I consider myself an atheist with no belief in God. None at all. I believe the Big Bang started everything and humans arrived through a long path of evolution. The reason I believe in all that is because when I hear the scientific explanations, I think “Wow. My understanding of everything has become a little clearer.” But when I hear stories about God, I think, “Hmmm… That doesn’t really make sense to me.” And as I hear more stories about God, I become less and less convinced. It’s almost as if people are trying to convince me Santa Claus is real.
I have heard that if I open my heart to God, I will believe. But that doesn’t make sense to me either. There are all kinds of groups which ask for blind faith (everything from religion to Herbalife). I just cannot believe something because someone says I should believe it. I need proof.
So I was wondering, if there really is a God, what is preventing me from accepting that belief? Maybe my own conscience mind is stronger than God’s will. Perhaps the Devil is inside my head? What could it be? I feel that if I heard God’s word and it really was “THE TRUTH”, then I would believe in God. But I don’t. When I hear scientific reasoning, that is “THE TRUTH” for me.
So for those of you who believe in God, how am I able not to believe?
You might be amazed at how much you and I can find agreement on. I agree with this: “I believe the Big Bang started everything and humans arrived through a long path of evolution.” I agree with this: “I just cannot believe something because someone says I should believe it. I need proof.” And I agree with this: “Maybe my own conscience (sic) mind is stronger than God’s will.”
I can imagine why you don’t believe in God. But I can testify that you never know what’s around the corner.
Only you know why you don’t believe one thing or another. You say you believe in the big bang because it makes your understanding of everything a little clearer. I accept the probable accuracy of the Standard Model, including the n dimensional origin boundary named “Big Bang” too. I don’t think it makes my understanding of anything any clearer, though. Evolution is pretty well grounded in observable data, and I think our (modern man, being “us”) perception of the history of life is probably not fundamentally dissimilar to the real facts. I can’t say that I understand life, though.
Now I can’t really report to you that any particular passage of the Bible meets any rigorous definition of evidence. I don’t read it for evidence of anything, though. I don’t use it to prove anything, either. I find great wisdom reflected in the words of Jesus, though. I apply the message of the Gospels to direct my life, and my heart. I see, in the lives of those whom I most respect examples of living as I believe the Lord would have us live. I see it even among those who do not believe.
Faith is not a matter of logic, or scientifically verifiable proof. Faith is a knowing of hearts, and souls. You must know your own soul, I cannot. But whether or not you believe in God, consider this: The Gospel of Matthew assures you that if you give to every child of God the love that you can, without ever knowing Him, then He will know you, and receive you with that same love. So, in the final analysis, it is love of your fellow man that is the test of whether God knows you, not the protestations that you know Him.
We believe those in whom we have respect. For you, that is Science, and the works of the mind of man. Give some of that respect to love itself, for that is the Way, whether you know God, or not.
Tris
“You could park a car in the shadow of his ass.” ~ Geena Davis, in Thelma and Louise ~
What if we’re atheists and we don’t want to love our fellow man? Can we be happy atheists who believe most of our fellow men are jerks?
P.S. My own preffered view is that the Universe grows from a Big Bang, cools, then contracts into a Big Crunch, before starting the cycle again with another Bang.
So the OP - as I’m reading it myself as an atheist - is kind of along the lines of “convince me, 'cos if you can’t then that proves that your God doesn’t exist”?
As someone who also believes in the “big bang” rather than in some supreme being, I’d like to ask the OP in which of the current “big bang” theories he/she has the most faith (because none of them have yet been ‘proven’).
I personally like the Hawking model, although I don’t discount superstring models - I just find them hard to understand. I also find it very hard to understand the belief systems of those who do have faith in an “ultimate being” which is why I try to phrase my questions about their faith in a way which will allow me to understand why that faith exists (because there are so many people around here for whom I have admiration and respect and yet whose philosophical/religious beliefs are pretty alien to me), rather than simply ask a question (or start a debate) which is guaranteed to make them become defensive of their faith/beliefs/viewpoints.
The difference might seem subtle - in the “real world”, it isn’t.
Is it summer vacation in the US ATM, or has the SDMB been advertised somewhere lately? We seem to be getting an major influx of these kinds of OPs…
If God is all-knowing, then we must assume that he knows exactly what it would take to convince you of his existance. Since he hasn’t come forward with the necessary info, we can only come to one conclusion:
God hates your sorry ass, and is sending you straight to hell.
So I was wondering, if there really is a God, what is preventing me from accepting that belief? Maybe my own conscience mind is stronger than God’s will. Perhaps the Devil is inside my head? What could it be? I feel that if I heard God’s word and it really was “THE TRUTH”, then I would believe in God. But I don’t. When I hear scientific reasoning, that is “THE TRUTH” for me.
So for those of you who believe in God, how am I able not to believe?**
I can think of a few possibilities:
There is no god or gods.
The sign or miracle you were looking for to help you “believe” occured, but being the rational type, you dismissed it as a coincidence or some other “explainable” phenomenon.
You need to pray to Opal instead. It’s easy, just say “Hi Opal!”
You were praying to the wrong god or goddess. Try another one instead.
I have that same problem. I cannot believe with the evidence presented to me. However, if hell exists, I certainly don’t want to go there. Yet, apparently, Jesus is the only way.
I’m told “Just have faith”. I cannot force myself to believe, nor more than someone can “just believe” in Santa or Zeus. And if I just say “I believe” without sincerely being able to, wouldn’t an omniscient god see past that ploy?
Then you are opposed to love itself? You embrace the concept of individual judgment and condemnation of your fellow man? It seems to me that you can look forward to being judged, and despised in your turn, and then death, unloved, and alone.
I pity you.
Quite aside from the matter of faith in God, I pity you. You are lost from even the saving graces of your fellow man. Not even mortal love can reach you. But judgment, spite, and hatred are free to wash over you without hindrance.
Whether or not you decide to consider the possibility that you are wrong about God, I pray that you might see the bleakness of your world view, and consider that love, even without the existence of God is a great and powerful force, able to rebuild the world from all the woes it now suffers.
Tris
“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” ~ Carl Jung ~
You might convert more people if you used less pity and more piety. Bryan Eckers didn’t say that he didn’t love anybody. He merely said that he thought that most people in the world were jerks. He wants to choose who he loves, that’s all.
Lib, he “ought” to choose anyone he wants to choose. He doesn’t know me and has never met me-why should he love me?
Tris, rather than give false pity and make self-serving assumptions, why don’t you just ask him:
Bryan Eckers, do you think that your world view is bleak, and are you filled with dispair?
