# Why don't people believe in God? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 21, 2013, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766 "2013-08-21T00:49:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Timo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@Timo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/281 "2013-08-21T19:50:20Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > No. You feel compelled to do so because you feel compelled to justify your own belief system in the face of challenging and contradicting evidence/ideas. > > We do not propose these challenges to test your knowledge of the bible. We propose them to give you pause and see if you can find an answer that is not found in the bible or your own established beliefs. > > You’re meant to consider the notion that the answers to these challenges cannot be found in any bible because the bible is not the alpha and omega to all the challenges in life. In fact, it answers very few of them. Okay. So I’d admit. I can’t prove that the Bible is true without using the Bible, and I did. I said the Holy Spirit, personal experiences. To the guy who asked me to give examples? One time, and unfortunately I don’t remember the verse, I was sitting there going through a desperate time. I flipped open the Bible to a random page. And boom, a verse popped up that comforted me. It just so happened that I flipped to the right page at the right time and looked at the right verse at the right time. Now you could say, “Oh that’s just a coincidence” And maybe it was. But the thing is, I attend a lot of summer church activities. And one time while I was at one, sitting there, another sister testified saying, she was going through a hard time and she opened the Bible, and BOOM, right verse that comforted her at the right page at the right time, but she remembered which verse unlike me. Now, I didn’t know that this could happen. I didn’t know that other people experienced the same experiences. But they did. And that only made me feel like there’s some connection here. As I said, I go to a lot of summer events helped to help others to build a relationship with God. One day I was again, sitting in a meeting. And during my experiences before, I found God to be very humorous. Something would happen, and I’d laugh and say, “Oh, ahah God, very funny” because it happened at weird moments at my life which compelled me to say so. I didn’t think that other people would have thought that God was funny. I don’t believe that it says so in the Bible. But during that one meeting, the guy said that God is very funny. And my whole attention was focused on him. How could he have the same feeling that God is humorous? I don’t know. It was my own personal experience, that turned out to be similar to other people’s experience. And this only solidified that we were loving the same God. That we were understanding and knowing the same God. So that’s some that I remember. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/282 "2013-08-21T19:56:20Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > One time, and unfortunately I don’t remember the verse, I was sitting there going through a desperate time. I flipped open the Bible to a random page. And boom, a verse popped up that comforted me. It just so happened that I flipped to the right page at the right time and looked at the right verse at the right time. I’ve had that same experience with Pride and Prejudice. And while I’m a huge Jane Austen fan, I’m not about to send her up as the Messiah because I find passages from her books to be comforting and pertinent in times of stress. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/283 "2013-08-21T20:01:45Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > See, here comes the cycle again. I’m going to have to prove that the Bible is God’s words using the Bible. But you see that you don’t have to prove the age of the Earth using the Bible.The Bible gives an age, and you can check that age against other evidence - fossil evidence, radioactive dating evidence, etc. And the Bible has shown to be wrong. Ditto for the flood. I bet you get email saying that your account at a bank needs to be revalidated by going to a website and entering your password, or that your email at some site is overflowing and you need to go there and enter a password. And I trust that you notice that you have nothing to do with the bank or the email provider, identify the mail as phishing, and delete it. That is critical thinking. The phishers want you to have faith in their mail. Try applying these same skills to reading the Bible. if you plan to go to college, I advise you to brush up on your critical thinking skills, or you are going to have a really hard time as professors rip your essays to shreds. You also need to take the extra step of not settling for the first answer you find. Do that when researching a paper, and you’re also going to get into trouble. Are you aware of when the various parts of the Bible were actually written? We can start there. ---
**Author:** ![babygoat666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@babygoat666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/babygoat666)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/284 "2013-08-21T20:02:26Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > One time, and unfortunately I don’t remember the verse, I was sitting there going through a desperate time. I flipped open the Bible to a random page. And boom, a verse popped up that comforted me. It just so happened that I flipped to the right page at the right time and looked at the right verse at the right time. So you looked to your source of comfort, and you found… comfort? No way. One time I was super thirsty, so I just flipped open the tap on my kitchen sink and drank whatever random chemical compound came out. It just so happened that my sink was connected to a potable water supply. ---
**Author:** ![Timo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@Timo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/285 "2013-08-21T20:03:25Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > **Timo,** If all you can bring to this argument is biblical quotes, you should know that these are absolutely worthless unless you first establish that the bible has any validity beyond what a bunch of ignorant sheepherders wrote down over 2000 years ago, an era marked by a remarkable lack of education and scientific knowledge, an era where what we would consider preposterous now was accepted as commonplace then, in spite of any good evidence. These people were amazingly gullible and uncritical. I’m sure you are aware of the great strides civilization and learning has made since? > > Should we throw all that away just because your personal knowledge hasn’t progressed beyond 2000 years ago? Okay, see I didn’t read or see this at first because of all the other posts. But admit it, there are some verses in the Bible that you agree with and show wisdom. ---
**Author:** ![Timo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@Timo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/286 "2013-08-21T20:07:26Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > How well does that work? Better than chance? Gamble..Chance… don’t they all require some kind of faith? You’re putting in faith that there is no God. You’re putting in faith that the God you think of is the real one. You’re putting in faith that there are more Gods… You’re putting in faith that this chance is better than that You’re putting in faith that you want to Gamble taking this route rather than the other/others. ---
**Author:** ![Timo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@Timo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/287 "2013-08-21T20:08:39Z")
> [@babygoat666](#): > > So you looked to your source of comfort, and you found… comfort? No way. > > One time I was super thirsty, so I just flipped open the tap on my kitchen sink and drank whatever random chemical compound came out. It just so happened that my sink was connected to a potable water supply. Okay, but you’re missing the point. The shared experiences with believers. I never told anyone about those two personal experiences. In fact, I didn’t know experiences could be similar. But it happened. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/288 "2013-08-21T20:09:58Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Okay, see I didn’t read or see this at first because of all the other posts. > But admit it, there are some verses in the Bible that you agree with and show wisdom. Showing wisdom and proving those are God’s words are two different things. Unless you believe all men are idiots and only speak the words God puts in their mouths. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/289 "2013-08-21T20:10:02Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Why do this type of Christian assume that we’ve been raised in a closet and all we need to do is be exposed to The Word to see the light. IMHO, it’s generally because they’ve convinced themselves that their beliefs are so obviously true that anyone aware of them must agree, so if you don’t believe that means either you’ve never heard of it or it’s just been explained poorly to you. It’s not a unique attitude; quite a few fanatics (political _and_ religious) seem to take that attitude that anyone who knows about their beliefs agrees with them, and the ones who say they don’t are just lying. > [@Timo](#): > > Taking a step to believe what you can’t see. You can’t confirm, yet you still believe. You can’t comprehend, yet you still believe, You don’t understand, yet you still believe. Sometimes you don’t find God’s way just, yet you know it is just. Sometimes you don’t understand why God causes natural disasters and allow people to suffer, yet you know there is a just reason. You realize that you won’t know everything about God, you won’t have all your questions answered, yet you still believe. That’s what faith means to me. In other words, faith is irrationality. Faith is believing “just because”, in defiance of all facts and logic. > [@Timo](#): > > But here’s a question: What if God can’t be found through human wisdom or physical evidence? What if he purposely made it as a leap of faith to love what you don’t see? What if that was the test? Then God is a deceiver, an enemy; and should be treated as nonexistent anyway since that’s what the evidence shows. > [@Timo](#): > > But just as stated before, how can a sculpture made out of clay argue with the potter? How can we argue with God? It’s like whether we like it or not, He is who He is. I mean you can argue with God, but he’s always right. If the sculpture can talk, it can do so just fine. And God as typically described is wrong all the time and blatantly evil. And even if we _had_ been created, that doesn’t give our creator the right to abuse us. > [@Timo](#): > > In a way, in the end, if we don’t believe is it God’s fault? > He made a way for you, by sacrificing his only beloved Son so that you may inherit eternal life. Before, we shouldn’t even have eternal life, all of us, because we’re sinners, should have been sent to hell directly. But because he loved us, he sent his Son. He’s made a way, all you have to do is accept. Goofy incoherence. That simply makes no sense; if God doesn’t want to condemn humans to hell, he can _just not do so_ without a ridiculous human sacrifice beforehand. > [@Timo](#): > > You can’t confirm that God is real, but there are moments when you know He is. > It’s like a personal experience. You don’t see it, yet you have this confirmation that it was from God. That isn’t confirmation, and no I never feel anything like that. Nor do you know there is a God; you believe because you were taught to believe. > [@Timo](#): > > So, if I can deny Him, even though I find it also unreasonable that God only chose to reveal it to the Jews at first, but I know that He is still just and trust, or have faith, that He has everything under control. Which includes natural disasters, poverty, and famine, I know…for me it’s also cruel, but just because we don’t understand or find it logical, doesn’t mean it isn’t. Doesn’t mean that there isn’t a reason for it. Because God loves every one of us. Your god’s “love” looks exactly like madness and hatred, and should be treated as such. “I love you and I’ll burn billions of you for eternity!!” > [@Timo](#): > > Also, just to add it in there, it also pains God. I don’t know why God doesn’t do anything about it, but don’t you think it takes more strength to look away than to stop it? :rolleyes: No. It takes no strength at all to look away. ---
**Author:** ![Neo-Calredic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/96bed5/32.png) [@Neo-Calredic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neo-Calredic)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/290 "2013-08-21T20:13:04Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > But here’s a question: What if God can’t be found through human wisdom or physical evidence? What if he purposely made it as a leap of faith to love what you don’t see? What if that was the test? > > Would it be cruel? Maybe. Is it unfair? Maybe. But just as stated before, how can a sculpture made out of clay argue with the potter? How can we argue with God? It’s like whether we like it or not, He is who He is. I mean you can argue with God, but he’s always right. Why is god “always right?” What if god told you 2+2 = 5? Would he still be “right,” simply by virtue of being too powerful to argue with? Because we both know that’s not really “right.” ---
**Author:** ![babygoat666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@babygoat666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/babygoat666)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/291 "2013-08-21T20:14:23Z")
> [@Neo-Calredic](#): > > Why is god “always right?” What if god told you 2+2 = 5? Would he still be “right,” simply by virtue of being too powerful to argue with? Because we both know that’s not really “right.” You also can’t argue with something which does not argue back. ---
**Author:** ![babygoat666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@babygoat666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/babygoat666)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/292 "2013-08-21T20:16:01Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Okay, but you’re missing the point. The shared experiences with believers. I never told anyone about those two personal experiences. In fact, I didn’t know experiences could be similar. But it happened. What is the point? ---
**Author:** ![Timo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@Timo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/293 "2013-08-21T20:16:03Z")
> [@Neo-Calredic](#): > > Why is god “always right?” What if god told you 2+2 = 5? Would he still be “right,” simply by virtue of being too powerful to argue with? Because we both know that’s not really “right.” Because He created everything. First of all, that would never happen, because He would never say something like that. Like me, you’re being hypothetical. ---
**Author:** ![hkepotat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hkepotat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hkepotat)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/294 "2013-08-21T20:17:07Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Okay, see I didn’t read or see this at first because of all the other posts. > But admit it, there are some verses in the Bible that you agree with and show wisdom. With approximately the same accuracy as horoscopes and fortune cookies, sure. As a collection of inspirational quotes and stories, the bible has some value as a shared cultural reference. But then, so do pretty much all other holy books or mythologies, or even the Smurfs. This does not mean that a story that has had a meaningful impact in your life needs to be ascribed to the truth of the story. It should be noted, as well, that even as some have been inspired to great things by religion, many others have used the same words to justify some pretty terrible acts throughout history. ---
**Author:** ![Timo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@Timo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/295 "2013-08-21T20:18:18Z")
> [@babygoat666](#): > > What is the point? I don’t know if you’re being a troll right now… It’s the personal experience with God, that somehow, was similar to other people’s personal experience with God. It’s either coincidence, or it’s not. But to those who felt it, and experienced it, it is not. ---
**Author:** ![Jens\_Illum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Jens\_Illum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jens_Illum)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/296 "2013-08-21T20:19:41Z")
Seriously, Timo, I don’t think you really want to know. You’re preaching, not asking. You assume that which you pretend to want to prove, but you don’t need any proof. You can believe if you want to, and you can not believe if you don’t. I don’t believe because I don’t believe. I don’t need it and I find religious talk gibberish. You’re not making any sense. You ask non-believers to pray, but why would anyone want to do that? Pray to what? The World becomes neither more nor less fantastic if you insert a God. Inserting a God doesn’t add anything. There may or there may not be a creative force. The only thing that seems reasonable and that cannot rationally be denied is that there has to be a first mover, a prime mover somewhere. That, however, does nothing to the implausibility of Christ and Holy Spirits and all the other nonsense. No, believing in a god only makes sense if you want to believe in a god, and the only reason I can see apart from the stuff about everything having to begin somewhere (but then where did god come from?), the only reason to believe in sin and redemption and resurrection, forgiveness and eternal life is fear of dying and a Desire to think that death is not the end, to come to terms with our mortality. What religious, at least monotheistic Christians or Jews or Muslims finally resort to is personal experience and there’s no arguing with that except that I’d have to believe you and I cannot. I defy your god to show himself to me if he’s there, but do you know what happens? Absolutely nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/297 "2013-08-21T20:20:15Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Because He created everything. That doesn’t make him right. It doesn’t even make him sane. > [@Timo](#): > > First of all, that would never happen, because He would never say something like that. You don’t know that. You’ve already portrayed your god as a manipulative deceiver, deliberately making the world look like he doesn’t exist out of some pathological need for people to believe in him against the evidence. Your god is not an honest god, and there’s no reason to think that he wouldn’t lie if he ever spoke. ---
**Author:** ![Timo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@Timo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/298 "2013-08-21T20:20:29Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > What’s the definition of insanity again? That’s hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/299 "2013-08-21T20:21:25Z")
Because the arguments in favor of such a belief are unconvincing. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/300 "2013-08-21T20:21:30Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Gamble…Chance… don’t they all require some kind of faith? Nope, luck. Faith is a whole 'nother thing. > [@Timo](#): > > You’re putting in faith that there is no God. Not believing in god does not require any faith at all. It is the absence of faith. > [@Timo](#): > > You’re putting in faith that the God you think of is the real one. Well, YOU are. > [@Timo](#): > > You’re putting in faith that this chance is better than that > > You’re putting in faith that you want to Gamble taking this route rather than the other/others. Does your god know that your faith in him is just a gamble? I mean he does have competition and it would not be unreasonable of you to lay your chips on say, Buddha or Krishna, or Allah. Right? I mean which ever one is right, I’m sure they’d all understand that you had to role the dice and this time, they came up Jesus. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766.md?page=16)