# 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:** 27
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/521 "2013-08-22T17:27:44Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > No, and I agree that it’s not. However, it is a way that people might listen to what can be offered and then decide whether they would believe in it. > > Maybe think about the other options? > If you run into trouble, you can count on God to help you through it, you have someone to turn to. Or, I can be self-dependent and responsible for the consequences of my actions. > [@Timo](#): > > If you feel unloved, God can fill that loneliness. Or, I can work at devloping relationships with family and friends, you know, _real people_ > [@Timo](#): > > God loves you even when you don’t. Are you willing to love Him?. > > God already knows your sins. He knows your thoughts. He knows your desires and struggles. He knows your secrets that others might not know. Yet He still loves you. Don’t believe in him, so none of that applies > [@Timo](#): > > Well, don’t get mad here, I think sometime down the road, you will feel empty. Maybe not you, you might be different. But people can feel empty inside. > > You can be as rich as you want, but you’ll lose it in the end because you’ll be dead - true? > > You can be as famous as George Washington or Albert Einstein but only be talked about when relevant. Generations come and generations go, the impact you could have made during your generation, wouldn’t, as hard as it sounds, be as impactful for the coming generations. > > Everyone dies. If you didn’t make a significant impact, no one will remember you. Do you remember your great great great great grandfather? Do you know his name? > > What you fill your emptiness with earthly things, remember, it will all disappear. You can’t take it with you when you’re dead. However, God is eternal. This reminds me of a Catholic lady I used to work with who become aware that I was a non-believer. She was stunned by this, incredulous really. She said I was the first atheist she had ever met. :dubious: I told her we rarely wore our [hats](http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=EZMAOieeaSpeHM&tbnid=Dha3l3TxJQvpeM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fatheistsinhats.tumblr.com%2F&ei=2EgWUoC8N_ej4AOMxIC4Dg&bvm=bv.51156542,d.dmg&psig=AFQjCNEdduy8xNT39WNYqCeaktFyI3Xg1Q&ust=1377278433532546), so we are hard to spot. Anyway, she asked “So what happens to you when you die?” I responded “My body will be interred in a green burial, so it will decompose, as all dead things in nature do.” She clarified “what about your soul?” “no such thing” I replied. “There is no soul, no afterlife, you die, and that’s it.” This was the part she could just not accept. That there was no “after” that follows this life. I wonder how many Christians are Christians just because they can’t wrap their heads around their own mortality. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/522 "2013-08-22T17:34:41Z")
If we’re going to just throw Bible quotes out there, let’s widen the playing field a bit shall we? > [@](#): > > And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers." [Quran 3:85] > [@](#): > > “All beings, son of Kunti, Pass into My material nature At the end of a world-eon; them again I send forth at the beginning of a (new) world-eon.” > > “I am the same to all beings, no one is hateful or dear to Me; but those who revere me with devotion, they are in Me and I too am in them.” > > “Even if a very evil doer Reveres Me with single devotion He must be regarded as righteous in spite of all; For he has the right resolution.” > > “Quickly his soul becomes righteous, And he goes to eternal peace. Son of Kunti, make sure of this: No devotee of Mine is lost.” [The Bhagavad Gita] > [@](#): > > Righteousness, and earnest meditation, > Wisdom, and highest liberation, > These are the doctrines comprehended > By Gotama the Glorious One. > The Enlightened One with perfect knowledge > Proclaimed the doctrine to the brethren, > The Master, who puts an end to sorrow, > The Seer, who has reached Nirvana. [Sutta of the Great Decease] > [@](#): > > “Thou sayest that all those men who have fallen in battle from the beginning of the world are now come to Odin in Valhall. What has he to give them for food? I should think that a very great host must be there.” Then Hárr answered: “That which thou sayest is true: a very mighty multitude is there, but many more shall be, notwithstanding which it will seem all too small, in the time when the Wolf shall come. But never is so vast a multitude in Valhall that the flesh of that boar shall fail, which s called Sæhrímnir; he is boiled every day and is whole at evening.” [GYLFAGINNING] How do these scriptures make you feel do they have any meaning to you whatsoever? If not, perhaps you can now see what impact quoting scripture from the Bible has on others, regardless of how they make you feel or how firmly you believe them to be the Truth. **Every one** of those scriptures above make others feel exactly the same way, or even more fervently. ---
**Author:** ![Timo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@Timo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/523 "2013-08-22T17:35:12Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It doesn’t. You know that, right? Um, yeah it does… 1 Corinthians 7:2 But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. Does it say, each man should have his own wives, and each woman her own husbands? ---
**Author:** ![Timo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@Timo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/524 "2013-08-22T17:36:57Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > If we’re going to just throw Bible quotes out there, let’s widen the playing field a bit shall we? > > How do these scriptures make you feel do they have any meaning to you whatsoever? If not, perhaps you can now see what impact quoting scripture from the Bible has on others, regardless of how they make you feel or how firmly you believe them to be the Truth. **Every one** of those scriptures above make others feel exactly the same way, or even more fervently. Oh haha, yeah I was like…what the heck… Thanks for pointing that out, but that’s where the Holy Spirit comes into play ---
**Author:** ![Timo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@Timo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/525 "2013-08-22T17:39:30Z")
> [@simster](#): > > WTF does any of that have to do with anything? or are you now a shill for [ancestry.com](http://ancestry.com) as well? \* > > And can YOU do any of those things? > > \*because thanks to them, I can do all of that. Uh…chill out please? I was just proving a point that when you die, if you haven’t made an impact in the world, nobody will know, even descendants. So maybe that would be a reason to think about what happens after death. Maybe that would be a reason to be a little more open to the idea of God. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/526 "2013-08-22T17:40:34Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Um, yeah it does… > 1 Corinthians 7:2 > But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. > > Does it say, each man should have his own wives, and each woman her own husbands? There a lot of figures in the Bible (David, Solomon, Jacob) who had multiple wives or wives and concubines. None of it is spoken of disapprovingly and it’s not banned in the commandment against adultery. Are you really going to argue that the word “own” takes are of all of that? By the way, if you’re going to respond to this, I’d appreciate it if you would take the time to address that idolatry stuff or the posts about belief. They’re much more central to this discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/527 "2013-08-22T17:41:01Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Oh haha, yeah I was like…what the heck… > > Thanks for pointing that out, but that’s where the Holy Spirit comes into play Define and quantify that statement, and explain how it’s any difference from the intense feeling of peace and understanding that adherents of other religions get when they read their respective scriptures. ---
**Author:** ![Timo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@Timo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/528 "2013-08-22T17:42:31Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Not according to the Bible, he wasn’t. According to the Bible, Jesus’ daddy was God, and the linage comes through the father. Okay, Jesus is God. He came down as a human. Doesn’t mean He still isn’t God. Do you want a human to just pop up without any ancestry, without a lineage? Wouldn’t that make it harder to believe. And besides, maybe part of the reason he was born our of a womb in the lowest of low births, was to not only show that it was a humble birth, nothing like what people would expected, and to show that He knows what we go through. He was human. He was even tempted by Satan himself. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/529 "2013-08-22T17:50:30Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > . . . , remember, it will all disappear. You can’t take it with you when you’re dead. . . . This isn’t part of the back and forth, really, so no need to reply. But if you’re trying to understand a world view with a different reaction to that, try reading “Mono no Aware” a short story by Ken Liu. It’s been nominated for a Hugo award this year. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/530 "2013-08-22T17:50:33Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Uh…chill out please? > > I was just proving a point that when you die, if you haven’t made an impact in the world, nobody will know, even descendants. > > So maybe that would be a reason to think about what happens after death. Maybe that would be a reason to be a little more open to the idea of God. Perhaps having an impact on this world is better than hoping that there is something ‘after death’ - so - go, have an impact on this world now, while you have a chance - hopefully you’ll do it in a positive fashion, otherwise, we’ll read about it in the papers and can use you as an example of what not to do. You over estimate the importance of “having an impact”. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/531 "2013-08-22T17:51:42Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Okay, Jesus is God. He came down as a human. Doesn’t mean He still isn’t God. > > Do you want a human to just pop up without any ancestry, without a lineage? Wouldn’t that make it harder to believe. And besides, maybe part of the reason he was born our of a womb in the lowest of low births, was to not only show that it was a humble birth, nothing like what people would expected, and to show that He knows what we go through. He was human. He was even tempted by Satan himself. The amazing thing is, if that’s true, Jesus talked to his father (who was in heaven at the time) while he was on earth. Maybe that was an assistant God. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/532 "2013-08-22T17:58:13Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Okay, Jesus is God. He came down as a human. Doesn’t mean He still isn’t God. No-it means he isn’t any Messiah that was prophesied in the Old Testament. [Here is a whole bunch of reasons why Jesus _can’t_\* be the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament, in fact.](http://www.jewsforjudaism.ca/resources-info/the-jewish-messiah) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/533 "2013-08-22T18:01:46Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > No-it means he isn’t any Messiah that was prophesied in the Old Testament. [Here is a whole bunch of reasons why Jesus _can’t_\* be the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament, in fact.](http://www.jewsforjudaism.ca/resources-info/the-jewish-messiah) I doubt this is going to accomplish anything. This is one of the places where it would be useful if **Timo** knew the history of the Bible the way Christian posters like **Polycarp** and **tomndebb** do. ---
**Author:** ![Timo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@Timo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/534 "2013-08-22T18:05:04Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > Timo, I would love to hear a thought out logical response to **Dorjan** ’s post # 466 above. Don’t let that one slide by, It’s well written, and worthy of a reply. > > I used this same line of reasoning in a conversation with my sister-in-law a few months back. I’m an atheist, and she is a pentecostal christian. She admitted some confusion with why her god (the Christian god) would condemn [66%](http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html) of the world’s population to eternal damnation, if he is the kind and loving god that she wants him to be. Her final comment was (paraphrasing) I don’t know why he would allow that, but I just have to believe there is a reason". Doesn’t work for me. > > Using that same source to measure the number of non-religious, that means if we take 16% out of the non-Christan 66%, that leaves a nice round 50% of the world’s population as believers, but not believers in YOUR god. So, in your belief, all of these folks are going to hell, right? Gandhi is in hell, but Nixon isn’t? Gandhi-Buddhist, Nixon-Quaker(christian). That just can’t be right. Yeah, I tried answering that in the previous posts to the best of my ability. But it’s just going to have to be answered by another brother or sister who has more experience. I agree, knowing that 66% of the world’s population to eternal damnation is pretty gruesome. But gospel is being spread, how much? probably not good enough. But think about it, you’re part of that 66% populations. Why? because you can’t believe that there can be good people going to hell, which makes you a great person for believing so. And I can assume that there are many others who have the same feeling. But aren’t you contributing to the number of great people going to hell? Now, say you wanted to be saved, not because of not being able to answer this question that even I don’t know, but because you know, that by doing so, you can help spread the Gospel, you can help save more great people." But now, to try to answer your question, I’m going to use this analogy. I’m not saying everyone has great parents or loving ones, but let’s try to ignore that for now. Say that your mother was loving. You know that if you stole a cookie out of the cookie jar, she’ll still love you. You know that if you lied to her, she’ll still love you. You know that if you stole money from her purse, she’ll still love you. You know that even if you don’t listen to her, she’ll still love you. You know that if you were suspended from school, she’ll still love you, You know that if you were put in jail, she’ll still love you. Now, you haven’t committed murder, but do you think you can assume that even if you commit it, she’ll still love you? This love is the same as God’s love for us. Except He knows us better than our moms. He knows our secrets that we hide from others. Yet he still loves us. Pretend that this is true, I know you don’t believe, but pretend. Now it says in the Bible, that God loves all of us. In fact he gave His only Son for us. Would you sacrifice your son, or child, assuming that you have one, to people that hate you, that do something against what you say, that mock you, that belittle you, that may hate you? I know I wouldn’t. But He did. Going back, God loves us all. If He loves us all, and like how a mother loves us, don’t you assume that He’s going to at least give you chances to believe in Him? Now, what happens to people’s lives, we don’t know, we don’t know every detail in a person’s life. We don’t know whether they were touched by God but decided to ignore it, or whether they had a small feeling that He could be real. However, we do know that God is loving. God is just. Would God be loving and just if He sent those who never had a chance to hell? For me, no. But He is loving, He is just. He loves us more than we love each other. He knows us when we were just babies. He knows our troubles and pain. So, while I don’t really know the answer, this is what I believe in. Plus, read verse Romans 1:20. Maybe they have a different name for God. I believe He’s also called Yahweh before He was called God. Point being, if they never heard of the Bible or the Gospel was never preached to them, they can still believe in the same God. He doesn’t have to be called “God” to listen. You can say like…“Father or Yahweh” Or you know…chinese or indian or a spanish way of saying God. Hope this can help a bit…not sure though… ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/535 "2013-08-22T18:07:55Z")
None of it helps if you don’t first believe in gods. Got it? ---
**Author:** ![Timo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@Timo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/536 "2013-08-22T18:09:09Z")
> [@simster](#): > > Perhaps having an impact on this world is better than hoping that there is something ‘after death’ - so - go, have an impact on this world now, while you have a chance - hopefully you’ll do it in a positive fashion, otherwise, we’ll read about it in the papers and can use you as an example of what not to do. > > You over estimate the importance of “having an impact”. Okay, maybe it is an over-estimate. Yet the point still stands. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/537 "2013-08-22T18:12:02Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Now it says in the Bible, that God loves all of us. In fact he gave His only Son for us. Would you sacrifice your son, or child, assuming that you have one, to people that hate you, that do something against what you say, that mock you, that belittle you, that may hate you? I know I wouldn’t. But He did. That’s …not good. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/538 "2013-08-22T18:13:27Z")
You forgot the other half of that analogy: Your loving mother, as patient as she is, if you continue to defy her or claim someone else is your mother, is going to toss you in the oven, and lock it on the clean cycle. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/539 "2013-08-22T18:15:20Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > That’s …not good. Not good at all. “I know you don’t like me, but maybe you’ll change your mind if I kill my own kid in cold blood?” ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/540 "2013-08-22T18:15:33Z")
Obligatory XKCD —\>[Timo’s Logic](http://xkcd.com/1195/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766.md?page=28)