Why do you believe in a God?

[Lek]

Granted, healthy minds tend to not believe in that which has no evidence to support it.

You have merely deluded yourself into thinking that god has revealed himself to you. You get all tingly inside, have good little feelings when thinking of the concept referred to as god, but the harsh truth is that you have fallen for the trick your mind is playing on you.

This is what I mean. You think that by saying- smart sounding things you can invalidate mine and countless others' experiences. The fact that the huge majority of people throughout history to the present time believed in a deity just means to you that they weren't very smart or educated. Now you and all the other enlightened atheists have finally become smart enough to know that there isn't be a God, even though you don't have any idea how the universe came about. You also have no idea what others and myself have experienced.

[Bob Kelso]

Granted, healthy minds tend to not believe in that which has no evidence to support it.

You have merely deluded yourself into thinking that god has revealed himself to you. You get all tingly inside, have good little feelings when thinking of the concept referred to as god, but the harsh truth is that you have fallen for the trick your mind is playing on you.

This is what I mean. You think that by saying- smart sounding things you can invalidate mine and countless others' experiences. The fact that the huge majority of people throughout history to the present time believed in a deity just means to you that they weren't very smart or educated. Now you and all the other enlightened atheists have finally become smart enough to know that there isn't be a God, even though you don't have any idea how the universe came about. You also have no idea what others and myself have experienced.

Argumentum ad populum, and trying to poison the well via existential ignorance will get you nowhere Lek. How have you not learned this about AF yet?

[Silver]

You think that by saying- smart sounding things you can invalidate mine and countless others' experiences.

I do not need smart sounding things to invalidate your nonsensical beliefs. Your beliefs invalidate themselves.

The fact that the huge majority of people throughout history to the present time believed in a deity just means to you that they weren't very smart or educated.

Plenty of smart and educated people believe in god, unfortunately. Besides, just because many people believe something to be true without any evidence to support their beliefs does not validate those beliefs.

You also have no idea what others and myself have experienced.

I was once a genuine theist, so I know precisely what you and other theists have experienced. It can be summed up in one word: delusion.

[Lek]

I was once a genuine theist, so I know precisely what you and other theists have experienced. It can be summed up in one word: delusion.

You don't know what mine or others experiences are. Sorry that you were deluded, but that's your thing, not mine.

[Rampant.A.I.]

I was once a genuine theist, so I know precisely what you and other theists have experienced. It can be summed up in one word: delusion.

You don't know what mine or others experiences are. Sorry that you were deluded, but that's your thing, not mine.

Are you sure?

an idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument, typically a symptom of mental disorder.
"the delusion of being watched"
synonyms: misapprehension, misconception, misunderstanding, mistake, error, misinterpretation, misconstruction, misbelief; More
the action of deluding someone or the state of being deluded.

How would you know?

[Lek]

an idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument, typically a symptom of mental disorder.
"the delusion of being watched"
synonyms: misapprehension, misconception, misunderstanding, mistake, error, misinterpretation, misconstruction, misbelief; More
the action of deluding someone or the state of being deluded.

How would you know?

I would ask you the same question. Are you sure you're not just imagining all this? Just calling theists deluded doesn't get you anywhere. I'd be more considerate of the testimonies of rational people instead of just calling people derogatory names.

[Rampant.A.I.]

an idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument, typically a symptom of mental disorder.
"the delusion of being watched"
synonyms: misapprehension, misconception, misunderstanding, mistake, error, misinterpretation, misconstruction, misbelief; More
the action of deluding someone or the state of being deluded.

How would you know?

I would ask you the same question. Are you sure you're not just imagining all this? Just calling theists deluded doesn't get you anywhere. I'd be more considerate of the testimonies of rational people instead of just calling people derogatory names.

Rational people base claims on testable evidence. Not personal testimony. If I gave you personal testimony of something you found unbelievable, and told you it was true, wouldn't you ask for evidence?

[The Grand Nudger]

I've never understood why a certain segment of folks feels as though their experiences are being invalidated by skeptical inquiry. Why would that invalidate any experience? How could it?

[bennyboy]

Granted, healthy minds tend to not believe in that which has no evidence to support it.

You have merely deluded yourself into thinking that god has revealed himself to you. You get all tingly inside, have good little feelings when thinking of the concept referred to as god, but the harsh truth is that you have fallen for the trick your mind is playing on you.

This is what I mean. You think that by saying- smart sounding things you can invalidate mine and countless others' experiences. The fact that the huge majority of people throughout history to the present time believed in a deity just means to you that they weren't very smart or educated. Now you and all the other enlightened atheists have finally become smart enough to know that there isn't be a God, even though you don't have any idea how the universe came about. You also have no idea what others and myself have experienced.

Tell us about your religious experiences. Then tell us they are substantially different from those who believed in Odin or Zeus or Ra or whatever. You can't, because the markers are all the same: special dreams, feelings that a calming presence is watching over you, the belief that some events are so improbable that they couldn't happen without a divine hand, etc.

So if varying mythologies are found among those who have had religious experiences, it's logical to conclude that the experiences do come not from a real God or Zeus, but from the process of looking at the eyes through mythological eyes. So the religious experience is very real as an experience, but your experiences mean a total of nothing with regard to positively establishing the truth of your divine entity of choice.

[GrandizerII]

I was raised as a christian and that's why I believed in God into early adulthood. Then I went through a time when I believed in God, but lived a lifestyle against christianity except that I still went to church on Sunday, even with some bad hangovers. There's no scientific "proof" for the existence of God. Of course, there will never will be because science automatically rejects the explanations present because of science's limitations. The real reason I believe in God is the reason you don't want me to use but, sorry, that's the reason. And you're reason for not accepting it is invalid. If I tell you I experience God and you choose not to believe me that's okay, but it doesn't invalidate my experience. It just means that you don't believe me. I can't stop believing in God because he has revealed himself to me.

What is this experience with God like?

What does he look like? Sound like? Feel like? If your answer is that you don't know, then how do you know you experience God? How do you know it's not simply a psychological feeling?

---

an idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument, typically a symptom of mental disorder.
"the delusion of being watched"
synonyms: misapprehension, misconception, misunderstanding, mistake, error, misinterpretation, misconstruction, misbelief; More
the action of deluding someone or the state of being deluded.

How would you know?

I would ask you the same question. Are you sure you're not just imagining all this? Just calling theists deluded doesn't get you anywhere. I'd be more considerate of the testimonies of rational people instead of just calling people derogatory names.

If we go by testable evidence (which should be the most reasonable approach to take), then it's extremely likely that belief in God is a delusion.