Why don't you believe in God?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A more substantive and reflective discussion of this topic is at the beginning of the thread, which was started in 2011.

It seems like the same people, over and over, posting since 2011.

Yeah, but all the best answers were taken very early on -- no reason to keep repeating "because it's irrelevant."

Maybe people aren't looking for the best answers, as you seem to think they would, but are answering sincerely for themselves, without necessarily having read all the other responses, as perhaps you have.

[Anonymous]

I don’t believe in any gods because they don’t exist.

Divinity is a concept manufactured by man to explain the unknown (where do we come from?) and/or control people (be good or you’ll go to hell).

[Anonymous]

Dreams prove we can visualize while we are asleep, may imply we have an afterlife during our deaths, have souls and some other consciousness connected to our emotions /actions on Earth (guilt, love, happiness, anxiety).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been reading DCUM for a while now, and I feel steeped in broken marriages, angry/depressed/overwhelmed parents, misbehaving children, and general snarkiness. Almost never do I see a reference to a deep and profound faith, or even a thought about a Creator. I do see plenty of snide comments about faith being only for the stupid, the weak, the unthinking, but I can't recall a single specific reason as to why belief in a Creator is so obviously dumb.

So now is your chance: if you do not believe in God, why not? Have you wrestled with this question and constructed a tight argument, or do you just not particularly care?

I don't believe in God because there is no reason for God to create the kind of evil that exists in this world.

Maybe God didn't create the evil, but rather helps us deal with it.

Then why aren’t some people able to deal with it? This is a sincere question.

And why are some people in situations where their lives are full of misery and pain from beginning to end, no matter what they do? What about children born in third world countries into prostitution? What about babies born with horrific, disfiguring deformities that can never be corrected fully, so the child will live a life of pain never really being wanted? What about people born with mental health issues that mean they aren’t able to hold jobs, form relationships, and then they end up homeless and isolated from a society that can’t bear to acknowledge them to help? What about those people? Why, if there is a God, does he “help you deal” with your tiny problems if you are a neurotypical middle class white person, but so many others life lives of grinding poverty and misery from start to finish?

I went to Christian school and was raised to believe in God, but I have seen too much of what I described above. I do think that the strong believers I know tend to be less intelligent/perceptive, and know less about the world around them. Because the world is full of evidence that there is no God.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been reading DCUM for a while now, and I feel steeped in broken marriages, angry/depressed/overwhelmed parents, misbehaving children, and general snarkiness. Almost never do I see a reference to a deep and profound faith, or even a thought about a Creator. I do see plenty of snide comments about faith being only for the stupid, the weak, the unthinking, but I can't recall a single specific reason as to why belief in a Creator is so obviously dumb.

So now is your chance: if you do not believe in God, why not? Have you wrestled with this question and constructed a tight argument, or do you just not particularly care?

I don't believe in God because there is no reason for God to create the kind of evil that exists in this world.

Maybe God didn't create the evil, but rather helps us deal with it.

Then why aren’t some people able to deal with it? This is a sincere question.

And why are some people in situations where their lives are full of misery and pain from beginning to end, no matter what they do? What about children born in third world countries into prostitution? What about babies born with horrific, disfiguring deformities that can never be corrected fully, so the child will live a life of pain never really being wanted? What about people born with mental health issues that mean they aren’t able to hold jobs, form relationships, and then they end up homeless and isolated from a society that can’t bear to acknowledge them to help? What about those people? Why, if there is a God, does he “help you deal” with your tiny problems if you are a neurotypical middle class white person, but so many others life lives of grinding poverty and misery from start to finish?

I went to Christian school and was raised to believe in God, but I have seen too much of what I described above. I do think that the strong believers I know tend to be less intelligent/perceptive, and know less about the world around them. Because the world is full of evidence that there is no God.

No actual God perhaps, but there is the god of the heart, a belief, faith etc. I don't think it's right to tell people they're deluded, they believe because they want to believe and obviously it brings them something comforting.

[Anonymous]

A now 16 year old. Born with Down Syndrome, had cancer 3 times by 13.

That's just plain cruel.

[Anonymous]

I used to as I grew up Catholic. But now I see that it’s a man made fable and no god would let the natural disasters, disease and atrocities happen to innocent people and creatures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to as I grew up Catholic. But now I see that it’s a man made fable and no god would let the natural disasters, disease and atrocities happen to innocent people and creatures.

I posted above you. I see so many things that make me think "a loving God let's this happen? I just don't believe anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe in god. My parents didn't believe in god. Their parents didn't believe in god. I never really think about all that much. And I don't care if other people believe. No judgement (unless they want to force their beliefs on others).

I don’t believe in god. My parents are kinda religious but they warned me about it as a teen.

One thing that cemented it to me is that if I didn’t believe in all of the other gods because they aren’t real, then what foundation of reality do I have to believe in any other god?

It’s just one more god to not believe in!

Also- reading the Bible has made me realize that all of it is bs. Heck- when I die, I’m not married in heaven according to the Bible and that sucks. Also- Abraham married his sister and sold her to random men because she was barren (because she’s his sister!) and then she got pregnant by some king. Which means- wait for it:

Isaac was never Abrahams biological kid. Only Ishmael was.

Also- it’s ok to have sex with your dad. Also ok to baby murder. Also not ok to eat bacon.

Also ok to rape someone’s sister as king as you promise to get circumcised and then it’s ok for the brothers to murder you.

Yeah. The Bible is a horrific. And if you tell me some parts are good- I’m going to tell you cherry picking is how we have the Taliban too.

So basically- the Bible made me atheist.

“
I’m an atheist, too. But Sarah was not Abraham’s sister. Ishmael was the biological son of Abraham and Hagar. Isaac was the biological son of Abraham and Sarah. Midian was the biological son of Abraham and Keturah.

And Scout was the biological daughter of Atticus Finch.

I read fiction, too.

[Anonymous]

I used to. Or, I used to try to, I guess. I was raised Catholic and every so often would go through a religious phase where I tried to be very good and pray all the time. I got very confused in high school when half my friends became born again evangelicals after going to Young Life camp. They told me Catholics weren't "saved". They weren't trying to be mean. I'm curious about how many of them are still devout now, but anyway. I also read the Left Behind series and developed a bit of a complex about the whole thing. Pascal's wager was kind of where I was at - I didn't know what was true, but it seemed too risky to opt out. Then in grad school I went through a "true" Catholic phase where I read the catechism and went to confession and even switched to NFP for birth control (I was married by then). But certain things bothered me a lot, like the Church's stance on gay people. I read all the explanations and sort of understood the theology of the body but at the end of the day, it felt wrong. And I really wanted to vote for Obama but the priest was telling us it would be a sin to vote for anyone pro-choice (I voted for him anyway). I never missed Mass but one day I woke up and thought "I don't want to do this anymore", and I never went back. Prior to that I had always been scared of reading what atheists had to say about why God didn't exist - I was worried they'd convince me. But it turns out they were just saying stuff I'd always felt but tried to repress. I never really believed in miracles or that God answered prayers - mostly because it posed such a problem to contemplate why he'd give my evangelical friend a parking space when she prayed for it but refuse to grant the prayers of dying children. I'm not prepared to say there's nothing out there that's bigger than us/our understanding, but if there is, I don't think it resembles "God" (or meddles in human affairs).

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Yep, those damned idiot meme posting Atheists again.

....oh.... wait...

[Anonymous]

This is why I don't believe in any gods.
https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages

We are ants. Not even. Bacteria that live on ants - that's basically humans. It is ludicrous that we're some specially created creatures designed by a god for their purpose or divine plan with some magical rules. Nope. I don't buy it. We just aren't that important.

[Anonymous]

^^ We are nothing. Seriously nothing. Religion and/or god was created to make people feel relevant, important, like they had a purpose and that even when we die (because we will all die), it'll be ok.

But really, we are absolutely nothing and utterly and completely nothing in the grand scheme of vastness of all the galaxies upon galaxies in the photo above, which is merely a grain of sand.

It's hard for people to accept we're nothing, but that's the truth. We can try and do things with our time that makes it better for those around us, and enjoy our time, do neat things. But overall... we're still nothing. Of course there are no god(s) that created us as especially important. Sorry - none of us are that special.

[Anonymous]

MAGA