How do non believers 'know' that God does not exist?

Question

and also why do atheists get so angry at people who do believe in God, surely that makes them as insane as so called religious people who get angry at non believers?

I wonder why every one assumes I do believe in a god just because I asked this question?

Answer 1

i am an atheist. though i do not know whether there is no god, but believe that there is no logical or reasoned proof to assume or posit the existance of god.
I have studied religion and philosophy independantly and at college level. i do not try and convert people to atheism. i respect other's belief, but i do speak out against ignorance and injustice, not only religious injustice or ignorance, but injustice and ignorance of all kinds. so, dont take what i say as arrogance, but as a concerned fellow human being offering my basis for not believing in a logical or reasoned explaination in god.

there are three types or modes, specifically, of arguements that deal with the rational inquiry of god. here is my explaination.

the first is an ontological arguement. ontology is the study of being. Religious attempts to prove god on this basis use this arguement first proposed by Anselm and it asserts this as follows:
1.God is, by definition, a being greater than which nothing can be conceived (imagined).
2.Existence in reality is greater than existence in the mind.
3.God must exist in reality; if God did not, then God would not be that than which nothing greater can be conceived (imagined). (Wikipedia)

this argues on the basis of imagination. this, however, is absurd. it asserts that if one can imagine god in one's mind, (that which none greater can be concieved) and reality is a true representation greater than the mind conceptions, then god must exist in reality if god can exist in ones mind.
this can be proven absurd by logic. just because one can imagine great things, doesnt mean it has relation to the reality of the thing imagined. for example, i can imagine an island of the greatest vegitation, animal life, and peaceful human co-existance. however, i can imagine this, but this does not mean that the reality of such an island exists, simpley because i can concieve of it.
David Hume says it better than i can. here is wiki's summary of his objection:
1.The only way to prove anything a priori is through an opposite contradiction. For example, I am a married bachelor.
2.The resulting contradiction makes something inconceivable. Obviously it is impossible to have a married bachelor.
3.It is possible to comprehend anything not existing. Thus it is not inconceivable to imagine anything not existing.
4.Nothing can be proven to exist a priori, including God.

The second category of arguement is known as teleology, which is arguement by design or purpose. the arguement today is evident in the idea of "Intelligent Design."
this asserts that one sees the world as ordered and created with purpose. for example, humans created intelligently computers (ordered and purposefully created). these computers are the product of intelligent design. one sees that these computers exist as a product of intelligence. the world, like human creations of computers, seems ordered and created with purpose, just like computers, the world must have been created by a being who intelligently created this order. this compares to the "watchmaker" idea of deism, which argued that the world is much like a clock or watch created with intricate and ordered purpose, and the world is like a large mass scale watch created by a large mass scale creater. or explained, by wiki as:
1.X is too (complex, orderly, adaptive, apparently purposeful, and/or beautiful) to have occurred randomly or accidentally.
2.Therefore, X must have been created by a (sentient, intelligent, wise, and/or purposeful) being.
3.God is that (sentient, intelligent, wise, and/or purposeful) being.
4.Therefore, God exists.

many counter-arguements are aptly proposed. the logic proposed above is based on assumptions. namely, the line of reasoning is from small to big. one assumes that because the small intricate intelligent objects that humans create with purpose, that the large scale arguement of creation of the world (intricate and complex) must therefore, be created simularily. this however is illogical when one considers the idea of infinite regression. this means that the arguement that computers exists because of human purpose and intellect, humans exist as a product of purpose and intellect, the world exists as a product of god's intellect, then god is a product of ......? this is a large inconsistancy in logic, one cannot posit the existance of god based on the existance of object, created by humans. it leads to an infinate regression, which needs infinite creaters of creators. on a large scale, happenings tend to differ from small scale happenings.

the third arguement is cosmological, which argues on the basis of origins of the universe (cause). religious arguements on this basis are prevalent and are often used. the religious arguement goes as follows:
Every effect has a cause. this is evident in everyday expierience, one sees such things as:
1. drinking caffiene causes stimulation.
2. eating fatty foods cause fat buildup.
3. having sex causes pregnancy.
or- every action has a reacion. every cause has an effect! that is the main arguement. so the effect of the existing earth must have a cause, that cause is god.
this however, is the easiest arguement to discount. MAIN POINT OF THE "PROOF" OF GOD'S EXISTANCE FOLLOWS THIS LOGIC:
Every effect has a cause. this means EVERY effect! here goes- since every effect in the world must have a cause the world must have a cause, the universe must have a cause, the universe was caused by god. god was caused by.........? this series of claims is based on assumtions. if god caused god's self, then why couldn't the earth have caused itself? Occam's Razor aptly explicates this problem in logic- arguements and logic with the least amount of assumptions must neccisarily be accepted as the most accurate. thus, do not multiply entities beyond neccessity by assumptions. Whether or not god caused his-self (unevident or observable) is unknowable and therefore unneccisary, moreover illogical because it is beyond comprehension or observation, so the positing of a self-caused cause outside of the world is superfluous. the wold therefore more logically attested, can cause itself. an equally important flaw in this logic that every effect has a cause, is that one disobeys this logic when one asserts that there is a cause-caused by itself. it breaks the very essance of the arguement.

I may be wrong, i may be not wrong. im not arrogant or fanatical about atheism. i love the study of philosophy and religion. but i do attempt to remain "faithful" to reason and logic, and if god is presented in this way to me, i may be able to understand or believe. however attempts at this proof reamain subject to many ctitiques and flaws in logic. i do believe in the need for rational inquiry on every conviction one or many may make in order to curb injustice whcih often prevail in situations that contain ignorant, unexamined or intolorant ideologies and convictions.

Answer 2

I 'know' God doesn't exist in the same way I 'know' there are no fairies at the bottom of my garden. Perhaps know is the wrong word. It's more of a feeling, but a certainty that that feeling is right. Sort of like your faith in God existing really.

Each to his own. I'm quite happy for other people to believe what they want. It's when they start forcing their belief systems on other people that I have a problem. For example persecution of homosexuals.

Answer 3

How do believers know the it exists?
This Q lacks a rational answer.
I'm not an Atheist but I bet I don't have the same concept you have of God. I respect Atheists, at least they don't go out there trying to kill people in the name of some stupid God.

Answer 4

I don't think they do 'know' that God does not exist. But any major religion relies on faith that a deity exists....there is no evidence of this existence other than in the faith of the believer. If you do not have this faith, then it is easy to deny the existence of any deity....you do not have to 'know' anything.

Answer 5

I have yet to hear any .'non-believer' say that they 'know' god does not exist. Mostly they say they do not believe in such an entity. Reading answers on yahoo questions I find it is the believers who mostly get angry. Believe what you must but please do not try to push your beliefs on to me. I am pleased and grateful that I live in a country that allows me the freedom to believe or not as I choose.

Answer 6

Non believers 'Know' that God does not exist, Because they don't want to know that God exists, so they made their mind not to believed.

Answer 7

Sure. this miracle or any other that you think will stand up to the same level of scientific scrutiny that anything in science has to stand up to. Many have made this kind of promise in the past. None have yet to produce a miracle. i.e. something that defies the normal order of the universe. Kirk Cameron and his buddy tried to do it last night on TV. But all they could come up with was that a creator must have created us, otherwise we wouldn't be here. Oh, and that our moral code comes from the ten commandments. Really week from a scientific point of view.

Answer 8

How do believers really know that God exists? He doesn't exist in christian terms. I know that for sure.

Answer 9

I don't 'know' that God does not exist, I just don't believe he does. I also don't get angry at people who do believe in God, I get angry at people who believe in God and claim that their belief is true and mine is not.

Answer 10

#1 - We don't believe in gods based on our understanding of the data. It is the same reason why you don't believe in Zeus or Apollo.

#2 - I'm sure some atheists get believers just like some believers get angry at atheists for no good reason. However, I only get angry at believers when they tell me I am going to hell or when they tell me that my kids should learn about creationism in public schools or when they tell me that I should have stem cell cures for diseases. Other than that I really don't care what other people believe as long as they don't try to convert me.

Answer 11

I know he doesn't exist, because he shares the exact same traits as RA, Zeus, Allah, Neptune, Apollo, Jupiter, Unicorns, Hobbits, and Leprechauns.

That is, there is no tangible evidence for his existence, and belief in him requires continually maintained faith.

As I don't believe in Unicorns or Neptune because of a lack of evidence, I have to be honest and do the same with God.

I do, believe in Leprechauns though, because my heart tells me they exist.

I am not mad a believers at all. Most of them are actually pretty good people, but I do get a little upset, when they claim my children deserve to be tortured for eternity, if they fail to understand the will of God, or if they require tangible evidence for belief.

Damn me to hell all you want, but your belief system indites my kids, and that gets me a little upset.