(May 7, 2012 at 8:15 am)theatheistguide Wrote: 1. God doesn't exist, and we want to believe in him.
2. God does exist, and we don't want to believe in him.
This is a false dilemma as it over simplifies the situation, much like Pascal's Wager.
First of all, how about "God does exist, and is nothing like what Christians imagine".
Zeus, Odin, Ra, Shiva, Ishtar, Quetzalcoatl, these are just a few of the countless gods imagined by humanity over the eons. What if it turned out one of these was the right one? There's just as much proof for any of them as there is for Yahweh (the Judeo-Christian god).
...or how about "God does exist, and is nothing like anything we CAN imagine."
Maybe the reason that evil exists in the universe and suffering happens on this world is simply because it turns out that God isn't spending his/her/its time watching everything on a trillion television sets monitoring all our activity and looking out for our petty concerns. Maybe God has all the ability to relate to our trials and tribulations like we might spend any time thinking about a nearby amoeba. And maybe God is a mind and a lifeform so far advanced from us that we couldn't comprehend it even if it were explained to us.
I'm not saying any of this is true but am just throwing out other possibilities. Your simplistic "either/or" dilemma carries the implicit assumption that "well of course God=Yahweh" and this is the only alternative to a universe devoid of any deity.
Second of all, why do you assume that people who are atheists "don't want to believe in him"?
This is one of the irritating parts of Christian proselytizing, where you assume you understand my true motivations and you don't know me from the proverbial Adam.
Most of the atheists I know locally are ex-Chrsitians. Some of them came from very conservative, fundamentalist brands of Christianity, others from more moderate ones. At one time, they believed. Some of them prayed very hard and really wanted that "personal relationship with God". The story varies, of course, but what they all have in common is a gradual process that led to their loss of faith. None of them have ever told me the story that they "didn't want to believe". All of them told me the story that they just couldn't any longer.
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
