Why you do or don't believe in God?

[summerbloom]

Interested to hear people's views on why they do believe in God or on why you don't believe in God.....

I always feel disappointment when someone who seems ok turns out to believe in god.

Me too, I struggle to have any respect for them after that tbh.

Ditto.

When some people get to a certain time in their life, they go in search. Sometimes they find it. Sorry for being so cryptic but it's not something that can be pointed to. Guides like Eckhart Tolle can help you once you are truly at the searching point though.

You are not being cryptic.

You simply do not have the evidence.

Because it does not exist.

That is not about a searching point.

It is about fooling yourself.

I am a very sceptical person. I have a lot of questions. All through out my life I have always questioned things. I don't follow any particular religion. I agree, most of religion is man made. There is nothing I can say or do that will convince you. I know that. I wish I could, truly. The only way you would believe is to have had the experience I've had.

Why do you think I am trying to fool myself. Even before this time, I wasn't afraid of dying. I don't believe in this to get myself into heaven or anything like that, not that I believe that exists either.

What is the experience you have had that proves god exists?

The only way you would believe is to have had the experience I've had.

But people have equally strong experiences about other beings so the strength of an experience can't be use as any weight in the veracity of a claim. If you're saying 'believe your feelings' I could end up believing anything. I want to get it right. I don't want to believe things that aren't true.

There is a (wilful) tendency to confuse objective evidence with subjective experiences when it comes to talking about God.

There is actually no objective evidence that a thing called "God" exists. If there were, then people would not disagree about it - any more than they disagree about the laws of gravity, or the fact that we breathe oxygen, or that the Moon orbits the Earth. These things aren't just "true" because people have an unwavering belief in them - they're true because they indisputably, demonstrably are.

And you don't just need evidence of acts of "God" - you need to show that there is no other possible cause or phenomenon responsible for these events other than a deity. And if it is a deity, that it's the Judeo-Christian one and not, say, Thor.

Why don't Christians believe in Thor? There's as much evidence for him as there is for "God".

I always feel disappointment when someone who seems ok turns out to believe in god.
That's how i feel when someone i like and am convinced would believe, doesn't. Not just disappointed but a little bit sad too. I still would think they're ok though. Not that fickle.

I believe in God. I don't really have a choice. Belief is irresistible.

That's how i feel when someone i like and am convinced would believe, doesn't.

Doesn't believe in your religion or any other supernatural belief system? For example if you're a Christian do you feel disappointed if they're Jewish, Hindu etc?

What convinces you about them? What makes you think they would believe?

I always feel disappointment when someon who seems ok turns out to believe in god.

Well, I think that says a whole lot more about you to everyone, than it does about me .....

I always feel disappointment when someone who seems ok turns out to believe in god.

I find it intriguing, when someone who is obviously very intelligent, educated and with lots of life experience believes in God. It is something that keeps me humble, stops me from declaring I'm an out and out Atheist and forces me to categorise myself as agnostic.

People far more intelligent and learned than me are Christians, Muslims, Buddhists etc. My philosophy professor at an (excellent) university was one of the most intelligent, well-read, eccentric, considerate people I have ever encountered, and he was a Christian. He had an extremely coherent and well thought out Christian philosophy. I always think of him when I feel scathing about religion, and it keeps me in check.

I don't believe.

I can't, too many atrocities in the world.

I was even told once that God sends us these horrible times to test our faith which makes me not believe in him even more!

I find it strange that grown adults believe in what is essentially a story.

So till now we've heard -

1. There is god because I have experienced him in undiscolsable ways

1. There is god because you can't prove there isn't

1. There is god because Famous Person I know thinks there is

1. There is god because the evidence has just not been discovered yet

1. There is god because someone/s I think are very clever think there is god.

Jaa - if number 5 is referring to me it's not accurate.

1. There is god because I have experienced him in undiscolsable ways That's right. You'd know if you'd experienced it. Deal with it or not. All of us have a choice. Sorry I can't be more of a help to you.

I like this.

Don't go by reports, by legends, by traditions, by scripture, by logical conjecture, by inference, by analogies, by agreement through pondering views, by probability, or by the thought, 'This contemplative is our teacher.' When you know for yourselves that, 'These qualities are skillful; these qualities are blameless; these qualities are praised by the wise; these qualities, when adopted & carried out, lead to welfare & to happiness' — then you should enter & remain in them.

I don't. I knew when I was about 15.

At the time, my reasoning was that if there was a God he wouldn't let so many innocent people die and so many horrible people live.

Now I know more about things like evolution and I'm a staunch atheist.

HOWEVER

I will always, always stand up for Nuns and organisations like the Salvation Army. When my friend was dying in an AIDS ward in the late 80s (I was 17ish, he was 21) they were the only people who would actually touch them and bathe/care for them without worry. I'll never forget that.

Also, the Sally Army does a lot for homeless people which can't be overlooked.

I respect all people's beliefs, everyone's entitled to believe in what they think is the truth. Many atheists will ask for proof of Gods existence. My "proof" of Gods existence is the universe. It's easier to accept a creator than accept the odds of us being here from the results of a fluke. I think it takes more faith for an atheist to accept a random universe than a created universe. We get called irrational, how rational is it to accept odds of 1 in 10 +40.000 zeros after it that we are here as a result of a random explosion. Please can an atheist explain how this is plausible. It's asking us to believe the ridiculous rather than the other way round.

What are the odds of god?

Fine, avoid the question.

dawnviews

It's rational to accept those odds because all scientific evidence points to it being the case. I personally find it insane that someone can believe a man in the sky created us but not a stroke of chance with impossible odds (which is how many things happen, actually).

And the Universe is not proof of his existence, because you can't prove this mythical being created it. Also, there is evidence of the big bang we can prove - stuff like background radiation as well as elements being scattered all over the galaxy, consistent with the Big Bang.

We can also prove that the Universe is still expanding by measuring light waves. It's called the red shift - we can prove that not only is Earth expanding, but other stars are moving away from each other.

Jaago, you forgot number 6: 'There is a God because I don't understand science.'