if atheists don't believe in god because they don't want to believe...?

Question

a somewhat popular claim i've heard being passed around by christians is that atheists don't believe in god because they do not want to believe in god. by that same line of logic, is it fair to assume that christians only believe in a god because they want to believe in a god? if that's the case, are things only true if we want to believe they are true, or does truth exist outside of what we want or don't want to believe?

Answer 1

I think atheists do not believe in God because they are not convinced there is a God. Christians are convinced there is a God, once convinced the you must believe.

Truth is not relative, it is absolute. Our perception of the truth is relative, but this has no bearing on the actual truth itself.

Answer 2

I agree with you.
I haven't heard that atheists don't want to believe in God. It doesn't make much sense. It's so much easier to believe in God. There's a set of rules and 'morals' to live your life by which if you follow you'll be rewarded. I'm atheist myself and I think it would be far easier to believe in god but I don't. It's just never been a concept I could agree with.
I agree with your argument though, because to me (don't be offended, religious people) for a lot of people religion is a crutch. People turn to religion when in trouble and when something good or bad comes of it they say it was God's will and will keep hope from that, hoping that God's will for them is eventually going to be great, even if it was just something good or bad that would have happened anyway. Having said that it doesn't apply for all people.

Now, to your argument about truth. If we take your first two arguments as premises and the last argument as a conclusion (even though it's a question) it logically does follow. I think it's fair to say that it could be true, but like msot arguments we can never really prove it.

Here's an analogy. If you committed a crime but truly believed you weren't guilty even with evidence against you, then in your own world you would still be not guilty even though you actually commited the crime. Others would see you as guilty, but it is unclear as to whether it's because they want to see you that way or not. Humans are generally judgemental beings so they would probably have a judgement as to whether they think you should be found guilty whether you are or not. The more information brought to the case might change the jury's opinion. Say they found out you were mentally ill and did not have any control over committing the crime. This may make some people decide that you are not responisble for the crime.

It's very much like your two premises. People may instinctively want to or not want to believe a certain thing and they will live like their decision is true. If they find out more information to the contrary of their judgement/belief, they might change their mind as to what is right.

Answer 3

the age old system says believe it and it will be so. Mind over matter.....Organized systems of faith exist to keep the masses in the dark. It is much easier to think at the time, it is all caused by something outside of our will,pass the buck if you will,ie; I cannot believe I am so very bad so it must be god who thinks me bad,otherwise this would not be happening to me.Or on the other hand that god has blessed a good person over all others. It is hard to get but my thought is, if IT does not make my own life better or worse, it does not matter.

Answer 4

It exists outside of what we believe and that is the reason organized religion has always been the enemy of knowledge and reason. The Dark Ages existed because all non-Biblical “knowledge” was completely suppressed; and people who questioned or contradicted the Church were tortured and killed.

Creationism and ID, similarly, are attempts to silence scientific truth and eliminate scientific knowledge. Because Creationism has no supporting evidence and ID is completely beyond the investigative limits of science, believers attempt to redefine what science is so that it is no different mythology. The result is that, as you say, belief becomes truth; and, so, religion destroys truth and replaces it with belief.

Answer 5

Of course truth exists outside what we know or believe. Science is still looking for proof around us everywhere and slowly building up knowledge so we can make our own minds up.
Atheists are just the sort of people who need to see some evidence first. They cannot believe in something that someone made up from their imagination.
It is also good to have faith in what you feel and what you understand and what you see .
People need to believe in god because it gives them hope. We all need to feel someone is with us in times of despair and grief and sadness. Belief in a higher being makes us feel better.

Answer 6

according to gnoseology, the truth is a conformity of the mind and the thing outside of the mind...So the truth of the existence of God does not rely only on what you have in mind, or what you want to believe in....it is objective truth...However, i think there is also a need to categorize the degrees of atheism...there are atheist who do not want to believe in God, and there are those who do not really believe the existence of God, so by logic, atheists can be true in saying that they do not believe in God because God does not exist anyway. But according to your questionm it is also unfair to presume that the belief of the Christians are because they want to believe in God...And it is important to note that believing does not rely on logic but on reality....belief denotes faith not reason which the instrument use in logic...You cannot apply antibiotic to your aching head do you... Belief cannot only be understood through reasoning, but faith....so the requirement is FAITH not WANT.

Answer 7

yes truth does exist outside of our perception or interpretation of the facts. Example. No matter whether I believe in day or night.
Their is a point in space-time that on earth the light of the sun shine more. That's called day. Now, whether I want to call it day or (jsbbj) it's still true that the sun and earth because gravity will rotate. The sun rotates in place and the earth orbits the sun. That is fact whether I believe it or not.

Just like it is fact that God created everything

Answer 8

well, i am a christian and i myself have never heard that belief... all i ever hear is that atheists dont believe in god or ANY god, any religion, because it just doesnt make sense to them...
it doenst REALLY make sense to any christians either... but we believe because we feel it in our HEARTS, not just because we WANT to. Atheists probably go by their minds rather than their hearts.
no, things are not true only if we want to believe they are. if it was, people wouldnt die, get sick, get killed, etc. the truth exists no matter what we want to believe. it just isnt in our hands to decide.

Answer 9

actually most atheists do believe God, Just not the God of one hundred or 1000 years ago.. Remember the Romans called Christians atheists. Christians refused to believe in the old gods

Answer 10

I wanted to and tried REALLY hard to believe in god for many years. It never worked. I can't believe in something that makes no sense.

I don't buy the "things are only true if we want to believe they are true thing" because there are lots of things I wish were true. I wish fairies and elves existed and the world was a big, flowery fantasy place, but I have brains enough to know it isn't.

The truth often exists way way way far out from what we want or don't want. The truth is the truth and a lie is a lie.

Answer 11

Hmm...there have been some studies which support existence borne of belief.

In physics, matter has been recorded, unexpectedly.

I actually believe in a greater potential because we've recorded the unexpected. I think the truth lies outside of man's expectations and concocted stories.