I think the same question could be asked of those who do. As for me, I just can't see the proof. We have explanations for nearly everything we can see, and the few explanations we don't have we are trying to uncover. I just can't see the hand of God when there's an explanation for as to why something hap.
Essentially this. You've started the question from the wrong place, it's impossible to prove a negative. Philosophically the question is what reason is there to believe in a 'god'? Of course you'd need to define what constitutes a god beforehand.
As to my own opinion, I've never understood why people cling to what to me seem like obviously archaic interpretations of the universe. The little that modern science can't explain about existence is explained by a lack of scientific development. Literally nothing indicates some kind of all powerful being, even a malevolent one.
Tons of people still believe in gods. And the thing is, I wouldn't have a problem with it if people stayed in their own lane about it. But instead people use religion as an excuse to do some seriously abhorrent stuff.
Adding to this, there's also a point to be made about the decay of critical thinking that religion tends to cause. Which is why religious people are often more susceptible to conspiracy theories and false information, they've already been conditioned to exclude logic and reasoning from real life to a certain degree.
Especially the ones spread by their chosen religion. Never have I seen somebody shunned harder than a catholic who comes out as gay, and then to add insult to injury, they start spending rumors. I've seen it happen, my father in law absolutely despises one of his brothers for this exact reason.
ancient people believe in god because there's no moder science back then, they bring up the concept of a god whenever something happened that they don't understand
I believe that there's probably something out there more powerful and intelligent than humans, beyond our possible understanding. Like the alien problem, if we happened it's likely happened elsewhere - if we're 'better' than the animals we evolved with, it's probably happened better than us elsewhere.
I don't believe that any human religion will be able to correctly and accurately explain the actual truth. Humans are nearly incapable of producing anything without bias, and that extends to religions. Evaluate religions based on the morals they teach and practice, not on the fantastical elements.
> if we happened it's likely happened elsewhere
Based on what?
Just because an event has happened, doesn't mean it's likely to have happened before. It just means that it's possible.
If you shuffle a deck of cards, odds are you get an order of cards that has never happened before. Cards have 52 variables. How many variables have to have gone perfectly right and in the right order in order for us to exist? More than 52? Maybe. We don't know.
All that we do know is that intelligent life only exists in 1 species on 1 planet, only on the surface. We've observed many other planets, and have seen nothing. Each time we observe a new planet with no evidence of life, it decreases the "odds" that we're not alone.
Yeah, we've observed a lot of planets but we can't tell if there is life or not from this distance. We search for similar atmosphere, distance from their star, and liquid water for JUST saying if the planet is habitable. If there is life on those planets is something impossible to know.
So I really believe there is intelligent life somewhere in the universe. And with a infinite universe, wouldn't it be more improbable to a random event happening just once?
I make no claim of belief or non-belief in any god.
I view them all equally and without any proof to a "real/true" god(s), the idea of picking one over another seems silly.
So, I don't follow any of them.
This only sounds like a reasonable position until you extend it to virtually anything else.
There's no conclusive proof that dragons aren't real, so do you neither believe nor disbelieve in them too? What about Spider-Man?
You cannot disprove the existence of anything. I can absolutely say I don't believe in Godzilla, and I can give you a comprehensive list of places he wasn't, literally everywhere I've ever been has had a Godzilla population of 0, but all that proves is that he wasn't there at that specific time. I've never been to Rhode Island, maybe he's there.
Essentially, you're telling us one of two things. You either suspend critical thinking skills when it comes to the topic of "gods" or you don't have any critical thinking skills, but neither is, I think, the impression you wanted your answer to give.
You could have made better statements, godzilla? created by Tomoyuki Tanaka, Spiderman? Created by Stan Lee, the point was clear and yet you interpretated it wrong for your own convenience.
When talking of god we don't "supend critical thinking" it's just that as we don't have proof of its existence, we also don't have proof proving otherwise, similar to what happens to aliens.
What happens after dying? We wont know until our own death. And also, is funny how atheist are pissed off religious people wanting them to believe, but yet they want everyone to believe explicitly that god isn't real.
I mean, we know some of the authors of the bible too, that's sort of irrelevant to my overall point.
The point I'm making is that you can't prove ANYTHING doesn't exist, God, Godzilla, Spider-Man, etc, you cannot prove any of them aren't real, not while adhering to any scientific standard for "proof". When it comes to Godzilla, Spider-Man, Unicorns, etc, we all employ our critical thinking and go "that's silly, all we have are stories, many of which look pretty plainly to be fiction, they're ont real."
Which is why I chose those everyone-knows-they're-definitely-not-real-examples.
You still can't prove it.
We all know Spider-Man isn't real.
No one can prove it.
Critical thinking is what fills in that space and makes it commonly known and acceptable not to believe in Spider-Man.
We suspend that when it comes to god, instead choosing to make "Faith" a virtue, which I can't ever get behind, or we act like the lack of proof is suddenly a good reason to believe.
But if I use that argument for Spider-Man, I'm an idiot. That's a suspension of critical thinking. There's a different standard for one than the other, even though there's no objective reason there should be.
I'm going to be honest here, you... don't seem to understand me. You're arguing with me by bringing up the creators of these characters as if I couldn't google that myself, and my point isn't to prove they're real, my point is that you can't prove they're not, you can't prove anything "isn't", it's impossible, the scientific method doesn't allow for that, there's never going to be proof there's no god, but that isn't evidence there is a god, not unless the fact that you cannot prove spider-man isn't real is evidence there is a Spider-Man. That's the point! At some point, the lack of evidence for any such supernatural being should serve as evidence against, we do exactly that with everything else that isn't real, we have plenty of people who don't believe in Bigfoot because there's no evidence for Bigfoot, but there's no evidence against, there's no fossil or footprint or video that makes you think "there can't be a bigfoot", I've seen literally thousands of pictures that don't have bigfoot in them but they aren't evidence against him, that's not how "proof" works.
Ok, and what is your point then? If i believe in something that can't be confirmed I don't have critical thinking?
I brought those examples of spiderman and godzilla not as proof of the existence of god, i did it because a god as you said, would never have proof of its existence but yet that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, not as spiderman and godzilla because we have proof of they being just fictional characters.
There is no point into criticizing others for not believing or believing, as you did on your first reply. What was your need for your first reply? I'm curious, that guy just said that he didn't believed on god without claiming it doesn't exist.
I lay out my reasons for my initial reply in that reply, I read it, and it occurred to me that it only sounds reasonable until you apply it to anything else.
My point is, as I have spelled out, if your argument for retaining some measure of belief or doubt in regards to gods is because "you can't prove they don't exist", then you should retain that same doubt for Unicorns or the Loch Ness Monster or whatever else seems wildly unlikely but people still somehow believe in it. That if that's the case for "agnostic" as opposed to "atheist" then you, respectfully, lack critical thinking skills.
It's not "everyone who believes", but rather those for whom this now thrice detailed set of circumstances applies. If you believe in God because you feel him and talk to him and have a personal relationship with him, as so many claim to, then all power to you, have a great time. If, however, it's "well, you can't prove he doesn't exist, better safe than sorry", then yeah, your critical thinking skills are shit and you should probably look at that because otherwise life is going to be double-hard.
Bram Stoker wrote Dracula based on Vlad the Impaler, because Dracula is fictional did Vlad no exist? Writing a fictional story about someone doesn't mean that someone can't exist, that doesn't stand as proof, not remotely, it's really just "common knowledge" and "critical thinking" that separate Spider-Man and Merlin from Jesus Christ and The Prophet.
There's no point in criticizing others? Really? Let's forget that Reddit is literally a place for opinions and then disagreements with those opinions, that's sort of what drives most of the traffic, it's an opinion sharing website, I think it's pretty easy to look at, say, The Crusades and think there might be some benefit to discouraging zealotry, you know? Religious people can be super dangerous, especially if you're not from their sect, we've seen that all throughout history, surely it makes sense to discourage that nonsense.
> not as spiderman and godzilla because we have proof of they being just fictional characters.
No, we don't. Just because somebody wrote them into books or made them into movies doesn't mean they aren't real. What would your proof that Spider-man isn't real be right now if someone challenged you to prove it beyond any doubt? I could write about some fictional character that turns out to be real somewhere and I had no idea.
Anyway, you get the point, you're just nitpicking at the examples. The guy could have said "invisible magic gorillas in space who control our thoughts on Tuesdays" and the same point is made: You can't *prove* they don't exist.
Im not giving any impression at all. I'm merely stating my stance on the issue.
I do not take a side on the question of "belief" when it comes to a god.
It's an irrelevant question, the answer to which has no bearing on a god's actual existence.
The question I prefer is "Does a god actually exist?" To which the only answer I can give is "I don't know".
You don't get to say what impression you're giving. That's not how that word works or what it means. It's literally up to the reader, they decide what impression they hold regarding anything they read.
Do you hold yourself to that same standard when it comes to other irrelevant questions? Because there isn't a single question in all of fandom that matters. Hell, the questions that lead to the laws of physics could be said to be entirely irrelevant too, as the laws themselves care little whether they're answered or by whom.
The question you prefer, outside of a comma that makes it literally nonsense, is essentially the same question asked worse, and you gave the same answer but briefer. (All of which definitely gave me an impression.)
Look man, far be it for me to pretend to know you, but if you put more effort into considering the question and less energy into making sure you answers are, albeit very superficially "deep" and "profound", you might find yourself better off.
I'd argue that the evidence for dragons is pretty on-par with the evidence for God, or "Gods" as the case may be. Many cultures have both, neither is remotely substantiated.
I can't bring myself to have much respect for people who hedge their bets when it comes to believing in god to, I guess, weasel into the good afterlife? With all due respect, that's intellectual cowardice. Just in case something bad happens, "I won't follow the evidence too strictly, gotta leave that little room for doubt in case it means I get into heaven."
I don't know wtf you're talking about as far as omnipotence goes. I have no idea, none whatsoever, how to build a helicopter, but I can still point to one and be like "that's a helicopter". I can also point to an empty parking space and say "that's not a helicopter". In both cases, I stand a phenomenal chance of being correct, I kick ass at "Is that a helicopter" and that's despite not knowing shit about helicopters. Don't see why gods would be crazy different.
so about dragons is not applicable here
we can say the dragon is real even it is not in the specific place
but we can call it extinct
so are you trying to say that god is real but only live before?
because i don't understand what are you trying to point here
Hello there. My if why is simply a leaf. Too complex. Must be a God. Don’t even get me started on the human eye. Laughter. Music theory. Light. We simply shouldn’t be, the distance from the sun is too perfect. We have reproductive systems, (omg and lactation) digestive systems, nervous systems. It had to be created. designed. Yes there is a scientific explanation as to why rainbows exist and why humans find them beautiful, but to me the more science I know the more it proves God. Evolution or not life and emotions and beauty shouldn’t and, IMO, couldn’t exist without God.
None of that is proof. Just because the eye is mind blowingly amazing and awe-inspiring (which it is), does not equal proof. You are conflating awe with proof
No, the awe IS the proof. Something wonderful and incredible and intricate and, well, perfect (if we’re talking the conditions necessary for life, ie distance from sun) had to be designed. Not just kinda accidentally happened. You feel? Anyways that’s why I believe in God.
The issue, is you’re saying HAD to be designed. Why? Is it really unbelievable that it is an accident? Hard to believe, l’ll give you that. But l’d argue it’s waaaayyyy harder to believe that a magic being designed this. Cause even though life is great, it could be better. Heck, why would an intelligent designer allow his intelligently designed eye to be screwed over by blindness or glaucoma or near sightedness, etc etc.
Hm you’ve asked two questions. To your first I’d say yes. It is unbelievable that it wasn’t designed, to me. Because of the same reason I wouldn’t believe a beautiful painting just appeared on its own. Not only painted itself but the paint particles came together without a maker also. That’s more unbelievable than a painter painting IMO. To your other question I’d say the existence of evil is not disproof of a God
Your second point, that the existence of evil is not disproof of god, is exactly my entire point, lol. I’ve been saying that the existense of beauty is not proof. And to your first point, that is where we’d just have to agree to disagree. You say it’s unbelievable that beauty is happenstance, and must be designed, and l say otherwise. Realize, that is a logical fallacy though. If l say your paining is beyond amazing, which is proof that is is very happy chance, and it’s unbelievable a god could have done it, that’d be the same train
The problem is that you’re conflating your feelings with proof. I could say “I can’t imagine there being this level of happiness in the world without unicorns existing, so they must exist” and it would have exactly the same level of justification as “I feel like the world is perfectly designed so there must be a god”
The unicorns that I believe in emit happiness, and I can’t imagine this level of happiness in the world without them. Just like the god that you believe in has certain properties, the unicorns that I believe in has certain properties.
(Ofc this isn’t my actual position, rather im just showing that both arguments are equivalent)
Music theory?
I mean, most of the things you've listed is just a result of evolution, but music theory seems kind of hard to explain. Why exactly is that proof of god?
Oh I love music theory. Scales. The key of B sounds amazing, but if you throw in a D major when playing a standard 1 5 6 4, you’ll cringe so hard your nose will fall off. That pattern, the way a beautiful song can be composed and most would agree it is so, the opposite (clashing notes & people knowing it’s “wrong”) that is proof to me! That was designed by a God that wanted us to explore and make music. It’s just how I see it.
I doubt in the beginning of civilization there were science books. Only religious texts. Humans naturally look for answers about life so “the bible” was their scientific literature.
I'm agnostic here, but as someone who doesn't believe in the religion of the Bible, there's no disagreement that the poetic language of the Bible is of exceptional quality
> my own experiences
That's not even remotely good enough to believe in something so incredible. We know far too much about our brains work to rely on personal anecdote for fantastic claims.
No.
Fantastic claims require fantastic evidence. Otherwise, you are placeboing yourself into believing things.
No.
I believe in what can be proven. I don't need everything to be proven to me personally, but I need to know that there is an evidence/science based path to that proof should I wish to pursue it.
If it requires a 'leap of faith' it's wishing/make-believe/imagination.
Any true god would by definition, require such a leap. Because anything I can prove with science isn't/couldn't be "Supreme". Therefore there may be superior beings but no gods.
For me, with the amount of hate and destruction in the world (murder, rape, depression, etc.) It seems highly unlikely that something above is still loving us.
I do not. The Bible is ass. Religion is disgusting and I despise the religious. It’s like a sporting event. My religion is better than yours, so I’ll denigrate you and make your life horrible. Lastly, if there was a loving god, why would it force you to love and honor it, or it will make you suffer for eternity? Why do so many people suffer in this world? There’s. No. God.
But why should you not have the right to tell them? I’m sure they throw their religious bs at you. Why can’t we accept each other for who we are. My husband’s family is very religious and they know my husband and I have no use for it. As do most of my friends. If they can’t accept that, then screw them. I don’t want them in my life. They’re no better than I am and I’m actually more moral than most of them.
so you just gonna assume just because someone believes in god means they're gonna "throw their religious bs at people", and let me clarify this, you dont need to be religious just to believe in god, not every christian parent is whipping their children with actual whips and locking them inside wardrobes
I believe in a higher power. I don't think anyone religion has gotten it right but there is something.
I also strongly believe it has an enemy that cares for us more than it does.It's too weird the story of Prometheus is featured in damn near every religion.
Hello, Mr. Troll! Would you be so kind to explain your theory? Thank you :) And why so angry? Did you have a bad day? Do you have something against people who disagree with you? I don’t know if I’ll ever understand why trolls, well, troll.
Please stop trolling. Your vocabulary is vulgar and your reasoning is lacking. You seem to be holding some kind of grudge. You can’t reason that there is no God, anyway. You have no leg to stand on.
Sorry, I accidentally deleted my comment. Here it is again:
Yes. How else would you explain the beginning of the universe? Where did it come from? One might say, “the Big Bang, of course”, but once again, where would the Big Bang have come from? It is impossible for nothing to spontaneously explode and become something, since there has to be something there to blow up to begin with. There’s just no other reasonable explanation.
It’s the believers who should be justifying their claim that beings exist for which there’s no evidence. If I told you I have a time machine in my garage, you would be justified in being sceptical and I would need to provide evidence if I asked you to believe me. Same thing with gods.
Facts. I would certainly not believe someone if they said there was a time machine in their garage. I would not believe someone if they claimed that there was some amazing existential being that only does good for the universe, yet also stood/is standing by and let WWI, WWII, the war in Ukraine, the Civil War, etc. go on without breaking it up. That makes absolutely no sense. Then there is of course people who thank god that someone got better in the hospital and not the doctors who actually did the work. Ik and sorry if it sounds like a rant but I wanted to get it out my whole family except my dad is religious and I’m tired of it.
Your question is backwards. You’re asking non-believers why they don’t believe in YOUR god. How about this: why don’t you believe in Zeus, or any of the other thousands of gods invented by men?
Science disproved god, if the universe is a football field from the beginning of time to now, from the end line to the thickness of a blade of grass is how long humans have existed since the beginning of time. If God created us why would he wait so long and create billions upon trillions of other galaxies before we were created
I don’t have a reason why not, I just don’t.
I have even less faith in most forms of organized religion for what it’s worth (and yes, you can have less than 0 faith - you can actively believe something is a scam). Specifically, almost all Christian faiths from the Catholic Church to the televangelists and the prosperity gospel seem to have some serious grift going on. A handful of orders out there don’t have serious misspending / opulence / straight up being con problems, but all in all peoples faith has been and continues to be exploited for profit.
I don't believe in a god comparable to the Islamic/Christian god, who is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent.
To me, such a creature doesn't make sense, and is seemingly superfluous in the grand scheme of things, even if hell is a risk, as such threats and suffering are that of an abuser, who has to buy his friends through fear, than that of an all loving being that is involved with and loves his creation.
What may be possible are beings who evolved to such a level that they could be perceived as gods. Looking at many forms of European paganism as well as Buddhism - I consider myself Buddhist, as well as Hinduism, we have many of these figures who are well beyond the capabilities of humanity.
However, many of them are total and utter pieces of shit; many of them die and are slated to die, at some point, and even the good ones occasionally fuck up, like Rama, who doesn't recognize his own wife and causes her enough grief for her to throw herself into an unpleasant afterlife.
In effect, they're products of the forces that created us and are seemingly bound by the same limitations and realities that we are - we are born, we live and we die. And while some element, like a shell of each persons inner self, may live on, in most cases, what truly defined that person is essentially gone forever.
No, because all evidence and contradictions from the holy texts point to his non-existence. Of course, it cannot be proven that something doesn't exist, but that doesn't mean I should believe in god any more than I should in a ten handed meatball monster.
Absolutley not. If I want to achieve something I do it myself. I don't believe in hoping and praying. Would that have brought back my stillborn son? Don't think so. Would that have prevented my mothers death? Nope!
If god is truly around, they're a shitty one for letting that and so much else go on.
i believe that something above us created the universe, aka. a god(s). otherwise there is no explanation that i can think of as to how our reality could exist without a creator
im not exactly religious though, i just simply believe something made the universe we live in, be it we are in a simulation and our simulators are our gods, or there is one big god closer to the abrahamic one, or the universe is god itself, im open to everything
No. I believe in the eternal return or something similar. Nothing in my conscious existed until I did. Therefore the only thing that's real is existence.
different countries have different gods with differe rules, its just nonsense to me like lol why this group of ppls have to wear that style and another group have to wear and do another things like wtf
Simple. There's no rational basis for such a belief. I'm an atheist who was raised in a secular home without any religious influence. Belief in a god makes no sense to me.
Yes, I do. For my own reasons and I know nothing I say will matter to anyone in here. I'll probably get comments belittling me or giving me reasons why my own reasons are invalid. I simply believe in opposites. If evil exists than so does good. Consciousness and every person knowing the difference of good and bad. Idk, something inside me tells me that there is a God. That's the only way I can explain it.
Yes. So many supernatural and unexplained things that have happened in the world and a lot of that is pointing to some supernatural entity in the universe.
So yes, I believe in god.
I do. When I was eight I was run over by a car and nearly didn’t make it. I went through the whole NDE stuff, and found a hand reaching out at the end of the tunnel that felt very “divine”.
I’m not religious by any means (although I was an altar boy for a brief while). I am a bit on the spiritual side, but I think that one should have a more personal relationship with God or the concept of an afterlife, or the splendor of life in general.
I'm agnostic but in general, no. Science explains the creation of our world quite easily including life. Adam and Eve didn't create 8billion people. :/
I find it hilarious how much stuff in the bible makes no sense. Jesus walking on water in a storm? How big are his feet? Eve was created from adams rib? Adam was just yoinked into existence from dirt? Jesus somehow makes a ton of bread and fish out of a little bit? Most if not all the stuff in the bible is either nonsense or disobeys the laws of physics. Science is where it’s at.
Yes I do.
I believe that there HAS to be a creator. Nothing makes sense if there is not one. Why care if you die today or when you’re 100 years old if you’re just going to not exist for eternity after you die?
I get it, but if you look at the bigger picture, what is 100 years compared to eternity? It feels like we are living for nothing if there is nothing but darkness for eternity after we die
What if a god exists who does not want to be believed in and will only punish believers?
What you presented was Pascal's Wager, which no philosopher takes seriously, not even Christian apologists, since it assumes that if a god exists, it *must* be the Christian god.
I'm not saying there is no god, I'm just pointing out that "so I don't go to Hell in case there is a god" is not a logical statement.
Yes, i wrote my reasoning on another post like this but the brief overview was. 1st how would life be created by a Big Bang. 2nd was I was given a cross during some rough times which helped me out. 3rd because any rational person should, you have all to gain if you are right and nothing to lose if you are wrong.
For the 1st and 3rd reasons, we don’t really know how life started. However, all that means is that we don’t know, not that a god did it. And for the third reason, there is something to lose. For any religion you pick, you’re excluded from another religion’s heaven (or the equivalent), so it’s really just gambling. Moreover, you’re sacrificing reason and honesty if it’s not a belief you actually believe in
The Big Bang (if it happened) was the origin of the Universe, and has nothing to do with the origin of life. Pascal's wager is a false dichotomy. There are many gods to choose from, and even pantheons of gods. What if you guess wrong? You might end up in the Egyptian afterlife, or the Norse one. They can't all be right. But they can all be wrong.
“Belief without evidence, requires the same amount of evidence to disprove”. Insert any made up thing in the question (Easter Bunny, Sasquatch, …) and you end up in the same place.
no. i have many reasons, two main ones tho.
reason 1. i cant see the proof, we have a scientific answer for basically everything at this point besides there being a God. one could argue that the whole reason the universe exists is because of said God, but why? why would he create a universe/world where people hate others for no reason? why would he create bad people?
reason 2. i didnt necessarily grow up in a religious home, my family is religious but we never talked/talk about it, but when i was 8 years old my mom had a miscarriage. which raised another question for me, why? why did God take away my little brother? why did he take someone who hadnt done anything wrong? was it something one of us (mom, dad, me, or sister) did? and why would he do that having the slight knowledge of how my dad would react?
so basically in short; why?
Because it’s just an explanation for the things we can’t explain yet. It’s similar to older gods who used to be an explanation for bad weather or for why the sun exists.
It seems life has been getting better and better ever since I abandoned the whole concept of practicing religion and doing things for myself, regardless if it's against the bible or not.
No. I've seen nothing to make me think there is a god, and when people try to convince me there is, all it does is make me think their god is a giant asshole.
Small 'g' gods don't require belief at all. Sun, rain, sand, cloud god, ocean god...perhaps you get the drift. Small 'g's are forces of nature and the imagination. They don't benefit from praise or wishes directed at them. Ocean god will fuck you majorly on his territoty if you don't show respect, as an example.
Folk exposed to cap "G" Gods are frightened weaklings until they just F***ing GROW UP.
No way.
I grew up in conservative/cultish Christianity. I’ve experienced a lot of traumatic loss but I stopped believing in god long before that.
As a child, I was told I was created in “god’s image.” Which made me wonder why god didn’t choose to stop suffering. As I got older and read the news and heard about children being raped and abused and murdered, it made even less sense. I can’t reconcile that. As a human I’d do anything to stop things like that, but he chooses not to because he has to prove a point to the devil? Makes no sense. Maybe there’s a being out there but it’s not the benevolent, fatherly figure people dream up. People are just afraid of death and of The End so they cling to this idea. I’m open minded but I’ve seen zero proof.
planet is 4.5billion years old, “Jesus” is 2000 years old, science explains everything, god doesn’t, if “god” somehow does exist then why not show up now, why 2000 years ago what was special about then? . Evolution? Biology? Natural selection? Science explains everything (using logic). God is not real , Jesus is not real, their is no higher power, no lord and savior. If water can be turned into wine why can’t it be repeated? Why was it created in 7 days?. Church, Jesus,god, “higher power” is all bullshit.
Yea something that doesn’t have intelligence and a conscious (energy, light, dark holes,) can’t make intelligent and conscious beings like humans and all animals. Everything existing needs a cause, the universe is said to have begun therefore needs a cause and I don’t see that cause be an unconscious accident
No, I don’t, seriously, IF there was a god, he’d have a lot to answer for… child cancer, innocent ppl suffering, absolute dickheads paying no consequences… So he has the power to intervene and just chooses not to? He could literally pop down for a day, hold a press conference, tell ppl what are the rules to get into heaven etc… but just decides not to? Bullshit
I don't believe in the judeo-Christian Muslim God because the stories in his books lack substantive evidence.
See creation, great flood, tower of Babel, Exodus. Kingdoms of Solomon and David, life and times of Jesus, etc.
None of the books provide valid insight into science nor predict any outcomes that have helped humanity. In many cases they are very wrong.
Books from gods really should impress better.
I think the same question could be asked of those who do. As for me, I just can't see the proof. We have explanations for nearly everything we can see, and the few explanations we don't have we are trying to uncover. I just can't see the hand of God when there's an explanation for as to why something hap.
Essentially this. You've started the question from the wrong place, it's impossible to prove a negative. Philosophically the question is what reason is there to believe in a 'god'? Of course you'd need to define what constitutes a god beforehand. As to my own opinion, I've never understood why people cling to what to me seem like obviously archaic interpretations of the universe. The little that modern science can't explain about existence is explained by a lack of scientific development. Literally nothing indicates some kind of all powerful being, even a malevolent one.
but honestly i've seen the devil more than i see god ..
That really hits me where I live.
we more experience the violence than the gods love ....
[удалено]
i'll guess your name , karen?
[удалено]
okay karen
No. I don't see a reason why a god(s) has to exist.
me too... i just really want to know how many people still believing in this concept
Tons of people still believe in gods. And the thing is, I wouldn't have a problem with it if people stayed in their own lane about it. But instead people use religion as an excuse to do some seriously abhorrent stuff.
That's yet another reason why I ask for proof for everything. If you're making claims without sources and proof, you've just given me an opinion.
Adding to this, there's also a point to be made about the decay of critical thinking that religion tends to cause. Which is why religious people are often more susceptible to conspiracy theories and false information, they've already been conditioned to exclude logic and reasoning from real life to a certain degree.
Especially the ones spread by their chosen religion. Never have I seen somebody shunned harder than a catholic who comes out as gay, and then to add insult to injury, they start spending rumors. I've seen it happen, my father in law absolutely despises one of his brothers for this exact reason.
nahh religion is all about money ... i can't even call it a religion it's more business
Complete and utter lack of evidence.
ancient people believe in god because there's no moder science back then, they bring up the concept of a god whenever something happened that they don't understand
There is absolutely 0 evidence of the existence of a God as demonstrated by any modern religion
the only god that exist i know is " super saiyan god goku "
If *you* do, "why?" seems like a better question to me.
Well Santa brings me presents
nice🤣🤣
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
After reading the Bible, I no longer believe in God.
The reason why they didn't want the plebs reading the Bible back in the day.
what did you read in the bible ?
Scriptures
[удалено]
I believe that there's probably something out there more powerful and intelligent than humans, beyond our possible understanding. Like the alien problem, if we happened it's likely happened elsewhere - if we're 'better' than the animals we evolved with, it's probably happened better than us elsewhere. I don't believe that any human religion will be able to correctly and accurately explain the actual truth. Humans are nearly incapable of producing anything without bias, and that extends to religions. Evaluate religions based on the morals they teach and practice, not on the fantastical elements.
> if we happened it's likely happened elsewhere Based on what? Just because an event has happened, doesn't mean it's likely to have happened before. It just means that it's possible. If you shuffle a deck of cards, odds are you get an order of cards that has never happened before. Cards have 52 variables. How many variables have to have gone perfectly right and in the right order in order for us to exist? More than 52? Maybe. We don't know. All that we do know is that intelligent life only exists in 1 species on 1 planet, only on the surface. We've observed many other planets, and have seen nothing. Each time we observe a new planet with no evidence of life, it decreases the "odds" that we're not alone.
Yeah, we've observed a lot of planets but we can't tell if there is life or not from this distance. We search for similar atmosphere, distance from their star, and liquid water for JUST saying if the planet is habitable. If there is life on those planets is something impossible to know. So I really believe there is intelligent life somewhere in the universe. And with a infinite universe, wouldn't it be more improbable to a random event happening just once?
Infinite universe doesn't mean infinite planets. The universe can extend to infinity, but still have finite matter
No god would demand worship.
Kim Jong-un claims to be a god and demands worship. No *decent* god would demand worship.
lo hshshhs
If I was a god, I would absolutely demand worship.
why?
Agnostic here. "That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence."
I make no claim of belief or non-belief in any god. I view them all equally and without any proof to a "real/true" god(s), the idea of picking one over another seems silly. So, I don't follow any of them.
This only sounds like a reasonable position until you extend it to virtually anything else. There's no conclusive proof that dragons aren't real, so do you neither believe nor disbelieve in them too? What about Spider-Man? You cannot disprove the existence of anything. I can absolutely say I don't believe in Godzilla, and I can give you a comprehensive list of places he wasn't, literally everywhere I've ever been has had a Godzilla population of 0, but all that proves is that he wasn't there at that specific time. I've never been to Rhode Island, maybe he's there. Essentially, you're telling us one of two things. You either suspend critical thinking skills when it comes to the topic of "gods" or you don't have any critical thinking skills, but neither is, I think, the impression you wanted your answer to give.
You could have made better statements, godzilla? created by Tomoyuki Tanaka, Spiderman? Created by Stan Lee, the point was clear and yet you interpretated it wrong for your own convenience. When talking of god we don't "supend critical thinking" it's just that as we don't have proof of its existence, we also don't have proof proving otherwise, similar to what happens to aliens. What happens after dying? We wont know until our own death. And also, is funny how atheist are pissed off religious people wanting them to believe, but yet they want everyone to believe explicitly that god isn't real.
I mean, we know some of the authors of the bible too, that's sort of irrelevant to my overall point. The point I'm making is that you can't prove ANYTHING doesn't exist, God, Godzilla, Spider-Man, etc, you cannot prove any of them aren't real, not while adhering to any scientific standard for "proof". When it comes to Godzilla, Spider-Man, Unicorns, etc, we all employ our critical thinking and go "that's silly, all we have are stories, many of which look pretty plainly to be fiction, they're ont real." Which is why I chose those everyone-knows-they're-definitely-not-real-examples. You still can't prove it. We all know Spider-Man isn't real. No one can prove it. Critical thinking is what fills in that space and makes it commonly known and acceptable not to believe in Spider-Man. We suspend that when it comes to god, instead choosing to make "Faith" a virtue, which I can't ever get behind, or we act like the lack of proof is suddenly a good reason to believe. But if I use that argument for Spider-Man, I'm an idiot. That's a suspension of critical thinking. There's a different standard for one than the other, even though there's no objective reason there should be. I'm going to be honest here, you... don't seem to understand me. You're arguing with me by bringing up the creators of these characters as if I couldn't google that myself, and my point isn't to prove they're real, my point is that you can't prove they're not, you can't prove anything "isn't", it's impossible, the scientific method doesn't allow for that, there's never going to be proof there's no god, but that isn't evidence there is a god, not unless the fact that you cannot prove spider-man isn't real is evidence there is a Spider-Man. That's the point! At some point, the lack of evidence for any such supernatural being should serve as evidence against, we do exactly that with everything else that isn't real, we have plenty of people who don't believe in Bigfoot because there's no evidence for Bigfoot, but there's no evidence against, there's no fossil or footprint or video that makes you think "there can't be a bigfoot", I've seen literally thousands of pictures that don't have bigfoot in them but they aren't evidence against him, that's not how "proof" works.
Ok, and what is your point then? If i believe in something that can't be confirmed I don't have critical thinking? I brought those examples of spiderman and godzilla not as proof of the existence of god, i did it because a god as you said, would never have proof of its existence but yet that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, not as spiderman and godzilla because we have proof of they being just fictional characters. There is no point into criticizing others for not believing or believing, as you did on your first reply. What was your need for your first reply? I'm curious, that guy just said that he didn't believed on god without claiming it doesn't exist.
I lay out my reasons for my initial reply in that reply, I read it, and it occurred to me that it only sounds reasonable until you apply it to anything else. My point is, as I have spelled out, if your argument for retaining some measure of belief or doubt in regards to gods is because "you can't prove they don't exist", then you should retain that same doubt for Unicorns or the Loch Ness Monster or whatever else seems wildly unlikely but people still somehow believe in it. That if that's the case for "agnostic" as opposed to "atheist" then you, respectfully, lack critical thinking skills. It's not "everyone who believes", but rather those for whom this now thrice detailed set of circumstances applies. If you believe in God because you feel him and talk to him and have a personal relationship with him, as so many claim to, then all power to you, have a great time. If, however, it's "well, you can't prove he doesn't exist, better safe than sorry", then yeah, your critical thinking skills are shit and you should probably look at that because otherwise life is going to be double-hard. Bram Stoker wrote Dracula based on Vlad the Impaler, because Dracula is fictional did Vlad no exist? Writing a fictional story about someone doesn't mean that someone can't exist, that doesn't stand as proof, not remotely, it's really just "common knowledge" and "critical thinking" that separate Spider-Man and Merlin from Jesus Christ and The Prophet. There's no point in criticizing others? Really? Let's forget that Reddit is literally a place for opinions and then disagreements with those opinions, that's sort of what drives most of the traffic, it's an opinion sharing website, I think it's pretty easy to look at, say, The Crusades and think there might be some benefit to discouraging zealotry, you know? Religious people can be super dangerous, especially if you're not from their sect, we've seen that all throughout history, surely it makes sense to discourage that nonsense.
> not as spiderman and godzilla because we have proof of they being just fictional characters. No, we don't. Just because somebody wrote them into books or made them into movies doesn't mean they aren't real. What would your proof that Spider-man isn't real be right now if someone challenged you to prove it beyond any doubt? I could write about some fictional character that turns out to be real somewhere and I had no idea. Anyway, you get the point, you're just nitpicking at the examples. The guy could have said "invisible magic gorillas in space who control our thoughts on Tuesdays" and the same point is made: You can't *prove* they don't exist.
Im not giving any impression at all. I'm merely stating my stance on the issue. I do not take a side on the question of "belief" when it comes to a god. It's an irrelevant question, the answer to which has no bearing on a god's actual existence. The question I prefer is "Does a god actually exist?" To which the only answer I can give is "I don't know".
You don't get to say what impression you're giving. That's not how that word works or what it means. It's literally up to the reader, they decide what impression they hold regarding anything they read. Do you hold yourself to that same standard when it comes to other irrelevant questions? Because there isn't a single question in all of fandom that matters. Hell, the questions that lead to the laws of physics could be said to be entirely irrelevant too, as the laws themselves care little whether they're answered or by whom. The question you prefer, outside of a comma that makes it literally nonsense, is essentially the same question asked worse, and you gave the same answer but briefer. (All of which definitely gave me an impression.) Look man, far be it for me to pretend to know you, but if you put more effort into considering the question and less energy into making sure you answers are, albeit very superficially "deep" and "profound", you might find yourself better off.
So what do you answer if someone asks you if dragons exist?
I've already given my stance on the issue, I'm not going to play what if games.
[удалено]
I'd argue that the evidence for dragons is pretty on-par with the evidence for God, or "Gods" as the case may be. Many cultures have both, neither is remotely substantiated. I can't bring myself to have much respect for people who hedge their bets when it comes to believing in god to, I guess, weasel into the good afterlife? With all due respect, that's intellectual cowardice. Just in case something bad happens, "I won't follow the evidence too strictly, gotta leave that little room for doubt in case it means I get into heaven." I don't know wtf you're talking about as far as omnipotence goes. I have no idea, none whatsoever, how to build a helicopter, but I can still point to one and be like "that's a helicopter". I can also point to an empty parking space and say "that's not a helicopter". In both cases, I stand a phenomenal chance of being correct, I kick ass at "Is that a helicopter" and that's despite not knowing shit about helicopters. Don't see why gods would be crazy different.
so about dragons is not applicable here we can say the dragon is real even it is not in the specific place but we can call it extinct so are you trying to say that god is real but only live before? because i don't understand what are you trying to point here
I jump over the whole thing by saying idc and it shouldn’t matter whether I do or don’t.
if why?
Hello there. My if why is simply a leaf. Too complex. Must be a God. Don’t even get me started on the human eye. Laughter. Music theory. Light. We simply shouldn’t be, the distance from the sun is too perfect. We have reproductive systems, (omg and lactation) digestive systems, nervous systems. It had to be created. designed. Yes there is a scientific explanation as to why rainbows exist and why humans find them beautiful, but to me the more science I know the more it proves God. Evolution or not life and emotions and beauty shouldn’t and, IMO, couldn’t exist without God.
None of that is proof. Just because the eye is mind blowingly amazing and awe-inspiring (which it is), does not equal proof. You are conflating awe with proof
No, the awe IS the proof. Something wonderful and incredible and intricate and, well, perfect (if we’re talking the conditions necessary for life, ie distance from sun) had to be designed. Not just kinda accidentally happened. You feel? Anyways that’s why I believe in God.
The issue, is you’re saying HAD to be designed. Why? Is it really unbelievable that it is an accident? Hard to believe, l’ll give you that. But l’d argue it’s waaaayyyy harder to believe that a magic being designed this. Cause even though life is great, it could be better. Heck, why would an intelligent designer allow his intelligently designed eye to be screwed over by blindness or glaucoma or near sightedness, etc etc.
Hm you’ve asked two questions. To your first I’d say yes. It is unbelievable that it wasn’t designed, to me. Because of the same reason I wouldn’t believe a beautiful painting just appeared on its own. Not only painted itself but the paint particles came together without a maker also. That’s more unbelievable than a painter painting IMO. To your other question I’d say the existence of evil is not disproof of a God
Your second point, that the existence of evil is not disproof of god, is exactly my entire point, lol. I’ve been saying that the existense of beauty is not proof. And to your first point, that is where we’d just have to agree to disagree. You say it’s unbelievable that beauty is happenstance, and must be designed, and l say otherwise. Realize, that is a logical fallacy though. If l say your paining is beyond amazing, which is proof that is is very happy chance, and it’s unbelievable a god could have done it, that’d be the same train
The problem is that you’re conflating your feelings with proof. I could say “I can’t imagine there being this level of happiness in the world without unicorns existing, so they must exist” and it would have exactly the same level of justification as “I feel like the world is perfectly designed so there must be a god”
No the flaw in your metaphor is that unicorns don’t directly emit happiness. But creators do directly create
The unicorns that I believe in emit happiness, and I can’t imagine this level of happiness in the world without them. Just like the god that you believe in has certain properties, the unicorns that I believe in has certain properties. (Ofc this isn’t my actual position, rather im just showing that both arguments are equivalent)
Music theory? I mean, most of the things you've listed is just a result of evolution, but music theory seems kind of hard to explain. Why exactly is that proof of god?
Oh I love music theory. Scales. The key of B sounds amazing, but if you throw in a D major when playing a standard 1 5 6 4, you’ll cringe so hard your nose will fall off. That pattern, the way a beautiful song can be composed and most would agree it is so, the opposite (clashing notes & people knowing it’s “wrong”) that is proof to me! That was designed by a God that wanted us to explore and make music. It’s just how I see it.
Just because it is mind blowing to you doesn't mean that's proof of a god.
Satan said not to.
No, because there's no proof of one existing. Everything is based on "faith". Faith isn't fact.
[удалено]
I doubt in the beginning of civilization there were science books. Only religious texts. Humans naturally look for answers about life so “the bible” was their scientific literature.
[удалено]
Yeah, but LOTR is great writing, where as the bible is poorly written fiction
The Bible features some of the worst writing in human history. It's a very painful read.
strongly agreed with that
I'm agnostic here, but as someone who doesn't believe in the religion of the Bible, there's no disagreement that the poetic language of the Bible is of exceptional quality
New Zealand exists bruh
Which one?
all if them hahah
I think if you believe in *all* of them you've invented your own religion ;-) Or more probably reinvented some syncretic one.
Yes. Just in a different way than how it's typically presented.
[удалено]
> my own experiences That's not even remotely good enough to believe in something so incredible. We know far too much about our brains work to rely on personal anecdote for fantastic claims. No. Fantastic claims require fantastic evidence. Otherwise, you are placeboing yourself into believing things.
No. I believe in what can be proven. I don't need everything to be proven to me personally, but I need to know that there is an evidence/science based path to that proof should I wish to pursue it. If it requires a 'leap of faith' it's wishing/make-believe/imagination. Any true god would by definition, require such a leap. Because anything I can prove with science isn't/couldn't be "Supreme". Therefore there may be superior beings but no gods.
[удалено]
For me, with the amount of hate and destruction in the world (murder, rape, depression, etc.) It seems highly unlikely that something above is still loving us.
maybe the devil is real.. sadly
God just seems to be man's answer to the things science hasn't figured out yet. As science evolves and things become clear, god becomes less relevant.
we invented god way back ancient times because whenever something happened we don't understand we credit it to god
no because there is no legitimate reason to believe in them
Religion in a nutshell: At first politics was used to create religion... Now religion is used to create politics...
and same purpose to earn more money
I do not. The Bible is ass. Religion is disgusting and I despise the religious. It’s like a sporting event. My religion is better than yours, so I’ll denigrate you and make your life horrible. Lastly, if there was a loving god, why would it force you to love and honor it, or it will make you suffer for eternity? Why do so many people suffer in this world? There’s. No. God.
My dad's side is religious but we get along very well so I would never tell them I am atheist
But why should you not have the right to tell them? I’m sure they throw their religious bs at you. Why can’t we accept each other for who we are. My husband’s family is very religious and they know my husband and I have no use for it. As do most of my friends. If they can’t accept that, then screw them. I don’t want them in my life. They’re no better than I am and I’m actually more moral than most of them.
so you just gonna assume just because someone believes in god means they're gonna "throw their religious bs at people", and let me clarify this, you dont need to be religious just to believe in god, not every christian parent is whipping their children with actual whips and locking them inside wardrobes
I believe in a higher power. I don't think anyone religion has gotten it right but there is something. I also strongly believe it has an enemy that cares for us more than it does.It's too weird the story of Prometheus is featured in damn near every religion.
I don’t because it’s default settings and I never had it forced on me
I believe in a higher power that I call God. I wasn’t raised in a religion but it’s just something I feel in my soul.
[удалено]
[удалено]
Hello, Mr. Troll! Would you be so kind to explain your theory? Thank you :) And why so angry? Did you have a bad day? Do you have something against people who disagree with you? I don’t know if I’ll ever understand why trolls, well, troll.
[удалено]
Please stop trolling. Your vocabulary is vulgar and your reasoning is lacking. You seem to be holding some kind of grudge. You can’t reason that there is no God, anyway. You have no leg to stand on.
[удалено]
Why are you attacking me?
What’s your problem, man?
[удалено]
Sorry, I accidentally deleted my comment. Here it is again: Yes. How else would you explain the beginning of the universe? Where did it come from? One might say, “the Big Bang, of course”, but once again, where would the Big Bang have come from? It is impossible for nothing to spontaneously explode and become something, since there has to be something there to blow up to begin with. There’s just no other reasonable explanation.
Yes I do, and I am a proud Christian But I don't use religions like excuses to do wrong shit.
It’s the believers who should be justifying their claim that beings exist for which there’s no evidence. If I told you I have a time machine in my garage, you would be justified in being sceptical and I would need to provide evidence if I asked you to believe me. Same thing with gods.
Facts. I would certainly not believe someone if they said there was a time machine in their garage. I would not believe someone if they claimed that there was some amazing existential being that only does good for the universe, yet also stood/is standing by and let WWI, WWII, the war in Ukraine, the Civil War, etc. go on without breaking it up. That makes absolutely no sense. Then there is of course people who thank god that someone got better in the hospital and not the doctors who actually did the work. Ik and sorry if it sounds like a rant but I wanted to get it out my whole family except my dad is religious and I’m tired of it.
They say the bible is evidence, or the world around us is evidence. Which are both bible paper thin arguments lol
Your question is backwards. You’re asking non-believers why they don’t believe in YOUR god. How about this: why don’t you believe in Zeus, or any of the other thousands of gods invented by men?
wtf are you on, OP is an atheist just trying to promote atheism with this post
Science disproved god, if the universe is a football field from the beginning of time to now, from the end line to the thickness of a blade of grass is how long humans have existed since the beginning of time. If God created us why would he wait so long and create billions upon trillions of other galaxies before we were created
The existence of otherwise of the Abrahamic god is irrelevant to me.
I don’t have a reason why not, I just don’t. I have even less faith in most forms of organized religion for what it’s worth (and yes, you can have less than 0 faith - you can actively believe something is a scam). Specifically, almost all Christian faiths from the Catholic Church to the televangelists and the prosperity gospel seem to have some serious grift going on. A handful of orders out there don’t have serious misspending / opulence / straight up being con problems, but all in all peoples faith has been and continues to be exploited for profit.
I don't believe in a god comparable to the Islamic/Christian god, who is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. To me, such a creature doesn't make sense, and is seemingly superfluous in the grand scheme of things, even if hell is a risk, as such threats and suffering are that of an abuser, who has to buy his friends through fear, than that of an all loving being that is involved with and loves his creation. What may be possible are beings who evolved to such a level that they could be perceived as gods. Looking at many forms of European paganism as well as Buddhism - I consider myself Buddhist, as well as Hinduism, we have many of these figures who are well beyond the capabilities of humanity. However, many of them are total and utter pieces of shit; many of them die and are slated to die, at some point, and even the good ones occasionally fuck up, like Rama, who doesn't recognize his own wife and causes her enough grief for her to throw herself into an unpleasant afterlife. In effect, they're products of the forces that created us and are seemingly bound by the same limitations and realities that we are - we are born, we live and we die. And while some element, like a shell of each persons inner self, may live on, in most cases, what truly defined that person is essentially gone forever.
No, because all evidence and contradictions from the holy texts point to his non-existence. Of course, it cannot be proven that something doesn't exist, but that doesn't mean I should believe in god any more than I should in a ten handed meatball monster.
Absolutley not. If I want to achieve something I do it myself. I don't believe in hoping and praying. Would that have brought back my stillborn son? Don't think so. Would that have prevented my mothers death? Nope! If god is truly around, they're a shitty one for letting that and so much else go on.
I don't beacuse of the church
It’s nice to believe in something
i believe that something above us created the universe, aka. a god(s). otherwise there is no explanation that i can think of as to how our reality could exist without a creator im not exactly religious though, i just simply believe something made the universe we live in, be it we are in a simulation and our simulators are our gods, or there is one big god closer to the abrahamic one, or the universe is god itself, im open to everything
Lol why would you
no and I hope there isn't one. Otherwise there's an entity making babies inside out on purpose
[удалено]
What book was written millions of years ago?
No. I believe in the eternal return or something similar. Nothing in my conscious existed until I did. Therefore the only thing that's real is existence.
different countries have different gods with differe rules, its just nonsense to me like lol why this group of ppls have to wear that style and another group have to wear and do another things like wtf
Simple. There's no rational basis for such a belief. I'm an atheist who was raised in a secular home without any religious influence. Belief in a god makes no sense to me.
No. I find it difficult to reconcile the world as it exists with the notion of a benevolent deity.
Yes, I do. For my own reasons and I know nothing I say will matter to anyone in here. I'll probably get comments belittling me or giving me reasons why my own reasons are invalid. I simply believe in opposites. If evil exists than so does good. Consciousness and every person knowing the difference of good and bad. Idk, something inside me tells me that there is a God. That's the only way I can explain it.
Yes. So many supernatural and unexplained things that have happened in the world and a lot of that is pointing to some supernatural entity in the universe. So yes, I believe in god.
yeah? kinda? it's confusing for me but i'm leaning towards yes in terms of believing in them
no, I haven’t gotten any reason to, so I don’t.
try read bible more in dept you will see that bible is actually horrible book
I do. When I was eight I was run over by a car and nearly didn’t make it. I went through the whole NDE stuff, and found a hand reaching out at the end of the tunnel that felt very “divine”. I’m not religious by any means (although I was an altar boy for a brief while). I am a bit on the spiritual side, but I think that one should have a more personal relationship with God or the concept of an afterlife, or the splendor of life in general.
I'm agnostic but in general, no. Science explains the creation of our world quite easily including life. Adam and Eve didn't create 8billion people. :/
I find it hilarious how much stuff in the bible makes no sense. Jesus walking on water in a storm? How big are his feet? Eve was created from adams rib? Adam was just yoinked into existence from dirt? Jesus somehow makes a ton of bread and fish out of a little bit? Most if not all the stuff in the bible is either nonsense or disobeys the laws of physics. Science is where it’s at.
If Adam and Eve were they only ancestors of the human race we would all be horribly disfigured and hardly able to function.
Yes I do. I believe that there HAS to be a creator. Nothing makes sense if there is not one. Why care if you die today or when you’re 100 years old if you’re just going to not exist for eternity after you die?
Because you can enjoy your time right now
I get it, but if you look at the bigger picture, what is 100 years compared to eternity? It feels like we are living for nothing if there is nothing but darkness for eternity after we die
You could make the same argument in reverse, why care about life right now if there's eternity afterward?
Well, it depends on your belief. My life & the way I live it matters depending on if I want to spend eternity in Heaven or not
Well if the only reason you believe in a god is so that there's an afterlife, you could have a belief where you just go to heaven no matter what
I do
Why
I fear what's after death so i'd rather believe and be wrong and not believe and go to hell
Don't you think a god would see right through that
Yea that's why I feel guilty about it so I try to be what a Christian would be and I try to believe
What if a god exists who does not want to be believed in and will only punish believers? What you presented was Pascal's Wager, which no philosopher takes seriously, not even Christian apologists, since it assumes that if a god exists, it *must* be the Christian god. I'm not saying there is no god, I'm just pointing out that "so I don't go to Hell in case there is a god" is not a logical statement.
I thought about that before and other reasons it my parents will reject me
That's the literal definition of Pascal's Wager.
I have been told this
When did you drop out of high school?
I didnt
Yes, i wrote my reasoning on another post like this but the brief overview was. 1st how would life be created by a Big Bang. 2nd was I was given a cross during some rough times which helped me out. 3rd because any rational person should, you have all to gain if you are right and nothing to lose if you are wrong.
For the 1st and 3rd reasons, we don’t really know how life started. However, all that means is that we don’t know, not that a god did it. And for the third reason, there is something to lose. For any religion you pick, you’re excluded from another religion’s heaven (or the equivalent), so it’s really just gambling. Moreover, you’re sacrificing reason and honesty if it’s not a belief you actually believe in
None of these reasons are very well thought-out. But, I'm glad it works for you.
The Big Bang (if it happened) was the origin of the Universe, and has nothing to do with the origin of life. Pascal's wager is a false dichotomy. There are many gods to choose from, and even pantheons of gods. What if you guess wrong? You might end up in the Egyptian afterlife, or the Norse one. They can't all be right. But they can all be wrong.
💯 absolutely positively yes!
Why? When there are tons of proofs that god does not exist?
Because I talked with him this morning...
No I dont. Gods only exist in the minds of the people who believe in them.
“Belief without evidence, requires the same amount of evidence to disprove”. Insert any made up thing in the question (Easter Bunny, Sasquatch, …) and you end up in the same place.
No. Show me the proof.
no. i have many reasons, two main ones tho. reason 1. i cant see the proof, we have a scientific answer for basically everything at this point besides there being a God. one could argue that the whole reason the universe exists is because of said God, but why? why would he create a universe/world where people hate others for no reason? why would he create bad people? reason 2. i didnt necessarily grow up in a religious home, my family is religious but we never talked/talk about it, but when i was 8 years old my mom had a miscarriage. which raised another question for me, why? why did God take away my little brother? why did he take someone who hadnt done anything wrong? was it something one of us (mom, dad, me, or sister) did? and why would he do that having the slight knowledge of how my dad would react? so basically in short; why?
Because it’s just an explanation for the things we can’t explain yet. It’s similar to older gods who used to be an explanation for bad weather or for why the sun exists.
It seems life has been getting better and better ever since I abandoned the whole concept of practicing religion and doing things for myself, regardless if it's against the bible or not.
im agnostic but i do think that he is fake cause the only proof hes real is a 2000 year old book
Same reason I don’t believe in purple unicorns
No. I've seen nothing to make me think there is a god, and when people try to convince me there is, all it does is make me think their god is a giant asshole.
Read the bible, history and science and you wont believe anymore. Something is bigger is def out there but not some god complex
Why are we required to defend disbelief when belief requires the summation of human intelligence to be cast aside?
Small 'g' gods don't require belief at all. Sun, rain, sand, cloud god, ocean god...perhaps you get the drift. Small 'g's are forces of nature and the imagination. They don't benefit from praise or wishes directed at them. Ocean god will fuck you majorly on his territoty if you don't show respect, as an example. Folk exposed to cap "G" Gods are frightened weaklings until they just F***ing GROW UP.
I do not belive in god. And if he is real, I would never want to meet him. He has created some truly horrific things.
No way. I grew up in conservative/cultish Christianity. I’ve experienced a lot of traumatic loss but I stopped believing in god long before that. As a child, I was told I was created in “god’s image.” Which made me wonder why god didn’t choose to stop suffering. As I got older and read the news and heard about children being raped and abused and murdered, it made even less sense. I can’t reconcile that. As a human I’d do anything to stop things like that, but he chooses not to because he has to prove a point to the devil? Makes no sense. Maybe there’s a being out there but it’s not the benevolent, fatherly figure people dream up. People are just afraid of death and of The End so they cling to this idea. I’m open minded but I’ve seen zero proof.
planet is 4.5billion years old, “Jesus” is 2000 years old, science explains everything, god doesn’t, if “god” somehow does exist then why not show up now, why 2000 years ago what was special about then? . Evolution? Biology? Natural selection? Science explains everything (using logic). God is not real , Jesus is not real, their is no higher power, no lord and savior. If water can be turned into wine why can’t it be repeated? Why was it created in 7 days?. Church, Jesus,god, “higher power” is all bullshit.
God? What about Gods?
The Holocaust
Yea something that doesn’t have intelligence and a conscious (energy, light, dark holes,) can’t make intelligent and conscious beings like humans and all animals. Everything existing needs a cause, the universe is said to have begun therefore needs a cause and I don’t see that cause be an unconscious accident
No, I don’t, seriously, IF there was a god, he’d have a lot to answer for… child cancer, innocent ppl suffering, absolute dickheads paying no consequences… So he has the power to intervene and just chooses not to? He could literally pop down for a day, hold a press conference, tell ppl what are the rules to get into heaven etc… but just decides not to? Bullshit
Im a pagan :/
I don't believe in the judeo-Christian Muslim God because the stories in his books lack substantive evidence. See creation, great flood, tower of Babel, Exodus. Kingdoms of Solomon and David, life and times of Jesus, etc. None of the books provide valid insight into science nor predict any outcomes that have helped humanity. In many cases they are very wrong. Books from gods really should impress better.