As an atheist one of the questions I get asked the most from theists is how can I be so sure that there is no God. I know that no answer I give will ever convince them of anything, but I am convinced to my own satisfaction that there is no God. Although I don't believe in any gods of any religion I am capitalizing the word God here to single out the traditional deity of Judaeo-Christian mythology.
Theists like to point out that by simply seeing all of the wonders of nature and the so called natural order of things one cannot help but come to the conclusion that there was a creator. I think that this is a very weak argument and I beg to differ as to the conclusions. When I see our natural world without the glasses of faith and folklore I see amidst all of this apparent order plenty of chaos.
Our planet for example is constantly bombarded by asteroids and comets and all other sorts of space debris on a daily basis. The insane weather patterns are far from orderly as well. Natural disasters are best explained naturally because we know how they occur. There is no need for some angry deity to be called into the explanation of some random event that costs the lives of many.
Everyday I am reminded why I think there is no God. I am surrounded by tragedy at all times and no matter how horrible or devastating an event may be; life goes on. Every day thousands of people die and as has been displayed in the past, like disease death does not discriminate. You are never too young or too old to die, just the fact that you are alive makes you a perfect candidate. When you finally realize that despite what you have been taught in the bible about your special place in the universe,you will come to see that you are nothing more than just another part of a larger picture.
Mankind has demonstrated that they have a penchant for vanity since the beginning of their existence on this planet. Until the theory of evolution came along we were all content to believe that we were God's special creation made in his image. That we were above all other species on Earth. Nothing could be further from the truth; when you realize that you are just another cog in this machine called life then you will see the world as it is. The world is a natural place with natural occurrences that happen daily despite who you think you are.
Earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, and other natural disasters just happen and when you realize this you will see that this explanation makes a lot more sense than trying to explain everything with God. God did it does not work in a natural circumstance and neither does it work to explain the unexplainable. Death,nature, destruction, love, joy, life, and many other things confirm to me that there is no God and that the world is a better place without one.
Finally, there is no why question as to our existence. Why ask why? It is so much easier if you found purpose in life itself. This life we live right now at this very moment is worth much more than any promised life of eternal bliss derived from ancient myths. All I know is that I was born, I am living now and trying to make the most of what is my life and what life itself has to offer. I am sure that one day sooner or later like all other life forms on this planet death will finally come for me, but until then I will make the most of what I have. When mankind can put aside their ridiculous myths then and only then will they be free to enjoy this life and enjoy the here and now.
Excellent essay. Nature is so wonderful, why muck up our appreciation of it with an imaginary supernatural agent?
ReplyDeleteYour worldview is too simplistic for me to consider as credible.
ReplyDeleteI don't claim to have all the answers to everything but the answers I do have are sufficient to satisfy my curiosity regarding the existence of God. I think the theistic view is too simplistic in and of itself. There view states: "we don't know how it happened, then God did." Now if that is not simplistic I don't know what is.
ReplyDeleteAtheism is that simplistic.
ReplyDeleteCells dividing cannot account for the wisedom possessed by an 'old soul'. We recognize wisedom when we hear it. We also recognize when we don't hear it. There is a vast difference between the two that cannot be seen through a microscope.
Atheism has no adequate answer for wisedom and it is because of this that Atheism fails to be a credible worldview to those seriously wanting to find the truth. To say Atheism leaves one wanting is a vast understatement.
how on earth can you say that God is not real!
ReplyDeleteGod did it is not an answer to anything. Regarding wisdom from an old soul if it is so simple how did this wisdom come to us? Please don't say the bible because that is nothing more than a huge joke and far from wise.
ReplyDeleteGod did it does not explain anything at all and leaves an incredible void as to how he/she/or it did it.
Unlike theism science does not claim to have all the answers. Theists claim absolute truth based on faith in an ancient book of myths and lore. The origins of said book are human and not divinely inspired as the book itself claims to be (self advertising).
If God created everything we know to exist from nothing, then what or who created God? The He is the alpha and the omega; the beginning and the end of all things does not suffice. In fact, it leads to more questions.
Accoding to the Sage English dictionary wisdom is defined as: 'The trait of utilizing knowledge and experience with common sense and insight.'
Those that choose to believe in the bible or any ancient text on faith alone demonstrate a serious lack of wisdom.
so you are saying i have a lack of wisdom?
ReplyDeleteNot only are you lacking it, you have no idea what it is. I can tell you what it is not though. It is not believing in imaginary deities and making assumptions based on all of the information you don't have about that deity and how he/she/or it created everything out of nothing. It is not believing in the writings of a bunch of superstitious nuts who knew next to nothing compared to what science has revealed about nature and the world we live in.
ReplyDeletedude...its going to be a sad day when Jesus comes to save us all and you will be begging him for forgiveness
ReplyDeleteBelieve what you want though. I am not not going to force you to believe but it would deffinatly be a favor for your sake to believe in God
ReplyDeleteThanks for the warning but I don't fear ancient myths and I am not superstitious. Here is a little homework assignment for you if you are up to the challenge. Try and find evidence of Jesus in secular documents from his time outside of the bible. I will help you by telling you that you wont find none. You know why? Because Jesus did not exist! He is the creation of men and the product of plagiarized pre-Christian myths and legends. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Jesus is not coming back unless they write a sequel to the N.T.
ReplyDeleteThere are two 'anonymous' folks here. I posted the 1st two comments.
ReplyDeleteRe: wisdom, the Bible offers a great deal of wisdom. However, wisdom can only be learned through experience and reflection, or a 'searching of the soul' re: one's actions in light of what one has just experienced.
I see that you are an older gentleman. I also see that you are deliberatly trying to antagonize a reader by saying Jesus did not exist. If Jesus did or did not exist is not the point. The message that Jesus, fact or fiction, delivered is what is important.
We should strive to present ourselves as better people. I think that is the whole point of our existance. Are their references on how to do this? What examples have people set? Who are our inspirations? Who's actions have brought us to tears? Who has inspired us?
The answers to these questions should be relevant to anyone, for growth is imperative for an enriched life.
Thanks for clearing that up Anonymous, now on to the contents of your comment. Actually I am not trying to antagonize anyone regarding the existence of Jesus. I honestly believe that their is not enough extra biblical evidence to substantiate the claims that he did exist.
ReplyDeleteThe so called wisdom found in the N.T. that is believed to have been taught by Jesus is not his own. In fact, it comes from previous myths and legends that predated Christianity. For every so called wise saying of Jesus you can find its parallel in another older culture.
Despite ypour denial, it is pretty clear that your intention was to antagonize. You need to be more honest with yourself.
ReplyDeleteThe message is important, not the messanger.
Whatever, take it however you want. I already commented on the message so I have nothing further to say about that.
ReplyDeleteMy journey into this sight has left me more convinced than ever before that Atheism is a meaningless hollow shell. It lacks substance and is wholely unsatisfying.
ReplyDeleteIs it purely a tool of rebellion against Religion and the Church? I am beginmning to believe it is. It is almost impossible to find an Atheist blog that does not spend a great deal of time and energy battling Religious dogma. The war that has arisen between the two camps is not very pretty, and extremely counter-productive. Neither side has the upper hand in terms of morality, or integrity, or even truth and I have said as much on the 'Religious' sites I have visited.
Dawkins, Hitchens etc. These are not very wise souls. They do not inspire me through their words. The virtues of compassion, understanding, forgiveness, gratitude etc. saddly all seem to be lacking in their writing. These men have much to learn.
Thank goodness for the great people we have had in the past. Martin Luther King, Ghandi, Jesus, Buddha, Confucious. Thank goodness the world has left behind people who can truely inspire us. It makes the dry times such as the time we are living in now much more tolerable.
Enjoy yourself with your delusions and relishing in the past glories of the church etc. I choose to live in the here and now and not in some ancient fantasy land. All of the negative opinions you have said about atheism and religion are your opinion and your own convictions and you are entitled to them.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the so called great men you have quoted as your inspiration all I can say is that they don't inspire me. I find more inspiration in the likes of Robert Ingersoll, Voltaire, Thomas Paine, Charles Darwin. These men saw the world as it is and not as they wished it could be by believing in unreasonable superstitions.
when Jesus does come back you will be sorry.
ReplyDeleteThe truth is right under your nose. It is so obvious that I shake my heads when people say that can't see. My response is that they've been looking out their eyes for too long.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your ventures. And try not to ridicule others so much. If you do this then it matters not whether you believe in God.
Spiritual "truth" is not truth at all.
ReplyDeleteWhen Jesus comes back I will be sorry? Really? I don't think so... because he is never coming back. Don't you find that belief a little strange that some man that allegedly died some 2,000 plus years ago is suddenly going to come back from the dead?
ReplyDeleteI would more readily believe that pigs can fly than that some imaginary figure from ancient mythology will come back.
Well, you might get your wish. There is a far better chance of seeing a pig fly than there is of the universe being created by chance.
ReplyDeleteSo keep your eyes to the sky - because if chance created the universe then pigs can fly!!!
Did you know believers are happier, live longer, and have less erectile dysfunction issues that atheists?
ReplyDeleteBelief in God is good for the soul, and for the pecker as well!
Atheist and 'stud' does not realy seem to be a natural fit, does it?
Keep spreading the misery, MDF.
Who would have guessed that Darwin would have had such a major impact on the develoment of Viagra? (lol!)
ReplyDeleteHey baby, there is no God, but there is me...
ReplyDeleteWow, what a turn on, I want you!
Sure, just let me get my Viagra... (LOL!!!)
Atheism makes Hawking look manly, you know the cripple? What a stud he is. Another dweeb who believes that DNA, the 'blueprint' for cells to follow, is no indication what-so-ever that any intelligence is at work. He's just peeved that God made him a loser.
ReplyDeleteHumans are a conglomination of cells dividing who have fooled themselves into believing they are something more than that.
ReplyDeleteTheir sense of self-identity is as delusional in thought as their belief in a sky daddy.
Their arrogance is not justified, for they are doomed for extinction. Their cells however, will live on.
This is a cellular world, and humans have overstepped their bounds. They need to keep their place and be grateful for it.
Someone here needs a hobby. Making fun of handicapped people such as Hawking is disgraceful. As for him being a loser I beg to differ like him or not he is one of the most genius minds of this century. Not bad for a loser huh?
ReplyDeleteAt least he is not on someones blog talking nonsense about gods and criticizing everyone who does not believe in his insane dilusions.
Hey dude, the diference between you and God is that in 50 years God still has a chance of existing...
ReplyDeleteWow, you got some real idiots here. LOL.
ReplyDeleteTake a pill dude. hawking is a cripple and a loser and not just to me.
ReplyDeleteBear with me as this is quite amusing:
There was a cool segment making the rounds on the major networks mocking hawking for not believing in God when a child who had an NDE said he went to heaven and met his sister - who his mom had miscarried and never told him about.
This young man spoke of God and heaven while hawking in his most ridiculous mocked anyone who believed in such. This lad said hawking can believe what he wants but he knows heaven exists. The network closed by saying "and a child shall show the way" - a slap in the low down face of mr. hawking.
So yes, hawking is a loser, and was made to look as such on national TV as well. (LOL!!!)
Brains does not make someone smart, or immune from looking ridiculous, even if this individual is a (gasp) scientist and a silly little cripple.
Ridicule God but not a crippled scientist. GMAB.
Atheism brews idiots matt. LOL.
ReplyDeleteTell me about it Matt! Now you see what I have been fucking dealing with all week. It takes every ounce of restraint to not go off on some of these people.
ReplyDelete@anonymous if anything you are the loser. You believe in a fictional mythological figure (Jesus Christ), who is saving us from sin and eternal hell. How fucking stupid is that? As far as the possibility of God existing in 50 years I agree with you. In 50 years or even as long as the human race inhabits the earth there will be gullible dumb asses that believe in myths so your statement holds true.
Yeah to me someone who believes a cosmic Jewish zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree sounds pretty silly.
ReplyDeleteYeah, christianity makes sense. NOT
Also - here's an essay that pulls no punches!
ReplyDeletehttp://scaryreasoner.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/christians-you-are-retarded-every-last-one-without-exception/
Why restrain yourself anyway? You're not going to change how they think. Better to tell them they're a fucking retard who is so stupid they proably think Taco Bell is the Mexican phone company.
ReplyDeleteMatt that scary reasoner post had a funny ass video attached to it. It did not work on the site but I looked it up on youtube. That guy brought tears to my eyes.
ReplyDeleteI saw it. LOL, that guy's crazy. It had a link to his Youtube account but said "this account has been deleted due to repeated or severe violations of our community guidelines." Hahaha.
ReplyDeleteMatt he was ready to get his ass kicked for Jesus Christ lol. I watched some of his other videos and he was calling out atheists to say what we believed to his face. That he would knock our teeth out of our mouths.LMAO! There wasn't much Christian love in his posts at all.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they put him away by now. Or maybe he tried that with the wrong person...
ReplyDeleteI also saw some people made parody videos of him.
OMG chatpilot, you are the saddest excuse for a living man I have ever heard of...everyone is entilted their opinions but YOU are being forceful in trying to cinvince everyone God isn't real...and you even called people who do believe in him stupid! i don't care what you believe in because i know God will deal with you when you die, but don't bad mouth all the people who aren't athiests!!
ReplyDeleteI'm not trying to convince anyone of anything; I am simply stating my position. What you choose to believe is obviously your business and if you are firm in your beliefs I am sure that no arguments or evidence to the contrary will shake your beliefs. By the way God will not deal with me when I die since he doesn't exist and I have done nothing wrong. All I've done is exercise my mind and used my ability to reason to determine that there is insufficient evidence for the existence of god, particularly the biblical version of god. By the way how do you know that your version of god is the true version? The pendulum swings both ways my friend so take a good look at yourself before you criticize others for having different opinions and convictions than your own. Religionist are the most arrogant and intolerant people on the planet all fighting for their version of beliefs. Not only are they stupid to believe in fairy tales they are hypocrites!
ReplyDeleteI am a proud atheist.To all theists out there you should ask yourselfs why Yehwah only spoke to the mesopotamians,persains and hebrews?.Why Yehwah never spoke to the chinese,red indians,koi san,samoan people,etc? That is because those bloody fucken hebrews made all that shit up.Moses is full of shit?
ReplyDelete