My hypothesis about why people don't believe in God.

[genkaus]

You know what Mystic, I actually agree with almost all of what you said here. Except for the automatic assumption that god actually does exist. Here's what your hypothesis looks like without the constant undercurrent of that assumption.

It seems to me that we humans have an instinct that thinks that it automatically knows the divine but doesn't quite know it. The more we grow, the more we are capable of justifying that supposed knowledge of the Divine.

Our early "knowledge" of God, or belief in God, is there, without much reflection. We don't really think about how we know God or whether we truly do, we simply accept it. But as children along with "knowledge" was a lot of "blind trust" in what our parents taught.

As we grow older, most of us question what our parents taught us, and try to investigate to find the truth. But we do this with a bias. Many people however objectively find that their religion and what their parents taught, was without basis.

Many of what their parents taught was without basis. They then conclude that their belief in God was simply out of trust of parents or society or bias or wishful thinking.

What I feel they failed to do is to investigate the knowledge regarding their "origin" "source" and "foundational basis", which as far as we know, is that instinct itself. It maybe a part of their conditioning to believe in a god as an abstraction of a parent figure (someone who brought you into existence, runs your life, takes care of you, dictates how to behave, reinforces good behavior while punishing the undesirable).

At any rate, part of the reason, is that they find intellectually, is to simply rely upon cold logic + scientific method. This is a lot with due to how the intellectuals of our time are presenting the matter.

Also with society now become more inclined to "fleshly desires" and the media idolizing from "the animal desire" perspective, the spiritual exalted "Moses" of the Soul is belittled, while the "Pharaoh" of the Soul is exalted, people feel ashamed of any spirituality, and belittle it, and hence we have many people disbelieving in God. This is especially true since society is becoming more and more reason oriented and we have found absolutely no reason to give any consideration or regard to the "spiritual" side. In fact, we have found no reason to believe that such a side even exists.

People feel "shy" from claiming an arbitrary connection to god and claiming spiritual knowledge, because it feels anti-intellectual as well as society structure is belittling the "Moses" and heightening the "Pharaoh" of the Soul. The fact is, since they know that it is in fact anti-intellectual (on account of not having any justification except a "feeling") and thus their shyness and shame in the matter is what is actually justified.

Another thing is that religion has presented a concept of God that truly isn't worthy of Worship while at the same time emphasizing on the attributes of the God that is Worthy of Worship. People then feel disconnected to God all together when they disconnect from their religion and realize that it described a God unworthy of worship.

The various factors, make a person feel inclined to ignore their supposed connection to God.

So, basically, what we see is that while we may have a childish and immature instinct to believe in a god, with the correct confluence of social interaction and a rigorous practice of rationality and critical thinking, we can come to see that beyond that instinct, there is no other reason for us to give the idea of god's existence any particular weight. Even the instinct itself can be explained by a childish worldview of wish-fulfillment. Any consideration given to that "strong" connection to god is based only on the instinct, which cannot be justified in any rational manner. Therefore, the basis of any connection between humanity and god is hollow and pointless.

[Waratah]

I can only guess as to why people don't believe in God so bear with me, I'm not stating the following as facts, but rather my hypothesis.

It seems to me that we humans have a spiritual instinct that knows the divine but doesn't quite know it. The more we grow, the more we are capable of growing in knowledge of the Divine.

Our early "knowledge" of God, or belief in God, is there, without much reflection. We don't really think about how we know God or whether we truly do, we simply accept it. But as children along with "knowledge" was a lot of "blind trust" in what our parents taught.

As we grow older, most of us question what our parents taught us, and try to investigate to find the truth. But we do this with a bias. Many people however objectively find that their religion and what their parents taught, was without basis.

Many of what their parents taught was without basis. They then conclude that their belief in God was simply out of trust of parents or society or bias or wishful thinking.

What I feel they failed to do is to investigate the knowledge of their souls regarding their "origin" "source" and "foundational basis", which is God. There is a connection between the soul and God, similar to the rays to the Sun.


At any rate, part of the reason, is that they find intellectually, is to simply rely upon cold logic + scientific method. This is a lot with due to how the intellectuals of our time are presenting the matter.

Also with society now become more inclined to "fleshly desires" and the media idolizing from "the animal desire" perspective, the spiritual exalted "Moses" of the Soul is belittled, while the "Pharaoh" of the Soul is exalted, people feel ashamed of any spirituality, and belittle it, and hence we have many people disbelieving in God.

People feel "shy" from connecting to God and claiming spiritual knowledge, because it feels anti-intellectual as well as society structure is belittling the "Moses" and heightening the "Pharaoh" of the Soul.

Another thing is that religion has presented a concept of God that truly isn't worthy of Worship while at the same time emphasizing on the attributes of the God that is Worthy of Worship. People then feel disconnected to God all together when they disconnect from their religion and realize that it described a God unworthy of worship.

The various factors, make a person feel inclined to ignore their connection to God.

Otherwise, I feel there is a strong connection between humanity and God, that without all these factors, we can easily connect to God and know he exists.

This is my perspective/hypothesis, not stating it as fact.

I bold the part of your post that really confuses me. Usually when someone emphasizes on particular attributes, then those attributes is what is being presented. Am I missing something

[Angrboda]

I think however spiritual connection to God is an enriching human experience. Ignoring that connection, is losing an important aspect of human life.

Just because you're talking doesn't mean that anybody's listening.

[Faith No More]

Just because you're talking doesn't mean you're actually saying anything.

FTFY

[Angrboda]

Well, that goes without saying.

[EscapingDelusion]

MysticKnight:

I can only guess as to why people don't believe in God so bear with me, I'm not stating the following as facts, but rather my hypothesis.

...You seem to be starting with the assumption of God's existence and then asking why people do not believe in something that exists.

It seems to me that we humans have a spiritual instinct that knows the divine but doesn't quite know it. The more we grow, the more we are capable of growing in knowledge of the Divine.

...This is a stretch. Again, you are assuming that 'the divine' exists as more than simply an idea. When you start here, your logic is going to become fuzzy.

Our early 'knowledge' of God, or belief in God, is there, without much reflection. We don't really think about how we know God or whether we truly do, we simply accept it. But as children along with 'knowledge' was a lot of 'blind trust' in what our parents taught.

...This assumes the people you refer to were raised in a Christian household where they were taught religion, which is a very significant stretch. I was raised in such a home, but many were not. Many parents raise their children nonreligiously intentionally, and many others--while claiming to identify as "Christians"--have little interest in religion in general and so raise children who never really think about it. The case you assume, while common, is far from general enough to be an assumption.

As we grow older, most of us question what our parents taught us, and try to investigate to find the truth. But we do this with a bias. Many people however objectively find that their religion and what their parents taught, was without basis.

...I will not disagree, necessarily, but I wish this were the case! Far too many people do not have the thirst for knowledge that members of this forum possess and therefore grow up without ever questioning what they were taught. Regardless, I am not entirely sure that I understand why you state that people often "objectively find that their religion [...] was without basis" when your position is apparently that you are puzzled as to why people do not believe in God. If you concede that an objective study often leads to the conclusion that there is not god, does this not alone raise your doubts?

Many of what their parents taught was without basis. They then conclude that their belief in God was simply out of trust of parents or society or bias or wishful thinking.

...True.

What I feel they failed to do is to investigate the knowledge of their souls regarding their 'origin' 'source' and 'foundational basis', which is God. There is a connection between the soul and God, similar to the rays to the Sun.

...When people try to "investigate the knowledge of their souls," there is no end to the conclusions that people reach. Many conclude that all religions are correct, many believe that they are spiritually connected to nature, many then follow Eastern religions or moral traditions, and many reach other bizarre conclusions. What you recommend is that people trust their minds to simply find the truth by analyzing their "gut feelings." The mind, however, is a whimsical thing. Far more reliable is using your mind to investigate observable facts. The observable fact that a very small percentage of people who "investigate the knowledge of their souls" reach the same conclusion as yours points to two possible conclusions: 1) Your conclusion is wrong and everyone else's is right, which indicates that all of the thousands of belief systems are correct for those who believe in them (which seems impossible given the high degree of contradiction between various people's belief systems) or 2) people's minds when allowed to wander in this manner will be highly unpredictable leading to a variety of bizarre conclusions. Use your mind to critically analyze observations and recognize that if your god exists, he should in some way be directly or indirectly observable.

At any rate, part of the reason, is that they find intellectually, is to simply rely upon cold logic + scientific method. This is a lot with due to how the intellectuals of our time are presenting the matter.

...This is the most consistent way to reach solid conclusions. Personally spurning logic and reason in favor of religion will lead to a "Dark Age" in your mind. A society of people spurning logic and reason in favor of religion will lead to a "Dark Age" in our society and culture. I optimistically believe that we as a society have evolved to the point where that is not a risk, but I still do find those who talk about intellect, logic and reason as though they are evil extremely disturbing

Also with society now become more inclined to 'fleshly desires' and the media idolizing from 'the animal desire' perspective, the spiritual exalted 'Moses' of the Soul is belittled, while the 'Pharaoh' of the Soul is exalted, people feel ashamed of any spirituality, and belittle it, and hence we have many people disbelieving in God.

...Your Moses/Pharaoh analogy is unnecessarily cryptic. The simple fact is that there is no evidence that society is "more inclined to 'fleshly desires'" than ever before. This is a claim I hear all the time by Christians claiming that our society is very quickly degrading morally. When I look through history, I find no evidence for this, however.

People feel 'shy' from connecting to God and claiming spiritual knowledge, because it feels anti-intellectual as well as society structure is belittling the 'Moses' and heightening the 'Pharaoh' of the Soul.

...This is an almost insulting assumption. I do not "feel 'shy' from connecting to God and claiming spiritual knowledge" in any way. In my community and the communities of the deconverted, atheism is by far the minority. How would someone raised in a Christian home in a Christian community where everyone scoffs at atheists feel shy about claiming spiritual knowledge? I will grant you that this may be possible in other areas of the world, but all this is evidence for is people failing to be vocal and open about what they believe. Being shy about your beliefs and what you claim does not change your beliefs, and if I recall correctly, your hypothesis involves reasons for people not believing in God, not reasons for people not claiming to believe in God even though they do.

Another thing is that religion has presented a concept of God that truly isn't worthy of Worship while at the same time emphasizing on the attributes of the God that is Worthy of Worship. People then feel disconnected to God all together when they disconnect from their religion and realize that it described a God unworthy of worship.

...Have you read the bible thoroughly? The "holy scriptures" that this religion is based upon present a god that isn't worthy of worship. First, it presents countless versions of God with extremely contradictory attributes. Second, in what way is a God worthy of worship who takes everything away all of Job's possessions, murders his entire family, and then causes him extreme physical pain BECAUSE he is completely innocent just to win a bet that Job would not blame God (whom the story even clearly states IS to blame) for doing this? How much would you respect a man who said, "Look at how good my son is," and then proceeded to beat his face and ask his son, "Did I hit you?" to which the child replies, "No." If the man repeatedly did this with the same results and then sends the beaten, bloodied, bruised child on his way, how much would you respect that man? My guess is that this wouldn't need to happen more than once (or even once) before you would become sick enough to intervene and would hate this man. Why then would you consider a god who does this exact same thing worthy of worship? My point is not that the story of Job actually happened (it most certainly did not); the point is the same for the simple fact that the bible claims it happened. Either the bible is true and your god has many multiple, conflicting personalities and is most certainly NOT worthy of worship, or you believe that the "concept of God" that you created in your mind (not based on the god of the bible) is the true god and the one that everyone should worship. Seems a little odd, doesn't it?

The various factors, make a person feel inclined to ignore their connection to God.

Otherwise, I feel there is a strong connection between humanity and God, that without all these factors, we can easily connect to God and know he exists.

This is my perspective/hypothesis, not stating it as fact.

...The bottom line is that all of your "factors" are unfounded assumptions. When you enter in bad assumptions, you receive out bad conclusions. Suppose I were to assert that fairies exist. Should I then ponder why people do not believe that fairies exist? No. I should list the facts and reasons that I believe they DO exist, and then I can look at why people either do not recognize those facts or reasons or why people conclude that fairies do not exist despite these facts or reasons. The burden of proof is on you, my friend.