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.
Define God. Some versions of god, like tri-omni gods, are logically inconsistent and thus impossible.
And the Wizard of Oz said, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” Con men hate people looking skeptically at their scam.
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.
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?
Stalin? Hitler? Bill Bellichek?
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.
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” 
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
“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??”
“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.
Which loving god? I only know of the despotic, selfish, genocidal maniac the majority of the world has a thing for.
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.
More evidence for my “cosmic shit” theory.
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?
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?
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.
Just look at whooping cough.
Believe in God if you want. But don’t forget to give him full credit for all his wonders.
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.
And Guinea Worms, and Liver Flukes, and Botflies, and Bedbugs. Yes!
Out of interest, how do you explain the wonder of all these things?
All things dull and ugly
All creatures short and squat
All things rude and nasty,
The lord god made the lot.
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.
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
What ‘scripture’ do you think Mr. Timothy was referring to in that sentence?
And correct - you’re into circular arguments here.
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?
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?