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Original poster

Why do some people find it hard to believe in God?

999 replies

MosEisley · 15/01/2012 22:49

I believe in God.

However, I am attending an adult confirmation class and we have been asked to consider why some people do not believe in God. DH and I came up with:

  • there is no absolute proof of God's existence
  • they are rebelling against a strict organised religion that they can't accept as literallly true

If you know someone who doesn't believe in God, why don't they?

OP posts:
bluegnueboo · 15/01/2012 22:51

Why would I?
To be honest it's quite an egocentric question you're posing.

Dilligaf81 · 15/01/2012 22:51

I struggle because of the evil, hate etc there are in this world. Surely if someone almighty started it all why give us the capacity for such evil.
The argument of opposites so no good without evil doesnt work either (for me).

I do however envy peoples believe and faith, I have some very dear friends who have ahd religion to help them through some bleak times.

starsintheireyes · 15/01/2012 22:51

Becuase theyve had a terrible life with terrible things happen to them/family/friends and you just think if there was a god, why would he let X,Y,Z happen...

Dilligaf81 · 15/01/2012 22:52

Sorry about the spelling and grammer. It's been a very long day.

gomez · 15/01/2012 22:52

Because every fibre of my being tells me that it is all nonsense. Equally I struggle to understand why sane, rational, intelligent, educated people can possibly believe.

So can you tell me why you do believe?

ElaineReese · 15/01/2012 22:53

Same reason I don't believe in father Christmas!

Original poster
MosEisley · 15/01/2012 22:53

Thanks, quick answers, those are good points.

OP posts:
YuleingFanjo · 15/01/2012 22:55

I don't believe in god because

a. he was never mentioned to me as a baby/child
b. when I was old enouh for other people outside the family to start the brainwashing I was old enough to understand it was just a story
c. When I was old enough to start looking into it myself it was obvious to me that it was impossible

AKissIsNotAContract · 15/01/2012 22:55

I feel the same way as Gomez.

RedHotPokers · 15/01/2012 22:56

Because there is no proof.
Because it seems totally fanciful.
Because bible/religion/religious teachings seem so contradictory.
Because I see no reason or sense to it.

In fact, I find it incredibly hard to understand how and why people can believe in god. I am always quite shocked when I meet, for example a scientist, who believes in god. Other than the potential comfort element of believing in a higher power, the whole thing seems very strange to me.

housemovehell · 15/01/2012 22:56

I do believe in a God but I struggle with religion. The reason I struggle with religion is because I don't like to be told what to believe.

Alouisee · 15/01/2012 22:58

Because I havn't been conditioned to. If people weren't perpetually told about God they would never discover it for themselves. It's just an archaic artificial construct to enable social control.

ElaineReese · 15/01/2012 22:59

Because there's an obvious reason to invent a god, but no good reason to pretend there isn't one when there is.
Because if there is a god, he is a horrible person.
Because its all bollocks.

AKissIsNotAContract · 15/01/2012 22:59

It also seems incredibly arrogant that a higher being would care enough about humans to watch over them/answer their prayers.

Haziedoll · 15/01/2012 23:00

Instinct.

FarloRigel · 15/01/2012 23:00

The terrible things that happen in the world - innocent children dying of cancer for example - even in this country 10 kids get cancer every day and two or three die from it. How could a God allow this? Also, if you want something specific to Christianity, some of the things in the bible are very odd, especially in the OT - a man being praised for offering his daughter out to a mob to be raped in place of a stranger, children being struck dead by a prophet for teasing him?? It's very hard to accept. If you want buckets of answers, try looking up the Humanist Society or Christopher Hitchens on Youtube, there's tons of material for you there.

startail · 15/01/2012 23:00

Like Gomez it justices no sense to me why I should believe.
I was brought up by atheist parents and knew with absolute certainty that I didn't believe in god by the time I was seven.
Nothing that I have seen or heard in the subsequent 37 years has changed my mind.
This is despite the fact that I seem to acquire religious friends, even evangelical ones and have spent 20+ years with my quietly firmly Christian DH.

chocolatespiders · 15/01/2012 23:01

Horrible things would not happen to such nice people if there was a God.
If there was a god life would be what we made it and live to a natural old age, not die with a cruel disease leaving children behind.

startail · 15/01/2012 23:01

Just makes no sense, sorryBlush

thenightsky · 15/01/2012 23:01

say what Alouisee says.. because they haven't been conditioned to.

Original poster
MosEisley · 15/01/2012 23:02

Didn't expect so many answers so quickly. Thanks for replying with so many different reasons.

OP posts:
ElaineReese · 15/01/2012 23:02

Oh and I don't 'find it hard to' believe in god. That implies that it would be the right thing to do, although difficult. I wouldn't try to believe in god any more than I would try to believe in the tooth fairy, because I'm not a tiny child.

BelleDameSansMerci · 15/01/2012 23:03

Which God, MosEisley? That's the problem... Well, one of them.

I struggle with the "higher being" concept although have some "we're all part of the universe" stuff going on (ie universal higher power with no definition). I have a huge issue with organised religion which all seems to be designed to keep women in check. Not that you were asking that.

Original poster
MosEisley · 15/01/2012 23:03

Thanks Farlo will check out humanist society.

OP posts:
joanofarchitrave · 15/01/2012 23:04

Because it doesn't make any sense that there should be an omnipotent, omniscient, immortal being in the world. Everything in the world dies, and more to the point, the world can only function because everything dies. [breaks into 'Circle of Life'].

Because the idea of an afterlife is also awful, and risible. I don't want to go on for ever. And again, the idea of humans lasting forever doesn't work, we develop, we age, we die, that's how we function. If something in us lasted forever, we wouldn't be human.

I certainly can't believe in an interventionist God, frankly I find the idea a little sick. I have attended church services where the answer to 'why did X bad event happen' was 'because the person/family/tribe didn't pray hard enough'. Seriously! So apparently their God will decide whether or not to save/protect person Y because they had 30 people praying for him, but will not save person Z because they only had 10 people praying for him. How can they actually believe that??

I have been open in the past to the idea of a God who is not powerful or able to intervene, but who is with us in our suffering. But really, that does seem like wish fulfilment too. Currently an atheist, as perhaps you can tell.