Why do you think some people refuse to believe that God is real? Comments welcome. :)

I think that blind faith in God is equally as ridiculous as blind faith against God

I am one of those few atheists that actually understand what the word "atheist" means... I have an open mind and a willingness to believe. I dont arbitrarily reject the idea out of absurdity or distastefulness.

Most self-labeled atheists are really anti-theists. Bigots who have closed themselves off to the prospect.

I do study religion and spirituality, I actively pursue spiritual truth. And I dont make false associations between what science has done for us and make grandiose claims against religion. I dont make false associations between religion and theology.

To be atheist is to "not believe"... it is NOT to "disbelieve"

I spend a great deal of my time in RS forums - not proving theism - but debunking the claims of atheists. Its usually not hard to do.

Hmmm...maybe because there is no proof? Oh, no, that would be too obvious, would it not?

They don't want to believe in what they can't see or touch. It blows their illusion that they are in complete control of their life. It would mean acting more responsibly in their everyday walk in this world.

Stubbornness and ego.

There is proof that God exist everywhere...In the blue endless sky, in the deep mysterious ocean and even in the whole process of birth..Its obvious that there is someone greater than us all and the He has everything under control. Why some people don’t believe? Maybe simply because they choose not to...Deep down inside I believe everyone feels that they aren’t here by mistake..And that they were created by a Creater for a bigger purpose

Personally, I would want some kind of evidence for something before believing in it, whether it's fairies or gods. The more extraordinary the thing, the more extraordinary the evidence must be.

Because some of us want an answer other than faith. because some people just want and strait answer.

BECAUSE IT GOES AGAINST LOGIC AND IT IS CLEARLY SHOWN THAT RELIGION WAS CREATED FOR POLITICAL AND PHYSCOLOGICAL POWER. JUST LOOK AT WHAT PEOPLE WILL DO FOR JESUS. THEY WILL CRUCIFY THEMSELFS FOR GOD.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1901095.stm
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gXVBxX7xrXpyodLPzP9fw1wPdHhg
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gXVBxX7xrXpyodLPzP9fw1wPdHhg

IN MY POINT OF VIEW IT WAS MERELY CREATED TO PYSCHOLOGICALLY CONTROL THE PEOPLE. OBVIOUSLY THE FEAR OF GOD WOULD MAKE THE PEOPLE DO JUST ABOUT ANYTHING. THOSE OF THE PEOPLE WHO LOVED GOD WOULD DO STUFF FOR HIM AND THE PEOPLE WHO WERE NOT GOD WERE KILLED

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=9217185&ch=4226720&src=news

Which god? There are literally a hundred thousand or more of them. There are several thousand One True Gods - with followers who will have devoted their entire lives to he/she/it/them.
The reasons I don't think the gods we have now are real are:
1. No evidence (mountains, trees and rocks are not evidence of a supernatural force, as we know how they all came about).
2. No agreement. When something is 'real' then gradually all people come to know that. eg: many diverse ideas of the shape of the earth eventually became one idea - the sphere. That is because earth's shape was consistently established through repeated experiments and finally direct observation from space.

When something is not real, people can have hundreds of diverse ideas on what "it" is, and none can ever be verified or shown to be more "true" than the others - so those diverse ideas just continue on.

There might be a god of some sort out there - but the current offerings we have are, IMO, our creations rather than the other way 'round.

easy... there is NO proof, its that simple

Because their experience of life and consideration of the issues has led them to that conclusion. They don't refuse to believe, they just don't believe - quite a difference.

high IQ

The first thing that needs to be understood is that human beings are not born with an in-built belief in God. A person's beliefs are formed as they acquire information and experiences over time.
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The second thing is that from observations using our own human senses it appears that when a person dies they simply cease to exist and their body decays and rots away to nothing. Nothing we have learned from science or any other discipline suggests anything to the contrary. Consequently our rational minds make most of us fear death or at least not wish to experience it.
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The third thing is that most religions that prosper today include the chance of some form of an eternal life after physical death to its members but only if they genuinely believe in the central tenets of the religion and in the existence of God.
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The fourth is that these beliefs require a person to ignore their rational mind and accept, as fact, things that can't be detected by their human senses, nor demonstrated by the religions' membership, nor proved by science, nor tested by experiment, nor derived by logic.
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So there is a struggle going on within most people between their natural tendency towards rationality on the one hand and their fear of death on the other. Often this will be going on as much in the subconscious as the conscious.
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External factors can have an influence on some people in this regard - an example might be if a person was subject to very strong religious teachings as a young child. However, the outcome will ultimately be a function of the combination of mental, emotional and intellectual characteristics that each individual possesses. If the fear of death is more dominant in a person they will be more likely to accept the existence of God and be religious. If the rational side is stronger the person is more likely to be an atheist/agnostic.

And for anybody that thinks it's not mainly about fear of death - ask yourself this question;
If the deeds of Jesus, the miracles and his teachings about forgiveness etc were all the same but instead of saying that people can enter the Kingdom of Heaven when they die, he says that there is no afterlife available for normal humans and that they have only this one mortal life on earth. Do you honestly think that Christianity would even exist as a religion today?

Reality proves there is no god.

Quite simply, because of fear.

The fear of God is the most massive obstacle you could imagine.

The fact of the matter is that there are infinite other civilizations in the universe. And that they came from SOMETHING indicates that there is an intelligent creator, regardless of how it formed.

The act of creation itself is "God," and thus we are co-creators.

It's not commonly understood in this culture, on this earth, but the universe itself is a conscious being, and galaxies are the major Sub-Creators, arranging particular laws for that area of space and time.

That's a rather esoteric viewpoint.

Now, this may be startling when you read this, but to hear what Jesus Christ has to say about "The Fear of God," I direct you to this link, which is text from A Course In Miracles.

And I remind you poetically that, "to the philosopher it speaks of eternity." and "to the fool, rage."

The fear of God is the denial of Self. Because God is light and love, and that is what we are.

As we erase our own selfish beliefs, we open ourselves up to what was always there -- the soul.

In India, it's common knowledge that there are master yogis in the mountains who are able to levitate.

How is this possible??

In Asian countries, Chi Gong masters are able to set paper on fire with their hands and have scientifically documented such feats.

How is this possible??

There are UFOs, better called ETC (extra terrestrial crafts) that make 90 degree turns in the air and vanish into thin air.

How is this possible? If extra terrestrials are that smart, could they create an entire civilization? And is love the key to all of this ??

My point is that -- perhaps How We Define "God" is the greatest stumbling block to people's awareness of God.

How many people associate God with Religion for example ? This is a mistake. Of course religion has been used to enslave people, but this is for another discussion.

In truth it's so very simple.

God is what created the universe.

Likewise you did not create yourself.

That leaves a blank space in your mind doesn't it? Who is behind all this ?

Let us not fear God, but welcome Him, understanding that He can only bless and never injure.

God cannot harm, nor judge, nor condemn. God is way different than we imagine in our tiny minds. We can't comprehend infinity.

So, people fear that amount of energy and power, because it would literally make their entire reality disappear. Our coats, our internet, our cars and anything else we place value in would not exist before the Creator. Too much energy, you see.

That is what scares people. And really, it is love. Love created the universe.

It's not important to believe in God anyway. All that matters is that you do not get stuck in the past or dream about the future. Being present in the moment, and knowing what is contained in this eternal now, is everything, all that matters.

Anyway, check out the Course In Miracles, and here what Jesus has to say:

http://www.acimfind.info/acim-1975/text-1975-19-01.php

the fear of God is Chapter 11 in there.

Enjoy.

Light and Love,

Joseph Ledzion

for the same reason people believe God is real. Both blindly believe in something that they can't prove.

The truth is no one knows if God is real or not. So the people who have to believe in something, either chose to believe or not believe.

Lack of evidence that conforms to the scientific method is the most common reason given. +3

If your talking about me - it's because I read my Bible too much and took Hebrew lessons. You should do the same.

Because somtimes people need cold hard facts. To them, God dosen't usualy provide that. I can't say I agree with them, but I understand where there coming from.

Because for all of the folk who are contrary to the fact; there is no proof that there is a God.

Belief in God is based on Faith an Faith alone. Yeah sure it comes with a bible - L. Ron Hubbard showed us that a religious book can be written from scratch with no god behind it. Once again, it requires Faith to believe that the Bible is God inspired. The bible is readily discredited upon its own word - unless you have faith to overlook those small discrepancies.

God can not be measured, can not be pointed at and someone exclaim! 'There He is!' - God is not heard (lets not discuss voices in the head or heart) and pretty much everything in the universe can be explained away by random factors.

Beyond that is the small fact that we humans tend to disagree a lot about the nature of God. We all claim to be on the single one and only pathway to God - unfortunately there are so many paths that one must wonder why it is that God can't seem to make it more obvious which one is the right one.

When we look at history and see all the terrible things done in the name of God, when we look at the present and see all the terrible things being done (still in this enlightened century) in the name of God, the heart of the common man must grow cold and weary and demand that God make it clear what is and is not really being done in His Name.

Many are those who have not been blessed by God - many decent, good people suffer without cause or explanation and those who observe hold it up as proof that God either is sleeping or does not care or does not exist. Nonexistence of God is a comforting thought compared to the other two options.

Those who do not believe reach that conclusion from experience and what they have learned. Few reach the conclusion that there is a God without being raised up, or told that there is one. Those who do have faith usually believe because they believe that what they were told was right. Those who don't believe that they were lied too.

And given the condition of the human animal, there is good reason to doubt what any humans says.

people do not believe in god because they only believe what has been proven and what can still be proven. Wheras religion has been proven but cannot be proven by seeing because all the peole who were prophets lived 2000 years ago. Wheras gravity can still be proven so they only believe in science.

Because they don't want to. People generally believe and do what they want to. With belief in God come strings which they don't want to have to deal with.

Some people think that if something can not be proven absolutely, then it can not be real, so they doubt the existence of God.

Others think that the absence of proof is not the same as the proof of absence, and so they accept that it just may be possible that there is a God.

The way Church/Religion is presented makes it easy for people to have doubts and even mock it. Jesus said you can tell the tree by its fruit. If we look at the state of the Church today, it is very depressing. This is true for Christian/Jewish/Muslim churches. There are sooooo many churches/temples in every area. You would think w/ so many institutions, there would be less poverty, less crime, more compassion. Something is wrong. These institutions are not fruitful. The message has not been given to younger generations. There may be a couple that are fruitful, but this is by no means the norm. Most times the subject matter never gets too deep. I went to church for 20+ years and never heard about Ezekiel, Enoch, or Melchezidec. We are limited to 66 scrolls, which the council of nicea decided were the only scrolls to read. They packaged them together and called it the Bible. People were forced to read ONLY this book. Too much emphasis was placed on faith and belief. This is the only book we are not allowed to question. MOST people who follow these faiths HAVE NOT READ THE BOOKS.
I heard a stat years back. It said 1 in 10,000 Christians have read the Bible front to back. Even worse 1 in 1,000 ministers have read it front to back.

The sad part is Jesus taught a message of self empowerment. YOU can do these things and greater, he said. This message is different from institutions that man has set up which require you to depend on them.
Church was separated from science. Many Christian churches tell you not to "deal with the stars". Why not, when the three wise men followed a star to Jesus. Revelations says a sign will be given in the stars. If we can't deal w/ the stars, won't we miss this sign.
The institution of religion makes it easier for someone to discard the idea of the Creator.

Logic; you have to understand to Atheists (or at least some) anything that can not be sensed can not exist. Thus leaving a hole, which is filled via scientific discovery and logic.

Source: Me (agnostic, aka a professional fence-sitter)

I think that some people are afraid to believe in God because it will change their lives...There is proof that God exists everywhere! starting with a simple things like a flower and ending with the process of a child conception and birth. Everything is so carefully thought through by God..I think that every person in his/her life acknowledges the existence of someone bigger, stronger and mighty full ..Our Creator..