Why are you an Atheist?

Question

If your not an Atheist then obviously this question does not apply to you.
And please....spare me all the flying spaghetti monster talk. I`m an Atheist as well , I just want to know your reasons.

Answer 1

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'm an atheist. Hope this meets your needs.

Answer 2

I'm actually an agnostic, not an atheist. And really, what I have is a disdain for the misanthropy and misogyny of so many organized religions. Or maybe people are sorely misinterpreting what their holy books tell them. I discovered when I was about 18 that religion felt...empty. I felt an emptiness when I was in synagogue (I grew up Jewish). The prayers meant nothing to me. I may have thought, Does god really need that much @ss-kissing? Sheesh!

I guess I'm hedging my bets. I won't come out and say there is no god because, well, maybe there is. But maybe there isn't. I don't think anyone can know for sure.

Answer 3

For me, it's because none of the religions that actually make sense have gods in them, along with the fact that the religions that do have gods offer nothing but speculation and circumstantial evidence as proof of their beliefs. In short, I have no more reason to believe in gods than I do to believe in Spider-man.

Some religions say that they have fulfilled prophecies and other such "proofs," but all of the prophecies are fulfilled in the same book, none of them are being fulfilled in my lifetime. The believers say I'm wrong and prophecies are being fulfilled every day, but these are always vague speculations that can be applied to any place and time. Stuff like "and there will be wars and rumors of wars" and the like. This is not prophecy. This is an observation of the human condition and experience on earth. For as long as there have been people, there have been people going to war with eachother.

I look past the surface, into the heart of the matter, and find nothing of substance to make me believe. I can't make myself believe religious things that I know aren't true any more than I can make myself believe that G.W. Bush was the first and greatest of all U.S. Presidents. I know better, and no matter how much someone else believes it's true, that doesn't make it true.


Edit: dms, obviously you've never been in a foxhole. I have. I know for a fact that bullets don't respect religious beliefs.

Answer 4

Religion is not logical and people get all emotional about it. I just don't like it. There is no evidence to support the hypothesis concerning a god and just on the face of it one knows that it is hokey. All this pie in the sky and going to heaven or hell is nothing more than a means of controlling people. I won't be controlled. I do love to research the bible in particular, and beliefs that I see on boards such as this. A lot of posters make a mountain out of a molehill. But that is them, not me. They do contribute to my atheism in that I always check out what they say. I will tell you that there are a few who at least know how to debate without losing their temper, but many of their fellow church goers do not. All in all, religion removes the electromotive force from my power supply. In short, it turns me off.

AEN

Answer 5

I am an atheist because I take responsibility for my own actions. I do not blame an imaginary power when something goes wrong in my life nor do I give an imaginary being credit for something that I have achieved.

There is no evidence for the existence of God. If I were to believe in God, which one should I believe in? Maybe the Judeo/Christian/Muslim God, the Hindu gods, ancient Greek or Norse gods...

If people of one religion cannot be consistent about their beliefs in God, it is extremely unlikely that they would be able to present a convincing argument to convert someone who does not believe in God.

Answer 6

I don't like the way fear is used as a motivation for believing in the Christian God. But I'm really more agnostic than atheist.

Answer 7

Because I couldn't see the point of religion except of course when they passed the collection plate around so that the church officials could freeload off the parish. That made a lot of sense to me.

Answer 8

Guys. Relax
I believe if HE were there, He would have come forward to prove in a manner that WE atheists would also believe. The fact that HE is not willing to, proves that atleast HE is not interested in US believing. So those who believe and those who dont, continue status-quo.

Answer 9

I just sat down one day and had a good long think about god. At the end I had come to the conclusion that he is imaginary.

Answer 10

My reason is the lack of evidence to support the existence of god.

And if you want a positive statement; I would exepect that anything that does not exist will not have evidence to prove its existence. As there is no evidence for the existence of god it is logicaly more likely that god does not exist, than that it does exist.