In response to "Why don't atheists believe in God?" - Why should we believe in God?

Question

I don't mean to sound antagonistic there, let me elaborate:

You ask why we don't believe in your god, but for what reason should we? Just because your religion dictates that all people should believe the same as you less they received eternal torment after death? So what about all the other non-believers besides atheists, that have their own religion that says the same sort of thing but claims that a different god or gods is the real one?

Summing up, please give your reason that you, personally - please don't regurgitate your religion's dictations, think that we should believe in your god?

GIGO: You're really not gonna win any one over with that...

no1home2day: lying doesn't help.
1) Evolution has come a long way since Darwin and is pretty much proven. Regardless of Darwin's misconceptions, evolution happened and it can be observed. Unless of course you're demonstrating that the antibiotic resistence gained by bacteria is not actually related to the observed genetic mutations.
2) DNA does nothing of the sort, most of the mechanics of protein synthesis is carried out by in cell organelles. DNA does not 'attract matter like a magnet', the amino-acids it is comprised of simply bind to their counterpart during transcription.

Answer 1

Ever been to a Church Luncheon? AMAZING rice crispie squares.


I really do miss those now that I'm a non-believer.

Edit -

Per the below....There is not a single non-Christian documentation that denotes someone named Jesus Christ (at least the one supposed by the bible, Yeshua was a fairly common name). There are multiple independent accounts of Socrates, first hand accounts as well as a census conducted where he lived.

Sorry, I'm a philosopher, I'll admit that one hit a nerve.

Answer 2

I believe it was St. Thomas Aquinas (but I might be wrong on this attribution) who posited a logical argument for "why should one believe in God":

Basically there are 4 possibilities:

1. You believe, and are correct.

2. You believe, and are incorrect.

3. You don't believe, and are incorrect.

4. You don't believe, and are correct.

Possibility (1) assures your entry to heaven, and so is the best outcome. (Remember, possibility (1) assumes there IS a heaven, and based on this assumption, if you believe, you get there.)

Possibility (2) means that you were wrong in your belief, but really where's the harm, because you basically lived a good life anyway. (Belief implies also conforming one's life according to those beliefs.)

Possibility (3) is the WORST possible outcome, because if there IS a heaven, and you choose to ignore the teaching and live as a non-believer, then your salvation and resurrection to heaven are in jeopardy.

Possibility (4) is the atheist's dream -- free to live in whatever manner one chooses, because there is no afterlife or God to worry about.

Of these 4 possibilities, only one ends up with the non-believer getting the best of the deal.

So, just based on statistical probabilities, it's a better bet to believe.

Clearly this is not the ENTIRE argument for why one should believe in God, just the first answer to a person who flatly refuses to listen to any other reasons. It's just about the odds!

Answer 3

I don't care what anyone believes in and I don't think there is a need for them to think exactly like me{what a boring world}. I believe in what I believe because that is what I have learned nothing more nothing less. Peace between humans would be better then any god /goddess fearing cult.

Answer 4

As long as you actually KNOW and can explain your reasons coherently as to why you don't believe, I have no problem with you. There are so many atheists who don't believe b/c they follow the "herd" mentality of other intelligent atheists and have not done any study on their own. These are the ones that garner no respect from me, because to their dismay I happen to be well read and can dismantle their "arguments" as easy as a toddlers jigsaw puzzle.

Answer 5

atheists think that there is no god,&belivers (whatever the religion)think&believe that there is god,there is life after death,there is reward for good deeds&punishment for the sin.every body knows all this.now one simple situation for you to analyze;all of us will die one day(believers&non believers) and after death if there is no god it will be same for both belivers&non believers(nothing to lose or gain)but just incase if there is god then think about the misery of non believers.they will be the biggest losers.so what do you think is better?ofcourse there is the one&only almighty god.a believer is better than a atheist.if you examine the great religions like jewism,christianity,islam etc..you will be amazed how simillar they are.all of them propagates the message of one god.at first there was jewism,when it was manipulated by clergy,christianity arrived as a solution,on course of time,christianity was also modified to suit the clergy&rulers,islam came with the complete solution for the mankind.ie why even after 1500years its intact and humankind havent witnessed a new religion(simply because there is nothing new anybody can offer)

Answer 6

I agree with you absolutely. Why must we believe in a God for whom we have no evidence?

I have to take issue with the uneducated folks who say there is more evidence for Christ that Socrates. Those who wrote about Socrates were his contemporaries. Not one of the books of the New Testament was written until 90-100C.E., 30-60 years after the supposed resurrection of Christ. That's right, a people who are famous for their record keeping can't be bothered to make a record of a revolutionary dead guy getting up and walking around for all to see until all of the "witnesses" to it are either really old and senile or dead. Evidence? Right... I have more thoughts on the intellect of such individuals but they would probably get filtered by Yahoo...

*Added*
I used to be a believer, but the Bible cured me of that. So much misogyny, hatred, death, and genocide in the name of a God who, were he to exist, would be unworthy of my love. An all powerful being that takes no action to stop the suffering of his children is clearly EVIL. If the Bible is to be believed, God commanded his people to actively seek out and kill those who did not worship him.

To take Pascal's wager and "believe" in order to hedge your bets and get into a heaven if there is one is ridiculous and shows the lowest form of moral fiber. I lead a moral life because it is good for the species. I treat others with respect and love because disrespect and hate damages the species. I don't need a cookie after I die from a jealous, childish, destructive, impotent bearded old voyeur in the sky for my good works. Passing on a better world to my children is reward enough for me. Sheep who do good works out of fear of punishment or hope of reward are a sorry lot indeed.

I leave you with this, the holocaust, slavery, the inquisition, the crusades, and the witch hunts were all faith based initiatives. All were justified by various interpretations of Christian scripture. The Bible has served as the cause for more killing, hatred, and persecution than any other book. Hands down.

To No1home2day: You really buy that crap? Seriously? You talk about evidence for evolution lacking. And somehow that makes your case for God, for which you have absolutely zero evidence, stronger? How intellectually dishonest do you have to be to set up straw man arguments, I am guessing you weren't paying attention to "Origin of Species", and then knock them down by saying that theory is impossible because God did it. Evolution has stood up to over a century of rigorous testing. God can't even pass a simple hypothesis. Evolution is accepted as fact and proven to be so. They only people who haven't accepted that have closed their eyes to the definition of evidence. 2000 year old untestable words are NOT EVIDENCE! Evidence involves something you can see, smell, taste, touch, test, and detect in some way. Your God passes none of those tests.

Answer 7

Atheists do believe in GOD. That's why they spend all of their time trying to discount HIM. If their were no GOD, why would they even talk about it? HE lives in his faithful. Atheists want to destroy GOD. Therefore they try to tear down his faithful. They cannot rest until there is no one that disagrees with them. It is their conscience bothering them.

I never discuss there being no Santa. Not one time in my life have I tried to disprove Santa. I have never laughed at anyone's belief in Santa. I've never been involved in scientific studies to disprove Santa. That's because there is no Santa so why would I waste energy disproving something that doesn't exist?

Answer 8

I think one reason that we keep asking that is because we have such a relationship with our Creator that we cannot imagine someone not believing. I've seen plenty of people here post that they think atheists actually do believe, but they dont admit it. I really think that too, and its just because I cannot imagine someone not ever believing. Its hard, but honestly- thats inside the mind of most believers.

Answer 9

If God doesn't want you, you shouldn't. There is a pervasive idea out there that God loves everybody. That isn't true, He doesn't. He made some to die, twice. I could give you chapter and verse, but you said you didn't want that.

Only those who God wants are capable of believing in Him. All the others are screwed.

Answer 10

Because on your own you can't stand.- sure to fall.