ANSWERS: 45
  • How can I *not* be an atheist? None of the God stories make any sense to me. How can I force myself to believe something that doesn't make sense? Logic says "I have looked and failed f to find. I therefore assume nonexistence until I find evidence to the contrary". Intuition is, in my opinion, a very bad tool for unique events. If you have seen a thing a thousand times before, you may develop an intuition which you can trust. Since this is the only universe I will ever see, I have no history on which to bas an intuition.
  • Very easily when you aren't afraid to look xianity in the face after years and years of being one.
  • How can you believe in God? I have seen no evidence of God. I have no reason to pick any god story over any other god story. The only reasons I see for NOT being an atheist are tradition and insanity. Tradition is not based on science and I am not insane.
  • Well, first you have to fill out a questionnaire, and mail it in with a check for $19.95, and five box tops from Captain Crunch. Then you will get your Atheist ID card in four to six weeks. Now, the serious answer: There is a box sitting on the table. It's sealed. What's in it? The Believer says "It's a flying purple bunny!". They have no evidence that it's a flying purple bunny, they have no evidence there have ever been ANY flying purple bunnies. The Atheist says "It's empty!". They have no evidence it's empty. They do, however, know that empty boxes exist. The Agnostic says "We don't know!" And the agnostic is right. :)
  • I can easily understand how one can be a skeptic because I can instantly put myself into their state of mind if I so choose. For me, skepticism is a perfectly reasonable position. However, what reason is there to accept the idea that "There is no God"?
  • The whole farce of religion simply does not add up. There has never been proof of the existence of God and the Bible may have been fabricated for all we know!
  • I partly ask this question because I am actually trying to figure out myself how and why I believe in God. Once again, anything but skepticism seems to involve some instance of a "leap of faith" or something of that nature. (And even skepticism itself if we question the origins of our knowledge and so forth.) Thus, I wonder why I find belief in God acceptable even though it might not appear to be so in the light of reason. On the other hand, I believe that an atheist takes the same step as I but in the other direction. Thus, I would like to know your answers so that I might know my own. Perhaps you guys don't agree with this (that you, the atheist, do virtually the same thing as I. If that is the case, could you explain why you think not?)
  • From a logical point of view I would have thought that it would be easier to be an atheist than to be a theist because there is no logical explanation for God. Following a religion - any religion - depends entirely upon faith and not logic. Atheists simply do not have this faith and so have come to the conclusion that God or Gods simply cannot exist because there is no way to logically convince them otherwise. I am not an atheist by the way, I could be convinced.
  • Ok, for some reason, I'm not able to post "big" comments cause I'm on lousy dialup. So in response to MagentaStudios last comment, "What is it about the rationale behind atheism that you don't grasp? Atheism is a belief- a faith-based position, but it does not require the HUGE leap that any specific theistic religion does."... I agree with you. The thing I don't understand is feeling, thinking, and living as though the atheistic position is absolute truth. In response to "huge" leaps of faith, I said that I think it all depends on what evidence one admits for their observation and interpretation. Sorry to quote from the Bible, but Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within. Looking within yourself, observe yourself, and know yourself. If you look very very very closely, you will see the true nature of who you are as a person, and if you read the Bible, you will see that it agrees with what you see. (You may disagree on the origin and nature of what you see.) The Bible explains what is there, why it is there, and how the things within you interact and interrelate. It then tells you how you might find everlasting peace and joy, if only you follow the path. Testing this truth is the evidence for your small seed of faith that says, "Ok, I see what is in me and it agrees with what the Bible says. Perhaps I might find happiness if I do such things." With this faith as your basis, you can begin to acquire true knowledge through the testing and the confirmation or denial of the doctrine. This is your evidence. Similarly, once you know yourself, you can then observe the universe accurately for the macro truly is in the micro and vice versa. It can be no other way simply because all observations are necessarily linked to your will and mind. Everything that is outide corresponds to something on the inside. There is much to be said about all this, but I guess this will have to suffice.
  • There are a few reasons as to why I am an atheist. First, in all of my researching, all of my reading, all of my education, I have never found any proof of the existence of any higher power. We know that the universe *can* exist and self-sustain itself naturally without the outside influence of divinity. Why, then, must we add complicated and complex factors such as "God" in? According to Oakum's Razor, given point A and point B, nature will always choose the simplest path between them. Also, why *would* anyone want to believe in the God of the bible? He has proven to be nothing short of a bully. He is not someone to be worshiped, let alone someone to derive moral judgment from. Those who think God is a loving, comforting, benevolent being has *never* read the bible. Last, why is it up to Atheists to explain why they don't believe in god? Why shouldn't it be up to Theists to explain why they *DO* believe? After all, it is Theists who claim extraordinary things, not Atheists. If someone said "The moon is made of green cheese", it would not the job of the non-believer to explain such things. It is up to the person who claims that the moon is a dairy product to explain his beliefs, since they are so far-fetched... such as the argument for your god.
  • The simple fact that your "god" being omni-everything is impossible. God is all powerful, but can't stop evil. God is all loving, but won't stop evil. God is all knowing, but can't prevent evil. The only possible outcome is that (if) your god existed he would be one arrogent, self-centered, egotistical bloodthirsty monster not worthy of praise or respect of any kind!
  • I never believed there was a god. I wasn’t raised religious. My family never even mentioned the word “god”. I have a lot of aunts and uncles, so I had tons of cousins. We grew up seeing each other almost every day. Most of my family never went to church. I had a preacher uncle, so his kids went constantly. Another aunt and uncle sent their 4 kids to church every so often. They never talked about belief around me… not even the preacher uncle. The only thing I knew by age of 7 was some Jesus songs sang from the church bus as my cousins were returning home. One day my mom told me that my cousin’s church was having a fun-day. There would be toys, coloring, singing those Jesus songs, snow cones, and other kids. She said some of my cousins and some neighborhood friends were going, so I shouldn’t be nervous and I’d probably have fun. It was pretty fun. When it was time to color the church lady gave us bible story pictures and told the stories as we colored. That would have been totally ordinary except she told us the stories really happened. I thought there was something wrong with her because she was an adult who didn’t know the difference between make-believe and reality. No other child seemed fazed by it. I suddenly didn’t feel so safe there. I never spoke about it, but I told my mom I’d rather not go again. When I was 9 my teacher began to teach us about the old gods of polytheism. I laughed and began asking how those people could have been so foolish to believe all of the miraculous things these gods supposedly did. The teacher seemed very uncomfortable with my questions and the other kids weren't amused. I felt the same feeling I had in the church 2 years earlier. By the time I was 18, I knew bits and pieces about Christianity, so I figured I’d check it out. After all, there had to be something to the bible since it was so popular. I was a little excited to get a bible and maybe discover something amazing. Well, I read it. I was amazed alright. I was amazed and confused. Why did people believe this stuff? Did they really even believe it? I had always been interested in what makes people tick, so I had a new interest… what causes people to believe? Every other description of God I've heard just doesn't ring true. None have evidence and the world just makes more sense without a god. So, I never really decided I don't believe. I was never a believer and nothing has given me a reason to believe.
  • Because in a philosophical sense, variety is the spice of life and there is always going to be different POV. That's what makes this world such a place of wonder.
  • It's funny, because I feel the exact same way about people being religious. It's simply logic, reason, commonsense. I look around the world, I read the texts of the Bible, I refer to my personal experiences and the recorded history of our planet and I don't see how any of it can be true. And as far as Christianity goes, I wouldn't WANT it to be true, I disagree with it's morality in a huge way.
  • Here is a way you may understand it. Firstly most atheists are "weak" atheists, they do not believe in god but they do not believe there is no god. They are technically agnostic as you can never affirm a non-conditional negative (i.e. something that makes no statement of what could be observed that would make the statement false). But you can still be atheist and agnostic at the same time. So let's say you are a christian (not saying you are but for the sake of argument). Then you are an atheist as regards Zeus, Thor or the Flying Spaghetti Monster. "Atheists" just go one god further.
  • I do not understand the logic behind either Theism or Atheism beyond my own experience with the middle path of Agnosticism. Religion (or lack thereof) is something that I believe we each have a calling towards. Some of us adopt the faith of our families or neighbors while some abandon the faith they grew up with in order to follow their calling. Whatever faith one believes in, that belief transcends logic or reason. It merely is.
  • i dont believe in something u cant prove if god exists why doesn't he make his presence known i need more than 1 book of stories and contradictions to prove the existence of god.
  • I'm not an athiest in the same way I'm not an "atoothfairyist" or an "asantaist". I simply think that a rational approach to assessing What Is is far superior to irrational belief in something for which there isn't any evidence. There are, after all, an infinite number of things for which there is no supporting evidence. How would one ever choose?
  • How can you not be? There's no evidence for god; making an assertion of it's existence is stupid, really (no offense). Mind you, I'm an agnostic atheist; I make no assertions about its nonexistence either.
  • 1. Start from a clean slate. Make no assumptions at all on the issue. 2. Listen to someone make a claim that there is a god. 3. Notice the complete lack of evidence or proof. 4. At this point it is not logical to believe in the claim that there is a god. This is the same way I don't believe in Santa. This is the same way that xtains don't believe in Zeus. This is the same way that most people don't believe in dragons. Same thing.
  • It's not that far-fetched. I mean, all you've got to do is NOT believe. How much effort does it really take to not do something? Anyway, my own personal logic runs thusly: A. No religion I've encountered has made any logical sense to me, nor have they correlated to my moral standards. Converting to a religion would just force me compromise for something which holds no obvious benefit. B. Religion as a whole irritates me. Gods are like knights and kings in the old Arthurian legends: They get away with murder because they do it in style. Frankly, if some particular gods exist, they don't deserve to. and C. If gods do exist (and who knows? They might.), they are probably pretty p'oed at folk who believe "just in case." I know I would be. So if I can't beleive wholeheartedly (which I can't without any proof), I'd just be wasting everyone's time if I faked it.
  • How can you not be an atheist? I simply do not understand the lack of logical/inuitional basis for not being an atheist and would like to know what you have to say about this
  • 1) The reason why you find belief in God acceptable could be linked to your cultural environment. There could also be psychological reasons such as the help that you could expect from such a belief for your stability. You could also just think that as you are not sure, the belief in God would only be helpful (Pascal's Wager). 2) The common idea behind Atheism is that we don't see what properties could be given to God that we would know for sure and that would help us further in our understanding of the world. For instance, we could give the name "God" to the process durch which the universe developed; but of which use would this be? 3) "Richard Dawkins argues for an "anti-Pascal wager": "Suppose we grant that there is indeed some small chance that God exists. Nevertheless, it could be said that you will lead a better, fuller life if you bet on his not existing, than if you bet on his existing and therefore squander your precious time on worshipping him, sacrificing to him, fighting and dying for him, etc." " Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal_wager#Anti-Pascal_wager
  • many of the bibles stories can be related to constelations and their movements and outerspace has seasons as does the earth, as if our galaxy is constantly shifting. now we are heading into a new age and "God" is trying to go out with a bang before aquarious begins. all the religious nutcases out there seem to be perpetuating this out of fear, and they know not...ironic huh?
  • its nice to have faith...but come on! too many stories, not enough evidence.
  • I was born an atheist, just as you were, and everyone else. Weird people came and told me about gods and spirits and Jesus and Allah. I asked, "Where are they?" "Ohh," they said, "you can't see them. They are invisible. You must have faith." "Ri-i-i-i-ight. No, really, WHERE ARE THEY?" [Silence]  
  • Do you believe that the Fairy Godmother literally exists? Or in the Land of Faerie? Well, we feel pretty much the same about god and heaven. What I have to say about your not understanding something so simple is probably not something you really want to hear. :-) But +5 for trying.
  • It's quite simple- if this god thing of yours truly cared about whether or not I believed in him, he'd expend some of that 'infinite' and all powerful power of his to show me that he existed. Instead of just playing hide and go seek.
  • If there was a God, then there would be NO skeptics. If there was a God, then there wouldn't be so many to choose from. The real question is: Who or what has created us? I don't believe in personal Gods and I don't understand how/why anyone could, other than being trained to since birth. The possibility of a Non-Humanoid Creator(Big Bang, Life Prior to Earth, Extra-terrestrials, etc.), whether design or by accident, is more plausible than an All Mighty Magician that punishes thoughs who choose not to heed to a Clergymans words, said to be that of God.
  • Can you explain how believing in God is any more logical than believing in the tooth fairy or the Easter Bunny?
  • likewise an atheist like myself does not see how how anything about religion, dogma or the existence of gods can be logical at all and that is the dividing line between the religious and the non; completely different perceptions of the universe we exist in.
  • Two men are wandering in a jungle and they come to a clearing where there are some weeds and some flowers. One (believer) says there must be a gardener who tends to the flowers. The other (non-believer) says there cannot be a gardener and cites the weeds as evidence. They stay for 24 hours and no gardener comes so the non-believer says he does not exist. The believer suggests he must be invisible so they put up a fence that detects motion passing through it. Nothing is detected. The non-believer says there is no gardener, but the believer is adament there is and says he must be invisible and intangible. The non-believer asks whats the difference between an invisible, intangible gardener, and no gardener at all. Parable of the Jungle clearing - Anthony Flew, inspired by John Wisdom
  • If you were brought up not being told about God you would have no reason to believe in his existence. I think religion is the illogical thought here, not atheism
  • I didn't choose to be an atheist, it is just impossible for me to believe something when there is no evidence for it.
  • Because almost everything in the bible has been proven wrong.
  • Well, just keep living in the world & thinking about it. You will almost certainly understand someday. ;-)
  • There's no God. You may think there is, but I don't. My friends don't and as it turns out many people in the world don't either. I decided this after years as a christian and intensive Bible study, and it's a good way of life if you find it comforting or satisfying. It's not for me though. I'm not opening this to debate. Just answered your question. As for what's out there. Who knows?
  • How can i be an atheist: Well, all you have to do to be an atheist is not believe in God, it's quite easy really.
  • well logic and common sense tells me their is no God .. no proof.. no evidence.. nothing to back any claims up about him/her what so ever, just a bunch of Fairy Stories and Myths and Fables. Now what I truly find illogical is that every Religion has always put shit on any other Religion and that Religions God(s) while at the same time proclaiming that their Religions God(s) are the only true God(s)...why?, now if there was proof great.. but nothing ..nada...zip... zero has EVER been proven about any God(s) from ANY religion since time began. So to me ALL religions are just full of B.S. and hot air
  • Practice, practice, practice illogical thinking, irrational reasoning, ignoring scientific evidence, and extreme credulity, and you've arrived at atheism.
  • I do not believe in gods for exactly the same reason I don't believe in fairies. I have seen no evidence of either.
  • Well, I'm an atheist because I have yet to encounter what I consider to be credible evidence proving the existence of a god(s). It's that simple. I don't like to worship something unless I know it exists.
  • *Not atheist* I've noticed allot of people are answering with "logic" how is nothing being compressed and then expanding to create a infinite universe logical.(in case you didn't know,thats the big bang theory) the theory is just as far fetched as an infinite being constructing humans and all life in six days.
  • Easy: In court, if you decide to make a case against someone else, you have to provide evidence that what you're saying is true; innocent until proven guilty. It's the same thing here. Atheists are not making a case; theists are. Since this is no true, reliable evidence to date supporting the existence of God, there is no case at all. It's merely a bunch of people with a rather old book claiming that there is something there because they believe it is. You're either with them or with the people saying it's BS. You decide why I'm an Atheist.
  • I think my life would be easier if I could believe in god, but logically and intellectually god and religion don't add up.

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