Regarding God's Nonexistence
Presumably True Believers don't believe in the actual existence of Achilles, Aphrodite, Apollo, Asgard, Astrology, Bigfoot (Sasquatch), Calvin & Hobbs, Centaurs, Cerberus, Chimera, Cinderella, Dick Tracy, Doctor Watson, Doctor Who, Dragons, the Easter Bunny, El Dorado, Elves, Fairies (at the bottom of the garden), Felix the Cat, Godzilla, Hades, Hansel & Gretel, Hel, Helen (of Troy), Hercules, Horus, King Kong, Leprechauns, the Loch Ness Monster, Loki, Mickey Mouse, the Minotaur, Moriarty, Mothman, Paladin, Paul Bunyan, Pegasus, Pinocchio, Professor Challenger, the Rainbow Serpent, Santa Claus, Shangri-La, Siegfried, Sleeping Beauty, Snoopy, Snow White, Spiderman, Superman, Thor, the Tooth Fairy, Turandot, Unicorns, Valhalla, Wizards, and Wonder Woman (among thousands of possibilities). Why don't True Believers believe in the actual existence of these entities and geographies? The answer would appear to be fairly obvious. Reason dictates that these entities and geographies are non-existent; they have no independent really real reality. Now True Believers should apply that same reasoning to God & Satan, to other major Biblical players like say Adam & Eve, and to say places like Heaven & Hell. What then should True Believers conclude?
Just saying that God exists rolls off of the tongue very easily - now prove it! If I ask True Believers to prove to me that the Moon goes around the Earth; that salt water is a mixture; that beheading results in death; that cows eat grass; that Paris (France) is an actual geographical place; that Cleopatra was the Queen of the Nile; and that George Washington was the first president of the USA, True Believers wouldn't be overly challenged. But True Believers can't prove the existence of God (or any other deity).
So there's no point in True Believers talking about God and God's nature and traits and what God wants or doesn't want or what He did or didn't do UNLESS True Believers can first and foremost PROVE that their God actually exists - otherwise they are pontificating about a fictional / literary character. In other words, it's like telling us all about Alice in Wonderland or about Zeus or about Santa Claus or about Superman*. And while it is perfectly A-OK for True Believers to express their belief or their faith in God, it is NOT A-OK to express God as an actual fact since there is no way for True Believers to know that 'actual fact'. And by "know that" I mean True Believers cannot actually provide any independently verifiable observation or experimental evidence like having Him appear to an audience in person performing all sorts of hocus-pocus wand-waving supernatural magic. Even a photograph would be something, albeit not much in this modern era of CGI and photo-shop. Nor could True Believers even hand off the issue to someone else who can, since nobody else can either, unlike for example knowledge that an electron exists or that a distant galaxy exists because True Believers can have someone else - an expert in these things - demonstrate them to you. But not even The Pope can actually demonstrate the actual existence of God's existence to you as an actual fact.
Can anyone prove that God doesn't exist? Probably not on the grounds that you can't often prove a negative. BUT, you can prove the virtual improbability of God. The basic ways and means is to point out all of the contradictions and inconsistencies inherent when addressing the concept of God and His holy text, The Bible. Proving something is knowing something and for example, you know that there can't be a round square or that two plus two doesn't equal five (Big Brother notwithstanding) or that the future doesn't precede the past. So one can gain knowledge through the application of logical contradictions. So, applying that sort of logic to God, it's pretty obvious that God can't be both omniscient AND possesses free will. It's also obvious that either the Old Testament is incorrect / inaccurate OR God is really immoral. God cannot both exist outside of time and space AND yet also have a direct influence over time and space. The creation of something from nothing is a logical contradiction SO therefore God cannot have created a Cosmos out of pure nothing. From nothing, nothing comes. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
Apparently between Biblical scholars and avid readers of the Bible, say the King James Version, have found over 800 contradictions and inconsistencies therein (and there's apparently a website which lists or outlines the lot of them). For example, both accounts of the creation in Genesis cannot both be true (though both could be false); ditto the two different renderings of what the human lifespan will be; ditto dozens of other examples as for example exactly how many animals of each species would be brought onto the Ark. There are also lots of inconsistencies with established science. For example, either chemistry is true and therefore a human body cannot be turned into a pillar of salt, or else chemistry isn't a valid science.
*It's pretty meaningless to talk about the various traits and characteristics and superpowers that Superman has in the context of really real reality since Superman is just a fictional character. If you could somehow prove that Superman had a really real existence then it would be logical to talk about his mannerisms and superpowers and how they in turn can affect us.
I don’t think I’m a true believer in the sense you are talking about but I don’t call myself an atheist either so maybe I’ll do. You seem to be talking mainly about Yahweh, the Semitic God of the Old Testament and I am an atheist with respect to Yahweh. But I am very fascinated with the concept of universal consciousness which is somewhat mirrored in the Hindu Brahman concept, or ultimate reality.
You ask why I don’t prove the concept of Brahman before I believe that concept. There is nothing to believe. There is an ultimate reality period. The nature of ultimate reality can not be proven or even understood on our human level based on a mater/space/time model as it is. I do not make any outright assertions about objective reality that require proof. I talk only about my own subjective experiences and sentiments. and those things belong to just me. I might share and discuss those ideas but I in no way propose that other people should follow suite. Each person has to find her own way forward. People look at the available evidence, and they often begin to lean toward certain spiritual ideas. They are under no requirements whatsoever to prove anything to anyone. If they are honest and courageous they will share their inner experiences but will not make bald faced assertions and expect agreement.
@johnprytz IMO there’s no such thing as the supernatural. If you wanted to be technical I guess you could say that the everyday physical world of our senses is supernatural and ghostly and that ultimate reality is solid and real. We can not understand ultimate reality because our way of understanding is rooted in the matter/space/time model, which is nothing but a crude, symbolic representation of the real thing. This is not a religious sentiment. Read some books on physics.
@johnprytz You are correct. I am no physicist, but I, like you enjoy reading physics books for the layman.
I enjoy reading the metaphysical opinions of esteemed physicists, especially the founders of modern physics, such as Max Planck:
Max Planck said in 1944, "As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter".
Edwin Schrodinger:
Consciousness cannot be accounted for in physical terms. For consciousness is absolutely fundamental. It cannot be accounted for in terms of anything else.
@johnprytz I see nothing at all wrong with quoting noted people. Whoever coined that “appeal to authority” phrase and implied that somehow the laws of logic were being broken was way off base in my opinion. In a court of law, aren’t the opinions of expert witnesses admissible as evidence?
I agree that the opinions of people like Max Planck and Edwin Schrödinger do not constitute a proof, but I never made that claim, and I am not trying to prove anything.
If nothing else, their opinions should justify giving the concept very serious attention. That’s all I’m doing really. I don’t know with absolute certainty about the concept—I’m just fascinated with the idea and I lean in that direction.