Don't believe in God? Why not?
 

i was hoping that maybe some of you that didn't believe could list the reason(s) why and that maybe i or someone else could see if we could answer your questions or help you with the stuff you don't think makes sense.

oh bloody hell. not this again

i've never posted a thread like this before. and i'm being sincere. i'm just around christians a lot that you begin to think everyone already knows this stuff but they don't and they have questions. so i'd like to know what those questions are, thats all.

This should be interesting........

Well I believe that there is a god but I just don't believe in the Bible. Its like they left out everything. One day there's nothing and then.....POOF! look a tree! They left out the dinosaurs and all that crap. I think the real question is....why believe in him? why not? It can be answred both ways so theres almost no point in asking....

This has been discussed before.

So Mods, Delete this.

It gets to personal

i see what you mean about the bible. a lot of people seem to be that way, that it was just man who wrote it. unfortunately i don't know enought to tell anyone about that part.

as for the dinosaurs, their are what are references in the bible that are believed to be referring to dinosaurs. but if you don't believe in the bible.....

and *poof* a tree part...you believe in god, you don't think he is powerul enough to create a tree? he is god, isn't he?

finally, why believe in him....if you don't, when you physically die, you will be seperated from god for eternity.

thanx for posting

Im not good at this sort of thing......*waits for it to die*

*evil grin*

Finally, somthing to talk about :)

I believe in God an the bible, so no arguement for me (yet)

ok. and again about the bible thing. i'll try to explain it though i know it will be hard to understand. it was god breathed. you know? inspired by god. he gave them the words to write.

why is chris grinning?

The_Dunadan, I'm leaving this topic up, but please refrain from talking as if God is there and everybody should believe in Him. I'm referring to stuff like "why believe in him....if you don't, when you physically die, you will be seperated from god for eternity."

Say that's what you believe or something. Don't put it out there as if it's a fact. Because as far as people who don't believe in God are concerned, it's not a fact. You are just going to have to get used to the fact that some people out there don't believe in God or the afterlife. And telling them that they should believe in God so that they aren't separated from Him for eternity isn't going to help things. BigJustinW seems perfectly fine with it, so why can't you be?

Anyway, I don't believe in God because I only believe in what can be proven through the scientific method. And there simply isn't any way to do an experiment to prove or disprove the existence of God. Some people take that to mean they should have faith and believe in Him since His existence hasn't been disproven. I and many others don't believe in God because His existence hasn't been proven.

ok, i'll start putting IMO. and what do you believe in xantar. i'll address your post later. don't got time right now.

What is the "scientific method"? (make the answer as short as possible)

Other questions:

Have you went to church and prayed the "correct" way?

Have you read and comprehended most/all of the bible?

*sigh*

Fine. I'll play.

The scientific method is a way of investigating the universe. It goes like this:

1. Observe some aspect of the universe.
2. Invent a tentative description, called a hypothesis, that is consistent with what you have observed.
3. Use the hypothesis to make predictions.
4. Test those predictions by experiments or further observations and modify the hypothesis in the light of your results.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until there are no discrepancies between theory and experiment and/or observation.

No, I have not gone to Church and prayed the correct way. And before you jump on me, I don't believe that anything I may or may not feel while praying is a result of God. I attribute feelings to hormones and synapses firing in my head.

I have read the Bible, but don't expect me to remember any passage you quote at me. You might as well treat me like a total ignoramus on the subject.

IMO, it doesn't make sense... that something could create something out of nowhere like the poof tree thing or that there's some major big force power thingy "watching over" us...

and there's no way to prove that there is a god, but the problem is, there's no way to prove it WRONG so both sides keep arguin' and it never ends...

People believe in god'n'stuff, fine with me... but IMO, it doesn't sound logical or whatever... it doesn't make-a-de-sense...

and don't ask me to explain it, cuz when I do it has things that might be "offending" to people who believe in god... :sneaky:

cuz like all the religious people are like "I believe this I believe that" and the proof is only what they believe, so it's not really proof, but then someone says "Yeah, well I believe he doesn't exist" and the religious people are like "Do you have any PROOF that he doesn't exist?" and I'm like "Do you have any PROOF that he does exist?" heh heh ehe h hehe heh heh *hic* *runs away*

I understand why you don't really want to argue... but for me, GT has become damn boring, so I kinda need this. Nobody is going to prove anything to anybody, but we can always argue for the hell of it.

Ugh... if you haven't experimented with somthing yourself, how can you prove somthing?

You have a hypotesis.... you've made predictions, but you haven't tested them. 2 out of 4 steps.

Now, tell me again, why don't you believe in God?

I believe in God, I personally cannot see how somebody cannot. I believe in God, but I am very confused and always pray to God to talk about my questions.

I am confused about how God was created. The Bible says that he was always here, but what was before? Nothing? An empty universe? But how could there be a universe if nobody was there to create it? And if nobody was there to create it, then who created God?

Too many questions, and the only way we can find answers is by dying.

I believe in Jesus Christ, I believe that He is our saviour and that He will come again to save us. But, I belive in Jesus majorly , but does that mean that all of the non-Christians are wrong about their religions? And if Christians believe that other Religions are wrong, and other religions believe that Christianity is wrong, then who is right?

Going back to a little example of my own, instead of having Xantar do the explaining, why don't YOU do some explaining to, eh? :confused:

Dunandan, there is no way in explaining anything that counters what people think. If someone thinks a tree cant just magicly appear and you say "Well I think God can make a measly tree," you still havent answred, because In their opinion god dose not exist.

Plus it dosnt help to state your opinion trying to answer either becase thats IYO.

EDIT: also the universe consist of stars. Now, who created the stars. You could say it was god who created the *whatever makes stars*. You could say *whatever makes stars* was already there.

But space alone (no stars, gases, or planetets) consist of nothing. This is why its black. Im sure THAT has been nothing forever. Therefor a religious dude would say god was there or something...

ok, well i wasn't going to reply, but someone *cough*dh*cough* bugged me to reply;).so.. n8's a good example of what i believe...

I was just playing around :baby: *coughreligiousfanaticcough*

J/K :sneaky: *runs away*

whatever:rolleyes:

lol

You're making a tautological argument. Look over my post again. I never said that I could prove that God doesn't exist. I only said that it can't be proven to my satisfaction that He does.

Besides, you applied the scientific method the wrong way. A hypothesis in this case would be something like, "There is some being called God who is all powerful and all knowing. Furthermore, God has at some point in time and perhaps still does intervene in the universe."

The second point is crucial. After all, it's one thing to believe God exists. However, people who believe in God also believe that He has taken action sometime, if only to create the universe. I don't think anybody believes God exists but has for all eternity just been sitting around doing nothing while the universe did its own thing. If you do, then the argument is absolutely pointless since there's no way of looking at the universe for evidence of God's existence.

So, if he has taken some kind of action, that means there is something in the universe that can only be explained by the statement "an all powerful, all knowing being called God did it."

And that's where we come around again to the original quandary. Is there really something out there that can only be explained by God's existence? I believe there is not. You believe there is. And that's why you can't perform an experiment. In order to get results, you'd have to examine every single thing in the universe to determine whether or not you can explain it with a coherent theory that does not include God. You obviously can't do that.

You'll be tempted to say, "Well, then how did the universe get started?" or "How did the particles that make us up come into existence?" or something like that. And my answer is that I don't know. But a thousand years ago, we didn't know why things fall either. Today, we now have the theory of gravity. I believe that if the human race survives long enough, we will eventually have a sensible theory that explains how the universe got started. You believe that we will never have such a theory.

And there's no way for either of us to know which one is right. We just have to choose what feels right.

My sheep died.

Lets all pray for it.

Dear God...Amen...thats all i can think of.:doh:

That's what the last topic was about... but in this topic, the tables turn... explain why you find it hard to believe that god exists... non-believers defend thier side this time, I did a LOT of defence last time :D

I believe in God.

I don't know 2 much about religion, or nothing, but I figure why wouldn't there be more stuff out there??

Pyramids, Easter Island, etc etc hasn't been proven by scientists (i don't think) but the pyramids and heads are there, and I don't think there is a believable explanation available.

I just think that so much money, time and effort has been put into God, that there must be something out there that can do this.

I also have had some freaky Deja Vu's that I can tell you are Deja Vu's and not made up by my brain without knowing conciously...........

*but if it's made up my brain without knowing conciously, how do you know that you know it's a Deja Vu...........*

stupid subconcious!

I can see why people wouldn't believe in God. With the above in mind, we can't prove God exists probably because we are uncapable of doing so.

I dunno...........flame my post as you wish :(

you look over MY post again

I'm not asking you tp prove God doesn't exist... I'm asking you for a logical reason for NOT thinking he exists. Also, even if you don't feel he exists, why not read deeper into it? It's not like Hinduism, sources are easilly found anywhere in this country. It also seems that you have no path anyway, and you are not even trying to search for one.

Even though my I'm trying not to center around the subject of Creation (and obviously you are) I think there is a flaw to your logic.

Right now, NOTHING pertaining creation can be explained, period.

I do, I believe that a lot of things can explain a lot of things... but how god relates to my life in these time is what make the Bible the easiest thing to believe.

Examine the very thing you are, a Human, there isn't an explination that makes sense, is there?

For me, God makes the most sense because of my personal experiences, but for you what makes the most sense... and why does that make more scientific sense to you?

I guess

When a scientist create a new creature, not an evolved form of somthing, but an all around new creature, It will still be hard for me to believe that liquids came together on eath and created somthing as advanced as us.

Which brings me back to my question, What makes you not believe in god.

Xantar doesn't believe in God because God's existance hasn't been scientifically proven. How do you prove something scientifically? I think Xantar summed it up fairly well...

As it seems, for something to exist (In Xantar's opinion), that something's existance has to be scientifically proven (Using the method Xantar described).

Once science says "Yep, it exists," then Xantar says "Yep, it exists."

The existance of God has yet to be proven by science, therefore explaining to you why Xantar doesn't believe in God. I'm sure if God's existance were proven using science (And the method that goes which it; which Xantar explained), then Xantar would believe in God.

Until that point, however, Xantar chooses not to believe in God (Because God's existance hasn't been proven in the way which Xantar feels it needs to be proven in order for it to exist).

It isn't that hard to understand...

I don't believe in god. the reasons are a bit personal so I won't go into that. the reason I am posting this is because I wanted to say how controlling and unaccepting catholic/Christian/Lutheran/whatever's are. whenever one of them finds someone who doesn't share their beliefs, they either dislike them, or try to "convert them". I USED to be catholic, with a very religious grandmother, so any defense toward your religion you could passably come up with, I have already heard. I do not try to "convert" religious people to atheism, and I would hope to receive the same respect. anyway, the only religion I could see myself taking up is budism, as it's a religion of love and acceptance, regardless of anyone's belief, and I respect that.

Personal? I only hope that all god people die. And agnostics. Losers..*

*No.

I don't believe in god, and I hate religion in a way...but who cares. Really. **** this crap about God..have fun. it's what we were put here for eh.

OH and Xantar, stop being so god damn perfect. I mean we all understand how you are so godamnned black christingly smart, so just like chill out and say some crap like I do.*

*I love you.

Well, PureEvil did a pretty good job summing up my own thoughts (which means he understands my post or has a telepathic link to my head...). I just want to make one more point.

A logical reason for not believing in God? I don't think there is any such reason any more there is a logical reason for believing in God.

Now, before you jump on me, let me explain. You may think God's existence makes sense, and that's fine. It's not the same thing as having a logical reason for believing in God. Doesn't belief in God imply a little bit of faith in something you can't really see and experiment on?

Here's a surprise for you: atheism has a little bit of faith too. I believe that the answers to all the questions BigJustinW raised can be stated without the involvement of God. As Justin already pointed out, nobody knows how the universe got started. As I have pointed out, there was a time when nobody knew why things fall. Just because we don't know it now doesn't mean it's not out there. I believe that with enough time we will develop a theory for the creation of the universe just as we developed a theory of gravity. Why do I believe this? There's no logical reason for it. It just makes sense to me. That's what some people would call faith.

No, I don't go out of my way trying to find out everything I can about Christianity because figuring out the existence of God is not important to me. I don't want to sound insulting, but to me, Christianity has as much validity as the cult of Heaven's Gate. I don't go out of my way to find stuff about the beliefs of minor cults, and I apply the same standard to Christianity. Just because it has several hundred million followers doesn't make it any more worthwhile for me to read up on.

Shut up. :D

Yea, last time there was a thread like this. There was to many stupid arguments, i think this subject should just be left alone because people can't disscuss it properly.

ok...lets hear my side of the story...shall we?

i don't believe in god because:

1. IMO - he was invented (made up) by some guy, posobly named jesus, to keep his village or whatever civilized, peacful...so he said "god" doesnt allow to do this and that...

2. like Xantar said, it can't, and hasn't been proven scientifically...which is what i believe in...

3. no offence to anyone...i personally believe more in satan then i do in god...look at all the bad things happening...yet there are no good things...try explaining that for a change...

4. and last but not least....STOP TYPING SO MUCH XANTAR!!!:rolleyes:

So you admit you don't have a logical reason for not believeing in god...

My logic comes by personal experiece, somthing that nobody who doesn't take any steps can have.

I live life through MY eyes... use magic as an example. If you say the magic words over and over and over, the same thing happens over and over and over, and there is no scientific explination for it, it just happens, and you see it. Would you believe in that form of magic?

My belief has never failed me, so why should I stop believeing?

It may not be logical to you, but it has more than enough logic for me, because I've seen results with my own eyes.

How does this relate to creation? Simple, it's in the same book that has improved my life.

So once again, what personal experiences and/or things you know make you believe that God doesn't exist?



I can experiment as much as I want... through prayer... (of course you won't accept this answer)

Before the theory of gravity, what did people believe?

That there is a big magnet under there feet or somthing? lol

They just knew somthing, but they didn't want to find an explination for it. Religion is a form of attempting to find an explination for everything.

Do you know what Hell is? Do you want to go there? If not, what is there to lose from trying to learn about christianity??? Or any religion for that matter???

Here's my personal list

What to lose by reading the Bible: A little time

What to gain: Saving yourself from an eternity in Hell

If you read it, comprehend it, and still don't believe it, then you can say that you don't believe... and have a LOGICAL REASON to back it up. Like: "I read it, I tried it, and I don't believe it, period"

As long as you don't give it a chance, you have everything to lose, and nothing to gain. It's not like scientists will have any answers in your life time anyway.

That saving yourself from an eternity in hell thing doesn't really have any effect as a reason for a non-believer to read the bible or whatever... Because if they don't believe it, they probably don't believe about the eternity of hell thing...

True fact: there are is a cult that believes things like if people who look at the moon over their left shoulder will be damned eternally (yes, it's also a superstition, but there really is a small cult built around things like that). Should I go read up on the literature published by that cult in order to determine if what they say makes sense?

To me, Christianity and that cult share many of the same qualities and are both not worthwhile investigations for me. I have better things to do.

If I saw it, then perhaps I would. It depends on the magic.

I never said you should. Believe it or not, I think it's great that you have such confidence in your beliefs. But I'm supposed to be the one on the spot here, so please don't start acting as if I'm attacking your religion.

And at any rate, my beliefs have never failed me, so why should I stop believing them?

But you see, that doesn't work for me. If the Bible happens to contain something that's true, that doesn't mean the entire thing is true. That's not logic. The only way to logically prove that everything in the Bible is literally true is either to take each thing individually and prove it or prove the theory that it was written by God (or written by a man inspired by God). And since there is no way to prove the existence of God, there is no way to prove that the Bible was written/inspired by God.

Of course, there's no way to prove that it wasn't either—especially if you believe it was written by a fallible man. So if you believe in the Bible, by all means do so.

Didn't I just make a 500-something word post explaning this? I don't believe what hasn't been proven to me, and as I've already explained, there is no way you or anyone else can prove to me that God exists.

Well, apply my logic to the situation. I say that someday, people will say, "Before the theory of the universe, what did people believe? That this all powerful, all knowing God created the universe or something?"

Religion may be a form of attempting to find an explanation for everything, but that doesn't make it any more valid in my eyes. Besides, not all religions are like that.

You said god damn hehe ..........:sneaky:

People are gonna reply somehow to this post, but we cannot simply keep this conversation going, without replying to each others posts. We have no new information, therefore we cannot continue the discussion.

IMO though, I beleive in God. I chose to by my own accord, and by personal reasons. If people choose not to beleive in him, fine. I have no beef with you. The people I DO have beef with, are the people that accuse people of going to hell for eternity or whatever :rolleyes:

First everyone believed in many gods.

Then on the ancient Internet some guy started a topic saying there's only one god.

After a while everyone believed in one god and those who still believed in many were booted offline.

Why did people's beliefs change? Was there any real proof to switch from praying to one god to many?

Next everyone's going to start worshipping a bunny with a stick jabbed up his ass carried around by his prophet who telepathic sends out pornographic images to those who believe. If you sinned then no porno for you.
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If God has always been around then why did it take so long for people to worship only the one god. Why didn't he say something sooner. Hit the snooze on the cosmic alarm clock and decided to do it later?
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And if there are so many planets out there (many with life) do they get into heaven. Would about Mr. Fluffy, the three-legged gerbil? Does he go to heaven? If God created the universe and Earth is 4.5 billion years old, humans only being on it a fraction of that time, did God one day say: Hmmm, I'll create a nice little paradise after this species dies so they can still mingle and drink their starbucks after they fudge up their physical body?
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I'm not trying to be rude but besides the scientific evidence which I didn't go into at all, there's just too many loop holes to believe in this.









*What I think: Everything is made off energy. That can be your "god" so to speak. Everthing is a part of everything is a part of everything. I just don't buy the separate life form who controls everything. The Force mentioned in Star Wars seems much more practical.

Yeah see, that is how I feel... that's kinda what I meant by "None of it makes sense to me"... at least I think I said that... and if I didn't well heh heh heh *runs away*