Suppose you were to try to convince someone of your non-belief in the existence of God, what (in less than 200 words) would you say?
There should be no argument about your lack of belief. That is your personal value judgment that requires no proof.
If you want to prove that God does not exist you are taking on a formidable project. There are various concepts of God and I don’t think any of them offer much of a definition. God simply can not be defined in human terms. You can argue about the biblical portrayal of God, but because something is wrongly described does not prove that it doesn’t exist.
In our everyday lives we think we know the meaning of the word “exist”, but if you read physics you’ll learn that our understanding is superficial and illusory. Also, nobody understands conscious awareness, without which the entire question is meaningless because there would be no “I” to begin with. We really don’t know what we are, and are not in a position to argue over ultimate reality.
For me, belief and disbelief are inappropriate responses. Abject bewilderment seems about right.
I don’t bother with people that have already made their minds up. I’d smile and the change the subject.
@Matias I agree.
I’m with you on this one.
I have never had any difficulty convincing anyone that I don't believe in the existence of any gods, simply by stating that I don't believe in the existence of any gods. Why would they not believe me?
"Why would they not believe me?" that is a good one. Thanks.
I don't understand this . I have to convince someone that I don't believe in gods or devils ? Ok , ahh, " hi , I don't believe in gods or devils ".
What else is to say after that ? " pls believe me , I don't believe ?" . Y do I care to convince anyone of what I do or who I am ?
I think you and I may be the only two answering the question literally.
I wouldn’t bother, I have other things to do with my time.
The only person I can change and control is myself.
As an atheist since age 13, I have smart-aleck retorts ready for Christian zealots:
"I don't believe in an invisible being that resides somewhere beyond the clouds."
"At age four, I stopped having imaginary friends."
"I don't believe in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy or invisible gods."
"We are all atheists here."
This shuts them up. Perfect.
@attila
That's your opinion. At age 13, I realized the Bible is just a book of stories written by men.
In Michigan that year, we had a hard winter. Bored and restless, my little brother, 10, and I read the World Book Encyclopedias together.
I was fascinated with rational philosophers Descartes and Spinoza who bravely were anti-theist (anti-God), anti-clergy and anti-church in the 1600s, when heretics were burned at the stake.
The writing of these rational philosophers inspired the Enlightenment, a European intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries that emphasized the use of reason and science to advance understanding of the universe and to improve the human condition. The goals of the Enlightenment were knowledge, freedom, and happiness.
“I don’t believe” should do it.
That's less than 200 words!
@attila what kind of comment is that?
No gods have ever existed in reality, including yours.
All religion is a scam.
Religious faith is a deliberate mental illness.
I have no need to convince anyone of anything.
Non-belief is the ONLY logical position.
@attila There is NO credible, verifiable proof that any gods have ever existed anywhere in reality. If any were to ever become available, I'd be willing to
reconsider my position.
Be an agnostic if you wish--as is your right, but I am completely certain in my atheism.
I have no desire to be wishy-washy about it. I require proof of claims of
supernatural deities. Unless and until there is some, as far as I'm concerned
there are NONE.
I KNOW there are NO gods, ALL religions are cults, and ALL of them are EVIL.
It's not that hard.
@attila I don't feel that my position is remotely "illogical".
I'm going by the information that I have, and am likely to ever get.
I don't do anyone's "point scale". I don't care how anyone else chooses
to categorize most things.
There is NO reason for me to consider the existence of ANY gods.
NONE.
Like I said, you do you.
I don't even try. If they want to believe in an invisible friend, I say let them. Nothing I can say or do will convince them to stop.
@attila Depends on what you mean by "choices". The Christians I care about believe in treating everyone with grace and love, and don't look down upon people who are different (of different religions/politics/sexuality/etc. Everyone else I really don't care to debate them.
I have friends that are transgender, gay, Jewish, and Muslim. If they begin to tell me how evil those types of people are I stop them, and bid them farewell. I refuse to debate my opinions with their religious beliefs.
If god did exist, he is clearly an asshole, who sits by while children are raped, people are murdered, wars are rampant and criminals who do it all get away with it. The putative great dictator in the sky is clearly and unambiguously an asshole.
Soo true. I'd like to add to that. If the god of the bible did exist, he is by no means worthy of worship.
Self-defeating is when someone does something that is detrimental to ones self, which does not follow from what I said. I am uninjured. However, if you prefer to create your own fantasies about what I said, it is no skin off of my back . . . believing what you want to believe is one of the symptoms of the Christian disease.
13.8 billion years ago conditions we are no where close to understanding resulted in a rapid expansion of the universe and the eventual formation of stars and planets. On at least one of those planets, chemistry resulted in the formulation of self replicating molecules known as life and evolution slowly produced a sentient beings known as humans. We developed civilization, conquered fire, technology, and a free society. To think that any of this was intentional would be to deny tribute to the complexity and magnificence of reality.
I normally don't bother . It's not my job to shake people of their faith . However , if I meet someone ( they came knocking at my door , or stopped me while I'm shopping ) , I generally have more of a grounding in the Bible than they do , and can easily point out concepts that they brought up , that are inconsistent in the Bible .
My own philosophy is to never try to convince anyone about any thing. I present as many facts as I can find, and then present them in a logical line of thoughts, and let everyone make up their own mind! If I am wrong in any way, then they can instruct me as to how, why and where. If I am wrong, then I will stand corrected and move on. Stamping my feet and refusing to listen to reason is not my style. I live for logic and truth, not emotions and lies.
You can't prove a negative. If they can't prove their positive, game over.
@attila [qcc.cuny.edu]
@attila I understand but my point is that you can't "prove" a negative. You can give a massive amount of evidence but, at least in mathematical/scientific terms the negative can not be proven.
Atheism is true and correct because Bible God does not exist. "God is Love" 1John 4:8 But Bible God endorses slavery, polygamy, genocide, and the murder of Heretics and Homosexuals. Bible God treats women as 2nd class citizens, and he is prejudiced against the handicapped. God intends to burn Billions in Hell for all eternity. This is not love. "God is love" is contradicted by the above mentioned unloving actions. Therefore God does not exist and Atheism is true and correct
The claim is that GOD is love....but this is contradicted by God's behavior. Therefore is all a fraud...@attila
I would never try to convince anyone of my non-belief in a god. If someone cannot think for themselves, and figure it out by himself or herself, then nothing that I can say will convince that person. This is self enlightenment, and critical thinking, and logic. We all need to make our own journey, and arrive at a conclusion. That is very personal to each person.
I wouldn’t bother...it’s a pointless exercise, and frankly I don’t care what they believe as long as they don’t try to tell me that I’m wrong. As a lifelong non-believer (never was indoctrinated in the first place), I am incredulous that anyone could seriously believe such nonsense. I don’t knock my head against a brick wall, and neither do I try to fathom why believers prefer to believe in magic and superstition when by using their brains and looking at the evidence they could come to the same conclusion as I did in childhood. Btw...it’s impossible to prove a negative, the burden of proof is not on the non-believer, but on the believer.
Show me! Show me the compassion, the end/easing of suffering, the answer to fervent prayers!
Now, explain what I actually see & hear about 24/7/365.
@attila did you read & understand the OP, it asked for "under 200 words to say to a BELIEVER."?????!!!!!
Try reading before replying, and "honey" to a 71 year old? Who has been a staunch atheist since before you were born.........blocking your fathead disrespectful truly foolish self Now.
@attila I see you are new here and by your photo quite young and inexperienced.
Your response to Anne was both rude and ungracious. If you want to use this place to vent please do it as you would in a local face to face forum, or retreat to Facebook.
People will pretty soon get pissed off with you and you will get no benefit from the interactions here.
Unless of course you think you know it all, in which case, good luck!
@Geoffrey51 thank u . U took the words out of my fingers , and I am greatful u did , Bcz I wasn't going to be as nice as u .
@Pralina1 No probs Pralina!
If one can not take my word that I do not believe the conversation is over.
Agree with not needing to. But once many years ago I had someone challenge me. I called out in the middle of sidewalk that if there were a god then I challenged him to strike me down with lightening on the spot. And then, just to up the ante, I said something very obscene about Jesus, felatio, pigs and hell. The person who challenged me just walked away after that. It was when I was in college many years ago and I didn't mind being confrontational back then. I probably wouldn't do that now, at least not the pig part. I have mellowed a great deal.
@attila For an agnostic you seem pretty sure of superstition!