Most personally convincing reasons you don't believe.

[Minimalist]

The biggest factor is the generally low intellectual capability of believers.  Red-flag that there is something wrong.

I feel the same way about Drumpf voters.

[emjay]

If there was a deity that wanted us to worship it, it would make itself known to us ALL.
As it stands, faulty human psychology seems to have been at work and generated all the presently known mythologies.

I'm open to "believing", if everyone suddenly starts "believing" in the same one deity (or deity group)... and, by believing, I mean "knowing".

This has always been one of my core issues... why should god favour those with low standards of evidence... those who essentially believe anything based only on headlines... over skeptics? They'll say it's about faith but it's not really because those with low standards still have to satisfy those standards. So if everybody has to satisfy their own standards of evidence in order to believe something and god provides enough 'evidence' to convince the easily convinced, I see no reason why he should not provide more evidence to people who just by their psychological make up require more or different types of evidence to believe something. The requirement of faith shouldn't be a measure of whether you believe something exists, which just comes down to individual differences in terms of gullability vs skepticism, but rather how you behave if you have been convinced that he exists... so not faith in the existence of god but rather faith in god given the knowledge of his existence. It just makes no sense to me that a god who really wanted souls would base all his decisions on this rather than how people behaved - such as whether they defied him like a fallen angel - with the actual knowledge that he exists, provided in whatever way is needed to suit the individual, whether easily led or skeptical.

[emjay]

Well, my move from a completely brainwashed fundie to atheist . . . in no particular order (I think the rational part of my brain had to throw everything it could find at the psychosis - )

*  The realization that Yahweh in particular was just simply evil - and I could not worship such a creature.
*  The realization that a huge amount of the wholly babble stories could not possibly be literally true.
*  The realization that yes, there were hundreds of contradictions in the wholly babble.
*  Admitting something that I knew at some level as a child: prayer doesn't work, speaking in tongues is an act spurred on by peer pressure, and most of what happens in church is for show - to the people around you.
*  Realizing the every one of dozens of sects of xtianity think they are right and the others are wrong, and god never corrects anybody.  They just kill each other over who prays the right way.  Oh yeah, and there are other religions - and there is not a shred of proof that any group in any religion is healthier or happier or treats their fellow humans any better than any others.  In fact, the way I was raised, the church members were convinced that everybody who wasn't a believer (THEIR WAY) was evil and deserved hell.  They didn't love their fellow man - they hated him.
*  Learning about the basics of evolution, biology, cosmology - - and realizing that the truth was THERE.
*  Realizing that evolution completely destroys the reason for the sacrifice of Jesus as I was taught the story (we are all sinners because of Adam and Eve - there was no Adam and Eve - there was no garden - there was no original sin). 
*  Realizing that the "sacrifice of god for our sins" was only a reworking of an ancient "dying and rising god" story, built on the concept of sacrifice to appease the gods, and it makes no logical sense.  Seriously - a god dying for our sins (that don't exist, and if they do, he created them) - to appease himself for the error that he created, so that he doesn't have to torture us forever because of his failure . . . and . . . say whut?  (Actually, "dying and rising god" was a tie-in to the seasons and agriculture.)
*  And then there is the concept of hell - - which is outrageously unfair and ridiculously evil.  It's obviously a means of control for vicious priests.
*  And then there is the enormous scale of the universe.  The Hubble Ultra Deep Field shows galaxies spanning back 13.2 billion years in time - that means it took that long for the light to reach us - well then, a god creating the earth 6000 years ago is beyond silly.  This Earth is an insignificant pale blue dot even when seen from Saturn . . . there are billions upon billions of galaxies . . . and yet, a huge amount of xtians think that god helps them find their car keys.  

There is more . . . but that was the basic pattern.

Fuzz

Wow! Can I put that as a poster on my wall? 

[Pat Mustard]

The complete and utter lack of any reliable or testable evidence in favour of any of the gods ever proposed by humanity or parts thereof. I'm willing to accept the existence of god, but only when convincing evidence able to stand up to scrutiny under the scientific method becomes available.

[Time Traveler]

One of my many reasons for disbelief is the historical fact that humans have been making up spiritual and divine fictions since antiquity. The polytheistic beliefs of ancient Egyptians, Sumerians, Greeks, et al., up to the modern Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, etc. - all with wildly different claims and strong assertions – do not prove that any of these deities ever existed, but rather that humans have a strong propensity for inventing rich mythologies. What’s more, examining the multitude of sects within any religion, whether it’s Catholics, Protestants, or Mormons within Christianity, to the Sunni, Shi’ite, and Sufi Muslims within Islam, you find even for those who have faith that a monotheistic God actually exists and reveals his true nature to ardent believers, few can agree as to exactly what God's divine message is or the finer points of his “true nature."

We currently have front row seats to the birth of a new religion which, as ridiculous as it seems to many, is every bit as substantive to its believers as any of the Abrahamic religions are to its followers; namely… Scientology. This opiate of choice for the likes of Tom Cruise and John Travolta fairly recently became officially recognized by the U.S. Government, granting the Church of Scientology tax exempt status, placing it on equal footing with every other religious organization in America. Examining its roots gives us insight as to how absurd fictions can spread under the umbrella of religion, and how many people are willing to "believe" ridiculous claims for the chance to fit in, to belong, to feel important.

Any devout individual advocating for their “one true religion” must rationally defend against all other claims - claims made by individuals who are equally zealous of their own religion’s tenets. If all the world’s faithful could get on the same page - especially Jews, Christians, and Muslims (who supposedly worship the same deity but ironically have all engaged in numerous religious wars throughout history in the name of the same deity), or even agreement amongst modern Young Earth Creationists versus Christian Evolutionists – then there might be a case to be made for theism versus atheism. But at this point, with the ridiculous disparity of beliefs circulating since recorded history through present day, I’m afraid the odds betting for any one religion ala Pascal’s Wager are so ridiculously slim, even the lowliest sharks in Vegas would be embarrassed to offer such an infinitesimal chance of success.

[drfuzzy]

---

Well, my move from a completely brainwashed fundie to atheist . . . in no particular order (I think the rational part of my brain had to throw everything it could find at the psychosis - )

*  The realization that Yahweh in particular was just simply evil - and I could not worship such a creature.
*  The realization that a huge amount of the wholly babble stories could not possibly be literally true.
*  The realization that yes, there were hundreds of contradictions in the wholly babble.
*  Admitting something that I knew at some level as a child: prayer doesn't work, speaking in tongues is an act spurred on by peer pressure, and most of what happens in church is for show - to the people around you.
*  Realizing the every one of dozens of sects of xtianity think they are right and the others are wrong, and god never corrects anybody.  They just kill each other over who prays the right way.  Oh yeah, and there are other religions - and there is not a shred of proof that any group in any religion is healthier or happier or treats their fellow humans any better than any others.  In fact, the way I was raised, the church members were convinced that everybody who wasn't a believer (THEIR WAY) was evil and deserved hell.  They didn't love their fellow man - they hated him.
*  Learning about the basics of evolution, biology, cosmology - - and realizing that the truth was THERE.
*  Realizing that evolution completely destroys the reason for the sacrifice of Jesus as I was taught the story (we are all sinners because of Adam and Eve - there was no Adam and Eve - there was no garden - there was no original sin). 
*  Realizing that the "sacrifice of god for our sins" was only a reworking of an ancient "dying and rising god" story, built on the concept of sacrifice to appease the gods, and it makes no logical sense.  Seriously - a god dying for our sins (that don't exist, and if they do, he created them) - to appease himself for the error that he created, so that he doesn't have to torture us forever because of his failure . . . and . . . say whut?  (Actually, "dying and rising god" was a tie-in to the seasons and agriculture.)
*  And then there is the concept of hell - - which is outrageously unfair and ridiculously evil.  It's obviously a means of control for vicious priests.
*  And then there is the enormous scale of the universe.  The Hubble Ultra Deep Field shows galaxies spanning back 13.2 billion years in time - that means it took that long for the light to reach us - well then, a god creating the earth 6000 years ago is beyond silly.  This Earth is an insignificant pale blue dot even when seen from Saturn . . . there are billions upon billions of galaxies . . . and yet, a huge amount of xtians think that god helps them find their car keys.  

There is more . . . but that was the basic pattern.

Fuzz

---

Wow! Can I put that as a poster on my wall? 

Gee.     Sure, Emjay.  Thanks.  People post stuff here that I think is a lot more brilliant than my little list on a daily basis.  I actually keep notes.  This forum is wonderfully educational.

[Excited Penguin]

Because it's an idea that people talk about, not something I could directly observe in nature or even validate on a philosophical level.

There are lots of irrational ideas you could entertain and suspend reason for, if only for entertainment purposes, but this one isn't even interesting. It's disgusting on a moral level and terrifyingly banal. It makes my mind gag.

[vorlon13]

Heh, heh, here's something to consider;

the 'believers' aren't all that believing either.  Have we induced a single Christer here to even for a moment to consider (not even try, just consider) wearing clothes of a single material ??

To consider ripping out their multi-varietal gardens and go with all one kind of seed ??    To consider checking women for menstruation prior to entering their church ??

To consider just trying to heal a broken hip by laying on of their hands ??

Swill poison ??


Molest snakes ??



So, maybe an alternate topic:

Why worry about atheists reasons for lack of belief and delve into why the damn 'believers' don't believe either.

[abaris]

Most convincing reason? Facts don't meet fiction. That's all I ever needed to know to throw humanocnetric deities out of the window. We're a fart in the wind, as far as species predating us are concerned. Smelly, maybe, since we managed to destroy our environment like no other species, but still only a fart. Certainly not worthy of attracting the attention of a divine being.

[KevinM1]

I'd say a purported loving and caring god creating a plan so mysterious that his creations must suffer in ways both subtle and gross in order to fulfill it rather than, you know, removing suffering from the equation altogether. Thinking about that was the first step of many for me.