I am an atheist,so I don't believe in God. And can you explain why I should

I don't believe in god because I simply can't see any reason why there would be one. Its that simple really. In a way I see belief or non-belief as equally arbitrary. There's no evidence (other than manmade evidence) that suggests to me that there is a god any more than there would be anything else (unicorns, a big blue omnipotent monkey, a small teapot revolving the sun). As I don't go around believing other random stuff with no evidence, I see no reason why I should believe in a god. Yes, there is some possibility there is a god, but there is some possibility there is life on other planets (and the latter probably actually has more to support it). But I don't let it affect my life simply on the basis that there is a remote possibility of it.

I think the crux of this is the term "belief". If you believe something then you do so on faith, without actual proof one way or the other. So, while I cannot prove to you that God does not exist, you also cannot prove to me that he DOES exist. You can use your beliefs and tell me that this miracle has happened or that that occurence leads you to see things in a particular light, but I can also try to point out my side of the argument. You won't accept my side and I won't accept yours, so the best we can do is to agree to disagree and to keep civil to each other. I'm sorry I can't give you more than this, but setting out some convoluted argument for you to punch holes in is not going to solve anything or bring world peace, so I'll content myself with this.

Well if you were born and raised in a Christian environment and don't have contact with people outside your religious circle, you would think it was impossible that someone would exist who doesn't share the same beliefs that you have. Try reaching out to other people. Atheists can be friendly too.

And I don't understand how people *can* believe in God. I simply see no evidence for God - I can explain everything I see without finding any evidence for God doing anything anywhere. And if God did make the world as it is, I cannot understand how anybody could consider him/her/it/them to be loving. The world looks like one big accident to me, and if there were a loving God, it would be a damned sight better designed.

I personally can't believe anymore, because I cannot believe in something after everything I've been through was there, watching it all and did not do everything in its power to stop it. When I desperatly needed help, no one was there. If there is a God, he just sat back and left me to it. There was no 'finding God' that made me stronger. To me, if there was this God of love and compassion, and he is everywhere and always there for you, then why does he let evil people get away with things. It also doesn't help that both my dad and my uncle are Christian. I refuse to believe that something that is meant to love and protect you, no matter what, didn't do that. And all this punishment after death stuff, to me is rubbish. It's not good enough. What, they repent and get away with it? There is no proof of God scientifically, so in my mind my idea holds ground. To be honest, if I believed God exists, I'd hate him. I know people have tried to tell me that things happen to make you stronger and that, but then why doesn't it happen to everyone? Why did they great 'creator' not make us strong in the first place. Why could he not be content with me having to live with my dad for seven years as being strong enough, without the rest of it. I went really down hill, but I picked myself up again by myself. There was no devine intervention. There was revelation. There was nothing to do with God, just me. Any more queries, I'll be happy to tell you more

It's quite easy really. We believe there is a more logical explanation of how things came to be, rather than a big magic man sitting on a cloud. It makes no sense that the entire worlds diversly cultured population came from two people. Some other plot holes in the bible include: •In the 7 days of creation God supposedly created light BEFORE the Sun. This is ridiculous, as every intelligent human on Earth knows that the Sun is the original source of light. •There is no way a senior citizen could collect two of every animal in the world and put them all in a boat. I don't care if you say he's been working on the project all his life, it couldn't happen. With all the space required for food and water, as well as the animals own personal space and peoples rooms, each being would have the space of a matchbox to survive in. Good luck in fitting an elephant into that. Also, the whole flood idea is stupid. If it rained for forty days and forty nights to the extent that the world would flood, the ozone would cause Earth to become a giant pressure cooker. With all the water put into the air you could drown by breathing and easily be crushed into oblivion. A wooden boat can't survive that. •If God is so merciful and kind, why did he kill and command parents to beat children? Why did he command a man to chop up his wife just because she was raped? Fundamentalist christians are willing to spend their life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but they find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old. They laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women; but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky. Or perhaps, if you are like me, you just wanted to stop believing, to steer away from the mainstream idea of what is good and right. I used to be a strict christian, but when I turned 12 I decided "there is no reason to believe in this stuff besides fitting in with the rest of the scripture learning 6th grade! What proof is there behind it?" coincidently this was around the time I discovered other theories of being besides god. It felt good to be different, and its great fun arguing my case to Christians like yourself.

I do not believe in God because their is no credible evidence for him. That does not necessarily preclude his existence, but that does not prove his existence either. I have heard many reasons from Christians why they believe in God, but none of them hold any water with me. I'm sure the religion you follow provides comfort, hope, joy, love and kindness, but that is the power of the human mind, not the power of God. The natural world is a fascinating place, but that is the randomness of natural selection, not the power of God. I know you probably don't believe in natural selection, but it makes perfect sense to me, and i've read the book. Everything I see round about me I can explain with common sense or philosophical debate, i'm afraid i don't need to believe in God. Maybe you do, and fair play to you, if it makes you happy do it, but you should understand that the way God makes you feel? I feel like that, all the time, and looking back to the time when i did believe in God, i'm far happier now just believing in myself.

Well, it's really very simple. Of course, you'll hate me when I tell you. Some people have said they don't believe in god because there is no reason to, or that they can't imagine how anyone COULD believe in god, but that's not the real answer. The question posed was not 'why should I not believe in god'. The question posed was 'how does it come to be that people do not believe in god'. They are different questions and deserve different answers. This question is psychological in nature, not about God. I can disprove an omnipotent being's existence in a second. He either lacks to power to make an unbreakable rule or he lacks the power to break it. The question was over people's belief in such a being. I wasn't told that there was a God when I was little bitty, I wasn't told again when I was a few hours older, and again the next day, and again a few hours after that, and again a few hours after that, and again the next day, and again and again and again. You may be horrified to hear this, but believing such a thing does not come naturally to the human being. A lot of time and effort must go into the brainwashing process. When I first heard of such a thing as god I was long past the age of being susceptible to believe any crazy thing my parents or anyone else told me, and was more apt to NOT believe something they told me just because they told it to me, so I simply didn't. Now, you may not recall yourself being pushed hard into believing something. And it may not have been a hard push (though it probably was a repetative one). 'BRAINwashed?', you say! 'Preposterous!' But ask yourself this: Why do YOU not believe in Zeus and Hera and Aphrodite and Hephaestus and all the rest, sitting on their thrones on Mount Olympus, toying with representations of us in clay figurines to determine the courses of our lives? That religion has gone out of fashion. No other reason. No little children are brainwashed into believing it, and so no one does, and people look at it with reserved, distant interest. They are 'myths'. But don't kid yourself. If you were to bring someone from ancient Greece to the present, he would surely be horrified at all the hethens who don't believe in the true gods. I look at Judaism, and all its derivatives, Christianity and Islam included, with the same distant fleeting interest we both look at the Greek myths. That is, a bunch of interesting stories that pass the time nicely in their telling. I expect that in a hundred thousand years if not ten thousand if not much less, Christianity will hold the same status. (Well, I shouldn't assume you meant the Christian god. You didn't say what God you couldn't understand people's not believing in.) That is, the position of a cherished classical system of beliefs that no one actually believes. All that has to happen is for the people who believe it to die. Christianity so far has not lost its popularity because of its creed to be fruitful and multiply, and so those who follow it have lots of babies and they make them all believe, and their babies do likewise. Not a lot of people follow the Mayan and Incan ways any more, because they didn't have a manifest destiny like the Christians. The Mayans didn't feel like reproducing and swarming and using up all the resources around them like bacteria in a dead body, and so when the conflict arose with the Christians (and as far as the Christians were concerned, the only good Mayan was either a dead Mayan or a converted Mayan), they were overpowered, and now there are no Mayans. The surest way to ensure others believe as you do is to kill those who do not. This Christian practice has also gone out of style recently, which is another reason there are more individuals who do not believe in the Christian god. This factor will probably be key to Christianity's downfall in the future. You have to be willing to kill the nonbelievers. So if you really love Christianity, you should go out and kill some hethens. Ahem. Can you tell I'm a tad cynical yet? I do have a certain respect for Hinduism, though. It's the only religion that actually has and always had a decent estimate to the age of the Cosmos. ---------------------------------------------------------------- For your amusement, how about a proof by contradiction that really hits it from all sides: Suppose god exists and is A: Omnipotent, meaning as powerful as logically possible if what is logically possible can even be precisely defined (I won't get into this - I'll just show that certain things are not possible), and unsurpassed by any other entity or force of nature. B: All knowing. C: The creator of everything that exists. If god could create a being of power equal to god then god and this being would both be omnipotent and if they disagreed on whether something should be done, they would be unable to both get their ways as they would conflict. Thus they couldn't both be omnipotent. Thus god is incapable of creating a being of power equal to god. Suppose god was created. Then god must have been created by a being or force of nature greater than god, as god is not capable of creating a being matching his power. This force or greater being would violate the assumption that god is the most powerful being in the universe. Thus god was not created. Suppose god created the universe. Time, space, substance, all that. Let us start with time. Suppose there was no time before god created it. Then there was no moment before time began, as that was the moment when god created time and there was no time before god created time. Time not existing before this moment, there WAS no "before" this moment, and thus god did not exist before this moment. Thus this moment in time marked the moment when god came into existence. But this violates condition already established that god was not created. Thus god did not create time. Thus god did not create everything else. Since god could not have created time, then no other force or entity was powerful enough to have created time. Thus time could not have been created. Time must have always been. Now space: Really, as space and time are part of the same thing, this should not be necessary. But supposing you deny the validity of relativity then. Suppose there was no space before god created it. There must have been time. I proved it already. Time has always been, and god has always been. God could not have made time. Now, the question is, how much information can be stored in a space of zero size? The answer is zero. Thus if space did not exist and time did and then at some moment of creation by god, space did exist and time continued to exist, then some status of the universe must have changed to cause space to be created. The act of god causing space to suddenly exist must have changed some parameter, some character of the universe. However, space had no defining characteristics to change, as no information could exist in the universe as the information capacity of the universe was zero, so such a parameter could not exist. Alternatively stated, before the moment space was created, the universe was necessarily static because it was devoid of space and thus devoid of change as there was nothing that could be changed about it because there was nothing in it and it could not store any content of any sort that could BE changed, abstact information or concrete substance. Furthermore, with no information capacity, god could not exist in such a universe before space exists, as being all knowing, containing god requires not just a non-zero information storage capacity but an infinite storage capacity, and thus this would violate the already proven constraint that god has always been. Thus there could be no moment of creation starting from this static, spaceless universe and no god to occupy it in the first place. Thus god did not create space either. Space and time have always been and were not created by god, which has also always been. Now suppose god created all substance in the universe. Substance being the opposite of empty space. It may be energy, matter, anything as long as it is not nothing. God is not nothing, by assumption (though I'm almost at the end of my proof by contradiction). God may not be comprised of matter or energy as scientists have observed it or as humans know it from everyday experience, but empty space is nothing but empty space and thus empty space is not god and thus god is substance of some sort. Thus the substance comprising god was also created by god, but this means god created god, which I proved is impossible at the beginning. So, god could not have created himself, could not have created time, could not have created space, and could not have created all the substance of the cosmos. I submit to you that this proves to anyone (of marginal intelligence or more) that no being, hypothetical or otherwise, could logically come even CLOSE to satisfying conditions A, B and C at top. Thus by contradiction, the assumption that god exists is disproved. QED.

Think about this very carefully. God so obviously does not exist but because many people do not understand the science which disproves God they do not stop believing. Many others are simply stubborn and ignorant and therefore do not question their beliefs. Some people do not question their beliefs because of the threats of the Bible and their fear holds their beliefs together. Now I said God obviously does not exist, but why not? I could refer you to countless books which explain this but I'll try to be brief. Think about the idea behind a god. Gods have existed for thousands of years, ever since man first wondered about the world around him. He wondered how things came to be, how he came to be, and why things did what they did. Religion can answer these questions, however untruthfully, and that is enough for most people. Who would know better? Another reason for religion is because people are afraid of death. Once Man became a sentient being and knew that one day he was going to die, this directly conflicted with his primal instinct of survival no matter what. The exponent of this is religion. These days we have a much greater understanding of science and the Universe. Religions like Christianity and their Bible, having been formed and written by regular individuals, reflects on their own times. Homosexuality was a bad thing back then so there it goes into the Bible. Now that we have mountains of evidence to support Evolution and science the Bible, religions and their gods are shown to be common mythology founded upon myths and fables. The age of the Universe has been tested many times and we know it is nearly 14 billion years old, not under 6,000. Those with more intelligence are more likely to be Atheists and although this may sound elitist, it is not a bad thing when you are encouraging people to join. In your question you say "I don't understand..." and that is the fact of the matter, your lack of understanding. If you open yourself up to reality you will find that your God and religion are as real and well-documented as Jack and the Beanstalk. Science has evidence, religion does not. I'd like to end this with a quote by the brilliant Carl Sagan. Please think it over well. "It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." Thank-you.

I don't believe in God because it is a sociological human construct, designed to provide false hope to people who have no other source for it (and are rather naive). Oh, and I never rate a question down.

I don't believe in God, simply cuz I don't believe in religion. There are no grounds for going beyond a scientific explaination of reality and no sound reason for believing anything but our sense experience. A clear intellect, close attention to detail & a little scientific knowledge will expose religion as superstition. Also, people say God looks over them & protects them. When I am ill, for example, God never comes & saves me. It is medicine that saves me. This is yet another (stupid?) reason I don't believe in God.

God....A creature made up by humans. The thought of any "god-like" figures orginate from ancient hunters who used "god-like" spirits to ensure a good hunt. Thru the ages, just like every other decent idea, it evolved. Religions evoled and became more complex with different values and gods. In the early roman empire a group of "mystery cults" came from the east and set up shop. One of the most popular was known as Mithra. Mithra was the son of the sun god..born on dec. 25th and was sacrficed by his government....this may sound familar...it is the beginning of Christianity. God is just an evolved version of the orginal hunter spirits used by ancient peoples thousands of years ago...nothing more.

You either feel God's presence in your life and see his workings in all the beautiful things around us, or you don't. You either see science as the unveiling of God's handiwork, exposing his universe piece by piece, or you see it as humans trying to understand a chaotic godless world. Either approach works fine for millions of people around the world, and that is all that matters... just as pure belief cannot be explained, neither can the absence of pure belief. Just accept that non-believers can be contented in their lives without God and try and be happy for them.

Don't exist. Nuff said. Move on

Because I'm a pot-smoking Communist, and I don't like the way you're looking at me.

i do believe in god,

I always do my best to be polite, no matter what the question :) I do not believe in God because my mind can not seem to register the belief. I really can not believe in God. There are too many hipocracies, and unanswered questions for my liking. Science has always made sense to me, and I can accept that science doesn't have all the answers, rather than a religion thinking it does. Perhaps I am just being a rebellious child like my mum says, or a nutter as my dad says. Too much has happened to believe in God for me

Because I can see no reason to believe in God. I simple see no evidence that God exists.

the same reason I don't believe in leprechauns, fairies, the swoogh, elves, flying reindeer, any of the other zillion gods that people have ever believed in, etc. There is no compelling reason to try to construct such a belief.

I can't see any reason to believe in God, it doesn't make any sense.

Ok well here is my honest answer hope it helps. 1st: when I was born I got left on a door step and was raised by a stranger for a year no one looked for me. (why would God allow that for any child?) 2nd: When I was little I went to church on halloween and the preacher threw all of our candy away and yelled at a bunch of 6 year olds. Telling us it was the devil's work and so on.. (why would God allow people to scare innocent children?) 3rd: When I was 14 yrs. old lost my virginity to a black man that raped me in a CHURCH. (Again why would God allow this in his own house?) 4th: My best friend just died yesterday, 25 yr. old with two little boys, a beautiful wife, and a baby girl on the way in 5 days. (WHY WOULD GOD ALLOW THAT FOR ANY FAMILY?) See I don't really believe in much of anything except what makes me happy. Yes I pray don't know what I pray to but I have way too many unanswered questions, and so much that has happened to me, and so much I don't understand, I just don't believe because it doesn't make me happy, God has made me sad in so many ways to tell you the truth. I don't care if my answer seems stupid it's what I feel hope it helps you!

I think I used I to believe. At least when I was younger I went through all the motions of church, Young Life, Lutheran Confirmation, summer camps. Pretty much the whole shebang. As I got older and started questioning everything, I realized that I wasn't finding any answers within a religious structure. And believe me, I've looked for the answers in many different religions. I eventually came to realize that I didn't believe in God. It wasn't a revelation, just a slow comprehension that there was no God. I actually find comfort in knowing that everything is ultimately knowable, even if I will never know it, and that everything effect has a cause. Every cause produces an effect. Nothing relies on luck or chance or the influence and oversight of a mysterious, supernatural entity. Everything follows predicable, logical courses, even if we, ourselves, cannot predict them as yet. Not everyone finds this comforting, but I do. I've never been anti-God or anti-religion, but I've sometimes found myself being anti religious people. This is because a number of religions insist that those who do not follow or accept their particular view of the world need to be "saved" and if the followers of these religions come across non-believers, it is their sacred duty to "save" them. Anyway, that's why I don't believe in God. Thanks for actually taking the time to ask!

hmmm well afew reasons Im more of a science person, i believe in the big bang, not some guy making millions of planets and having somany of them being absolutly useless? and having stuff flying around in space on collision courses with earth? yeah i dont think so... The bible? you mean something someone wrote a century after this "jesus" fellow lived, if he was real, and i dont really see any other records that this guy who claimed to be the messiah and had a religeon form after him.... you'd think someone would keep a record of it other than whats in the bible? and i dont need to believe in some god nonsense, i prefer to believe in physics and what not as its proven And dont get me started on evolution and the world only being 6000 years old and bloody dinosaurs and people walking around together i dont mean to sound rude, im just tired and dont feel like trying to sugar coat it atm

For me there is no need for a god. Physics, astronomy, biology and a host of other sciences can answer the question of the existance of the universe and life. Science can explain everything that happened since the big bang. Now if you want to say that god created the big bang I wouldn't be able to argue with you because that's where man's knowledge ends. Of course since you are also a man you would have no evidence in favor of god doing it. In my view, if a god did do it, then he's a very different god than the ones that man's religions have created.

A good question. First, I appreciate that a belief in God gives a lot of people a great deal of comfort. So what do I gain by turning you against your relgion. If you were not tolernat towards others - then I would be glad if I could persuade you that your beleifs are wrong. However, from the way you wrote your question I think you probably are tolerant of others. So the only thing I can gain is that I will end up thinking you are less brain washed?!?! Not too much of a gain. So why dont I believe? Well of ocurse there are lots of religions to choose from. Nearly all seem to think that only they have the one and only true God and the followers of the other Gods will have eternal damnation (with the atheists like me). Most religions are based on very old bnoks. E.g. the Bible, The Koran ... Most claim to contain the word of God. However, althoguh many have good guidelines on how to live your life, the facts dont stack up now that we have progressed so far with science. In most cases the Christian religion has adapted as Science has made new discoveries. If the Pope is meant to talk directly to God, then how come Galileo / Copernicus etc were held in such contempt by the church when they first made their discoveries. If God was telling the Pope, that the Earth was the centre of the universe, then that should still be the case. The world has been aorund for about 4 1/2 billion years - where the Bible will make it less than 5000 years. Dinosaurs did not walk on the earth at the same time as man. If the Bible is mans interpretation of Gods word, then the Koran is meant to literally be Gods word. So when science does not match the Koran, then one of them must be wrong - we cant use the excuse of misinterpretation. If God is all knowing, then he already knows whats going to happen, who is going to heaven and who is not... Does that imply free will. Maybe? I cant understand how a father could let his children suffer so. We are told it is becuase we are given free will, but as humans we can let our children have freedom but with limits. god could have done the same. If he is all knowing, then he would ahve known when he created the Garden of Eden that he would have ended up banishing Adam and Eve from it. All of the religous groups seemed to have bene persecuted. So god doesnt seem to favour one over the other. (He does seem to have given a lot of the oil to the Muslim countries). Then we have to decide which religion is right. Even if we choose the Christian religions - so many and so many beleive that only their followers will make it to heaven. Half have been created to suit the leader at the time. The Crusades do not show the Christians in a very favourable light. (The Jews and Muslims dont come out of that period without some dishonour either). I could go on about the bad things that relgion has caused. The wars etc. However, for most people it gives them a comfort - a belief in the after life. If the religious people were able to be tolerant of each other, then religion would make the world a better place. Even if I think its all based on false stories. So be tolerant of others, and enjoy the comfort that your religious beliefs bring you.

I just wanted to leave a message to say an EXCELLENT question! :)

The feeling is mutual; I don't understand how one CAN believe in God. Part of it has to do with deciding on which God though. Old Testament, New Testament, Lutheran. Catholic, Protestant, Hale-Bopp, Joe Pesci.... I think that belief is one of those things that is learned or impressed upon you, even if done subconciously. We in the US are surrounded by the notion that God is the ultimate all-powerful, all-loving creator so when we need someone/something to believe in, He (or Jesus) is the most likely to "show up" and "guide you". I never had that. In fact, I've had contrary experiences. As for the downrating, I think some people are petty and others downrate this for even hinting at the possibility of implying that God might not exist the way they perceive Him.

I can understand how one question can cause wars in several countries. My understanding of God must be different than yours. I will listen to all sides and not be swayed by emotional arguments. There are no opinions, view points, proofs, refutations, beliefs, convictions, disbeliefs, sentimentalities, or arguments here or anywhere else that will either increase or diminish what God is or isn't. Its a waste of time to place parameters or attributes on what can not be known.

I myself am an naturalistic evolutionist otherwise known as atheist. i do not believe in God for many reasons. i cant even be bothered to type them all down but here are a few. #1 how do u get different races? #2 adam and eve...hmm...r we all one big incest happy family? i dont think so #3 y let his world disintergrate and get worse everyday? #4 why let humans and other living beings suffer? #5 i just dont for many other reasons too

I simply don't believe in him because I don't have a reason to. My understanding as to why people believe in God is because it helps them deal with life. God may be a crutch, or an explaination of life to them, but that's not something I need. I also don't understand how someone knows that their religion is the right one and how Christians (I have little to no experience with other religions) can easily disprove other religions, but how scientific evidence has no effect on religious people. I think of Greek, Norse, Roman mythology and how their religion was an answer to the questions they had. (It thundered when a god was mad, it rained when one was sad, etc.) Those things were proven by science and those religions died because they had proof they were wrong. People laugh at the 'stupidity' of them now. What is the difference between that then and us with our knowledge of evolution and such now? Evolution vs. creation is just a newer version of sad god vs. precipitation... right? What makes Christianity different than Roman mythology in that sense? I think religion is an way to explain the unexplained.. but our science is catching up and we're now learning the things you've been taught as "God's work." What's the difference?

I was angry for a very long time at God. I felt that I had been forsaken or was perhaps being used in a test similar to Job's. I then thought that maybe I was stronger than I thought and God had great plans for me and my relationship with God grew strong. I had a VERY rough year last year and lost nearly everything that was important to me. I became angry again and withdrew from church, family, and friends. I decided to pray for release from my anger and woudl just get angrier during prayer. I yelled and begged and finally just let God know that I needed Him to reach out to me and that I no longer knew how to ask for His help. When things continued to get worse and I realized that I would rather die than have God hurt me any more, I had to make a decision. Was God just allowing me to be hurt and suicidal and there was really no hope for things to get better, or was I in control of my life and just having some VERY bad luck. In order for me to pull out of this depression, I had to let go of my idea of God. He was just something to get me through rough times, but really the answer and strength was within me all along as I am the one that has to do all of the footwork.

I don't believe in god. if he objects, he can Cme & tell me himself, and if he does it well enough i mIght listen! with one of my three sides of the doubledged focus ;-)

Beliefs pro and beliefs con are the workings of the mind. If you watch your mind closely, as an observer, you will come to understand the answer to your questions.

Read some of Joseph Campbells work on religions and Myths.His books might give you an insight why people think differently about God. I don't believe in a separate entity like a god but more in a higher power in us all.And I never rate people down for their belief in God like some one DR someone here because they said that they don't believe.

I believe in god. But I completely understand why some people don't. You have to understand that not all people can run off of just pure faith. Some people just need some sort of sign or divine intervention before they bother to wonder if there is a higher being watching over us. Some people believe that there is no god because they think that if there was one, then there would be no pain or trouble in the world.

I cannot address the first part of your question, because I believe in God. As for DRing you, I hate to say it but some people will DR any question they don't like. I see it a lot with questions related to religion and politics. +5

Everyone is entilted to their own opinion. I myself do believe in God. My main reason is that I have been in 4 car accidents, the last one going over a 10 ft cliff and walking away with only one scratch. Anyone that tries to change my mind is wasting their time. I have yet to rate down any questions but, any where you go there is always going to be that one person trying to make you mad enough to quit. Don't give them the satisfaction.

Personally I don't see how anyone CAN believe in god. I don't believe in god simply because there is no compelling evidence or reasons why I should think a god exists. And as for people downrating you... I get downrated all the time without comments for my opinions about everything from religion/politics to what my favorite color is so don't feel too bad...

Your question is getting downrated because of this simple reason - John 15:18 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. Some people have to see in order to believe. Yet in Jesus' time them people seen and still did not believe (how much more did he need to prove)? If they can't see it they don't believe and if they don't trust in it they wont believe anyway. Jesus has already covered this in his word. John 20:29 ~ Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” Don't allow it to frustrate you in anyway (although I have found it frustrating many times). I know I shouldn't think this way but when judgment days comes - I can't wait to see the looks on the non believers faces. If given the chance think I might say... "There is no such thing as God eh?"

Sure. It's as simple as this: there's no credible evidence to suggest that there is any supernatural force at work in the creation or maintenance of the Universe; and every single time humans have thought a phenomenon had a supernatural cause, it invariably turned out to have a rational explanation rooted in the sciences. Every single time.

some ppl cant believe in things they cannot see, hear, or touch - chill, and accept differences hon - everyone cant be exactly like you

I'm with you on this! Looking at the world and its trend towards acceptance and tolerance of "un-Godly" things, is it any wonder why or how this has come to be? Compare the number of people who DON'T believe in God, but yet DO believe in the devil. Sad, isn't it? Once upon a time, anything (or anyone) that had anything to do with the devil was taboo! Burned at the stake, even. Now, the devil has been promoted to the rank of MASCOT in some schools!!! Wow, how we've "progressed"!!! And we have the NERVE to wonder why so many "bad" things happen in this world?

There is no proof that God does exist and there is no proof that he does not exist. The rest is if you want to believe in God or whatever you might call it. Not being very religious I would say for my part that the world and we all did not come from a nothing and so I think behind all that there must be a plan.

1st question: There is no need for a belief in a non-existent concept, invented by devious manipulators to control stupid and uneducated people. 2nd question: the question is so stupid and poorly expressed that someone impatient with the rubbish that religious idiots post might use downrating as a sort of shortand for "get a life".

Personally i cannot believe in the Judeo-Christian God because i cannot believe that God is onmibenevolent due to the overwhelming evidence against it, both from scripture and from the atrocities in our world. Since i do not accept the freewill defence, epicuris' inconsistent triangle poses a problem for me and i cannot have faith in a God that willingly allows people to suffer. Also, as a scientist i need some form of objective evidence to support my beliefs and i feel the big bang-big crunch theory is more convincing than the creation stories in Genesis(which btw are inconsistent with each other anyway!) I believe Darwin's theory of evolution. And i am a follower of Feuerbach's/Freud's 'projection theory'. I respect christians' beliefs but religion requires faith and i cannot force myself to have faith in something that i do not believe. x

I Bumped you up some points..... I don't believe in god for the simple reason I see no evidence of a god in nature. It's the same reason why I don't believe in an Easter Bunny or a Santa Clause, Could there be a god? Maybe - there's many things we humans don't know - but there is no evidence to support the existence of a god - at least not any that meets my own personal burden of proof. A god is a pretty incredible being - a self creating creator of everything in the universe...I think he's too incredible - like Superman - he's just too good to be true...he smacks of fantasy, a fairy story worth telling and re-telling but not based in logic or reason. The existence of gods sounds impossible based on what we know, the information we have about gods is suspect - old badly written books of questionable authorship written not so much to inform somebody rationally on the subject but to create fear and to sell a certain brand of ideology. The Bible makes it clear for example that Jews are "the chosen people", why dose it say they are chosen? Because they mostly obey gods "rules", this is a circular logic, it is selling an ideology to a certain group saying basically, "you can do what you want if you follow certain guidelines and worship me". This isn't logical, this reads like an excuse or justification of questionable behavior..it is saying, "I can justify my behavior because an invisible being, who frankly doesn't like you as much as me, has given me the right to do what a want regardless of your desires or thoughts on the subject". Ask yourself, would a rational being that creates universes give such power to a few of his creations? If so, for what end? So he is worshiped properly? Why would a being with such great powers literally demand worship from us anyway? Is this god just lonely or is he mad or is he just running some sort of science experiment and we are his lab rats? No written "evidence" gives us gods true motivations, all we have are texts from special interest groups saying that god has spoken to them - and this is the way things are. Nonsense! All religious texts are slanted and written in such a fashion, and they provide no evidence we can use to justify the existence or non existence of a god. So books and texts are out, what is next, physical evidence? OK, where is this evidence? Has this god made himself known to humanity lately? Maybe taken out some advertising during the super bowl or the cup final? Any graffiti written across the stars saying something to the affect "God is here and I made this."? Has Anyone personally seen a talking burning bush lately? I don't mean just saying they have, but actually videotaped the event and put it on yourtube? They haven't have they? No photos of god, no fingerprints of god are found in the fossil record, no lost socks or discarded Kleenex from god are laying about, not even a message on your voice mail from god...this god is invisible, and he can't be found, and you can't even offer proof that he ever was here - and considering that, why would anybody worship something they cannot find proof of even existing? I certainly can't, and many others agree with me on this. It's not that I can't believe in a god - it's more a matter of why should I believe in a god? If there was any proof in god existing or have ever existed then I would consider it and perhaps revise my opinion on the matter, but since there isn't, then I have no reason to change my opinion on the subject. To me god - all gods - are a myth, and will remain so until there is evidence to the contrary. I thank you for your question and I hope my answer was satisfactory to you. All the best!