# 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:** 28
**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, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/541 "2013-08-22T18:15:55Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > None of it helps if you don’t first believe in gods. Got it? Okay, well. Before believing, neither did I. Like I said before, they were just stories, well maybe I didn’t say stories, but they were just hammered into my head. I didn’t just pop out of my mother’s womb and go “God exists!” It’s progress, step-by-step. We may all have that inner feel that there may be, we just don’t know it and it isn’t a strong feeling. **Romans 1:18-20** ---
**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, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/542 "2013-08-22T18:16:37Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > 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: Right. God is filled with infinite love for you, but if you spend a couple of decades denying him or ignoring him, he’ll sentence you to be tormented until time stops. Because he loves you and all, but _come on_. ---
**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, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/543 "2013-08-22T18:18:39Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > 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?” Dude you’re missing the point… God didn’t force His Son to die on the cross, as you can see, Jesus was a little hesitant when the time came near to die…yet He still followed through because He knew it was God’s will and He knew it was worth the price. In the end, Jesus did it through His own will, His own actions, His own obedience. ---
**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, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/544 "2013-08-22T18:20:00Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Okay, well. Before believing, neither did I. Like I said before, they were just stories, well maybe I didn’t say stories, but they were just hammered into my head. > > I didn’t just pop out of my mother’s womb and go “God exists!” > > It’s progress, step-by-step. Not progress. Indoctrination. ---
**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, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/545 "2013-08-22T18:20:34Z")
> [@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. So, you agree that this would be beyond reasonable doubt, but you’ll accept that Jesus was born to a virgin? So somehow immaculate conception passes the scrutiny test? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/546 "2013-08-22T18:20:41Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Okay, maybe it is an over-estimate. Yet the point still stands. No, it doesn’t. That’s your response to every time someone points out that your argument is factually incorrect, and it’s no better now than it was on page 1. ---
**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, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/547 "2013-08-22T18:20:58Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Okay, maybe it is an over-estimate. Yet the point still stands. no - it doesn’t. The best anyone can ever hope for is to make a mark NOW and be inspirational/beneficial to those around them - anything else is gravy. ---
**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, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/548 "2013-08-22T18:25:10Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Dude you’re missing the point… > > God didn’t force His Son to die on the cross, as you can see, Jesus was a little hesitant when the time came near to die…yet He still followed through because He knew it was God’s will and He knew it was worth the price. In the end, Jesus did it through His own will, His own actions, His own obedience. Well, since he knew God (or is it himself?) was going to resurect him after three days - its more like he took a long weekend to New Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/549 "2013-08-22T18:26:54Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > In the end, Jesus did it through His own will, His own actions, His own obedience. Boy, you don’t even try to recognize the internal inconsistencies in your arguments. If you assume Jesus was fully God (and fully human, but let’s let that one go for now) who was he being obedient to? Himself? ---
**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, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/550 "2013-08-22T18:28:24Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > Obligatory XKCD —\>[Timo’s Logic](http://xkcd.com/1195/) And as I said before and before, it’s called the Holy Spirit. If you want to understand, you need the Holy Spirit. But how to get the Holy Spirit? You need to be willing first to accept God. I don’t care if this doesn’t make sense, and there’s an unending loop to it, point being, you need one to have the other, you need the other to have the one. It doesn’t make sense, but you just go for it. It’s like love. Love has no logic to it. If you love someone, you look past the flaws and you just love. You might know why you love someone, but when they hurt you, why do you still love? It may sound like at first there is no logic, but if you just try to take that leap of faith, eventually down the road you can have the Holy Spirit, and it becomes logical. Just like how someone pointed out that just slapping Bible verses as answers doesn’t mean other people will understand, and I think it just proved to me how much of a difference the Holy Spirit can be. ---
**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, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/551 "2013-08-22T18:30:48Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Boy, you don’t even try to recognize the internal inconsistencies in your arguments. If you assume Jesus was fully God (and fully human, but let’s let that one go for now) who was he being obedient to? Himself? That’s where you’re wrong. I do realize the inconsistency of that. However, it’s just one of those things that humans can’t understand because God is just that great. As I said before in previous posts, you won’t ever know all about God. But the small things that you do know about Him, can make up for what you still have yet to find out. IN THE END, however, we will know and understand why, and every mystery that has every crossed our mind will be answered. By the way, it’s called The Triune. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Which Christians believe are all one God. Puzzle? Yes. Anddd maybe someone does figure that out. Please share. It’s why we have fellowship. ---
**Author:** ![Ograbme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Ograbme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ograbme)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/552 "2013-08-22T18:33:16Z")
Timo, what do you make of the fact that American atheists are more knowledgeable of the bible than Christians are? ---
**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, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/553 "2013-08-22T18:33:31Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > People can change. The ex-Buddhist in your Church changed, because for whatever reason, Christianity works out better for him now. Plenty of Christians change beliefs, or cease believing altogether. It still does not validate or invalidate any of the beliefs in question. Just because someone grew up Buddhist and later converted to Christianity does not in any way mean that Christianity is more true. A person who leaves Christianity can also do so for many reasons. The point is, this is due to people changing, and has nothing to do with the validity of one belief over another. I will reiterate that point - **this is due to people changing, and has nothing to do with the validity of one belief over another**. > > And really, people in general don’t change that much. For every person who grew up indoctrinated with one belief and decided, for whatever reason, that they are now going to believe in something else - the vast, overwhelming millions of others are born, raised, and die firmly believing in the dominant religion of wherever they happened to be born. How/why that religion is dominant in a particular area is entirely due to History, war, and politics. Evangelism has very very little impact in the grand scheme of things. Okay, my question for you. How would you know if you’ve never felt the Holy Spirit? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/554 "2013-08-22T18:36:32Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > And as I said before and before, it’s called the Holy Spirit. If you want to understand, you need the Holy Spirit. But how to get the Holy Spirit? You need to be willing first to accept God. I don’t care if this doesn’t make sense, and there’s an unending loop to it, point being, you need one to have the other, you need the other to have the one. It doesn’t make sense, but you just go for it. > > It’s like love. Love has no logic to it. If you love someone, you look past the flaws and you just love. You might know why you love someone, but when they hurt you, why do you still love? > > It may sound like at first there is no logic, but if you just try to take that leap of faith, eventually **down the road you can have the Holy Spirit** , and it becomes logical. Just like how someone pointed out that just slapping Bible verses as answers doesn’t mean other people will understand, and I think it just proved to me how much of a difference the Holy Spirit can be. If we meet the Buddha on the road we are expected to kill him. Does the same hold true for the Holy Spirit? ---
**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, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/555 "2013-08-22T18:39:23Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > And as I said before and before, it’s called the Holy Spirit. If you want to understand, you need the Holy Spirit. But how to get the Holy Spirit? You need to be willing first to accept God. I don’t care if this doesn’t make sense, and there’s an unending loop to it, point being, you need one to have the other, you need the other to have the one. It doesn’t make sense, but you just go for it. As a matter of fact it doesn’t make any sense at all. Not only does it not make the least bit of sense, it exists to prevent you from having to engage with people who think differently from you so you won’t think harder about what you’re hearing or consider other points of view. That’s the problem here. ---
**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, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/556 "2013-08-22T18:39:34Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Okay, my question for you. How would you know if you’ve never felt the Holy Spirit? Why not give with the answers first? Did you read the link I provided in post #532? ---
**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, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/557 "2013-08-22T18:43:09Z")
> [@Ograbme](#): > > Timo, what do you make of the fact that American atheists are more knowledgeable of the bible than Christians are? I agree, embarrassing. You could question why I’m even posting right now. I agree, with more knowledge, my arguments could be better. But that is for the future. Right now, what I can say, I will say. What I can’t, I’ll admit to not knowing. I’d also say, kudos to them for taking their time in reading the Bible, in understanding it all before making a dedication of their faith. However, as proven before in other posts, you can’t know all the answers. Nobody knows everything. You’ll never know all about God. For God created the world and after all these years, we are still discovering. However, I’d like to think of it as, if you have this slight feeling to accept God, go for it, jump after it. As you already said, atheists know more about the majority of the Bible than Christians. Meaning that probably, most Christians don’t know all about the facts and verses in the Bible. Yes, you might call us fools. But you’ll never know everything about God. You can’t find God through human knowledge and understanding. You find Him through listening to that small tug inside of you. That small tug that says, accept me. Give me a chance to prove to you that I am God. You take one step of faith, and He does the rest. ---
**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, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/558 "2013-08-22T18:44:12Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Why not give with the answers first? Did you read the link I provided in post #532? Okay, but then I expect you to answer my question when I read #532. Your response to this only gives me a slight inkling that you’re trying to avoid answering. By the way, I have to go to the bathroom, so it might take longer than usual to respond. ---
**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, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/559 "2013-08-22T18:48:20Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Okay, but then I expect you to answer my question when I read #532. Your response to this only gives me a slight inkling that you’re trying to avoid answering. Go for it. I’ll wait. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/560 "2013-08-22T18:48:43Z")
The bottom line is that people don’t believe in the Christian God for many different reasons. Many of the reasons stem from the lack of evidence, historical/scientific inconsistencies, logical inconsistencies, moral inconsistencies, and is just overall a very implausible set of rules to accept. No, Timo. You saying you’ve felt the Holy Spirit doesn’t qualify as evidence any more than someone saying they’ve felt the Satanic Spirit move them has to an independent 3rd party that you’re trying to share the gospel with. You quoting the Bible is no more convincing than someone else quoting the Koran. You pointing to Jesus as an example is no different than someone else pointing to Buddha. Furthermore, once indoctrinated into Christianity, how do you decide between Catholicism, Protestantism, non-Denominational, Mormon? It doesn’t seem like the actions of a group of people that have “the Truth”. It looks like a bunch of people who don’t know any better but are pretending that they do, and when then start preaching it comes off as condescension. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766.md?page=27) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766.md?page=29)