Why are atheists so closed minded?

Question

Atheists say God doesn't exist because they don't want Him to exist! If they admitted that God exists they would have to own up to their sinfulness. They've already decided ahead of time that they don't want God to exist, so every time they try to "disprove" God, they are just begging the question. If they weren't so closed minded, they would be able to see that God does indeed exist.

Answer 1

Um, no.
God does not exist because he doesn't exist. Period.
It is not up to me to "disprove" that god exists because one cannot disprove a negative.
It is up to YOU, the person who says god exists, to prove it.

Look at it this way; if I were to tell you that I had a magic milk-jug in my basement, and I told you " you can't prove that I DON'T have a magic milk jug" What would you say?
Right, you'd say that it wasn't up to you to disprove it, but up to me to prove it.
Same rules apply.
Prove your imaginary sky-pixie exists and we can talk. Until then though...

Answer 2

Whooosh, over your head.

1. I didn't decide ahead of time to not believe in God, I slowly stopped believing, through witnessing and experienceing the world with my own two eyes.

2. I own up to my sins everyday, and don't pass the blame onto anyone but myself. I also recognize that my deeds affect others, and take special care to do no harm.... that also includes passing judgement on people I know nothing about. *hint hint*.... what YOU're doing with this question.

3. I don't try to disprove God. I can't prove that he doesn't exist anymore than you can prove he does exist. Or anymore than an ancient Greek could prove the existance of Zeus. The only people that have definite proof either way, are in no position to tell us, because they're.... you guessed it; dead.

4. You've already formulated an opinion about atheists with the phrasing of your question and the subsequent sentences. Therfore, who's mind is closed? At least when I ask a question I expect to hear out and consider the answers.... which is apparently beyond your capacity.

Answer 3

Hmm. "They" this and "they" that. I'm sorry you choose to characterize us without talking to us or knowing what we think and why we think that way. You are deeply, profoundly wrong about us.
We do not say there is no god because we don't want one. We recognize that we aren't perfect, and we certainly recognize that you aren't, either!
We don't attempt to "disprove" the existence of a god. You are the one making claims that one exists therefore it is up to you to prove it. Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary proofs, and prattling on, as some Christians do, in the vein of "So many people can't be wrong" is not proof. The great majority of the world's peoples believed slavery was God's will until the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, but that does not and did not make it so.
I will offer you the opportunity any time you and I meet up; I'll maintain an open mind and you may attempt to prove to me that there is a God. I warn you that "irreducible complexity" is a non-starter. I warn you, too, that "intelligent design" is as bogus a claim as any, and claims of "miraculous cures" not only must be verified independently, they are not, in and of themselves, proof of anything beyond random good fortune. I don't suffer fools lightly. If you wish to believe in and worship some image of a Supreme Being, that's your free choice, but when you start insisting that everyone else must do it too, it becomes a legitimate target for criticism. If, given the above, you think you've got proof - let's hear it.

Answer 4

You're right in that I don't want God to exist, mainly because if the Biblical God existed Earth would be one hell of a scary place. That, however, has no bearing on whether he does or does not exist. All of the evidence -- and when I say all I mean ALL -- is that there is no God. Never has been, never will be.

Answer 5

You apparently are unaware that many atheists started out as religious people. I grew up going to church and believing in god because that's what was expected of me. I am now an atheist and it's not because I don't want god to exist; he does NOT exist. As for owning up to my sins, I do. But we have different opinions about what constitutes a sin.

Answer 6

wow ... atheists are often incredibly open minded. they're also often very un-sinful. when you consider the Crusades, which was basically a Christian jihad, or holy war, atheists seem less and less sinful by comparison. i don't believe in a god that condones sin. however, i don't do things that harm other people or are morally wrong, not because god will punish me, but because it's the RIGHT THING TO DO. hopefully everyone will do what's right regardless of whether they go to hell or not. are religious people only good because they want to earn brownie points with god? i'd make that generalization, but i try not to generalize. so to answer your question, atheists can be close-minded and refuse to listen to other perspectives, but so can everyone, regardless of beliefs. and i find that atheists are often the most open minded.

you're generalizing a lot, stereotyping a whole lot of people. and to Jax, i'm not exactly an atheist, but i'm not trying to repress a belief in God. and neither are the atheists i know. none of them believe, deep down, in god.

Answer 7

Wrong.

I'm sure many atheists would love a god (any of them) to exist. I would be happy to be proved wrong. Unfortunately, there is not a single scrap of evidence to suggest that any god does exist. This is why we don't believe, no evidence.

You, on the other hand, blindly accept what you have been told by parents, teachers, church etc. Like we used to believe in Santa Claus and the tooth fairy.

Fortunately some of us grew up!

Answer 8

You've got it backward - it's believers that have closed their minds. Atheists are open to hard proof of god's existence. Just look at it this way - Atheists ask questions and want answers. Believers ask no questions, they want to be told.

As Sam Harris says, atheism isn't a philosophy or a creed, it's just a refusal to deny the obvious. Look, we're all atheists when it comes to Zeus and Thor. I'm just atheist about one more god than you.

Answer 9

I don't know about the rest of the atheist but I am closed minded because I don't have a girlfriend. Maybe if your God gave me a pretty girlfriend I'd have a reason to believe. Till god gives me my girlfriend my mind will be closed like my door is closed(my door is really closed, if fact its welded shut).

Answer 10

why are religous people so close minded that they refuse to accept that it does not exist and how come there are meny relighoins but each one says all the others dont exist. i will belive in god if you can prove he exists. i just read something about the satanistic religoen and i agree with it so take a look. i also completly belive everything is fated to hapen thats what i belive

Answer 11

The atheists that I know have a stronger moral code than most of the people whom I know who call themselves Christian -- so your hypothesis fails.

I could never make the leap of faith that is needed to become a Theist or a Atheist. But I bet that I'm better at admitting my sins than you are. Given what you wrote above -- I think you can start with Hubris.