Theists: What is the most compelling argument you have heard for Atheism?

[Harry Nevis]

An argument for atheism? Hmmm…. I’ll go with divine hiddenness. When I was an atheist, I found the silence of God in response to earnest prayer troubling.

You prayed when you were an atheist?  I call bullshit.

[Brian37]

I was convinced by my own sincere search to see if my theistic beliefs were actually rational, supported by evidence and reasoned argument...After a bit of research using history, philosophy, archeology, science, reading the Bible itself, that convinced me that my beliefs were not rationally justified.

Indeed. I believe you when you say that you did in fact do a sincere search. So if you would return the favor and believe that I did the same. In doing so I shed naive notions about God and the biblical narrative that did not hold up to scrutiny. I remained an atheist until I became aware of more mature notions of deity and nuanced approaches to the biblical texts. Even then I remained skeptical although I was willing to admit that Christian beliefs were reasonable and justifiable. It was only after exhausting (in my opinion) the logical conclusions of a world without god and a couple of personal experiences with the ineffable that I came to belief. YMMV. Everyone must decide for themselves what makes the most sense of the world. "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” - Joshua 24:15

We don't doubt your "sincerity". You sincerely want your god to be real so you make a sincere effort to confirm your own bias. And we sincerely think your logic sucks.

We don't hate you, we simply hate your logic. We don't want you arrested or murdered. We don't want you dead, but we do want you to think without your beer goggles on. Can you think for yourself without trying to convince yourself with your own bias?

[Little Rik]

An argument for atheism? Hmmm…. I’ll go with divine hiddenness. When I was an atheist, I found the silence of God in response to earnest prayer troubling.

You prayed when you were an atheist?  I call bullshit.

What is unusual Harry?
Atheists pray all the time.
Their prayer goes.......oh, please mind......give me evidence that there is no God.......please mind.....don't let me suffer like this........I can't take it anymore........please, please.......

   

[Brian37]

If God turns out to be real and He damns me to hell, I'd accept my "punishment" knowing that at least I didn't suck up to a sadistic monster and that I am morally superior to Him.

I got good news and bad news for you Ma.
Let us start with the bad news anyway.
The bad news is that you will keep on floating in this material universe until you will start use logic and start thinking that a creation must have a creator.
The good news instead is that God can not possibly punish anyone even if the karma law is there as a way
to teach and sort out problems.
You just punish yourself by not following logic.
In any case at the end when the lesson will be learn everybody will become part and parcel of the ocean of cosmic bliss.
No hell exist except the mental hell that we create by not using logic.  

---

Science is pointing away from the god of the gaps, but in the extremely remote chance it was proven, based on the reality we observe now, there is absolutely no way I would worship such a being. 10,000 years of religion and not one era in that time where there was no violence which we still see today. Childhood famine, childhood disease and rape and molestation. That aspect alone would not lead me to conclude such a being is all loving or moral.

Theists will falsely say that I am angry at this god, not at all. I view this claimed being like a character in a bad movie or horrible book. It is the logic of such claims that I object to. But if such a being were proven to be real, yes we would accept that reality, but that would not cause me to want to value or worship such a selective narcissistic self centered bully.

"If" we pretend that a future would bring such evidence, I would still want to kick this asshole in the nuts and tell him to fuck off. Imagine if a parent behaved in the same cherry picking selective deadbeat manor this alleged god character is depicted as. What if a parent has 4 kids, feeds one well, dotes on it, gives it care. But leaves another outside in the freezing cold. Leaves another with an abusive spouse who beats them daily. Leaves another with a child molester. If CPS discovers this the parent is arrested and the children are taken away.

I simply cannot buy theist logic of "all loving" and "all powerful" claiming there is a magical sky wizard security guard looking out for us, not when 50 to 60 million humans die on average every year worldwide, of all ages, from everything you can imagine. It isn't a real god I object to, but the logic of claiming such things.

And your evidence that people die is.....?
Oh, you mean when the body die?
So you work out that the body is the real you, do you?  

Yea people die, but that isn't my only evidence. Science proves we die. Just like it proves DNA when humans mate leads to a baby. Science also proves the age of our planet and universe, death is merely one aspect of evolution. Even bacteria and cockroaches die.

Christopher Hitchens, " I don't have a body, I am my body". I am my brain in motion, nothing more. My consciousness was not around 1 million years ago, so what makes you think life will be any different after you die? 

The bible is a book of myth and nothing more. Humans back then didn't know our modern reality and made very horrible guesses as to why things happen. The only difference between you and I is that I don't assign good or bad to sky wizards or ground trolls. I still value the one finite life I have now.

[Neo-Scholastic]

An argument for atheism? Hmmm…. I’ll go with divine hiddenness. When I was an atheist, I found the silence of God in response to earnest prayer troubling.

You prayed when you were an atheist?  I call bullshit.

Just poorly worded. I prayed a lot as a nominal Christian to little affect. Later as an atheist, I tried the A/S/K and didn't hear anything back.

[Harry Nevis]

When I was a theist, the most compelling argument I ever heard for atheism was, "Read the bible fully."

Personally, people who read the canon in order from start to finish are ill-advised. That may leave you with a basic biblical timeline, which is a good thing, but also leads to much confusion. The texts have to be read both forwards and backwards to draw out all the foreshadowing and typology. My favorite technique is finding a common phrase, consulting a concordance, and then comparing how it is used in each instance. The texts open up in unexpected ways to reveal hidden themes and allusions threading their way through the narrative. These threads tie the stories together just as Jesus said, "If you believed Moses then you would believe me..." (John 5:46) I find that approach more helpful than the typical topical approaches most bible study groups use. Those seem more like proof-texting clubs. I'd be happy to share videos of some study groups that take that approach, albeit from a Swedenborgian perspective, for anyone who is interested.

Just another bullshit response.  "I read the bible, but still don't buy it."  "You're reading it in the wrong direction!"

[Little Rik]

I got good news and bad news for you Ma.
Let us start with the bad news anyway.
The bad news is that you will keep on floating in this material universe until you will start use logic and start thinking that a creation must have a creator.
The good news instead is that God can not possibly punish anyone even if the karma law is there as a way
to teach and sort out problems.
You just punish yourself by not following logic.
In any case at the end when the lesson will be learn everybody will become part and parcel of the ocean of cosmic bliss.
No hell exist except the mental hell that we create by not using logic.  

---

And your evidence that people die is.....?
Oh, you mean when the body die?
So you work out that the body is the real you, do you?  

Yea people die, but that isn't my only evidence. Science proves we die. Just like it proves DNA when humans mate leads to a baby. Science also proves the age of our planet and universe, death is merely one aspect of evolution. Even bacteria and cockroaches die.

Christopher Hitchens, " I don't have a body, I am my body". I am my brain in motion, nothing more. My consciousness was not around 1 million years ago, so what makes you think life will be any different after you die? 

The bible is a book of myth and nothing more. Humans back then didn't know our modern reality and made very horrible guesses as to why things happen. The only difference between you and I is that I don't assign good or bad to sky wizards or ground trolls. I still value the one finite life I have now.

Wrong on all points Brian.

1) Science DOES NOT prove that we die.
All it does is to prove that the body die which after all is not a big deal to understand.

2) Hitchens guess.  
He wouldn't know anything about life and death.
He wouldn't know whether he existed or not in the past.

3) I leave the Bible alone.
That doesn't mean that is bad.
I just prefer yoga but most of all I think the the practice is millions times more important than the study of books even if the books are helping to some extent.  

[Harry Nevis]

The best reason for atheism is the refusal to take on faith unsupported claims which are farfetched and/or absurd on the face of it.  One does not argue their way to atheism, one merely refrains from embracing theism and other crazy sounding beliefs without good reason.

People have different opinions about what is far-fetched or absurd do they not? I find the Dawkins's notion that we are "biological robots in a meaningless universe" and Dennett/Churchland's assertions about consciousness being an illusion - both of those - absurd. I also find the notion that facts about nature can supply any kind of moral values far-fetched. And those are just the start of a whole host of conclusions that I see as ridiculous responses to the human condition. The idea of an intelligent self-sustaining ground of being seems far less implausible to me.

Different opinions?  Of course.  But saying there is no supportive, objective evidence for the god of the bible is a fact, not an opinion.

I don't see nature as providing moral values.  That's what society does.

[Neo-Scholastic]

Personally, people who read the canon in order from start to finish are ill-advised. That may leave you with a basic biblical timeline, which is a good thing, but also leads to much confusion. The texts have to be read both forwards and backwards to draw out all the foreshadowing and typology. My favorite technique is finding a common phrase, consulting a concordance, and then comparing how it is used in each instance. The texts open up in unexpected ways to reveal hidden themes and allusions threading their way through the narrative. These threads tie the stories together just as Jesus said, "If you believed Moses then you would believe me..." (John 5:46) I find that approach more helpful than the typical topical approaches most bible study groups use. Those seem more like proof-texting clubs. I'd be happy to share videos of some study groups that take that approach, albeit from a Swedenborgian perspective, for anyone who is interested.

Just another bullshit response.  "I read the bible, but still don't buy it."  "You're reading it in the wrong direction!"

All I am saying is that dismissing the bible based on a superficial reading of the 66 canonical texts doesn't do justice to their richness and complexity. It also seems anti-intellectual.

[Harry Nevis]

Just another bullshit response.  "I read the bible, but still don't buy it."  "You're reading it in the wrong direction!"

All I am saying is that dismissing the bible based on a superficial reading of the 66 canonical texts doesn't do justice to their richness and complexity. It also seems anti-intellectual.

Sure it does it justice.  There is nothing intellectual or unique about the bible as a book.  It's only special to those who decide its the word of god first.