Atheists -what makes you so sure?

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I often wonder what makes atheists so sure that there isn’t a god. I’m not talking a particular iteration of the Divine, eg it’s easy to say I can’t believe there is a God because of childhood cancer, but that is predicated on the concept of a God who is only good and considers childhood cancer as bad and further is capable and willing to stop all bad things. I’m talking gods not religions here which a very different things.

Most cultures throughout time have have gods so it’s somewhat of an anomaly to not believe. I just wonder why people don’t believe. (And can we try and keep this a decent debate rather than any of the sky fairy shit those with an inability to debate a point beyond regurgitated social media soundbites seem limited to)

Well science generally disproves a god/gods.

Also so many different monotheistic religions and polytheistic religions and they cannot all be the correct one. Following from that, how does one religious group think their version of a god or gods is the right one and all others are wrong?

I think as humans evolved intellectually they felt humble within the world and made up a greater being as answers to why we are here etc. Then organised religions used their doctrines to assert order or dominance of one type of person/people in society.

Looking back historically and at different cultures I firmly believe that religion was a tool to explain the unexplainable and to control the general population of a country.
Humans like being in a flock/ pack with clearly defined leadership.

As to where we come from or what we are. I like the explanation of being a complex arrangement of different molecules. When I die these molecules will disperse and arrange themselves into something new.

I am an atheist, for many reasons , including not believing in something there is no proof of . The fact that purely based on where you are born dictates the God of choice, ( or religious stories you are told and may believe in ) . That many peoples belief in god is handed down by parents etc , to me backing up the fact that religious beliefs are just based on stories passed down through the ages .

I fully believe that humans WANT in many cases to believe there is a higher power , to make sense of life when it’s difficult, because they don’t want to think when we die that is the end , and to find comfort in , however for me I believe that we just happen to be the species that currently have developed to live on this planet , that there is no higher being watching , controlling, judging or creating .

Basically this. So many different gods, so many different religions, many of them at war with one another. They can't all be real, ergo none of them can be.

I feel like science can explain most things that believers believe to be the work of a divine being - creation of the world, the great flood, the fall of sodom and gomorrah, the plagues of Egypt etc.
But from a more personal stand point? I refuse to believe that an all-loving, all-seeing, all-forgiving God would allow such horror in the world and still expect to be worshipped for it 🤷🏻‍♀️ I was raised in a staunchly Catholic household - my family are still devout. I suffered some pretty horrendous abuse at the hands of a person in a position of trust in my early teens. I told the priest who’d been in my life since birth. He told me that God only presents us with challenges we are capable of overcoming.
Well fuck that. If that’s the case? God has a pretty sick idea of the kind of “challenges” a 14 year old girl can overcome. That’s where my faith died, and I have not set foot in a church since - much to the distaste of my family.

this is a more eloquent explanation than mine.

Most cultures throughout time have have gods

I personally cannot understand why anyone would believe in a god, it’s so obvious over the past few thousand years, religion has been a way of controlling and exploiting populations.

Of all the explanations there are - a supernatural deity - is the least like likely

It's quite easy not to believe in one. I never have and can't imagine what it would be to believe in such a thing.

I grew up in a religious household, went to a religious school and dutifully attended church twice a week.

I never ever had faith. Even as a small child, it made no sense to me at all. As I grew up, I realised there was no evidence of God at all, anywhere, at any time. When I left the church (age 22ish) I felt an enormous sense of relief. I avoid religion now in all/any of it's forms as I believe it all simply to be a tool by which to control people. Oddly, the thought that there is no god brings me enormous peace.

It;s not an anomaly to not believe, it's (imo) a developmetal thing. Ancient cultures needed explanations for how the world works and a 'god' concept explained a whiole lot, plus the bonding rituals involved in life and death events kept communities together and therefore safer. Later on, religion evolved to be used by those in power to control their communities. Traditions die hard, as it were, and here we are today.
But as to why I am an atheist:

If god made the world, why? A social experiment e.g. to see if you are good and then punish you when you have no chance to redeem yourself makes no sense. That is not a kind god.

If god can intervene, why do such bad things happen to good and innocent people?
That is not a kind god.

Why does religion ask for belief without proof (i.e. faith)? It's just so convenient. For example, why don't angels appear in the world simultaneously, be filmed, speak to us. They don't. 'Miracles' always happen where they can't be proven.. To me, 'miracles' are merely wish fulfilment. Just as the 'signs' people believe they have seen - coincidence colliding with intention.

Then there is the hypocrisy of the church, the wealth and the abuse. I do not doubt there are many good people of faith, but surely a kind god would not tolerate the existence of the corrupt within its houses?

So we are left with the only realistic concept of any god at all, one that has no interest in our existence and therefore in our behaviour. We can do as we will. And believing all that I have said, I do not think that being an atheist makes me a bad person. I am no more perfect or imperfect than the next person. But I still have morals, love my family, find the world interesting and beautiful, and try to help others. I don't need a god for any of that.The statistics, incidentally, for non-believers vs believers in prison is really interesting - atheists are a tiny proportion overall

I just wish atheists had better community events and organisations - I am slightly jealous of churchgoers for that!

What makes me so sure? Well I freely admit in the end my atheism - like others' religion - is a conviction. But my view is that (a) god is defined in a way that is impossible to disprove and (b) all evidence & logic points to atheism being correct... so I remain convinced I am right!

I am an atheist

I think that the majority of people who believe were brought up with religion from childhood so god has always been part of their life. If religion was something chosen later in life I think that numbers of believers would be much lower.

I think that not believing is the anomaly but many people are socially recruited via their families. It explains why many religious people lose faith for a while and go back ime.

I don't think that people in the past truly believed. They were forced to attend church and pay taxes so faking it is a good way to stay off the radar of the authorities.

I see religion as the equivalent of having a gut reaction answer to questions like whether there's alien life out there. You can't prove things either way but most people generally have a gut feeling about it.

I can understand why people believe in a deity and why that would give some people comfort. I can also understand why religions have developed to control people (women mostly), and as a way for a small number of people to maintain power over others. I don't believe in a supernatural being, I have no reason to believe in a supernatural being.

I find the idea of a god who cares whether I kick the cat or fiddle my taxes ridiculous, but I don't think science disproves a creator of some sort. We don't know where the energy that gave rise to the Big Bang came from. Some physicists think it came from another, preceding universe but, if that's the case, where did that universe come from? But a creator of energy is very different from the intermittently kindly or angry daddy-figure god of most religions.

To quote the Big Bang Theory

I don't object to the concept of a deity, but I'm baffled by the notion of one that takes attendance

Because literally nothing has convinced me otherwise. I wonder what makes theists so sure, with the complete lack of evidence?

" Science generally disproves a god/ gods. " says @HavfrueDenizKisi .
What? I would like to see your proof , please.
Science cannot disprove there is not a god! Don't get me wrong, I believe that science does the best job possible in explaining reality, but science is not omniscient.

Atheism is just as much a belief as any other.

Those who know the most know that we do not know what we don't know!

Because there is no evidence of a god and plenty of evidence of science.

Lack of evidence.

Most cultures have also believed women are second class citizens or less valuable than men, and I don't believe that either. It's not even remotely a struggle, despite its prevalence across history and geographical location.

The lack of proof. The fact scientifically it cannot be true. It is theists I wonder about the most. How fucking gullible can you be ffs?

In the days before science, I can totally see why people felt the need to try and explain how the earth came about, why freak weather happened etc. But now we have the science to explain everything, I am still amazed how many people choose to ignore it and believe in what is essentially a load of fairy tales.
It doesn’t give me much faith in the intelligence of the highly religious, that’s for sure.

I am an atheist.

If you map what religions occur where you will see that the predominant determining factor influencing what religion a person follows is WHERE in the world they were born.

If I had been born in Egypt, I would likely be Muslim or Coptic Christian.

If I have been born in the Philippines I would likely be Catholic (but only because the Spanish invaded!)

If I had been born in Bhutan I would likely be Buddhist.

Etc etc etc.

Therefore I see religion as a cultural concept, not an absolute reality.

Atheism is just as much a belief as any other.

I’m not so sure about that. As an atheist, I do not believe that deities exist. I don’t think that’s a faith position any more than not believing there’s an invisible dragon in my garage is a faith position.

Having studied the origins of most world religions it is very clear to me that they are an invention of men and a powerful tool to repress and control the masses, particular women.

I was brought up with a healthy dose of self confidence and encouraged to always question everything and everyone.

Why do you not believe in Santa or the tooth fairy op ?

@Whataretalkingabout perhaps this is what I actually meant. I just banged out my response without huge thought (multitasking and cooking dinner!)

Science is constantly proving itself correct and repeated experiments get the same results. Plus science has explained the evolution of the universe, constantly backing this up with data and more science.

There is no evidence or proof of a god or gods. No one has found evidence or been able to prove anything.

Also as an aside I once asked an extremely committed Christian, when he said non believers wouldn't go to heaven as they didn't know god, what about people who lived in pre-Christian times like 'cavemen'. As Christianity didn't exist essentially, and so they couldn't know god, what would have happened to them? He said they went to hell. Even though they had no way of knowing about god (the Christian version of course). How shite is that?

Exactly which is why the only religion I have any time for is paganism. Pagans view the world as a place of joy and life, not of sin and suffering. We believe that the divine is here with us in the natural world, not in some faraway place in the sky. We hold a deep reverence for nature and the earth. Pagans tend to be earth conscious.

women also seen as equal but is where ‘witchcraft’ came from. Often just women who understood power of plants, use a broom to keep the house clean & cat for the mice. Catholic Church demonised these women and pope Gregory believed the cats carried soul of the devil. cats became deeply feared by Catholics and were thus killed in massive numbers. The killing of cats led to a huge spike in the rat population which spread the plague like wildfire.