What would it take for you to believe in God?

[truthBtold]

"Believe" not belief. And how about u run along and learn something before coming on here and stating dumb ass things.. read a book.

Technically he was right. And correcting someone's grammar with textspeak is a little ridiculous.

Im sorry did I miss something? Whos right?

[SteelCurtain]

More ironic than ridiculous.

Agreed.

ETA: Ninja!

[te1148]

No, facts are "observations that have been repeatedly confirmed and for all practical purposes is accepted as “true.” "

Your god has never been observed to do anything, anywhere, ever. What makes you think it's even there?

I believe out of faith. I certainly think there are evidences that support my faith, but my faith does not rest on these evidences. I presuppose that God is there. I don't think using evidences to point to God is very helpful. I believe in God just like I believe my wife loves me. It's a part of who I am.

[The Valkyrie]

Yes there are. There are also many atheists who would be here in a moment if they heard of this board.

You see, something that keeps many people going to church, even when they've stopped believing in any deities, is the sense of community that churches create.

Sites like this and others are communities in themselves. They also help those who have been aliebated from or kicked out of their families because the become atheists. Something that happens a lot, unfortunately.

That is unfortunate. What has been your general experience relating to Christians on the subject of the existence of God?

First up, I used to be one, but I grew out of it by my early teens.

I've debated face to face with theists who have stopped me in the street or knocked on my door. I have debated with everything from Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons to young earth creationists.

I have been threatened with hell and various other forms of imaginary punishments.

I have heard practically every form of argument an atheist can try to bring up for the existence of their deity from "Look at the trees and the finely tuned universe" to "it says so in the bible" to "it happened to me or someone I know, so it must be real" to "people who have died have seen . . . "

None of it is convincing to anybody but the person making the claims.

[SteelCurtain]

Technically he was right. And correcting someone's grammar with textspeak is a little ridiculous.

Im sorry did I miss something? Whos right?

OP was correct in the way he used "do belief." He was responding to this:

...it will never happen because I don't really do "belief".

[JuliaL]

I believe out of faith.

What informs you that you are not being lied to?

[Esquilax]

I certainly don't think that every view is created equal. I think I'm right. You think you're right. But clearly one of us is wrong. One thing I want to establish is that we all believe certain things by faith or without testable evidence. So saying that you only believe in what can be scientifically tested is a little disingenuous.

You haven't been able to furnish a single example of something I believe without having evidence for it. In fact, the examples you gave were roundly refuted in a matter of posts, and yet your argument hasn't changed.

I don't have faith; I have reasonable expectations based upon observable past events and probabilities, and if I'm wrong, I will certainly change my views accordingly based on new evidence. Faith is the denial of observations and evidence so that one's beliefs can be preserved, and I'm not going to sit here and play fast and loose with definitions so that you can play your little con game. What you really want to do here is apply one definition of faith to what we believe, another to what you believe, and then pretend that they are the same definition.

Sorry, it's not gonna fly here. You think you're the first theist to come in here and try that?

[truthBtold]

Im sorry did I miss something? Whos right?

OP was correct in the way he used "do belief." He was responding to this:

...it will never happen because I don't really do "belief".

Mr. Curtain.. what if I had no hands/arms.. and I had to use textspeak... would ur statement be rude?

[te1148]

In your mind, is your primary reason for not believing in God moral, scientific, or something completely different?

Scientific, mostly. But really, it is just that there isn't any solid evidence in favor of such a concept. What evidence would it take exactly? I don't know, but if a god were to exist he/she would know, and apparently refuses to let me see it. If your god doesn't care if I believe, why should you? If your god does care (and exist), then why does he refuse to let all of these atheists know that he's real? The only response I recall getting to this question is something along the lines of the revelation infringing on our free will, but that makes no sense. If anything, his refusal to grant us evidence would be an infringement of our wills.

I care if you believe, but God cares even more. I agree that the argument that states God's reason for not revealing Himself is to keep our free will intact is ridiculous. Have you ever tried asking God to reveal Himself to you?

[truthBtold]

Scientific, mostly. But really, it is just that there isn't any solid evidence in favor of such a concept. What evidence would it take exactly? I don't know, but if a god were to exist he/she would know, and apparently refuses to let me see it. If your god doesn't care if I believe, why should you? If your god does care (and exist), then why does he refuse to let all of these atheists know that he's real? The only response I recall getting to this question is something along the lines of the revelation infringing on our free will, but that makes no sense. If anything, his refusal to grant us evidence would be an infringement of our wills.

I care if you believe, but God cares even more. I agree that the argument that states God's reason for not revealing Himself is to keep our free will intact is ridiculous. Have you ever tried asking God to reveal Himself to you?

Stop with the preaching. . I get enough of that shit from people I know
state some claims.. then back them up.