I've looked at people's profiles and the one thing that always surprises me is the question how sure are you that there is or is no God. A large percentage of people answer 100%in either direction, how can you be 100%on an issue like the existence of God. I can see saying I'm 100% certain the Christian God does not exist and these are my reasons why... But the claim with absolute certainty there is no God seems to be an unreachable conclusion.
I selected 99.9%. I consider the odds of their being a God right up there with the odds of their being a Santa Claus. That being said, if the proper evidence was given to me I would change my mind.
This is where reason comes into play. I also selected 99.9% positive there is no god - but if given solid evidence (not feelings), I would, of course, change my mind.
99.9% should be the odds for Santa Claus. A lot of people can play Santa Claus, but I haven't seen one play God Almighty. Except in the movies. But that's an entirely different thing. Even Morgan Freeman, Bruce Almighty and the late George Burns would agree . . . I can't imagine anybody playing God all aglow wearing a burning bush.
What do you mean there's no Santa? There's got to be Santa. NO? There's no Santa? Oh crap
You can probably get a quick 100% god exits from a theist, there are apologists out there who have admitted that even if god could be 100% disproved they would still believe.
Now that's cognitive dissonance for ya!
I went with 99.9%. If a god were proven to exist, I would believe it, I just wouldn't worship the monster.
You wouldn't want to ask "if you're a god, then who created you?"
I don't respond with 100% confidence. That would be more akin to the appellation of atheism (or theism on the opposite side of the spectrum). As for me, I am agnostic, but mostly function as an apathetic atheist: if there is a God, i don't really care. Moreover, if he/she exited, they would probably be an asshole anyway. On the other hand, whenever i lose my keys while late for work, i often pray while trying to find them. My prayers usually amount to me saying, "Please, please, please, please!" and then when i find them, i say, "thank you!"
LMAO. I'm guilty of that too.
I answered 50%. I can go either way given reliable evidence.
However, I would like to quote Richard Feynman (1918 - 1988)
“I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing.
I think it’s much more interesting ‘not knowing’ than to have answers that might be wrong.
I have approximate answers and possible beliefs and different degrees of certainty about different things, but I’m not absolutely sure of anything,
and there are many things I don’t know anything about such as whether it means anything to ask ‘why we’re here?’
and what the question might mean;
I might think about it a little bit, and if I can’t figure it out, I’ll move on to something else,
but I don’t have to know an answer,
I don’t feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in a mysterious universe without having any purpose, which is the way it is, as far as I can tell, possibly.
It doesn’t frighten me.”
You are quoting Richard Feynman, therefore you are my friend. Nice to meet you.
"This freedom to doubt is an important matter in the sciences and, I believe, in other fields. It was born of a struggle. It was a struggle to be permitted to doubt, to be unsure. And I do not want us to forget the importance of the struggle and by, default, to let the thing fall away.-- Richard Feynman The Meaning of it All 1998
I lost any faith I had at age 8 when I asked our priest how Man was one of the first things created, but they did not exist at the same time as the Dinosaurs. His response was that they lived on different sides of the earth, and that's why they never came into contact with each other... I feigned belief for many years after that, because it was expected of me, but being lied to by a priest so early on pretty much relegated any ideas of a "god" to fantasy land. I answered that I am 100% sure that there is no god because I truly do not believe, in any shape or form, that there is some omnipotent being concerned with or controlling our every thought or movement.. I believe that 100%, and I am 100% sure that nobody would be able to convince me otherwise, short of god descending from the sky and telling me so themselves. short of getting into a "prove god exists / prove god doesn't exist because faith" dichotomy, in which you can't prove a negative. there is no proof of any kind of "God" I believe wholeheartedly that religion is simply a tool of control, and a way to explain things that aren't understood. "God did it". If there were a god, that god would be a mean, spiteful, hateful god, not the god of love that so many profess them to be. It's God's will that my child have cancer, it is a test of my faith" what kind of fucked up god would do that? not a loving god as they profess. Not a god I would want to worship. believing in a god also tends to be a scapegoat, and also a credit taker. "I thank god for my success". no, thank yourself, you did all the work. A school full of children shot up by a psychopath? "God works in mysterious ways" sorry, but fuck that. I have seen no evidence for a god, I have seen no valid argument for a god. I don't claim to know anything 100% same as any other intelligent person, but based on the extreme LACK of evidence for a god, among other reasons, I believe 100% that there is no such thing. I think it would have been better to have the questions changed to "I Believe 100% that there is, or is not a God" because to me, the only place "God" exists, is in the minds of believers.
After reading your responses, I'm beginning to realize that people are justified in being 100% regarding a "belief." After all, belief isn't knowledge, it's belief.
Agreed. I think it could've been asked in a better way. but that's why I answered it that way Thanks for posting the question, it is a great discussion!
I find the term God is almost undefined. In a scifi book series by Stephen Donaldson called "The Gap" he defines a god who is a man with almost unlimited resources, wealth and political power. It's a great read. I wonder who fits that description today? But in terms of a Christian, Jewish, Islam or magical mythical god I would agree that there seems to be absolutely no evidence other than a man made manifestation...
I find it pretty ridiculous, too. I never answer more than 99% on almost any question. We are fallible beings, and there is always room for mistakes, or lack of understanding. I'm as sure about there not being a god as I am about anything else in life, but by no means can I claim 100% certainty. Especially considering the nature of the question. No person could ever know the answer to the god question with 100% certainty.
We can not see the ends of the universe. We can not find its beginning or end. What caused the Big Bang? That question was how I used to support my belief in a god, as a teen. Two years later I'd realized that the Big Bang can not prove a god. Whatever the cause, we've got to keep looking. Because god is a silly explanation.
It's so silly it doesn't even count as an explanation. All it does is say I have nothing supporting this conclusion and I don't know how it works, but it fits with what I want to believe
100 % that there is no god. The reason is that the god idea is no different from any fantasy character. Which god? There are thousands of them. If I tell you that there is a quarter in a box, there is a 50% chance either way. If I tell you that there is a living mini pink elephant with magical powers in the box, it is 100% that is is not true. A quarter is a material tangible item. A magical elephant is imaginary. If at anytime it can be shown that a god or magical pink elephant actually exists, then I will change my opinion. Until then, I am 100% sure that neither exists since both fantasies were created in the imaginations of people.
I trust in the fallibility of man, and it brings me solace.
"I've looked at people's profiles and the one thing that always surprises me is the question how sure are you that there is or is no God."
But why not ask?
"A large percentage of people answer 100%in either direction,"
That's because they feel 100% sure.
"how can you be 100% on an issue like the existence of God."
By realizing that there is literally nothing going for the claim what so ever. - How sure are you about mermaids not existing under the sea somewhere?
"I can see saying I'm 100% certain the Christian God does not exist and these are my reasons why... But the claim with absolute certainty there is no God seems to be an unreachable conclusion."
OK then... why is any other sort of god significantly more probable then? Can you say or is your argument 'But there might be a god because there might be a god'? - Couldn't that be said about the 'possibility' of mermaids existing under the sea somewhere because... er.... there just might be & no one can prove that there aren't? - What's the difference with god claims then?
I'm a big nerd and I am stealing some of this from D&D, at least back when i played. Gods exist as much as everyone allows. In D&D, the gods could grant powers and raise people from the dead. I don't see that in the real world. I do see the idea of gods influencing my reality, in the real world, daily. We can say they don't exist all we want, but until there are no laws influenced by their morality, no people living in weird restrictions based on their morality and no one walking around with any delusions that their actions will be rewarded by these constructs in some way, they kind of do exist.
That said, I'm pretty comfy with 99.9%!
I believe the universe is rational and self-contained. Everything in it can be explained using natural causes, without recourse to any "supernatural" explanation - AKA "god". This assumption has lead to amazing discoveries from modern medicine, improved agriculture, better technologies and longer lifespans and more freedoms. And even a less violent society (yes, we are less violent than in the middle ages). This may be a "belief" but it is one I am 100% committed to supporting. Doubting it suggests a step backward toward the dark ages - not going to do that.
Mine I think is set to 90% believe there is no God. But for me, I mean like a Christian God. I'm not sure what if anything outside of our mortal lives exist, which is why I'm Agnostic.
The real reason why I chose "Believer" to answer the question is because I believe in every man's belief. It may seem stupid but that's what I really am - stupid! (LOL) no, joking aside, I believe in the brotherhood of man. To quote a line from Joan Baez's song "I will defend each man as my brother, each man as my friend."
Here's a funny little song from "little" Alanis Morissette:
I'm certain of nothing. I have faith that the world is knowable, and from that assumption I live my life. I don't question my assumption, because if the world isn't comprehendible then I have no means of discerning truth. From that starting point, however, I use the ostensibly consistent reality I can observe and reason out to conclude there's no reason to believe in a God or gods. Lacking belief isn't the same as disbelief, of course, which is what you're asking. Unfortunately, the concept of "God" is too vague in most cases to say anything of value about it. When we're more specific, though, I often feel more comfortable saying I disbelieve. In terms of Yahweh, I fully disbelieve. Once you understand the history of Yahweh and the origins of Judaism, it's hard to take any of it seriously and, by extension, Christianity and Islam follow suit.
Depends on the definition. In philosophy its probably a much larger dimension to the gray area of belief or disbelief. But as regular society is sadly ruled by retards it promotes a sort of vitriolic oppositions. I personally am 100% sure there is no God. I just need to hear a complete idiot say they believe it for me to be sure it is not real. Perhaps among certain people its a good topic, but for the majority its easier to pretend to be one way or the other.
God is a non provable concept, either for or against.
Suffice to say there is no empirical evidence to suggest the existence of any god.
This is the line I take.
In two thousand years of Christianity, not to mention the religions that came before it, not one believer has ever presented a single piece of credible evidence to support the existence of any god
Science can be and has been used to determine the laws of the universe and from them predict the existence of phenomena that were previously undiscovered. Black holes, gravitational waves, and cosmic background radiation are all examples of those. Meanwhile everything predicted by ”god" was proved wrong.
What more do you need?