What Makes People NOT believe In God? (Atheists Come!)

I once heard that God always answered a person's prayers. If the person did not get what he prayed for, the reason was that God said, "NO"! Now THAT covers just about every contingency.

when developing a belief system/philosophy it's always to your advantage to have an exit strategy. Kind of the exception that makes the rule.

I'm thinking of the dictum: If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.

Farmerman...who says cats aren't people?

Thats the subject of Brad Paisleys newest song. Its cute(but ulimately futile)

Exit strategy, Dys? LOL

The question "What makes people NOT believe in unicorns?" would receive the same answer from me.

Cat's do.

What makes people NOT believe in god?

Mainly, I think it's because of the people who do believe.

If a christian asks if you believe in god and you say yes, he often automatically assumes that it is the christian god you believe in, and he automatically assumes a lot of things about you. Of course, it's the same if you say you don't believe. So I rarely talk to people about these things anymore.
If I'm asked about my beliefs I say that I have enough with trying to believe in myself. I mean, I know I exist, but it's not always easy to have faith in myself

eb-p, I'm sure they would deny being like us.

If cats could talk, they wouldn't.

It amazes me that a human being with a brain can have everything so backwards. There is no god in my life and I have plenty to live for. I don't find life dull at all, and I try as hard as I can to make my life better to leave my treasure to my children. Unfortunately we all live to die, it is just a fact of life, but that is no reason not to have lived at all, that is just plain stupidity. You as a religious person is the one who has the dull, life without purpose. What is the point in your existence, when according to you, god has decided everything for you already. Why bother making any decisions at all when the outcome has already been decided by your god. In-fact why don't you sit at home and do nothing, eat nothing and see how your god takes care of you then. You have a complex brain for a reason, to decide things for yourself. I would suggest that you start using your brain more and stop relying on an imaginary friend in the sky to take care of you. I leave you with one true fact to ponder. If your god is the all knowing, almighty inventor of everything, why did he invent his future non existence? It will happen and that is a fact.

The problem is they do push it. What do you think causes most wars? How do you think an atheist feels when after every presidential speech, and may god bless America is said? I am being serious when I say to most atheists, the leader of the free world may as well be saying and may Bigfoot, unicorns, Santa Claus and fairies bless America. To pledge to the country that I love, and would die for, as many atheists have, is impossible without mentioning the imaginary friend. The biggest slap in the face of all is the fact that the money that I work so hard to earn and have no choice but to carry around, advertises the fact that I should trust the imaginary friend. The next target on their agenda is religion being taught in public schools. Would it be ok with them if the koran is used as the official text book? I am as open minded as they come and I truly believe in the saying to each his own. But when to each his own has clearly turned into push it on other people, that's where the problems start. I feel like I live in a world full of raging, brainwashed lunatics who rely on an imaginary friend to make decisions for them and take care of them, but I still find it in my heart to love these people and except their beliefs no matter how ridiculous I believe them to be.

In her radio show, Dr Laura Schlesinger said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura, penned by a US resident, which was posted on the Internet. It's funny, as well as informative:

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Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination .... End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them.1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of Menstrual uncleanliness - Lev15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a
pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2
clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill
him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an
abomination, Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I
don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a
defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my
vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair
around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me
unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different
crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two
different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse
and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble
of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people
who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy
considerable expertise in such matters, so I'm confident you can help.
Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your adoring fan,
James M Kauffman, Ed.D. Professor Emeritus, Dept. Of Curriculum,
Instruction, and Special Education University of Virginia

(It would be a damn shame if we couldn't own a Canadian)

knowledge of the cuniforms found in Iraq

How would you know? Haven't you ever wondered how all of us came into existence? Science claims we evolved but what were we originally? A tiny organism? Well, where did that come from? Have you ever thought that maybe you haven't ever felt God's presence because you aren't open to Him, or that the reason you deny His existence is because you don't want to believe in sin? Maybe you weren't ever exposed to any religious explanation in your childhood. What makes people not believe in God is lack of faith. The proof is in your ignorant answer. The fact that there 'ain't any' isn't even a fact at all. It's an exuse to live a life of sin, until you die and are proven wrong. I pray that when you do die, God has mercy on your soul. Please don't read this and think: Another Christian babbling about nothing. Please think: A servant of the Almighty Father, Creator of Heaven and of Earth has come to shed some wisdom and fill my life with what's been missing: God.

Have you ever wondered how sun goes across the sky? Religion says that it's because a god in a flaming chariot drags it! Religion just wallows in ignorance, I suggest that you look up the "god of the gaps" argument and see how science has consistantly disproven all of religions past claims. Here's one good video you can check out.

I was a christian for 7 years, god's presence was never there because he's not there. Denying his existence has nothing to do with sin. Maybe you should actually read your bible front to back and see all the ridiculous crap that your god calls sin and the punishments for commiting those acts. If you want to skip to all the horrible parts (which is a lot of it) then you can go to evilbible.com, it guides you straight to all the rape, murder, slavery, and so on.

So it's our parents fault because they didn't brainwash us when we were children and didn't yet have the rational minds to understand the difference between what real and fantasy. Faith is a silly thing, to believe in something just because someone tells you to! I guarantee that if I told you that an invisible pink unicorn were behind you, that you wouldn't believe me, so why would you believe this crap?

This is silly, I think that you should watch this video I think it's a pretty great answer to this statement I think that you should also view some of his other videos as well.

I really can't think of anything to say about this...you say to not just think that you're babbling when that's pretty much exactly what you're doing. You seem to have virtually no knowledge of anything that you're talking about other than what someone has asserted as truth and that you were gullible enough to just accept without questioning.

When I was quite young, the morning after our family cat had died and I was still very upset and somewhat angry, I found myself alone in a room. I proceeded to "use" the idea of a god (in the big boss man kind of way) to project my anger and frustration on to something, to "get it out" etc. Simultaneously, I thought I was a bit silly doing just that, projecting. But it felt easier. Still, the tension between emotion and thought was there so it was ultimately unsatisfying. So in answer to the OP: when the I-God relationship is NOT nourishing and uplifting, driving the person on to action/life etc. In a parallel universe, perhaps that moment went differently and it was somehow resolved positively, thereby giving the experience inherent value. Who knows.

Haven't I wondered where we came from? How it all started? Of course. Evolution has been demonstrated to be real. A god has not. Going back all those millions of years and then tracing from the past forward, we have to ask the question: When did humans acquire a soul? As semi-living entities, in the early stages? In the age of the amphibians? When the first mammals appeared? After the coming of apelike creatures? After some of these animals became human enough to have the self awareness to question life and life's beginning? How are we to accept their decision to believe in gods? They had no evidence. Which is what you have. No evidence. I don't need evidence to dispute your belief in a god, because you assert its existence with nothing except faith to back you up. You make assumptions about my childhood. I went to church, as a kid, because I was trying to be a Christian. Fortunately, it did not take. I invite you to enjoy your religion, but to not push it at me too hard.

Your "answer" is the ignorant one. EB is attempting to understand the world on its own terms. You want to explain with poofism, with some hocus-pocus for which you cannot provide even a slightly plausible reason for anyone to believe.



This is an exercise in self-delusion, which is also typical of the lust to control others that one usually sees with the religious fanatic. What you want to do is to fill people's head with your imaginary friend superstition, and to control them by purporting to have all the answers.

You can't even be sure what the questions would be.

I went over some of the old posts, including those from Timber and Frank. I sure miss them.

What makes people not believe? Perhaps several thousands of years of priestly excesses. But that is not Jehovah's fault.

In the end, I would aver that many stumble over the realization that belief leads to obligation.