Thanks everyone. As I suspected, I pretty much agree with all the reason not to believe that atheists have expressed in this thread. Also, as expected, I find the reasons to believe (that theists have expressed) to be lacking in logic and rational thought. No surprises here for any one, I'd imagine.
None of it really answers the question of why we hold to different beliefs, though... you know? A good friend of mine in real life (a believer) and I were talking about this and I told him that it seems to me that believers want to believe that god is real, so they will reinterpret what they can to fit that belief and ignore what they can't reinterpret by claiming that we 'cannot understand god' or that 'god has a plan and works in mysterious ways' or some such.
He said that it seems the other way around to him. Atheists do not want god to be real and reinterpret... etc.
I disagree with him. It's not that I don't want god to be real, so much as I simply do not believe that god is real. I think it's amazing that we come to such completely different conclusions based upon the same information. Are we just wired differently? One wouldn't think so. Why do some believe and others do not? It baffles me. And, from my atheistic perspective, it baffles me that anyone can believe that god is real.
Even though some of the theists have given their personal reasons for believing, I am not satisfied. They do not seem like legitimate reasons to me. Perhaps more detail is needed after all. Godschild and Watson both invoked 'personal experience of god', but neither of them described what those experiences are/were. What has happened in your life that reaffirms your belief in god? I am truly curious, because I suspect that the same (or similar) experiences may have happened to me, but that I have interpreted them differently.
None of it really answers the question of why we hold to different beliefs, though... you know? A good friend of mine in real life (a believer) and I were talking about this and I told him that it seems to me that believers want to believe that god is real, so they will reinterpret what they can to fit that belief and ignore what they can't reinterpret by claiming that we 'cannot understand god' or that 'god has a plan and works in mysterious ways' or some such.
He said that it seems the other way around to him. Atheists do not want god to be real and reinterpret... etc.
I disagree with him. It's not that I don't want god to be real, so much as I simply do not believe that god is real. I think it's amazing that we come to such completely different conclusions based upon the same information. Are we just wired differently? One wouldn't think so. Why do some believe and others do not? It baffles me. And, from my atheistic perspective, it baffles me that anyone can believe that god is real.
Even though some of the theists have given their personal reasons for believing, I am not satisfied. They do not seem like legitimate reasons to me. Perhaps more detail is needed after all. Godschild and Watson both invoked 'personal experience of god', but neither of them described what those experiences are/were. What has happened in your life that reaffirms your belief in god? I am truly curious, because I suspect that the same (or similar) experiences may have happened to me, but that I have interpreted them differently.
