# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/141 "2013-08-21T07:36:11Z")
I don’t believe in a god, for the same reason I don’t believe in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny. They are invented to amuse little children, and nobody who is an adult should still believe in them, unless they are seriously mentally deficient. ---
**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, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/142 "2013-08-21T07:59:26Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Oh yeah…I see what you mean…whoops… > > Well… at the end of the day, I just can’t physically prove to you that God exists. It’s all based off of faith. What I think, once you take that first step to try to know God, he’ll send you the Holy Spirit, which will then prove to you, or at least lets you acknowledge that a God can exist. Correct me if I’m wrong. Define God. Some versions of god, like tri-omni gods, are logically inconsistent and thus impossible. > [@](#): > > 2 Corinthians 4:4 > In their case the god of this world (Satan) has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. And the Wizard of Oz said, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” Con men hate people looking skeptically at their scam. ---
**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, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/143 "2013-08-21T08:09:20Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Part of my many other downfalls is not knowing much, if at all, other religions. But it would be interesting to find the clashes of the religions. Like in my previous post, I was born into a Christian family, which shouldn’t be an excuse, but that’s a definite must-do on my list. To study other religions, but by no accounts does that mean I’m going to believe that those religions are true… sorry if that sounds close-minded. I’m not going to, in my best ability, consciously insult your religion. To answer shortly, I don’t, and hopefully God won’t let me be swayed, sorry if that sounds a little virtuous…ish…but it’s true. We don’t expect you to start believing in any of those religions. We would like you to examine why you don’t believe in them - how they are lacking in logic or historical correctness. I hope it won’t be just because God told you they were wrong. Once you figure out why Islam is incorrect, you might be able to figure out why Christianity is incorrect. Not to mention that Mohammed had a far more successful career than Jesus did. ---
**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, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/144 "2013-08-21T08:12:10Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Because are you going to just open a Bible and read it? > > There’s so many distractions in the world. People helped me come to God and understand. Technically, you don’t need me. I’m just a human like you. What you need is the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, and God. I’m a nobody. Like many others, I’ve read the Bible from cover to cover. Any remotely skeptical reading will really make anyone with common sense an atheist. I loved all the dirty and violent parts they don’t teach in Sunday school. Read the beginning of Genesis. You’ll notice two mutually contradictory creation stories. Did Eve get made with Adam, or from his rib? And you believe God can’t dictate a consistent history? You don’t think God is very smart, do you? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/145 "2013-08-21T08:28:56Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > I go to a UU church sometimes and the minister told me if there is one thing UUs agree on it’s this: if there is a heaven, everybody goes. > > as it should be. Stalin? Hitler? Bill Bellichek? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/146 "2013-08-21T08:39:20Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > I’d ask if you are truly willing to take that risk? What’s the downfall of having a relationship with a loving God who wants to have a relationship with you? You should read further about “Pascal’s wager” which is the territory you are entering here. It’s a heavily flawed argument, for reasons people have already given you and which you can quite easily research. > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > No, sorry, that isn’t the way logic works. You don’t get to postulate any wackadoodle notion–say, that the Universe was created by some omnipotent being with a flowing beard and a bad case of narcissistic personality disorder–and then demand that everyone else disprove your claim, especially when said claim lacks any hint of observable objective evidence. This is a lesson which is generally learned by children around the age of five. Hmmm. Not really. My current and recent experience is that it takes the smart ones till they are about eight. And the not-so-smart ones never learn this lesson. For further reading, try reading up on the subject “Religion” 😉 > [@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. Harsh. Bear in mind that there probably were smart sheepherders: they just weren’t the ones writing down a bunch of mystical claptrap. When you consider how Christianity started out, painting all bronze age people as being like early Christians is like painting you and I as being like Branch Dividians. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/147 "2013-08-21T09:53:10Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Look at the clouds, look up cuttlefish, look at the exotic animals like those giant fish and turtles, look at the The Wave in Arizona/Utah, Look at the national parks, in short, just look at nature… [snip] I don’t see it as obvious that a supernatural being made all this, I think the premise that “God made the world” utterly diminishes the wonder of it all. That this inexplicable miracle (using the non-god-oriented definition) we call Life, Earth, Nature, just happened out of chance is what will quite literally bring me to my knees with awe. The beauty, the complexity, the terrible ferocity of the world we live in is an incredible accident. THAT is something to revere and to be thankful for. There is no all powerful God in my life. There are spirits, of sorts, that are the trees and the wildlife, Nature itself, and perhaps some faint remains of people who have lived and loved and died, but they for the most part are onlookers to the insanity that Man creates. I’m quite content with that, _I_ control my life as best I can, I don’t need any “higher power” to tell me how to live. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/148 "2013-08-21T10:10:09Z")
**Timo** , this is important: \*\*Stop quoting the Bible. \*\* As much as you love those passages, they mean less than spit to the people you’re trying to engage. You’re wasting both time and effort and illustrating an ignorance of how to effectively argue your point. If you actually want to make any headway you would do well to consider your audience and use their language. Or as Saint Ambrose said, way back in 387, “When in Rome, do as the Romans.” So stick with sound logic and sound rhetorical methods for this crowd. * * * _Can you claim with clear heart that you’re leading unbelievers to the Lord when you speak in a language they don’t comprehend? Will God see that folly as noble or wasted effort? Pray on this before you continue your mission. May the Lord be with you._ ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/149 "2013-08-21T11:24:41Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > But do you have any proof to disprove God? I have that long, detailed catalogue of the crimes of God, known as the Old Testament to show me why even if such a God existed he is not worthy or worship. Does that count? Then I look upon the works of those considered his followers in the form of organised churches and I apply the ‘by their fruits shall ye know them’ test and again find that God wanting. ---
**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, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/150 "2013-08-21T12:07:04Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > You’ve just demonstrated the harm in belief - it appears to make you illogical. > I’m Jewish, so I went to Hebrew School, and never believed in Jesus. Christianity, to one who isn’t indoctrinated in it, is about as believable as a cargo cult (except that the planes really did come in the recent past.) And don’t think you didn’t get indoctrinated - churches are very, very good at that. > > Jesus said he was returning before men then alive tasted death. He lied. Matthew mistranslated the Bible and invented the virgin birth. And you believe that? Jesus did not fulfill the actual messianic prophecies, no matter how much you cast around for unrelated passages that you claim are actually prophecies. The Messiah was not supposed to get arrested and offed five minutes after he arrives in the big city. That was about the time I was convinced Christianity was a crock. If Jews didn’t acknowledge that Jesus met THEIR requirements for being the Messiah, then the whole thing sort of falls apart. God - I don’t believe you can prove or disprove God. First of all, coming up with a definition is difficult. Secondly, my own “God” is so intertwined with “Universe” and “Spirit” that its hard to pull them apart. But Christianity, based on the premise that Jesus was the Messiah, pretty much falls apart when you recognize that Jesus did not fulfill the prophecies required of the Messiah. ---
**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, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/151 "2013-08-21T12:14:03Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I have. Twice, myself. I was actually interested in being a nun at sixteen - and NOT just for the romantic sixteen year old idea, I felt a “calling.” (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. I’ve spent the last five years teaching comparative religion in Sunday school - the Christianity sections do not necessarily compare favorably in World Religions for making sense. - Its not Hinduism, but I’m not sure too many Hindi’s take the gods part of their religion literally). ---
**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 21, 2013, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/152 "2013-08-21T12:22:53Z")
> [@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. I’ve spent the last five years teaching comparative religion in Sunday school - the Christianity sections do not necessarily compare favorably in World Religions for making sense. - Its not Hinduism, but I’m not sure too many Hindi’s take the gods part of their religion literally). “Golly! You say this “Jesus” guy died for _my_ sins, and now I can go to this place called “Heaven”? Why didn’t anybody tell me about him before??” ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/153 "2013-08-21T12:26:20Z")
“Why do people believe in God?” is a much better question. There’s no evidence for a god, therefore not believing is the default position. The OP further (and accidentally) explains why no one should believe in God. Logic is twisted with a slight air of desperation to make God’s supposed actions make sense to a sane and caring person. > [@Timo](#): > > The reason I’m asking is because why wouldn’t people want to have a relationship with a loving God. Which loving god? I only know of the despotic, selfish, genocidal maniac the majority of the world has a thing for. > [@Timo](#): > > If you respond with “because how can there be a loving God in an evil world”. It’s not God that makes it evil, it’s us. He gave each human free will, which means that we each have the ability to do what we please. Some choose to use their free will to murder, which affects others, mostly innocents. Others choose their free will for corruption or taking advantage of others. We don’t cause earthquakes or tsunamis. If God really created the world with these things in it - including human birth canals, smallpox, malaria, etc. - he really is a cosmic shit. And his design skills really come into question when we look at cancer and genetic diseases. > [@Timo](#): > > However, even if this does occur, don’t you think that eternal punishment in hell for those who harm the innocent bad enough? Think about it, eternal means forever and ever and ever and ever, it’s never-ending, 24/7. If you’ve ever sat near a huge campfire, you’d know that as it burns bigger, you sit further away. Think about it, you’re not even in the fire, and you can already feel your skin hurt. Hell is a lot worse. You’re actually in it. More evidence for my “cosmic shit” theory. > [@Timo](#): > > Then if you say, why would a God allow people to burn in the first place. I’ll just ask you, would you allow just anyone to live in your house? Heaven is where God dwells. Home is where you dwell. Would you let a murderer, who doesn’t repent of his wrongdoings, to live with your family? > (God did not make people murder, it’s their free will, they have a conscience. Jeffrey Dahmer a serial killer drank a lot of alcohol before killing his victims and sometimes cannibalizing them. Also, not all children abused or with terrible childhoods at a young age become serial killers. ) > Would you let a corrupt person who takes advantage of others to live with you eternally? I know I wouldn’t. It’s the same with God, why would you expect him to do the same? If God created human brains, and if he’s omniscient, he should know the results of what he does. He would know he has created humans that can be unbelievably caring and selfless, but can also be Hitler. He should know many will be psychopaths - that must be in his design. Half the time Christians claim God knows everything, the other half of the time they act like he’s surprised and shocked by human actions. So is he a callous absentee father or just a bungler? > [@Timo](#): > > And then you might say, why would a God let terrible events happen. Why doesn’t he just show himself? And this is just probably one reason out of the many. But it’s like, God wants us to choose to love him (again, free will) because don’t you think love is truly tested if you love what you can’t see? If you believe, your reward is eternal life in Heaven. You make it sound like a giant experiment, and again you make God sound callous. What is the purpose of this test? Why is loving him even a virtue at all? If you _choose_ to love someone, is it even real love? Earlier you used an analogy where you compared God’s desire to keep nasty people out of Heaven with a human’s desire to keep nasty people out of their home. Comparing humans again, would you love someone who didn’t bother helping you out when you were drowning, or sick, or starving, and just watched to see if you’d still love them after you survived? Or would you think they were a psychopath? > [@Timo](#): > > However, if you choose to accept God, and just pray that he’ll come into your life, and just build a relationship with him like you would with another human. He already knows your sins, your struggles, your secrets, and he can help you through it. Just pray for it. > > I’ve struggled with these thoughts before. I even though God was cruel to let bad events happen, I even thought that I couldn’t follow a God who would allow negativity in the world. Sometimes, I still unconsciously do when I read the news. But then I just have to remind myself that God has everything under control. We know how the world is going to end (Antichrist), and we just need to have faith. This is what I mean about desperation. It sounds to me that you don’t truly believe in God, but really wish you could. When I was around 12, I had a brief period like that. I read the Bible and tried to believe it, but in the end it just doesn’t work. Apparently God made me into the kind of person that doesn’t believe in fairly tales. And according to billions of people, this isn’t his fault, but mine. It makes about as much sense as cloning a child with no legs, then beating it for not winning the marathon you forced it to take part in. > [@Timo](#): > > Haha, that’s just my take on it. Also, in a way, God already does show his miracles. Look at the clouds, look up cuttlefish, look at the exotic animals like those giant fish and turtles, look at the The Wave in Arizona/Utah, Look at the national parks, in short, just look at nature, and just think, there’s a God that made it all. And everything you see will become more incredible. Just look at whooping cough. Believe in God if you want. But don’t forget to give him full credit for _all_ his wonders. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/154 "2013-08-21T12:28:40Z")
Why I have a hard time believing in God despite a pretty traditional protestant upbringing: 1 - The God of the Old Testament behaves differently from the God of the New Testament who behaves wildly differently from the God of today. Why the inconsistencies of a timeless being? 2 - The fact that God has “people” and people that oppose his people. God is very Hebrew-centric. The Jews are his people. Jesus was King of the Jews. The promised land was Canaan. What of the rest of God’s children? Why willfully ignore so many others? If you go by the history of everyone that has ever opposed the Jews in the Bible, it seems like the Egyptians, Jerichoians, Canaanites, Philistines, Babylonains, Romans, etc. exist for no other reason than to oppose the Jews, test their faith, and ultimately condemned to die. Where’s the benevolence in that? 3 - Everyone else on Earth that has ever lived that never got to learn God. 4 - What of all the people who were indoctrinated to other religions before even encountering Christianity? The Egyptians in the OT. The Romans in the NT. The 60-some% of non-Christians in the modern world today? It seems like those who believed in God has been the minority for all of recorded history. It seems like God isn’t very convincing, and since he’s omnipotent, is that by design? Does he just hate having people rally to his cause? Maybe his way of doing things is wrong - which is odd for an omniscient being. 5 - It seems an odd concept that blinding, unmitigated truth needs convincing. Shouldn’t it be obvious? Yes we can be given a choice, but why is the alternative so much more attractive, logically? 6 - Any act of pettiness mentioned in the Bible by God. The flood. The Tower of Babel. Testing Abraham. Testing Job. Allowing his people to be subjugated regularly and trolling the conquerors instead of just protecting his people in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/155 "2013-08-21T12:31:29Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Haha, that’s just my take on it. Also, in a way, God already does show his miracles. Look at the clouds, look up cuttlefish, look at the exotic animals like those giant fish and turtles, look at the The Wave in Arizona/Utah, Look at the national parks, in short, just look at nature, and just think, there’s a God that made it all. And everything you see will become more incredible. And [Guinea Worms](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracunculiasis), and Liver Flukes, and [Botflies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermatobia_hominis), and Bedbugs. Yes! Out of interest, how do you explain the wonder of all these things? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/156 "2013-08-21T12:34:53Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > Just look at whooping cough. > > Believe in God if you want. But don’t forget to give him full credit for _all_ his wonders. _[All things dull and ugly](http://www.montypython.net/scripts/allthing.php) All creatures short and squat All things rude and nasty, The lord god made the lot._ > [@madsircool](#): > > Stalin? Hitler? Bill Bellichek? Were I a believer in such things I would take great comfort in the thought that the likes of Hitler and Stalin were in Heaven, in that if God’s forgiveness extends even to such great sinners as those the chances of Him letting me in are pretty good. But I’m not. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/157 "2013-08-21T12:39:15Z")
**Timo** - as soon as you understand why you don’t believe in Ahura Mazda, Zeus, or Shiva, you’ll start to understand why others don’t believe in your god. “I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.” - Stephen F. Roberts ---
**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 21, 2013, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/158 "2013-08-21T12:44:07Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Haha maybe I jumped the boat. Sorry, because of what I believe in I just believed that the Bible is God’s words without realizing that I needed to prove it. > 2 Timothy 3:16 > All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, > > Which I realize doesn’t really help, because I’m trying to prove that the Bible is God’s words through the Bible…haha… > > But because I believe in God, and I don’t believe he would mislead his people on something that is suppose to help find him. He is powerful enough to protect his word, after all, He’s powerful enough to create the whole world and everything in it. What ‘scripture’ do you think Mr. Timothy was referring to in that sentence? And correct - you’re into circular arguments here. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/159 "2013-08-21T12:44:20Z")
> [@Ace309](#): > > What would you say if someone opened his heart to God but God did not reveal Himself to that person? What would he say if I opened my heart to God and God did reveal Himself – complete with a _Jesus-Is-Not-The-Way-And-The-Truth-And-The-Life_ message? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766/160 "2013-08-21T12:44:38Z")
> [@Timo](#): > > Haha, yeah. Like I said to Chronos > I can’t physically prove to you that there is God. I can’t just point towards the sky and tell you that he’s right there looking down at you. > But if you take a leap of faith and ask to have a relationship with God, what harm can it do?, then later, you’ll be able to decide yourself Why should we accept this belief rather than a belief in Islam? There’s a poster hereabouts who worships Athena, or at least affects to; why is your argument any more compelling than his? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-believe-in-god/666766.md?page=9)