I don't believe in God because.....

Originally posted by josephw
3. Self; God gets in the way of self.

I'm only focusing on reasons atheists give for not believing in God. Although there may be some root issues, like the one you mention, they would not bring it up in a debate.

Originally posted by ThinkOfOne
From what I gather, the primary reason is because there is no evidence for the existence of God.

So it isn't because "God cannot be proved". Hopefully you'll understand the difference, though since you framed it that way in the first place...

I would have to agree with Joseph. There is evidence for God. If nothing else we have centuries of testimony from people who give testimony to his existence.

Last I checked testimony was evidence in a court of law even though it may or may not prove something in a court of law.

Originally posted by josephw
Depends on what you mean by "self-centered".

A Christian by definition is Christ centered, but in practical terms that doesn't always ring true.

On the other hand, a "non-theist", that is, anyone who has not trusted in what Christ did on the cross on their behalf, is "self-centered" in the sense that they live their life as unto themselves and do not s ...[text shortened]... the will of God, and cannot do otherwise because they do not have the life of God within.

You choose to define "non-theist" WRT one specific alleged deity. This is nonstandard and makes your arguments specific to your definition. If that is not self-centered thinking, what is?

Originally posted by googlefudge
Which god?


And that is far from an exhaustive list of reasons for not believing in gods.
you can't be paying attention if those are the only two reasons you can think of for not believing in gods.


The simplest is that one should believe nothing on blind faith.
Belief should be based on evidence.

Until there is evidence for gods (or anything else) then one should not believe in gods
(or anything else not supported by evidence).

Which God? Any god.

I said that a reason people say they do not believe is that God cannot be proved. Evidence is not proof, and as I pointed out if nothing else we have testimony from others who say they have experienced a touch from God so there is evidence for it.

Again, any others I did not mention? If so, you did not share.

Originally posted by JS357
3. When I introspect I find no belief in God. If there is a "because" I am not aware of it.

I think this goes with #1. What am I missing?

Originally posted by whodey
I think I have dwindled down the reasons people do not believe in God to two reasons.

1. God cannot be proved.

2. If there is a God, he would not allow "X" or cause "X" to happen.

What say you? Are there any others?

There are surely many conceptions of god in which you yourself do not believe. Are there reasons for this? If so, introspect on what they might be.

Originally posted by whodey
Which God? Any god.

I said that a reason people say they do not believe is that God cannot be proved. Evidence is not proof, and as I pointed out if nothing else we have testimony from others who say they have experienced a touch from God so there is evidence for it.

Again, any others I did not mention? If so, you did not share.

Yes and this is wrong.

I for one do not think that the existence of god couldn't be proved by god.

Thus that is not a reason for me not believing in god.
Why are you trying to tell me what I do or do not believe?


And no personal testimony and 'eyewitness' testimony is not acceptable in science or as evidence of god.

As I can provide many counter arguments and explanations for why we have such testimony that are in
fact much more likely than the existence of god (hallucinations and lying being two of them) no personal
experience can ever be considered evidence for any god or gods.

Originally posted by LemonJello
There are surely many conceptions of god in which you yourself do not believe. Are there reasons for this? If so, introspect on what they might be.

Good point, I guess thinking about this I would have to go with:

3. Evidence presented does not sway my belief.

So there ya go, we have one more. 😛

Originally posted by whodey
I would have to agree with Joseph. There is evidence for God. If nothing else we have centuries of testimony from people who give testimony to his existence.

Last I checked testimony was evidence in a court of law even though it may or may not prove something in a court of law.

Yes and science uses a vastly higher standard of evidence than a court of law.

Also courts of law don't deal with claims of the supernatural.

Try going to court and testifying that you were abducted by aliens or were instructed to
kill by angels and see where you get...


Eyewitness testimony and personal experience is not evidence of the supernatural.

Originally posted by googlefudge
Yes and this is wrong.

I for one do not think that the existence of god couldn't be proved by god.

Thus that is not a reason for me not believing in god.
Why are you trying to tell me what I do or do not believe?


And no personal testimony and 'eyewitness' testimony is not acceptable in science or as evidence of god.

As I can provide many ...[text shortened]... ng two of them) no personal
experience can ever be considered evidence for any god or gods.

I simply await for you to add to my list or reasons. You have yet to do so.

As for evidence, like it or not evidence in a court of law is eye witness testimony. Why do you drag science into the fray? You imply that judges and jurys are incompentent in their decisions if they do not use science as the basis for their verdicts. This is absurd.

Originally posted by whodey
I would have to agree with Joseph. There is evidence for God. If nothing else we have centuries of testimony from people who give testimony to his existence.

Last I checked testimony was evidence in a court of law even though it may or may not prove something in a court of law.

The problem here is what evidence have those who would "give testimony"? There's still no evidence. You've only succeeded in removing the burden of providing evidence from Joseph to others.

Another way to look at it is this: "We have centuries of testimony from people who give testimony" to the existence of ghosts. Do you consider that "evidence" for the existence of ghosts? We have years of "testimony from people who give testimony" to the existence of UFO's. Do you consider that "evidence" for the existence of UFO's? Santa Claus?

Originally posted by whodey
I think this goes with #1. What am I missing?

I said: "3. When I introspect I find no belief in God. If there is a "because" I am not aware of it."

You say: "I think this goes with #1. What am I missing?"

Yes, there is something being missed although you are not alone in missing it.

I think you have to be the kind of non-believer I am to understand it.

If you catch me taking the "prove it" position here, point it out to me.

Concluding that it goes with #1 assumes that the person doesn't believe in God because it can't be proved. But I am not holding off on belief in God on the basis of lack of proof. I am available (you may not agree with that I am) to believe in God in the absence of proof; in fact, I believe that belief in God without proof is what faith is all about. When I believed in God, I did so without proof. I'm not really sure why I am no longer a believer. (Edit: I'm not aware there is a "because" reason.) But I am not "waiting for proof." It wouldn't matter how belief comes, right? There is no Biblical requirement that the believer also believe there is proof, right? So I accept that. I won't demand proof if belief comes to me without it, that's how it comes. So I don't say "I don't believe in God because it can't be proved" and so it is not a category #1 reason for me. But it's your survey for reasons, not mine.

Originally posted by whodey
I think I have dwindled down the reasons people do not believe in God to two reasons.

1. God cannot be proved.

2. If there is a God, he would not allow "X" or cause "X" to happen.

What say you? Are there any others?

Yes, many many others, one I can think of right off the bat: There are too many diabolically opposed religions. A real god could just as easily say here is how it is to every human being, indeed, every intelligence in the universe at the same time. What you think of as a god is no such thing, just some creative people making up stories, which just coincidentally works out to make those leaders rich for the most part and to put women on a lower plane than men. Your own bible says it quite clearly, a woman is worth 35 shekels and a man 50. Since women and men are required to propagate the race, there would be no inequality in a god's eye. That alone is enough for me.

Originally posted by whodey
I think this goes with #1. What am I missing?

I want to add separately that the fill-in-the-blank question "I don't believe in God because..." is very different from the question "I believe there is no God because...". I think this difference is often overlooked.

Originally posted by sonhouse
Yes, many many others, one I can think of right off the bat: There are too many diabolically opposed religions. A real god could just as easily say here is how it is to every human being, indeed, every intelligence in the universe at the same time. What you think of as a god is no such thing, just some creative people making up stories, which just coinciden ...[text shortened]... o propagate the race, there would be no inequality in a god's eye. That alone is enough for me.

Would you have the same answer if the topic was "I don't believe in deity because..."?