christian looking to understand athiests

[abaris]

Welcome.

All the religions I know of don't make any logical sense to me. And all the gods I know of feature very human vices and impulses, so they're obviously man made. Add to this that menkind only exists for a fracture of earths long history and you got your reasons.

[robvalue]

Hello, welcome

I go further than most and say that the very concept of God is so ill-defined that the general question is meaningless.

If God simply means an intelligent creator, then I can't possibly have any idea whether there is one or not. I see no compelling evidence that there is. We have no "samples universes" to compare to that are designed or not designed. All attempts to use logical argument to prove the universe is designed are hopelessly flawed. The only reasonable scenario to me is that this is a computer simulation and so "God" is a computer/programmer in a different reality.

For me, even if there is a "God", whatever that may be, it would only be of scientific interest to me. I find the idea of worship obscene, and I'd carry on living my life as I do now. I find it irrelevant; I just also happen to find it nonsensical and unsupported. I find most of the popular religions to be vile and so I wouldn't join them even if I thought they had any truth to them.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Welcome to the fora, msid.

For starters, you might want to read Bertrand Russell's 'Why I Am Not A Christian'.  In a more general sense, I'm an atheist because I have not been presented with either good evidence or compelling arguments as to why I should believe in any gods.

I sincerely hope you have a good time here.

Boru

[pocaracas]

hello,  i am a born again christian who is looking to understand and discuss your reasons for being an athiest. i am NOT here to argue or change your mind.

Welcome aboard, oh born again person... Years after hearing that expression "born again", I still find it weird.

Oh well...
Reasons for being an atheist? None.
Reasons for believing other people when they tell me about the gods they themselves believe exist? None.

As I see it, all believers start out believing in other people's tales about their god(s). Then they develop what they call the actual belief in that god or gods.
Since I can't bring myself to believe such wacky tales, I am unable to come to that belief in any god.
Some knowledge of actual history, some practical psychology, and a bit of common sense tell me a likely story of how mankind developed all religions, from the simplest shamanism, to the most complex Buddhism... And you knew what? They all claim to know something about that which most humans fear the most: game over, the end, death. And yet, how could the people claiming all that know about it? It's far more likely that they made it up instead of actually finding out, taking advantage of a few psychological pitfalls in most people's reasoning skills...
Once the story is sold, it gets passed on by convincing the most gullible, the most vulnerable among us: the children.

With a story rolling through generations, it is expected to evolve, and develop into something ever more complex and, with objections from several individuals, become more abstract.

As an abstract construct, it can be used by the ruling class to implement a celestial baby sitter, thus facilitating law enforcement and control of the people's behavior, at a time when people are discovering agriculture and are starting to live in ever growing urban centers, this kind of control is required.

The immensity of the urban center can lead to a feeling of loneliness, given that people stop connecting as they did in a tribal setting... The temple, and gatherings within, fill that need for community.

So, all I see is a very human fear of death, coupled with a very human ability to lie, coupled with a very human gullibility, coupled with a very human thirst for power, coupled with a very human desire of belonging to a group.
Nowhere, do I see any magical, or otherworldly interaction.

[GrandizerII]

hello,  i am a born again christian who is looking to understand and discuss your reasons for being an athiest. i am NOT here to argue or change your mind.

The reason is simple. No evidence whatsoever have been presented to me by theists of any being/entity that would be deemed God.

[ignoramus]

Hello OP (from Australia)
Technically you cannot "discuss your reasons for being an atheist". You only need a reason for WHY you believe!
Do we need to give reasons for being anti "pink unicorn" or anti "Boogy man under the bed"?

The more absurd the claim, the stronger the evidence needs to be. (And No, "because the sky is blue" is not a scientific explanation)

[robvalue]

If you wanted an actual "reason", in my case it would be scepticism/critical thinking. Atheism is the logical conclusion.

Below is a link to an article on my website, just so you are clear on what exactly atheism is. It's widely misunderstood and misrepresented.

http://robvalue.wix.com/atheism#!what-is-atheism/c57k

[Homeless Nutter]

hello,  i am a born again christian who is looking to understand and discuss your reasons for being an athiest.

Hi! I was going to be "born again", but my "mom again" had an "abortion again"...

i am NOT here to argue or change your mind.

That's probably smart.

I'm an atheist, because:
a) I'm educated enough to know, that the evidence for the existence of a god - let alone any particular version of it - is practically non-existent.
b) I'm street-smart enough to be able to smell a scam

[robvalue]

This humorous cartoon may help you gain some insight too, especially regarding the religious aspect of gods.

http://youtu.be/qahB7mYhLxs

[Fidel_Castronaut]

No evidence.

Welcome to the forum, can't remember when we last had a BA Christian so looking forward to some engaging discussion ^_^