Some reasons for atheism?

Question

I myself am an atheist. But my friends aren't. They keep feeding me this crap about God. So can you guys give me some reasons why God (or any religious figure) is not real? I've got an example

Do you believe in the three little pigs? No. Then why should you believe in another book, the Bible?

Answer 1

Well I wouldn't use the 3 little pigs analogy, if you write me a message I can fill you in on some good counter arguments but they are too much to list right here. or send me an email to [e-mail] and I will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Answer 2

As J.P. says, "Parsimony of Theory", also known as "Occam's razor". In light of the evidence, the simplest theory is the best.

The ancients saw a solid bowl of sky that rested on the flat horizon. They saw that things that aren't supported fall down. The saw the sun rise in one part of the sky and set in another, day after day. And they saw that weather is very, very hard to control. They made the simplest assumptions they could.

From their experience, they learned there are somethings that are good to eat and some that are bad. There are better times and places to grow some crops than others. There are battle tactics that tend to work better than others. Having a plan or an ally is more effective than not. They made more assumptions.

Then we learned that the earth is spherical, that days are caused by rotation, that siderial motion is due to the Earth moving around the sun rather than vice-versa. As a result, astronomical diagrams had to be completely revised but observed exceptions were minimized. The new theory was simpler.

This also lead to a radical revision of the understanding of "up" and "down". People on opposite sides of the Earth don't fall off, so there had to be something about the Earth that attracted them rather than just getting in the way. The new theory explained everything better.

We also learned that air has weight and that there could be an absence of air (a very dangerous idea in the 16th Century!). Even now, we are finally starting to understand how weather systems work. And the germ theory of disease was not only simpler but far more effective against illness than the bodily humors theory or the demonic possession theory, simpler in that it required few explanation of extraneous factors such as where the demons come from and what they are doing when they're not infesting people.

The idea that God answers prayers, rewards good behavior or cares who wins a war (or a football game) was challenged by the observance that bad people died old and happy and good guys sometimes lost. The old theory was patched up with "God works in mysterious ways," but the simpler explanation is, "I don't think there's anybody out there."

The relative zapping of blasphemers and adherents is statistically equal and rare, so the evidence for intervention is slim (and anecdotal at best). The simple explanation is that it's all coincidental, not consciously directed. When all the attributed powers and responsibilities are considered, the theory of God becomes hopelessly complex. Theists simply make God more super so he can handle it. But the notion that even an omniscient, omnipotent being monitors and cares about what every single human is doing every moment of their waking lives makes God as petty as it makes him great. We don't even do that to ourselves! Micromanagement is not pretty no matter who does it. The competing theory, that we are on our own and are responsible for our own messes, is infinitely simpler and keeps accountability in reasonable perspective.

Answer 3

Read the OT about all the violence and death.

Ask them to explain it.


Ask how there is suffering in the world if god is omnipotent and all-knowing and all-loving? If they come up with a bull***t answer (the lord moves in mysterious ways, etc.) call them on it.

Ask them if they believe in hell. If they do ask them what possible crime could justify an infinite punishment and torture.


Ask them where God came from. If they say he always was, ask why that argument can not be applied to the natural universe. Try to get a clear and definite answer. When they finally admit that it must apply to the universe as much as to god, ask which is more likely to exist:

a relatively simple universe of not quite homogenous energy (the big bang condition)

or a being capable of calling up such a universe from nothing and defining everything such that on one planet around one star out of 500,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in the universe, that life would occur and evolve into us.

Answer 4

Gone With the Wind.

A fiction with an historical setting.

Places, people and even events in the story are real. The American Civil War was real. Atlanta and the Old South were real. The soldiers and the suffering were real.

The characters inserted into that setting were fiction. Scarlett Katy O'Hara, Rhett Butler, Ashley Wilkes... all fiction.

You can "prove" the book to be as true as the Bible supporters "prove their book to be true. Names, dates, places... some of them match because Margaret Mitchell picked real events into which to set her piece of historical fiction.

Answer 5

Alright, here's a few good defenses. First, if they start feeding you stuff about god, ask them to define god for you. When they say it is not possible, that god is undefinable in the mind of a human, tell them that it is not possible for you to follow something that you cannot define. You do not know what to follow. Also, going on your book theory. If there was a nuclear world war, and the human race was decimated, would something similar not happen? Think about it. What if the population had to retreat into caves for a few hundred years, and when the came out, the first book they found was a Harry Potter Book? Would they think that we worshiped Harry Potter? Would they begin to worship Harry Potter? Anyhow, the first argument is still stronger. How can you worship what you cannot understand?

Answer 6

You can't really disprove God or spirituality using scientific methods.

Consider this: If we didn't live in an age where Internet, TV, radio and newspapers exposed us all to constant information, you wouldn't know all that you know. If that were the case (imagine 100 years ago), and someone said, "There is a primate that has been taught to use sign language to communicate with people. This primate can even explain his or her dreams." Many people wouldn't believe it. But you couldn't disprove it.

It's only possible to prove that something does exist. You can't prove that it doesn't, although you can make a strong case that says that it highly unlikely that it exists, or that Occam's Razor tells us that it is most likely that there are other reasons or facts that explain things that are attributed to the thing in question. (In this case, God.)

Tell your friends that Science is based on empirical evidence. Religion--and God--is based on faith. This means that although you can't disprove God, you can tell them that their own beliefs are based on faith. You do not have that faith.

Answer 7

I'm really glad you put your question this way.
I am a former atheist. The only reason I can look back on and say this is what brought a change in my mind was the fact that I could dismiss other falsehoods with complete confidence, yet this nonsense of God, it just felt like I was constantly having to "talk" myself into not believing. Day, after day, after day; even though I had no sound reason to believe there was.
One day out of sheer frustration I said to myself, "OK God, if you're real, prove it."
In a matter of a few months He made Himself known to me and I can confidently say that I now have the God question settled.

Answer 8

You could do the same with Santa Claus or the ever popular "Flying Spaghetti Monster".
There is also the fact that we have no proof of God's existence, the people who wrote the Bible only said they were inspired by God, the books about Jesus were written a century after his death, priests have editted the Bible for content in their translations of it, the Biblical God is wrathful, jealous, and violent, and Jesus's sacrifice should not have been necessary. Also, Satan should not be responsible for evil or have that much power at all, no one who has ever seen God could prove that it wasn't a psychotic episode, and too many atrocities have been in the name of God (witch trials, Holocaust, Crusade, Inquisition, etc.)

Answer 9

Read some books by George H. Smith. His arguments against god make a lot of sense, and his books are pretty funny, too. For example, he equates believing in god with believing in invisible fairies that sit on people's shoulders.

In any case, he's a very intelligent man, and his books are awesome.

Answer 10

Go read a book about it.

Try The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins