Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 21 replies, 20 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 5 months ago by
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Why do atheists not believe in God? All I ever hear from them is how there is no proof of Him. I don’t understand; do we even need proof to believe in Him? Don’t we only need love?
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Name : George *******, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, City : Jacksonville, State : FL, Country : United States, Social class : Upper middle class,One reason that Atheists and Agnostics have a problem with the belief in a supreme being is what the philosophers call the problem of evil. If God is all knowing, all loving, and all powerful, how does one account for evil in the world? I am not talking about the evil that man inflicts on other men, but the suffering of innocent people at the hands of God. How can a loving God create a deformed baby? Why would a merciful God create mosquitos and parasites and diseases to torment people? Why would an all powerful and all knowing God allow these situations to continue? One has to conclude that God is not all pwerful, all knowing or all loving. Once you decide that, it is just a short leap to questioning the existence of God.
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Name : Cal19767, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 46, City : Lakewood, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I am not willing to believe in something unless I see valid, scientific proof. Both of my parents were scientists and taught me not to assume, but to question. Emotions are generated in part by chemical reactions in the human brain. However great love may make you feel, the existence of the emotion we call ‘love’ does not prove that there is some entity called ‘God.’
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Name : Lynn, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 27, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College,An Atheist telling you he/she doesn’t believe in God because of lack of evidence sounds to me like someone giving a brush-off answer to a person they can see is totally closed-minded, and has already condemned them for their beliefs before even talking to them. Their beliefs are a little more complex than that, and I’d say your best bet might be to do some research either online or in your local library. Be warned: You will get out of it only what you put into it, and if you start your research with the mindset that you need to ‘chastise the godless heathen Atheists,’ you will come away from your research every bit as confused and without a real answer as you are now.
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Name : Ann L. Lowenstein, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Animist, Age : 37, City : K.C., State : MO, Country : United States, Occupation : Administrative Assistant, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,There are reasons people don’t believe in God because of all the disappointment in their life. They feel all alone.
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Name : Pearlie-W, Gender : F, City : Greenville, State : MS, Country : United States,The logical problem with the question of theism/atheism is that belief in God is a self-sustaining system. By which I don’t mean to put it down, I have complete respect for the beliefs of people involved in organized religion. However, the issue is such that if one does not believe in God, chances are they believe in science, and from a scientific view there is no way to effectively argue for the existence of God. On the other hand, to a religious person, there is no scientific formula to disprove God, as God-concept exists outside and beyond the laws of physics. Another way to say it is that since God-concept is a construct entirely contained in faith, there is no way to prove or disprove the idea of God except through faith, and each person’s faith is entirely self-contained. You can’t ever give God-concept to another, or take it away.
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Name : Andy-W28805, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : New Age/Metaphysical, Age : 19, City : Santa Cruz, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Student (aspiring electrician), Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,Do you need proof to send someone to jail for a crime? Yes. I need something to show. I have no idea what is out there or if something even is. But nothing has come to me and given me power to believe.
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Name : Shelby28803, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 20, City : Ponca City, State : OK, Country : United States, Social class : Middle class,Believing in something that you can’t prove exists is insanity. If a person told you they had a friend whom they talked to all the time, but you never saw this friend and they could not describe this friend or where this friend lived, or anything else about this friend, wouldn’t you think they were insane? Also, look at the world: there are so many horrible things going on (I know, I know…it’s not God’s fault, it’s the devil). Why doesn’t God intervene? Look at what happened on Sept. 11, 2001…look at what happened in Rwanda… look at what happened in Bosnia. Don’t you think that many of those people who were killed were praying to God? Well, if there is a God, that God really let those people down.
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Name : Johanna28768, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 45, City : Stroudsburg, State : PA, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I am afraid you misunderstood what I meant by us needing only love to believe. But very well then, I am not trying to convert you.
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Name : George *******, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, City : Jacksonville, State : FL, Country : United States, Social class : Upper middle class,I find that many athiests don’t believe in God because they just don’t want to be held accountable for anything. They’re the type who refuse to accept the fact that they may not have absolute control over their lives. After all, if no one is judging you, what’s stopping you from doing anything you want? Morals? How could you possibly believe in morals when the morals of our society are based on the belief in God? God created both good and evil. God created Satan with the full knowledge that he would betray him. Everything has a purpose; without evil we would have no concept of what good was. Without sin we would have no concept of righteousness, we would have no choice but to be good. How could we possibly prove that we love God and want to follow his way if we have no other choice? You could even give purpose to all the diseases that exist in this world. Mosquitoes and parasites obviously have their own purpose defined in nature. Are we to say that God, being all powerful, and all knowing, is supposed to make our lives a living paradise? What reward would there be in heaven if this existed? Just because these things happen in the world doesn’t deny the presence and power of God, it just proves that we need him even more.
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Name : Nanen, Gender : M, Race : Black/African American, Age : 21, City : Memphis, State : TN, Country : United States,I am a bit troubled by that answer; It is based on a number of assumptions, which I must admit, are wrong. I am myself a little confused of how one could come up with such assumptions as you did merely from the information given. I hope I do not sound hostile but your answer shakes me as I am but a teenager trying to understand the world.
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Name : George *******, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, City : Jacksonville, State : FL, Country : United States, Social class : Upper middle class,Think of it this way. Most people are atheists in regard to most gods. For example, if you’re a Catholic, you probably do not believe in Zeus, Athena, or Vishnu. Atheists regard your god the same way you regard Zeus, as a quaint folkloric conception of the superstitious. Empirical thought requires that we not accept an unproven claim. For example, if you tell you me you have a diamond the size of a Chrysler buried in your garden, I would not believe you unless you proved it to me. Love would not be enought to convince me of such a claim. Same thing with God.
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Name : Rick20839, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, City : Springfield, State : OH, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,If evil did not exist, why would we need it to define good as there would be nothing except good? If you look at the studies done, you will find a greater percentage of religious people perform evil than Atheists or Agnostics. Even in a simple study of divorce, the most fundamentalist Christians divorce at a higher rate than Atheists do. Atheists and Agnostics do not need a higher power to do good, they do it for the good of family and society. They are accountable to society and not your deity. You presume that YOUR religion (I presume it is Christianity based on your post) is the only one. Shintoists do not believe in Satan, neither do Wiccans, Asatru or Druids….yet they are all religious, and not Atheists.
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Name : Frank, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Pagan, Age : 39, City : Los Angeles, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Military, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Many Christians believe that Faith itself comes from God. Maybe God hasn’t given Atheists the gift of Faith??
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Name : Rosie B, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 16, City : Manchester, State : AL, Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Obviously you dont need proof in ‘god’ to believe in him, otherwise no one would. As an Atheist who was raised Christian, I dont deny Gods existence because there is no proof that he exists, but because there is a hell of a lot of proof that he doesnt. My mind will not allow me to believe in ‘god’ because his existence would disprove the laws nature itself and is entirely illogical.
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Name : Erika, Gender : F, Religion : Atheist, Age : 15, City : allyn, State : WA, Country : United States,
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