Do things happen for a reason?

[Mermaid]

"everything happens for a reason" is childlike thinking. Kids start out with a world that revolves around them. Looking for a reason for everything that benefits or affects you is part of that.

[Shazzalovesnovels]

I didn't mean it that way. How do you explain why things happen without bringing God into it.

The same way that you do with god.  Asking the same question won't get you a different answer.

How do I delete my account?

The same way that any of us would. 

Honestly think about what you're asking us.  Let's say that you apprehend the world through teleology - which is to say that you explain an event by the purpose it serves rather than the cause by which it arises.  God's plan, the ultimate purpose.  Well, purpose and teleology aren't restricted to gods.  Other people, who don't believe in gods, might also find reason and use in explaining things by referring to their purpose.  Why is there a hammer here?  Because I intend to strike a nail.  Why do fish have gills?  To breathe. You might notice that you can understand these explanations, and see nothing obviously wrong with them.  They don't refer to any gods.  

How often, if you really worked it out, do you refer to god in your own life?  I'd be willing to bet that the difference between yourself and an atheist, with respect to your question, is small to non-existent.  We may as well ask you how you do x without believing in the aztec gods - and you'd instantly grasp the problem that you're facing here, with us.

I repeated it because the thing with you is that you don't answer questions directly. you answer with a question of your own or a statement pertaining to my beliefs. but you don't actually answer. 
I feel like you take whatever I say as an attack or you twist it some way when it was really meant to be a innocent question. 
I'm serious about deleting my account, I don't think any of this is gonna benefit me. sorry for wasting everybody's time. I cant find a delete account button, can somebody help??

[Rhizomorph13]

Do you open jars in a particularly christian way?  Do you make a ham and cheese in a particularly christian way?  Do you wipe your nose in a christian way?  Do you put the spoon in your mouth to feed yourself in a christian way?  Do you notice the temperature in a christian way?

No?  Neither do I.  We also rationalize and explain things in the same ways.  I don't need a god to do that anymore than you do.  The only difference is that you believe a god exists, and I do not.

I knew a guy who framed everything relating to God's will and he was hard to be around and found it hard to live because he was constantly questioning whether things would glorify God. He had it down to the minutia of every bite of food, every scrap of clothing he wore. He was insane and roughly knew it. I had several talks with him to try to unwrinkle his thinking. the last time I saw him he was doing great, he could laugh at shit and he was joking irreverently it was good to see that he had separated himself from confined thinking.

[The Grand Nudger]

I repeated it because the thing with you is that you don't answer questions directly. you answer with a question of your own or a statement pertaining to my beliefs. but you don't actually answer. 
I feel like you take whatever I say as an attack or you twist it some way when it was really meant to be a innocent question. 
I'm serious about deleting my account, I don't think any of this is gonna benefit me. sorry for wasting everybody's time. I cant find a delete account button, can somebody help??

It would be impossible to answer your questions more directly than I have.  You asked how we do something without god...and reminding you of our common humanity, I explained what you already knew.  That we do things without god the same way that you do things with god.  

You and I eat cereal the same way.  We wipe our noses the same way.  A ham and cheese means the same thing to both of us.  The jar opens the same way for either of us.  We both explain things by their cause, and by their purpose. You are not, presumably, Rhizos insane friend from back in the day. If you were, then, sure, there would be more apparent differences between us. You and I are equally unlikely to explain any given thing by reference to a god.

[GrandizerII]

Shazza, skimming through the thread, is your question basically "why this world rather than another"? This is a difficulty for mainstream Christianity as well. But at least atheists can talk about certain worldviews that may address this question adequately without worrying about theological difficulties that may come with them, such as those positing multiple worlds.

[arewethereyet]

It seems to me that Shazz is not comfortable among a group of atheists. I'm not sure of the reason for coming here, but it obviously didn't turn out as planned.

If the answers given to questions were all god-based, I think Shazz would be happier.

Perhaps a theist forum is a better choice.

[brewer]

Until you describe the "things" I can't postulate a reason.

I can tell you that none of my reasons would be magic/supernatural (unless magic/supernatural is the things).

Is this a good people/bad things thread?

idk. like, why did JFK die? I'm sure the person who killed him had their reasons but why was he even born in the first place? And yeah I get it's because his parents created him, but why HIM. And why did he become president? Why did I join this forum thing? Is it going to effect me later in life? Why was I born and not the brother I've never had? 

Is there a reason these things happen and if not, is/was there an alternate series of events, that could have occurred but didn't because of one or many actions taken?

I don't know how else to ask my question, it's just an endless circle inside my head.

Infinite regress. Have fun with it.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Perhaps a theist forum is a better choice.

https://islamqa.info/en

[ignoramus]

Shazza, let me put it this way.
You're on a golf course. The odds of hitting a particular blade of grass 300 yards away is trillions to one.
You hit the ball. It lands on a blade of grass 300 yards away. Not the one you chose. But nonetheless, the one you landed on was also a trillions to one shot and you got it!

My point is, trying to connect dots to find special meaning in circumstances is a fool's game. You could waste you life joining dots all day long for the rest of your life.
Shit happens all day long, even fun or bad co-incidental things ..Don't read anything into anything. You'll end up like the dude from "A Beautiful Mind".

Another eg: someone's girlfriend's car broke down and asked you to pick her up. On your way, someone isn't paying attention and slams into your car.
You are injured, taken to hospital, as a precaution, they give you a cat scan. They find a tiny tumor on your brain. They operate and remove it successfully.
The doctor said if they hadn't found it, the tumor was in a part of the brain that in years to come it would have been inoperable and it would have killed you.

Now Shazza, it's tempting to join dots here. But there's really nothing to see. Move along. Nothing spooky happening, No angels, or demons or unicorns or faeries are making things happen. Shit just happens. Sometimes these things are convenient, sometimes they're not.... Wishing for an agent to be involved in your life isn't going to "poof" a god into existence for you...

Conspiracy theories are created for the same reasons they create God. Some people just like to feel that "someone" is in control. Whether it's because you gave birth to an autistic baby 6 months after getting your flu shot or because the neighbor's house got torn down by a hurricane a week after the asshole blocked your driveway with his truck.

The universe doesn't revolve around any of us... We're not that special...seriously.

[Sal]

Correlation doesn't imply causation.