Question

[Chriliman]

I'm interested to hear if any non-believers have seriously considered believing in God based on an argument or reason they heard from someone else, either on these forums or elsewhere.

I would think that those of you who have been on these forums for an extended period of time would have come across some argument or reason that has brought you close to believing in God, but maybe the opposite is true, maybe all the arguments just reaffirm your non-belief.

Do share if you want, thanks!

 

[Ana the Ist]

I'm interested to hear if any non-believers have seriously considered believing in God based on an argument or reason they heard from someone else, either on these forums or elsewhere.

I would think that those of you who have been on these forums for an extended period of time would have come across some argument or reason that has brought you close to believing in God, but maybe the opposite is true, maybe all the arguments just reaffirm your non-belief.

Do share if you want, thanks!

No.

I decided I didn't believe in god at a very young age...it was a belief I reached after thinking about it at great length for my little 11yo mind lol. I went and told my dad, and he told me I should probably keep this information to myself...I didn't really understand why yet...but I kept silent on it for about 3 years.

Then when I was about 14 I let it slip, and was laughed at quite cruelly by a group of my friends and peers. I was angry at that moment...not so much for being laughed at, but because I knew I wouldn't be able to explain why I didn't believe in god to all these people. I simply didn't have the time or understanding to argue my position effectively to 25-30 people at once. I sat there silently, realizing then what my father had meant about keeping this information to myself.

It wasn't long after that when I decided I never wanted to find myself in that position again. I wanted to always be able to explain why I believe, or don't believe whatever I believe or don't.

So for about the past 20+ years now I've studied every argument for or against the existence of god that I could find. I've participated in discussions on the topic for almost as long. I haven't come across any arguments for god's existence that I hadn't already heard...and learned refutations for... years ago. I don't really expect to either.

 

[ToddNotTodd]

I'm interested to hear if any non-believers have seriously considered believing in God based on an argument or reason they heard from someone else, either on these forums or elsewhere.

I would think that those of you who have been on these forums for an extended period of time would have come across some argument or reason that has brought you close to believing in God, but maybe the opposite is true, maybe all the arguments just reaffirm your non-belief.

Do share if you want, thanks!

Because I've heard all the arguments, and found them all without merit, I have no reason to believe in a god. I wouldn't say that I'm more of an atheist, since the phrase seems silly. The only change over time I've had is that I think that a purely intellectual argument for a god's existence is folly.

Oh, and I don't think it's possible to consider believing in something. Either I accept evidence and believe, or I don't.

 

[Chriliman]

No.

I decided I didn't believe in god at a very young age...it was a belief I reached after thinking about it at great length for my little 11yo mind lol. I went and told my dad, and he told me I should probably keep this information to myself...I didn't really understand why yet...but I kept silent on it for about 3 years.

Then when I was about 14 I let it slip, and was laughed at quite cruelly by a group of my friends and peers. I was angry at that moment...not so much for being laughed at, but because I knew I wouldn't be able to explain why I didn't believe in god to all these people. I simply didn't have the time or understanding to argue my position effectively to 25-30 people at once. I sat there silently, realizing then what my father had meant about keeping this information to myself.

It wasn't long after that when I decided I never wanted to find myself in that position again. I wanted to always be able to explain why I believe, or don't believe whatever I believe or don't.

So for about the past 20+ years now I've studied every argument for or against the existence of god that I could find. I've participated in discussions on the topic for almost as long. I haven't come across any arguments for god's existence that I hadn't already heard...and learned refutations for... years ago. I don't really expect to either.

Thanks Ana the Ist. One thing I find interesting about your testimony is that you wanted to explain why you didn't believe in God, instead of why you believed God does not exist. I think explaining why one believes God does not exist is really difficult to the point of impossible, which is why many atheist claim non-belief, so they don't have to deal with explaining why they believe God does not exist. They instead say, its not true that they believe God does not exit, it's true that they don't believe in God.

For me, its been the opposite, I set out to figure out why I believed what I believed. IOW, I wanted to know the truth about God and not just rely on beliefs that had been handed down to me from my parents and siblings and teachers and professors.

Thanks for your response

 

[Chriliman]

Because I've heard all the arguments, and found them all without merit, I have no reason to believe in a god. I wouldn't say that I'm more of an atheist, since the phrase seems silly. The only change over time I've had is that I think that a purely intellectual argument for a god's existence is folly.

Oh, and I don't think it's possible to consider believing in something. Either I accept evidence and believe, or I don't.

Thanks for your response. Do you consider a soundly reasoned explanation as evidence of truth?

 

[ToddNotTodd]

Thanks for your response. Do you consider a soundly reasoned explanation as evidence of truth?

I see soundly reasoned evidence as evidence of the truth.

 

[Chriliman]

I see soundly reasoned evidence as evidence of the truth.

So in other words, no, you do not accept soundly reasoned explanations as evidence of truth. So when someone wants to convince you that it's true that God does not exist and they give a soundly reasoned explanation for why God does not exist, you won't believe them unless they provide evidence of God not existing?

 

[GoldenBoy89]

I haven't yet come across any argument that has convinced me of something I not only have never experienced, but also believe is nonsensical.

 

[Eudaimonist]

I would think that those of you who have been on these forums for an extended period of time would have come across some argument or reason that has brought you close to believing in God

You might think that, but no. None of the arguments were that good.

but maybe the opposite is true, maybe all the arguments just reaffirm your non-belief.

No, not really that either.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[ToddNotTodd]

So in other words, no, you do not accept soundly reasoned explanations as evidence of truth. So when someone wants to convince you that it's true that God does not exist and they give a soundly reasoned explanation for why God does not exist, you won't believe them unless they provide evidence of God not existing?

What god are we talking about? There are lots.

 

[DogmaHunter]

I'm interested to hear if any non-believers have seriously considered believing in God based on an argument or reason they heard from someone else, either on these forums or elsewhere.

I would think that those of you who have been on these forums for an extended period of time would have come across some argument or reason that has brought you close to believing in God, but maybe the opposite is true, maybe all the arguments just reaffirm your non-belief.

Do share if you want, thanks!

Nope, I've never heared an argument that I found remotely convincing.
And I don't say that lightly. I really mean it.

I'll add that I had a completely secular education. My first contact with a bible was when I was around 16, when I transfered from public school to a catholic school (for reasons other then religion, obviously).

I wasn't raised to "not believe". Gods and religions simply weren't part of my upbringing. They were non-issues.

 

[DogmaHunter]

Thanks Ana the Ist. One thing I find interesting about your testimony is that you wanted to explain why you didn't believe in God, instead of why you believed God does not exist. I think explaining why one believes God does not exist is really difficult to the point of impossible, which is why many atheist claim non-belief, so they don't have to deal with explaining why they believe God does not exist.

You understand the difference between "I don't believe X is true" and "I believe X is false", right?
Because it sounds like you don't.

 

[Chriliman]

What god are we talking about? There are lots.

The eternal God that precedes everything. Now please go back to the question I posed and give a direct answer.

 

[Chriliman]

You understand the difference between "I don't believe X is true" and "I believe X is false", right?
Because it sounds like you don't.

I understand the difference.

 

[Chriliman]

Nope, I've never heared an argument that I found remotely convincing.
And I don't say that lightly. I really mean it.

I'll add that I had a completely secular education. My first contact with a bible was when I was around 16, when I transfered from public school to a catholic school (for reasons other then religion, obviously).

I wasn't raised to "not believe". Gods and religions simply weren't part of my upbringing. They were non-issues.

Thanks for your response.

 

[ToddNotTodd]

The eternal God that precedes everything. Now please go back to the question I posed and give a direct answer.

Way too vague. What are the characteristics of said god? The reason I ask is that unless you can clearly define a thing, you can't argue for or against it.

 

[Chriliman]

Way too vague. What are the characteristics of said god? The reason I ask is that unless you can clearly define a thing, you can't argue for or against it.

Okay then. I understand that you do not have an answer for the question I posed.

The concept of an eternal God that has always existed and will continue to exist is not that difficult to grasp.

 

[HitchSlap]

I'm interested to hear if any non-believers have seriously considered believing in God based on an argument or reason they heard from someone else, either on these forums or elsewhere.

I would think that those of you who have been on these forums for an extended period of time would have come across some argument or reason that has brought you close to believing in God, but maybe the opposite is true, maybe all the arguments just reaffirm your non-belief.

Do share if you want, thanks!

Joined CF in '04 as a Christian. Through a slow process, I eventually accepted the fact there is no god/s.

 

[Chriliman]

Joined CF in '04 as a Christian. Through a slow process, I eventually accepted the fact there is no god/s.

Gotcha. So you didn't need evidence of an eternal God not existing in order to believe an eternal God does not exist?

Do you accept soundly reasoned explanations as evidence of truth?

 

[ToddNotTodd]

Okay then. I understand that you do not have an answer for the question I posed.

The concept of an eternal God that has always existed and will continue to exist is not that difficult to grasp.

Okay then. I understand that you do not have a good description of the thing that I should be confirming or denying.

I have no idea how anyone can believe that something exists without being able to give properties of that thing. It sounds completely insane to me.