Atheist vs. religions, lets hear your viewpoint!?

Question

I'm a devout atheist. I acknowledge this; I absolutely refuse to believe in God or any other holy entity. (I used to believe, but certain things in life made me lose faith... well, thats another story)
I strongly disagree with trying to insult people who have different opinions (everybody is entitled to their own beliefs). However, I love discussing it, and sharing viewpoints. I friendly debate, if you will ^^
So, my question is:
To. atheists: why do you reject god? (please don;t give a simplistic reply such as "because there is no god!")
To. religious people: how do you justify your beliefs from the arguments of atheists? or what makes you believe in God?

Please, lets refrain from completely disregarding others' opinions. If we MUST argue, why not do it in a friendly debate?

sorry for lumping God into one big pile. I should have clarified. By God, I was referring to the ideals of whatever religion one may have chosen.

I'm sure nobody meant to insinuate God is on the same level as the tooth fairy. It was presumably an extreme example that backfired.

Oh, and btw, my views as an atheist...
True, faith has warmed the hearts of many and inspired countless people to do good deeds. It gives warmth and comfort, but where in this equation does a God come in? Or any supernatural entity. Can't a person simply live a healthy, good, fruitful life without following a religion? This is more of a lifestyle than a matter of religion.
Furthermore, "miracles" may have happened to you. Prayers have been answered. But what would you tell those people who genuinlely wished for with all their hearts, only to have their hopes crushed?

Answer 1

The complete lack of tangible evidence? The many gods invented through the ages? The very fact that omnipotent omnipresent beings should be very obvious to everyone? The many contradictory stories? The sheer volume of human suffering though the ages? All the gods that have already passed into mythology? The fact that ignorant people tend to assign supernatural causes to that which they can't explain?

Answer 2

My state of mind may be a bit rare (may not be :D).

I'm a deistic agnostic. In the process of garnering a science degree I learned that there are many things that have historically been unexplained but that could be explained with an appropriate application of scientific principles and inference. There are still a lot of things that cannot be explained by science but from my mentioned training it is now my belief that it is extremely unlikely that a natural explanation cannot exist for something. Therefore I choose to accept my ignorance amid the notion that with sufficient time and effort mankind can find a natural explanation for everything in our experience.

Having said that, there are a few things that transcend any type of scientific investigation. (BTW, by "science" I don't only mean the hard sciences.) Chief among these is the very existence of the natural laws and the universe themselves. There are a number of "explanations" for this in the scientific community including:

1. A version of the multiverse theory (that holds that many universes exist but that ours has a particular combination of physical events that allow for the existence of sustainable masses, a balance of universal forces, etc - this is not equivalent to an anthropic principle although that could also be included).

2. The notion of the oscillating universe (that holds that the universe is consistently going through a big bang/big crunch pattern.

However, none of these explanations meet the criteria for a proper scientific hypothesis, namely that it is testable/falsifiable.

As such, I came to a crossroad in that there was something that I could not explain through any physical means - and that cannot ever be explained through an investigatory process. In other words, the notion of a creator god, for me, is just as "likely" as the notion of a multiverse or the notion of an oscillatory universe, etc because none can even have a probability assigned to it.

Plus, I have found that believing in a "creator god" has no meaningful implication on how I live my life, interact with others, etc. So... why not?

Let's see...

Did I put down others in my explanation? Not from where I'm sitting. Check.

Did I provide a "too simplistic reply"? Probably in relation to my actual beliefs but sufficient for Y!A so nah. Check.

Did I answer the question "why do I reject god?" as asked. I think so although to lump "god" into a single bin kinda defeats the purpose (no offense to the asker). Check.

Edit: Pegasixi, I applaud you for actually reading all the responses (as evidenced by your responses/details) and for the question itself.

Answer 3

1. i beg 2 differ with you. i think that the other story is what you should really be breaking down here. simply because all of our experiences are different. if something happened 2 make u loose faith, you need to dissect that.

2. the fact that the kkk & hitler profess to be christians & the sept 11th hijackers profess allah, is a perfect testiment to the fact that people who claim 2 be people of faith, christian, muslim whatever do not hold the blueprints on being good people.

3. i have many friends who are atheist & i love them as completely and wholly as my believing friends who i grew up with,

4. incidentally, i am a pk (preachers kid). so, the bible has been crammed down my throat all my life. quite frankly, i am thankful for that because the true word has carried me through the death of my mom at 2, dad & 2 brothers before i hit 20 & numbers other deaths & dissapointments in life over the years.

5. it's ok if u dont believe, you can still be a good person. the problem is, if you're wrong & believers are right, you will be going to a not so comfortable after life & your eternity is gonna really suck...in a bad...painful...pretty hot(not paris's version of hot) kinda way.

6. i believe cuz i've seen spiritual things that only could happen from their being an after life. i've met a guy who actually wasn't a bad guy, but he was a devout non-believer & he died, clinically & spiritually. when he woke up he said that demons had pulled him down into hell. he described the doctors in the room, the instruments, what was verbalized after his death. no way, could he have known laying down, what things looked like above the tops of the docs head.he is now a preacher & believes that God gave him another chance.

7. you do you, but if you're not absolutely sure that God doesn't exist, i suggest that you research people who have had scientifically proven near death experiences & their stories might just change your mind. peace & love

Answer 4

. It seems like I have answered this a million times, but lets try a million and one.
I personally believe it to be 100% the word of God. I base this on the "proof" that so many claims does not exist. Look at what the bible says. Its tells us that the Hebrew people built the treasure cities of Ramesies. We can see these cites today. It tells us the Joshua fought and destroyed the city of Jericho with fire. We can see its ruins. It tells us there was a king named David and a Giant named Goliath. They have found records in Babylon with David’s name and details of his kingdom; they have pottery shards with Goliath from the Philistines. There is no doubt about the Temple of Solomon. We can read where the prophets said, that the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed by King Nebuchadnessar. It was. We can read about Dairies, the king of Persia and how he let the people go back to their homelands, he did. Daniel tells in detail, over 500 years before, the life and death of Alexander the great. How he rose to power, how he conquered many of the old kingdoms, how he would die in his prime how his kingdom would be split into four parts.

But look at today. The bible tells us in the last day the Jews will be hated. The whole world will be focused on Jerusalem, how its neighbors will try to destroy the people, all of this is taking place to day. How anyone reasonable person can not see this is beyond me. The list goes on and on if you don't want to believe, that’s up to you, but the alternative, "everything just is because it is” and they say we live in a delusion. By the way I would love to debate you item by item, is you ever choice to, just email me, I have invited the die hard athiest to do so, but I don't think they are sure enough in thier own disbelief, to have a debate, just a short, little no subtance answer is about all you can get from them.

Answer 5

Supreme Beings tend to have two consistent attributes. They are composed of idealized superlatizations of all positive qualities (knowledge, power, justice, mercy, duration, etc.), consequently leading to self-contradictions. And they are invariably "on my side". I don't actually object to the idea of a "perfect", immutable entity, difficult as it is, but I can't conceive of a perfectly fulfilled being having any interest in the petty neuroses of humans, individual or collectively.

God as conceived is all-powerful (leading to the big rock paradox), all knowing (leading to the free will vs predestination debate), all just and all merciful (a completely irresoluble contradition). He is the designer of a comprehensible, predictable universe of apparently natural laws, yet he is perfectly capable of violating these laws at any time for his own purposes without throwing that universe into chaos. But doesn't intervention suggest a flaw in God's foreknowledge? Could he not have foreseen the need to adjust the course of history and built a solution into his design? If God were perfect, he should have been able to build a universe that required no interaction at all, even with "free will". Yet most theists characterize the world as a heavily tinkered, ongoing divine personal project.

It is important to have a God that cares, one that can be approached and influenced, yet has all things well in hand. Religionists argue among themselves about exactly how "prayer" operates, but they recognize that some prayers are answered (God's mercy) and some are not (God's deeper wisdom). To an outsider it looks like random chance, with a bias toward the pragmatic.

But God isn't really the problem, it's what people use him for. God's principle job seems to be to "get" you if you don't conform to my standards of behavior. This works well enough when it is the powerless invoking it against the powerful, but so often it is the other way around. And so God's name is used to justify war, genocide and racial and class discrimination, yet at these times he seldom chooses to intervene. For the underdog, God is a reassuring yet unredeemed solace and hope. For the rich, comfortable and connected, God is a convenient tool to maintain the status quo. To be sure, some people use the divine message of hope, love and care to improve life for the marginalized, but their voices and works are overwhelmed by the opportunists who sell souvenirs of the idea of God rather than roll up their sleeves to actually build up the kingdom of heaven.

In short, the petty uses to which God is put don't match the transcendent capabilities attributed to God, and the altruistic actions of God are statistically insignificant. The only evidence available suggests a hoax.

Answer 6

An Atheist is someone that states that because God can not be scientifically proven that He must not exist. I suspect that Atheist would have prevented Columbus from journeying to the New World, after all no one had seen it so it must not exist. This is a good question for me to introduce something that I think will blow the Atheist minds on this site, Theomatics, which proves th Bible has a definite mathematical design to it in the original languages. Hebrew and Greek both use letters to represent numbers and the design of the Bible is quite mathematically precise.

Answer 7

I believe that everything that exists in time must have been created-I find the idea of an infinitely old universe just ignorant. So as far as I can tell there must be a beginning-How does an atheist explain our existence? Ok let’s say you believe in the big bang; where did all that matter come from?

Who then created god-No one, God exist outside of time-he created time and space he is not bound to the laws of the universe that he created and needs no creator.

Evolution theorizes that dumb luck(not kidding) allowed the first organism to exist and all life evolved from that source- I find this impossible to believe. There never has been an example of life spontaneously happing.

But the main reason I believe in god is that my prayers are answered to quickly and accurately to be coincidence.
There is no proof of god that’s why it’s called faith.
Feel free to respond to me because I’m curious how you believe all things came to be.

Answer 8

How do I justify my beliefs...OK, you asked:
First of all, I just can't accept that the universe just "banged" into existence. (although I love the term "singularity"...more nebulous than "Creator"). Whatever exploded, or popped, or threaded, or whatever it did, it had to come from somewhere...you'd have to be pretty disgustingly ignorant to think that it came from nowhere. Then, again, there is the phenomenon of life. There is absolutely no evidence (yes, my tongue is firmly in my cheek) to prove that live came from non-living matter. It just doesn't work that way.
OK, given these two truths, there must be some explanation. I believe there must be a Creator (although you may call Him "Singularity").
So, why the Christian God, when there are so many god-legends? But that's just it...there are so many god-legends, they must have their roots in some fact. Legends generally to tend to have their basis in some fact.
(A thought...how long does it take for facts to be relegated to legends? Then, how long before legends, lost in the mists of time, become myths? Think of our own tales of King Arthur, for instance...truth, or made up stories??)
I believe in the Christian God, partly because of entropy.
I believe that "the fall" was a cosmic event...that is to say, it happened all over the universe at the same time. We are taught that death is the result of this "fall"...what is entropy, then, but death on a grand scale?
(When you think about it, since the fall, death is actually a mercy. Who would want to live forever in the sort of society we've made for ourselves...where the rich toss in their fine beds, trying to figure out how to extort even more money from the poor, while the children of the poor shiver in their rags and die of starvation? Where hatred and violence are rampant? No, God has something better in store.)
The appearance of Christ...His birth, life, death, resurrection...these were also cosmic events. Salvation is available to every sentient being in the universe.
Hell...is no more than the grave.
The entire universe is being rebuilt, beginning with people...remade from the inside out, to make us fit to live in an eternal Kingdom of Peace...no more war, no more violence, no more poverty, no more disease, no more death....and, no more entropy....

I am so sorry about the things in your life that made you lose your faith. I don't know anything about your circumstances, so I have no idea what sort of comfort to offer you...but I know Who does!
I've had some severe tests of my own in my life, as well...not the least of them, the deaths of children I have loved.
I have wept beside the grave of my infant grandsons, and I have prayed beside the hospital bed of a grand daughter born with a life-threatening heart defect.
I am confident that these little ones are in God's hands...
And, Hun, I hope you will not mind, but I am a devout Christian.
I will be praying for you!

And, whether you believe in Him or not, may God richly bless you...this day, and always.

Answer 9

I have witnessed many answered prayers in my 56 years. From giving me a GOOD wife, healing and protecting my children so that they would see adulthood, the list is endless. In the Bible God says that there will “always” be a remnant of people who will believe in Him with all of their heart. Do you know why He says this? He said they will believe on Him simply because HE DELIVERS!! Some may complain about God not doing this or that, but when you continue to trust Him, He DOES come through, see the account of “Job”. It is sad that through out history some idiots have done some terrible things, claiming it to be God’s will. People who really knew God knew it was a farce but could do little about it at the time. One thing was certain; it was NOT God’s will.

Answer 10

The quickest way to know if gods (advanced human beings) exist or not is to go to the highest peak one can find and throw oneself off.

Guaranteed on the way down you will know whether you are a primordial evolutionary accident or if there is a purpose, order and balance to all human life.

Humans are the only species that think, reason and experience self-awareness. Evolution does not make sense because if it were true then animals would still be evolving into sentient human beings today.

I do not believe in gods who require glory, adoration or servitude but all that is required is to look around and ponder at the order of the universe and know that we are not the result of some bang theory.

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Answer 11

First, you have to define the term "God." The problem with most theists is that this term is a moving target.

In addition, because there is no evidence either for or against the existence of God, you cannot use deductive logic (a+b=c; therefore c-b=a). You can only reach a conclusion by inductive reasoning using the balance of evidence (90% of A is also B; C is B, so the chances are 90% that C is also A).

So to begin with, I will assert (and others may shoot this down) that the only RELEVANT definition of God states that GOD INTERVENES TO CIRCUMVENT NATURAL LAWS.

If God circumvents natural laws, then it becomes impossible to understand natural laws. All scientific findings would have to include the stipulation, "It is also possible that these results are an act of God, a miracle, thereby making our research meaningless."

However, we have been able to expand our knowledge of natural laws (evidenced by every appliance in your kitchen). Therefore, because the scientific method leads to applicable discoveries, and the likely conclusion is that God, at least the intervening kind, does not exist.

Additionally, if God is defined as all loving, all powerful, and all knowing, then it is impossible to explain suffering. Either God is not all loving (he acts sadistically), not all powerful (he cannot prevent suffering), or not all knowing (he created suffering by mistake because he didn't know the consequences of his actions). A God who is not all-loving, all-powerful or all-knowing is also not sufficient for the definition of God, because any God that fails to meet these criteria becomes bound by rules that are greater than God.

If God is bound by external rules and/or does not intervene in our existence, then God is either non-existent or irrelevant. The classic Bertrand Russell argument is that I cannot prove that a china teapot is orbiting the sun between the earth's orbit and Mars. But while I cannot prove this is not true, the evidence against it is compelling.

The evidence against God is equally compelling, and while it is not possible to prove beyond any doubt, it makes enormously more sense to live your life as if there were no God.

It is more compelling to me that humans have invented God (a) to help people deal with the pain and fear associated with death and loss, and (b) to reflect the thoughts of the ruling powers in a particular time. Humans are always searching for explanations. When none were found, it was the natural inclination to declare that the cause of the unexplained was "God" (or gods). As the faith grew, miracles (coincidences) and laws were ascribed to this Divinity, and an orthodoxy grew up around it.

Now it seems unhelpful to believe in such superstition. The only matters that aid in our ongoing well-being are work, location, health, sustenance, and pure, blind luck.

So that's why I don't believe God exists. Others may choose to believe differently, but it's probable they are comfortable with NOT considering these issues to reach their conclusions.

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