Why I cannot bring myself to believe in a God

Hello everyone. This is my first topic on ATS I believe (it has been awhile since I logged in) and just wanted to voice my opinion a little bit to hopefully hear others.

I am 19 years old and was raised Christian. Around the age of 16 I stopped going to church as often and began reading more about all kinds of religions. This act of exposure started to dampen my beliefs, but I should point out that my father was never religious. I was fortunate to be raised in a household where one of my parents had strong beliefs and one did not. This allowed me to learn about two sides and help me to form my own ideas. By the time I was 18 I was pretty positive that there was no God, or at the very least, that I did not agree with organized religion. I have always seen religion as a personal pursuit of faith in God. One does not need to go to church to listen to someone teach them about their God.

With all that said, something has recently come up in my life that has absolutely confirmed my beliefs.

I will try to keep the personal details to a minimum: My parents have been friends with this particular family since I was a child. My dad is a good friend of this families father (I will call him Will, not his real name) and I have gotten to know him myself on several occasions.

Recently, Will's wife (alias being Lauren) was diagnosed with cancer. I cannot recall exactly where it started, but they were optimistic that they could beat it. This is the most upbeat family I have ever been around, Lauren didn't even seem like she had cancer she was so positive. She was attending various treatment programs and trying to avoid chemo, but no matter what they did, things kept getting worse. At this point, Lauren has cancer in almost every part of her body. There is virtually no chance that she will be able to make it through this and her husband has been working nonstop to pay for all the medical treatments (he is almost never at home because of it).

Lauren and Will have 3 children. They're 4, 8, and 11.

What kind of just God would let this happen to a family? I don't want to hear the response "everything happens for a reason" because there is no reason for this. For the guilt this father will feel when his wife dies thinking he wasn't with her enough, for the pain he will feel when his kids get older and blame him for not being around when mom was dying, and for the burden he will have trying to raise the family on his own. There is absolutely nothing positive that can come of this that wouldn't be better with his wife still around. Nothing.

If I am wrong and there is a God, then I refuse to believe in him. I refuse to believe in an all powerful, all knowing, omnipotent God that willingly allows this to happen, not just to this family, but many, many others. A God that sends those who do not believe in him to Hell, an eternity of suffering. A God that allows children to die from disease and starvation everyday in Africa (a mainly Christian continent). A God that allows children to be slaughtered in the name of war and a God that has bloodshed for him on a regular basis in the name of religion.

I cannot and will not believe in such a horrible God. If there is a God, I will have nothing to do with him. I can see what he has done all around us and I cannot imagine someone as powerful as God allowing it to happen unless they were terribly cruel.

Why do we need to believe in a God? Why can't we just practice being decent human beings? Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do. Help someone because it is nice. Don't help someone because its what your religion says is the right thing, help someone because they need help. I have started reading more about the teachings of Buddhism because I find a lot of them to align with what I believe. I don't believe in a heaven or hell. I believe that we live on through the memories of others. Why should we not make those memories the best we can? Fill the people around you with happy memories, reach out to a random stranger and change their life forever. They will remember what you did. Surround yourself with your friends and family and just be a good person for the sake of being a good person. Not so you can go vacation in Heaven for eternity.

I hope this does not seem like incoherent ramblings and that it makes sense to some people here. I would like to know what others think of my thoughts and whether or not you share them as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and have a great day

reply to post by StruggleTogether


Lauren finished what she was sent to experience... the good and the bad

Will simply isn't finished yet, and has many lessons to learn in his future...

Some peoples "experience" is harder then others... but there is a reason behind all of it...

Believe it or not...

Interesting that your name is "struggle together" though...

S&F

Don't be so hard on God...

So basically God doesn't exist because bad stuff happens that right? Didn't pay much attention in church did you? You're still young and naive, give it about 12 years and when you start drowning in your sorrows and grief, maybe when you contemplate blowing your brains out because your life never mattered from the beginning, maybe then you will be ready to start listening to Jesus, then you'll start learning something. Should that day ever come, hit your knees and ask him to forgive you of your sins and ask him to reveal himelf to you.

I wasn't always a christian, in fact i didn't turn to him till i was 31 years old. I dabbled in alot of stuff, and lived a hard life. In the end i put my hopes in Jesus. By the time i had hurt enough people and left a path of destruction in my wake, no other gods promised salvation from my sins. No other gods promised to take away my sorrows and wipe the slate clean. All those other gods offer nothing but death. A block of wood is a worthless doctrine.

reply to post by lonewolf19792000


holy crap dude...

Do you think that's gonna help him?

reply to post by StruggleTogether


Dear StruggleTogether,

If I am wrong and there is a God, then I refuse to believe in him.

You say if there is a God you will refuse to believe there is. You say you rather deceive yourself than accept the truth. Does that change the truth or just mean you prefer to lie to yourself? I am not really sure what to say to you if you would willing lie to yourself. If so then you would accept any lie and be willing to be in an even worse situation? Your comment is simply illogical. No love and no logic makes no sense.

Originally posted by Akragon
reply to post by StruggleTogether

 

Lauren finished what she was sent to experience... the good and the bad

Will simply isn't finished yet, and has many lessons to learn in his future...

Some peoples "experience" is harder then others... but there is a reason behind all of it...

Believe it or not...

Well what is it? What reason?

So that in the next life we can learn from our past? Or that we take to god the knowledge we learn as humans in this one?

I really want to know.

Because so far, it's all a load of cobblers. Plain and simple.

Life goes on with or without humans so then, what plan is there for an insect? To know what it is to be an insect? The countless trillions of insects over time don't seem to really give a toss about god.

God? As OP says (and for 19 seems to mirror my own journey to the same conclusion, complete with a non-religious father and a devout mother) if this god is one of love and compassion, he sure has a crap way of showing it.

A mate of mine died about a decade ago, and his brother was devastated. And when one of my stupid idiot cousins came up and said "He's better now in heaven" I could barely restrain my mate from snotting her. Stupid ignorant cow she was.

His grief was not because his brother had ended his journey and satisfied some inane criteria of a man made god. his grief was borne out of loss of his brother from a virus that came up and took his life in less than 16 hours.

God? If he exists and knows all, is a moron.

More likely, if there is some creator to all of this, it has absolutely no concern over the plethora of life forms on this ball of dirt.

Only the arrogance of man, that would create a god in the first place, would say that this god loves us and has a plan for us.

Death comes to us all. And our experiences on this planet come to an end. Contained within the biological and electrical confines of our brain exists our self. And this too, ends when that which we are stops being.

Accepting that is truth. Denying it and continuing to believe that "life after death" exists because god loves you oh so much, is pure ignorance.

God... even if there is NO god, his belief in the minds of humans over the millennia has caused more grief than any other king of kings..

A pox on god. May he smite me down and prove me wrong.

Originally posted by lonewolf19792000
I wasn't always a christian

Do you think there is any hope for you now?

It seems you've become quite warped.

I guess the billions of people who managed to live in life with peace and happiness, before jesus walked on this earth, were just dopes.

Oh well, best of luck to you...

I will now go talk to santa clause. He might bring me a nice bike.

I would say continue to explore the idea but now appreciate the disconnect between god as a hypothetical truth and the religious version of god.

reply to post by winofiend

Well what is it? What reason?

So that in the next life we can learn from our past? Or that we take to god the knowledge we learn as humans in this one?

Something like that...

Life goes on with or without humans so then, what plan is there for an insect? To know what it is to be an insect?

Sounds good...

The countless trillions of insects over time don't seem to really give a toss about god

Have you recently had a conversation with a bug about God?

Death comes to us all. And our experiences on this planet come to an end. Contained within the biological and electrical confines of our brain exists our self. And this too, ends when that which we are stops being.

Prove it...

Accepting that is truth. Denying it and continuing to believe that "life after death" exists because god loves you oh so much, is pure ignorance.

God... even if there is NO god, his belief in the minds of humans over the millennia has caused more grief than any other king of kings..

A pox on god. May he smite me down and prove me wrong.

Just you wait...

reply to post by StruggleTogether


As much as I sympathise with the story; I would not use such reasoning and approach in saying that I cannot believe in God or that a God does not exist.

The intelligent, sophisticated and rational approach would be:

"Currently, there is no empirically verified evidence whatsoever for the existence of God; ergo, it has not been proved that such a being exists and so, it follows that It does not exist."

Such a statement would also apply to the existence of a multiverse or bubble universe. But the statement, intelligently put as it is, leaves space for the existence of God, or the multiverse or multiple big bangs, to be proven to exist. However, going upon evidence, there is currently a lack of evidence and so, being intelligent humans, we can say that It doesn't exist; but this does not prevent any evidence from being later put forward to show that indeed, the being does exist.

I would do away with "Oh, there's so much evil in the world - therefore God cannot exist" which is essentially no better than "The world is so complex - therefore God exists".

Equally, it can be said "There is so much evil in the world - therefore only the Devil exists and good is an absence of evil". How can you disprove that? How can you prove that?

reply to post by Akragon


Please read my above post - primarily the mentioned quote that would come from the intelligent and rational being.

reply to post by winofiend


It's Santa Claus with a capital "S" and a capital "C", without the extra "e" at the end of His surname.

How dare you do such a thing - Santa demands respect! For who amongst all of the false gods is like Him?

reply to post by HomoSapiensSapiens

"Currently, there is no empirically verified evidence whatsoever for the existence of God; ergo, it has not been proved that such a being exists and so, it follows that It does not exist."

God can not be proven to anyone but the self...

Spirituality on the other hand... that's a different story...

Originally posted by Akragon
God can not be proven to anyone but the self...

Yet you just demanded this from a member..

Originally posted by Akragon
Prove it...

If you cannot provide proof don't demand proof from the opposition.

reply to post by Lucid Lunacy

Yet you just demanded this from a member..

Incorrect...

I didn't ask for proof of God...

I asked for proof that the death of the body is the end of life...

reply to post by Akragon

The difference being what?

Neither of you can ask for proof of either of those! There is no proof for either of those!

Ergo don't demand what you can't deliver yourself.

reply to post by Lucid Lunacy

The difference being what?

As I've said, YOU can't prove the existence of God to anyone but yourself...

Proof of life after death is abundant... but to someone who chooses not to believe such things exist, it doesn't matter what anyone says... nothing is proof until they pass on

Then they will have their proof...

Promise me one thing.... when you're fully conscious after you die...

Tell God that I Told YOU...

reply to post by Akragon

YOU can't prove the existence of God to anyone but yourself...

If you cannot prove the existence of god to anyone but yourself then you are acknowledging the idea that some truths cannot be shared. In other words, how do YOU know the truth that member was stating wasn't something he KNEW in the same fashion. In that he also couldn't share it. You don't. What if. This is my point. You are trying to assert immunity towards the obligation of the burden of proof yet take no qualm in demanding it of others. That's absurd.

reply to post by Lucid Lunacy

If you cannot prove the existence of god to anyone but yourself then you are acknowledging the idea that some truths cannot be shared.

Right...

In other words, how do YOU know the truth that member was stating wasn't something he KNEW in the same fashion.

How could he know of something he doesn't believe exists unless he has in fact been there?

a statement like this...

Death comes to us all. And our experiences on this planet come to an end. Contained within the biological and electrical confines of our brain exists our self. And this too, ends when that which we are stops being

means he knows for a fact, "life does not exist after death"...

Thou shall not prove a negative my son...

This is my point. You are trying to assert immunity towards the obligation of the burden of proof yet take no qualm in demanding it of others. That's absurd.

No... im saying I have my proof...

And you can have yours... and he can have his...

Seek and ye shall find...

reply to post by Akragon

Promise me one thing.... when you're fully conscious after you die...

Tell God that I Told YOU...

Why are you jumping to the conclusion you know my beliefs? Did your god also prove this to you?

My belief in god, or in an afterlife, has little to nothing to do with my responses to you. Really it has no bearing on the points.