KevinSim wrote: ↑Wed Oct 12, 2022 2:51 am
Why shouldn't I believe in God?
For one thing, the universe makes way more sense without some magic intervening entity. God belief makes all the world's needless pain exceptionally confusing.
If there's a god, he's a piece of crap. If it came down to preference (rather than a look at the evidence), I'd rather believe it's all random. Thinking there's a god allowing the earth to happen as it is only leads to imagining a sick, sadistic bastard (or, at best, something that created and forgot about us). But, of course, I don't believe in those versions of a god either.
I have no need for the god hypothesis. I'm not the first to say it.
But really, it's not about reasons not to believe. I don't deny the existence of a god, per se. I deny anyone's idea of a god that I've ever heard, in addition to the one I made up when I was a kid. I wouldn't supply reasons why you shouldn't believe in a god. I would ask you to question every idea of god you've ever heard, that's all. I would start by questioning why you believe in a god, whether you really need one. Because ultimately, all god ideas were made up by humans, and the idea of a god you have is your own creation as well (or perhaps more accurately, you've created a picture of a god augmented by other people's stencils).
One thing I'll add: if believing in a god helps you in some way and you keep it private, I see absolutely nothing wrong with that. Of course, I'd prefer a bit of perspective, but if you aren't harming anyone else (like trying to ban abortions, gay marriages, stem cell research, or impose any number of religious based ideas on the greater public), I don't see the god belief as that big a deal.
Religion is for people whose existential fear is greater than their common sense.
The god idea is popular with desperate people.