Why don't you believe in a god

[lupus_in_fabula]

If you can admit you might be wrong about the existence of God, what kind of believer is that?


I think that would be close to mysticism; someone who’s following an apofatic theology, i.e. stripping away all notions about god in order to experience god (belief is seen as a hindrance for this process). That’s what they consider religion to be; not a belief system but rather a returning back to the source; a state of being before notions and beliefs arrive (lat. re + ligare = back to the source).

But of course, this too is not a place for a believer – a believer prefers idolatry. Perhaps an agnostic believer is one who is ready to update his idol, thus a ‘white-bearded male figure’ transforms into a ‘being of light’ or whatever (an idol nonetheless). The questioning pertains to the manifestation, but as long as there’s existence at all, the existence of god is not questioned.

[Skeptic Ginger]

This is where I feel a lot of people misinterpret the meaning of "agnostic". The root and the meaning of the word are both "without knowledge". It just means you admit you don't "know" for sure.....You can be agnostic without being wishy-washy.It always bothers me that one takes the approach you cannot disprove gods exist rather than the scientific approach which is what does the evidence say?

The evidence leads me to draw an atheist conclusion. The only gods I'm agnostic about are the ones which are arbitrarily claimed to be outside of the natural Universe.

The fact the scientific process doesn't seek to prove the negative is no reason to waste so much energy discussing arbitrary agnosticism about gods which might exist outside of the natural Universe, along with those invisible pink unicorns, I might add.

[Beerina]

The only rational stance on this debate is an agnostic one. Theists and atheists can argue until they are blue in the face but it isn't going to change a thing.

Well, yes and no. I am "agnostic" in the same sense I am agnostic about a unicorn in my backyard. The number of things that:

1. Could exist

2. Are capable of hiding from me

3. Have the desire to hide from me

are truly infinite. Why pick out one and claim it has a higher probability of "maybe" existing?

It's reasonable to presume they don't exist, and live your daily life as if they don't.

Then, consider this: God "wants you to believe without proof." Yet, historically, that's not the case. It's a relatively new theological argument that developed to explain his apparent non-existence. Human theologists began to elevate the ethics of "belief without proof" so as to justify this bizarre behavior.

[drzeus99]

Unless it is God doing the evil.

List of God's (and Jesus' and a few of God's other friends') cruelty in the Bible (http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/cruelty/long.html)


Sure. But the believers will say that those events were all god's will.

I guess that god has no problem ordering humans to kill other people.


I thought about that A LOT as a child, when I didn't know whether or not
any of this religious stuff is true. once I thought about the above sentence,
it dawned on me as clear as anything I've ever been clear on.

It gave me a few thoughts.

A) WHY would some supreme omnipotent being have to convince some
humans he created to KILL some of the other humans that god
created). Why couldn't an omnipotent god just do
it himself and spare a human from possible mental problems caused
when this "god" asks/makes him KILL his brother (or neighbor). WHY?

2) What kind of a sick, depraved being would be so cruel and depraved.
If this beast truly is "god", I want NOTHING to do with him. Nothing
whatsoever. That's just plain crazy talk this "god" is doing. Sick!

C) Another question. What type of supreme being would be so insecure
and conceited to "need" people to actually pray to and worship him.
Now, I'm not some holier than thou person, but if I had this type of
power, I would create a great world for people to live in and not ask
anything in return. I wouldn't need any ego boost by asking the
lifeforms I created to "worship" and "pray" to me. I'd just do it out of
the graciousness and love in my heart, wanting nothing in return.
Anyone/anything that wants something in return for doing something
only did that something because of ulterior motives (i.e, ego boost
in this case)

Add all 3 of them up and it became obvious to me.
It just didn't make any sense. It didn't add up...and it never will,
because it's just a humanly conceived/created writing from an era
in our history where scientific knowledge of the world was in its infancy and
this explained much of the unknown. It was also created as a way to teach
people not to act like barbarians..telling them of consequences of their actions. But not just earthly consequences, but consequences AFTER one dies. For an ancient culture that worked by word of mouth, this was a
frightening prospect, especially if you started to hear more and more people
around you believing this same thing. Humans, by nature, do NOT want to
stick out in the crowd. Most people are sheep and are easily lead and duped
into believing what someone with any type of standing in a community says.
People naturally want to conform with the majority, rather than being an outcast. So, it's not at all difficult to see how and why a religion could
be created, especially at a time of such limited scientific knowledge.

Heck, even in the last couple hundred years new religions have been created,
and they have thousands upon thousands of followers today.

And for further proof, there's legions that follow scam artists, frauds,
and charlatains today...MILLIONS. With all the woo going around today, and the millions, if not BILLIONS who believe in some of it, is it SO hard to imagine
this exact thing first starting a couple of thousand years ago when it comes
to christianity? It really shouldn't be hard for anyone, if they are being
truthful and honest in their opinion about that.