.

my logic is air-tight, tell me if it isn't. this got way too long, but as you can see i like thinking about this stuff.

Answer 3

Can you share with me your reasons for believing in the existence of God?
I agree with many of the above statements. It's something I do not believe in, the same way I don't believe in Judaism or Paganism or any other religion. I don't believe it's real. There's no evidence to make believe, and there's really no further explanation to offer.

Answer 4

i dont need a reason to live. i accept that i will die and that will be the end of it. in a few hundred years, most likely less, no one will remember i even existed. it will be like i had never lived at all. i am ok with this. those who have believed in gods through out mankind use them to resolve this conflict. i dont feel it is necessary to answer the unanswerable questions. IE. what happens after you die. i expect nothing, less than nothing, oblivion. but i cant prove it and neither can anyone else. thats fine by me, i will live to make myself happy and die knowning ive done the best i could by my own standards, not those of a "higher being" i have never met before.

Answer 5

Man has been creating gods for hundreds of thousands of years. The christian god is nothing new, in fact it is a copy of several earlier others. There is no practical reason, no viable cause to believe that the biblical god is anything more than fairie tales.

Answer 6

can you share with me the reasons for doubting the existence of over 2800 gods, but accepting without question the one you were taught about from early childhood?


Nobody can prove any gods, much less a specific god, exist; many people will tell you their god exists but no others, but will never be able to prove it, even if they think so. Some will threaten you with eternal pain or promise eternal joy to get you to believe in their god; these are all stories, created for people who were scared long before we understood the universe. Now we have no more reason for these superstitions.

How terrible the bible in particular is:
http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/
http://www.evilbible.com/

What's the origin of the Jesus stories?
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa5.htm
http://www.near-death.com/experiences/origen048.html

How silly and horrible religion in general is:
http://godisimaginary.com/
http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/

The alternative:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/
http://www.infidels.org/
http://www.positiveatheism.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarian_Universalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_humanism

Answer 7

When I was younger, I constantly heard about the emotional appeal of God from theists - how people said they just felt he was there, believed that there just had to be a divine being who had created all things, took everything that was in their respective holy books to be true, and felt that they needed him.

I've never "felt" the presence of God, nor do I particularly feel that I need to believe in him, as some kind of rock for my emotional stability. And as I grew older, I became utterly disgusted by the moral ambiguity of theists who claim to be carrying out God's plan and of those who act as if their religion places them on some kind of moral platform. Also, I have always been surrounded by people of differing ethnicities, religions, and philosophies, and I still can't understand how we can allow religion to be such a definitive part of ourselves, when really I feel that I can have a similar set of morals to my Jewish friend as well as to my agnostic friend.

Answer 8

This is probably already said, but it's not my role to show god doesn't exist or to have any reason to doubt god. It is the believers who should show evidence of his existence. Faith does not cut it.

Answer 9

There is no evidence FOR the existence of god. Perhaps you are a Christian. If so, they why don't you believe in Allah? Or if you are a Muslum then why don't you believe in Krishna?

You only believe in what seems right to you based on your best interpretation of the evidence at hand.

Same with us atheists.

Answer 10

I don't believe god exists because it is simply irrational to me. The entire notion, all of it. Not one bit rings true, and not just that which can be found in a dogmatic religion. The mere notion of any god or creator seems preposterous to me.