how are atheists so sure that God dosen't exist?
I mean what if they're wrong...
2007-07-31 20:23:17 · 34 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
They're not sure, they just like to think they are.
EDIT: Lol, judging by my thumbs down, it's all Atheist people hanging around here. This just proves a point: Atheists are so eager to criticize religious people for being intolerant, but if you don't accept their point of view, which is that there is no g-d, you get ridiculed and grilled. Funny huh? I don't care what anyone believes either way, it's just a trend I noticed. You may now continue to thumbs-down my post.
2007-07-31 20:26:14 · answer #1 · answered by Cody 3 · 1⤊ 11⤋
The burden of proof is upon the believer.
The probability of God existing is about the same as the probability of Santa Claus existing. If I claim that Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy exist, you would ask for proof. Claiming that Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy work in mysterious ways is not a plausible argument. Similarly claiming that God works in mysterious ways is an equally weak argument.
2007-07-31 20:45:10 · answer #2 · answered by qxzqxzqxz 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
What if we're both wrong, and a god exists who lets good people into heaven and bad into hell - except people who believed in another god, who all get sent to hell? Then I'll go to heaven and you'll go to hell. Why take that risk? Stop believing in your god.
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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
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa2.htm
http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/jesus.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
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Pascal's wager:
"If god exists, it's infinitely better to believe, since you get heaven instead of hell for eternity. If he doesn't, it doesn't matter since you're dead anyway. So overall it's better to believe"
This is, of course, false.
Some of the problems with the argument:
* The implied assumption that god may exist (with a 50% probability, no less!)
* The assumption that there is an afterlife with a heaven and hell
* The assumption that the god cares about belief in him/her above all else
* The assumption that if you believe in a god, it will definitely be the same god that actually exists.
* The assumption that you lose nothing if it's false. You have lost a great deal, from time praying to a nonexistent entity (some people pray several hours a day!!!) to morality (your god may ask you to hurt other people) and much more besides.
* The assumption that people can believe in something simply because it benefits them. Would you believe goblins exist for twenty bucks? Why not?
* The assumption that any god won't see through the "believing just to get into heaven" ploy.
For more:
http://www.abarnett.demon.co.uk/atheism/wager.html
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pascal-wager/
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theism/wager.html
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2007-07-31 20:26:34 · answer #3 · answered by Dreamstuff Entity 6 · 5⤊ 2⤋
Atheists are not "so sure that God doesn't exist", they do not believe in gods. You do, I don't. I look for evidence and there isn't any. Agnostics qualify their atheism by saying that you cannot know whether gods exist or not but they don't believe in gods either. Show me evidence that gods exist and I will believe in gods. It's up to you, I'm happy as I am.
2007-07-31 20:39:18 · answer #4 · answered by tentofield 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
the quest is not over yet. i am an athiest and to explain to you, you can tell me a red hamster with 40 legs exists, and until i search the entire universe and do not find it, i cannot say that it does not exist. so by science there is no definite answer yet. the universe is a big place, it may take a while to find the answer for definiteness sureness =)
there are some who had bad experiences with religion so they automoatically reject it. if only closed minds came with closed mouths right?
2007-07-31 20:48:03 · answer #5 · answered by ignostic 2 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Why do you think God is evil?
Only an evil being would punish people for eternity simply because they don't believe in and worship him.
If God exists, he is either moral (good) or immoral (evil).
If God is moral, atheists are in no danger of being punished by him simply because they don't believe in him.
If God is immoral, then atheists have made the right choice by refusing to worship him and everyone else should do the same.
2007-07-31 20:38:11 · answer #6 · answered by scifiguy 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
think a bit longer and bit harder and you should answer your own question in due time .
a hint if god was really all that people ascribe then good people would have nothing to fear regardless.try to learn to seperate superstitious beliefs from the wishful thinking of the good at heart and the the logical mind of the reasonable, honest, scientific outlook of the truly knowledgable.
2007-07-31 20:33:28 · answer #7 · answered by dogpatch USA 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why I'm sure? Oh, thousands of unanswered prayers, the complete lack of empirical evidence, the absurdities and contradictions in religious dogma, stuff like that.
What if YOU'RE wrong and you're wasting your time worshiping an imaginary Guy in the Sky when you can enjoy your life instead?
2007-07-31 20:33:27 · answer #8 · answered by crypto_the_unknown 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
What if christians are wrong? What if god is really testing people for courage and moral fiber without a belief in a reward for good moral behavior? What if god is tricking christians in order to see who really has the stronger set of ethics? What if your blind faith is something god finds annoying?
2007-07-31 20:30:36 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I can only speak for my self but i don't claim to know that god doesn't exist any more than i claim to know that unicorns don't exist. I don't see unicorns i don't hear them or since them in any way and i see no need for there existence therefore i simply don't believe in them.
2007-07-31 20:28:16 · answer #10 · answered by troythe9ine 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Atheists are the kind of people that assume that no evidence means no existence. Believers say that just because there's no evidence doesn't mean it doesn't exist, and they take it on faith. I'm definately with the second crowd.
2007-07-31 20:28:36 · answer #11 · answered by ImagoDei 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋