Disbelief in God; why is there so much of it?

Question

I'm not judging anyone here; I just want to know what the opinions of others are, concerning so much disbelief. Why do so many not believe in God? Does everyone who claims disbelief actually feel there is no God? Or....are they looking for a reason to believe? Does this disbelief sometimes occur because of the conditions in the world?

sorry JEZZA if I appear to be judging. I'm actually trying to ask these questions without condemning those who feel differently than I do. I don't know how else to ask.
It is not a secret for me to say that I do believe, ( read my Q & A on yahoo)
Being a believer gives me strength, but...I ask this question because I want to know the reasons, in spite of so much around us, that points to all of it being a creation by a higher being, just why some would not see it as such. I was looking for real answers, something concrete, an explanation of why one feels as they do. As I said, I don't want to judge.

"treslittlrbirds"...You are right, in mentioning some of the worlds problems that MAY contribute to some people not believing in God. IF these terrible things make people question God, I see why they could. From my understanding, knowing God's plan, altho these things occur, they do, for a reason that we, as humans can't really understand. Our world is full of sins, and perhaps we sometimes contribute to some of these conditions...( ?) I do know that all this will be wiped out, and there will be happiness, joy, good health, and all the beauty that God created, waiting for us, in the new world! It takes faith to believe that, and I'm positive that everyone cannot see that! I think having no faith in what God promised us, in our future is sad.
However, when some people observe what's going on, as you mention, I'm sure it contributes to their disbelief. Many people have had unbelievable disasters happen to them; yet, they choose to still believe in God, and eternity with Him.

Answer 1

I think there are many who are truly looking for a reason to believe. They may sound condescending when they ask for proof, but they do keep asking for it. So ironic, when the proof is all around them.
I can seriously understand why "conditions in the world" might present a problem. Again, I find it ironic that people point to all the suffering in the world and then turn their backs on the One Who stands ready to put an end to that suffering...how many times He would have taken the world under His wings, like a mother hen with her chicks...but we would not have Him...
Why do so many people who claim to disbelieve come to forums like this one? Just to scoff? Maybe. But I think a great many of them are actually attracted by the LIGHT. Perhaps some folks are in open rebellion, and have come because, like that famous lady...Ms. Erry, I believe she is called...they love company. Maybe we can help some of them, maybe not. But as long as they need us, we need to be there for them...both in the "virutal" world, and in the "real" world.
God bless!!

Answer 2

I don't think there are many who don't believe in God, however there are many who don't believe in the bible or in any of the organized religions.

I'm agnostic and have been ever since I was old enough to actually look and research the origins of the bible and the church. I do not deny the existence of God but I don't see ANY reason to believe that the bible was created, written, or co-written by God or the hand of God. Man (and a greed lot of them) had their hands all through it however.

I think you are finding the break down of religion due to the fact that people are no longer willing to blindly follow others and now have the resources to find out and research how the churches were put together and why.

There are those who still just believe because they are told to, those who never stopped to think how the bible came into being, those who take a priest or ministers word without questioning where they received their information. However this number is shrinking daily.

Answer 3

you are judging though.

I could ask the same kind of question: Why do so many people believe in god? Is it that they think God really does exist? Is it because they have no reason NOT to believe? Or is it from their upbringing/environment?

We all have the free choice right. That's your answer. People chose to believe or not, it's their choice. For each person there is a different answer.

Don't look for any external answers about the state of the world or if they are waiting for a reason etc. Your question makes me think you are a believer and cant see why other people don't think like you. So how can you not be judgemental?


EDIT: I appreciate that you dont want to appear judgemental, and it's a tricky question to ask i know. but with things like belief there really can be no answer i reckon, it's just belief, you have belief in something, others have belief in something else. Even those who beleive in the same thing only share a simple level of beleif I feel. humans are too complex to be pinned down to specifics.

I get where you are coming from on the other level, it seems to me you are trying to find an answer why people chose they way they chose. And that is an answer it would take a lifetime for each to properly explain i think.

.>> Good question though, you got me thinking.


EDIT 2: This question has inspired me to ask my own, please check it out at:

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070615000149AA7MRRF&pa=FYd1D2bwHTHwLLtuHeoyQBQ4fD8X0E7yaM_tlzyoPw3BDw--&paid=asked&msgr_status=

.

Answer 4

I think that you're asking the wrong question. I think you should ask, "Why there is so much belief in a god or gods?"

The evidence for the existence of any super-being or deity is limited to self-referential texts. that is to say, the only proof that the god of the bible is the one true god is the text of the bible. The same goes for allah and the koran. It's scarcely a convincing set of arguments, is it?

The overwhelming evidence is that the bible, and every other religious text, is demonstrably wrong in many places, contains inherent contradictions that make saying it is the absolute truth a mockery, is clearly a work of fiction and often command unethical and immoral behaviours of its faith's adherents, in the face of humanist thought.

This disbeliever is not looking for any excuse or reason to believe. My disbelief is based on empirical, observable and repeatable data (or the lack thereof if approaching from the other direction). My amazement that people continue to maintain a delusional belief in the bible comes from my study of the bible, comparative religion and the philosophy of religion.

My inherent distrust of christians is based on personal experience of the hypocrisy, cruelty and immorality of christians (many of whom have turned around and claimed that it's because god didn't create humans to be perfect), but it has nothing to do with belief, or disbelief, in a god or gods.

When it all comes down to it, the onus is on those who do believe to produce the scientific, provable evidence that a deity exists, and quoting the bible, as I noted above, cannot possibly even remotely begin to qualify as any sort of evidence whatsoever.

Answer 5

because whether the majority are in favour or not it makes logical and rational sense ... do you not think that people should have reason other then merely fear or confusion to believe in something that plays such a majour role in many peoples lives ...

An atheist is a man who has no invisible means of support ... this statement represents the logic behind disbelief ... that is, people merely believe in god as a form of self protection ...

do you remeber when you were a child and you had been raised to believe in "something" so much so that when you were told it wasn't true you just didn't believe it ...??? ...

and in response to Machaira, freedom of speech, thought and mind are not "sins" ... according to your set of religious beliefs they are gofts from god and therefore are put in place to give the opportunity to explore god fully, and I would advise that you spend less time judging others and more time judging yourself,

I think everyone should believe what is right for them ... but i believe it is the highest form of ignorance to try and force your own beliefs on others as i see many people doing ... if people keep there religious beliefs to themselves then i shall do like wise ...

i hope you find the answer your looking for...

Answer 6

Judge not and you are suddenly equal with all. No one better, no one worse, no matter what their uptake on reality is. Isn't it okay to simply agree to disagree? To be unattached to rightness? What would happen to us if we all just believed in the Power of Love and its ability to extend itself? Try suspending ALL judgments of anyone, yourself included, for one day and see what happens to your thinking. This task once completed, along with complete freedom from fear, can have amazing results. Bliss, compassion for all, enjoyment of life to the fullest, free of guilt and shame. Hate and mistrust dissolve. Like sunlight, there is enough goodness to go around. All are deserving of love and acceptance.
Another thought to ponder; the book about God I was raised on says the Creator is all loving, all forgiving, offers only Mercy to his children nothing less, like a perfect parent would be. How then do you suppose so many of us got the notion of hell and punishment if he is all forgiving? Does our Creator only forgive some of us? Perhaps a time out chair for some of his children but a hot seat? Never! Otherwise the word forgiveness has no meaning.
I get the sense we all have the choice to live with courage, which produces Love and immeasurable joy, or fear which produces hate and mistrust.
Peace

Answer 7

Because belief in God requires you to take responsibility for your actions and behaviour. If you say there's no God, or that "everything is written" beforehand, then you can do as you like because you're not responsible to anyone for anything. There's no ultimate authority, everything is relative, etc. Those who say "I don't believe this or that" are often saying "I don't like this or that, so I reject it." Or they reject whatever would force them to change their way of living or impinge on their comfort zone.

When I've actually talked to the loudest "atheists" I know (even though I remain calm and non-confrontational), they soon start expressing a lot of anger and resentment against God, or against other people who have hurt them while pretending to be religious. Right away you get, "Well if God exists, why did He allow this or that to happen?" Or, "Well I knew a priest/pastor/other person who claimed to be a Christian and they were such a hypocrite! They did this or that..." Anger, resentment and pain. In that sort of conversation there's nothing you can say that they will accept, because they really just don't want to know.

Answer 8

The Greatest thing that the Devil did was convince the world God (Allah) doesnt exist to prove his position that men are inferior to his created being. Humans are naturally inclined to believe in a higher creator and so the devil is trying to prove that humans wont believe because we are second class creation in his opinion, thus why he didnt bow down to Adam Alahisalam when he was commanded by Allah to do this. It will be his goal until judgment day.

Answer 9

We all agree on that for example pigs, or sheep, can't fly. Why do we agree on that? Have we ever seen any proof of this? Have someone ever made any scientific experiments on the flying abilities of these animals? No, because we don't need to. No one has made the claim that these animals actually can fly. Put in another way: We assume with certainty; we KNOW intuitively that pigs and sheep can't fly. We don't need any hard evidence for it. We just know. It's the same for me with God, I know that God does not exist. All my senses, all my knowledge of the world and of history, my logic and common sense, everything tells me that the very idea of a God (or gods) is nonsense.

Answer 10

Interesting question...

In my opinion - the disbelief mostly comes from the fact that GOD is invisible and everything you know or have heard is in stories. And from birth we are told so many stories that it does get difficult for people to believe in them.

Also, sometime circumstances make you feel there is no God, but I strongly feel that in actuality everyone of us deep down inside does believe in GOD and would have experienced something which led to that belief.

And when some people say that they don't believe in GOD, usually they are referring to not following a particular religion and not GOD per say...