Why those who say they don't believe in anything without a proof, tend to believe that God does not exist?

Question

For example, they will tend to believe that the notion of God is only there because people need an explanation, and for no other reason. Or they will say that it is only the creation of religions that were used to maintain populations under control. The point here is that they tend to explain the fact that many people believe in God by an opposite belief that rejects God. They have a hard time to remain neutral. One simple explanation for all these religions and the knowledge that they teach is simply that God exists and has manifested Himself on earth. The other explanations are not easier to believe. Why would they be better?

After I received 26 answers, I noticed that many answerers explained why they don't believe in God, but they didn't provide an answer to my question. There is an important difference between not believing in God and believing that God does not exist. My question is why those who don't believe in God have also the tendency to believe that He does not exist. (I did not mean that all them do so -- there is just a tendency to do so amongst them. )

Moreover, these answers proven me right in my assumption. Many amongst the answerers who didn't seem to believe in God had also to take an opposite position that rejects God. They had to provide an explanation (for religions, etc.) that rejects God. Why?

One example is that one answerer associated God with Santa Clause. Every reasonable adult knows that Santa Clause is just a creation for children. The same is not true for God. This answerer did not only expressed that he or she did not believe in God. He or she also expressed a belief that God does not exist, and the Santa Clause argument was very very weak. Moreover, note that this answerer received 8 positive ratings.

Answer 1

"why those who don't believe in God have also the tendency to believe that He does not exist"

You are correct in asserting that lack of belief in something is different to actively believing something does not exist. But if you were to lack belief in something, your behavior, mannerisms and world outlook would probably be the same as if you actively did not believe. The tendency to thus actively believe the opposite may have a lot to do with the effect of those attempting to resolve cognitive dissonance, which leads to actively "believing" the negative assertion. Without a definition of "God" this belief would be irrational.

Your definition of "God" is important here when determining whether or not someone believes that "God" does not exist. To believe that "God" does not exist, and to be rationally justified in that belief, depends on "God" to be defined. If you define "God" as a being who has four arms and also has five arms, one could rationally and justifiably say they do not believe in "God" because it is impossible to have both four and five arms at the same time.

If you are defining "God" as the judeo-Christian-Abrahamic god, then you may have now given an adequate definition of "God" (via scripture). Thus one who actively does not believe in "God" may be able to justify this belief by showing that "God" has contradictory properties, of contradicts evidence in some other way.

Answer 2

Have you seen god? Has he graced you with his presence? If not, why do you believe in him? You take it on the word of some book written by a group of people hundreds or thousands of years ago. How do you know they didn't make it up?

Every culture has produced gods for their own needs. The Greeks created gods to explain the sun and its movement across the sky, a god that explained the rumblings of volcanos and whatnot. The Japanese created gods that explained how their country was created. The Hindus have thousands of gods of their own. How is your god any different? Why have we vanquished those gods but not yours? Oh yeah, a simple book that says he's real.. so it must be true.

Your god (whichever one that may be) is yet another creation by man to explain the universe and the religion that expounds on his power is there to control the believers.

Edit:
PS: to the guy below me who claims that there cannot be atheists. If your argument were true (that we cannot know whether or not god exists) then by that argument, you'd be an agnostic, too, because how can you say for certain that god does exist? And also, what is thsi proof that you say abounds? Us? Trees? The world? Universe? There are other, more believable reasons for these that are much more reasonable than being created from dirt.

Answer 3

Well, you have to try to explain why people believe in something for which no evidence exists somehow. How else would you propose we explain it?

You're confusing issues here. You think the choices are: god exists, it was made up to control people, people need an explanation (or any number of other options). That is incorrect. The choices are god exists or god doesn't exist. Then you can come up with some possible explanations for, say, believing a god exists when one does not, or vice versa.

Answer 4

I guess it all depends on where you are looking and what your feelings are when you look. Is your mind open to various possibilities or not? From a Christian stand point I can say that: I see the hand of God in nature and in all of life itself. How can a person believe that this whole world came into existence just by chance, for no reason, no actually known starting point, with no plan or "blue print" to follow and by no intelligent power putting things into motion. To believe that things took billions and billions of years, that things went from live? matter and turned into solids (rocks) then into germs, fish, birds, animals, and eventually humans is beyond belief Take a GIANT vacuum cleaner through an aircraft junk yard and when the vacuum cleaner is emptied--out comes a fully assembled functional 747. That sort of thing makes as much sense as evolution. Plus, where is the "In between" being?. Like part fish and part bird, part deer and part horse, and if we evolved from apes, where is the part ape and part man? Ain't none. Creation by God makes more sense. I can read the most read and best selling book ever written--the Bible, and learn about God. I could read thousands of articles, books, listen to thousands of preachers and learn about God. In my heart I know there has to be something more than just this life. Something better is yet to come. I can learn about a person that was God incarnate, walked this earth and went through the trials, temptations, tribulations, good and bad things in life just as we do, but didn't sin. I can find how this person gave up his life so we can be saved. That takes a lot of love, power, righteousness, and concern for us to do such a thing. I can read in the Bible how all the foretold events (prophesies) were true and have come about I can learn about creation, faithful people, how & why we are saved..

Answer 5

The reason I am confident there is either no "god", or if there is we don't much matter to "Him" is simple logic; North America alone has 1,500 very conflicting versions of the same religion, and the world has tens of thousands of religions! The ONLY thing they have in common is that they are ALL (except for Hinduism, which respects the beliefs of all others) utterly convinced they are they are the "one true way".

I have a really hard time believing that a Deity capable of creating the world would be that untidy!

I am agnostic, but I see "evidence" that "God" does not exist (or perhaps does not care) every time I see a child die. And many children die. Many of them have devout parents and they die horrible, painful deaths.

Answer 6

Truth is always better than fantasy to an adult. That's the entire problem Christians are always talking about how God manifest himself on Earth. When the truth is God has never manifest himself anywhere. A fantasy can not manifest it's self. It's people like you who feel they can just make up legends about their fantasy and it will be true. You people wrap yourself so tightly in your cocoon of ignorance you can't let simple logic seep in. Don't add to your ignorance by presuming you have any knowledge about why I tend to believe as I do. It is you with the silly belief system not I.
Kisses BB

Answer 7

Maybey these people have not had experiences that could not be explained away as simple coincidense or other similar "rationalizations". True experience of the paranormal(of God?) does not run smoothly through some peoples perceptual filter set, so they disregard it, and then go furthur and deny it. They are just overly uncomfortable with the unknown.

Edit
Ok that is being too simplistic. So i just have to qualify here, I do NOT percieve "God" as as huge glowing man with white hair with his back turned made from light , floating out in space etc. I percieve god, and claim to "belive in god" more as the combined influence of all the awareness and consciousness in the universe. A combined influence which i percieve to be great.

Answer 8

LOL.

We cant be neutral, but then you go and say that one simple explanation is that God exists. Yup, thats being VERY NEUTRAL, isnt it? Get real....

The problem with your "simple explanation" is that it ASSUMES that God is real. The other problem seems to be that for every miracle or excuse a beleiver has for believing, science has a rational scientific explanation to explain it - without God being necessary. So, if science has an explanation without the need for a God, why inculde God into the mix?

You are right on one point - scientific explanations are not easy to understand. But, thats a terrible reason to say "God did it!" It amounts of intellectual dishonesty - its easier to blame is on God than to learn and understand it for yourself...

Answer 9

The word "belief" means to accept an assertion as truth without substantiating evidence. People who value truth and honesty never deliberately allow that kind of simple-minded crap to corrupt their mental processes. That a billion people believe one thing or another has absolutely no bearing on its validity. Simply having a brain does not guarantee one knows how to use it properly.

Answer 10

"The other explanations are not easier to believe. Why would they be better?"

You need to sit down calmly and quietly, and think very hard about that.

By the way, it's not a matter of a lack of PROOF of a deity; it's the complete absence of any EVIDENCE. Don't you find it odd that an entity supposedly respo0nsible for *everything* has left not the tiniest trace behind. Apart, that is, from the stuff in His adherents' heads.

CD