Atheists, do you sometimes wonder if there is a God?

[Anonymous]

And believers, do you sometimes wonder if God is not real?

How do you cope with moments of doubt?

[Juxtapose]

Yeah I have wondered and I have come to this conclusion:

^^ Yahweh is a cosmic mafia Boss.

[goaded]

No. I sometimes shout at the universe, but I don't think it cares about me.

[Asker]

Personally if I were the universe, I wouldn't care about you either

[goaded]

Exactly!

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

I'm a very much an empiricist coming from a scientific and engineering background and don't think I could ever find the sufficient level of verifiable evidence to lean towards assigning any high probability behind a supernatural being's existence.

That said, I like the concept of God from a figurative standpoint and we might say I "believe" in the immaterial. For example, a Rembrandt painting to me is more than oil pigments on canvas, a Mozart piece is more than the sum of its notes, a human being is more than the sum of their parts.

I use "believe" in the above context though not as an empiricist but as a pragmatist focused on the most psychologically beneficial way to look at the world. Those who see things in the world as nothing but the sum of their material parts often start to veer towards nihilistic outlooks, and so I'd say that's "wrong" from a pragmatic and psychological sense (although not "wrong" from an empirical sense).

At the end of the day, I also think like this:

[NamerOfStars]

I don't think I'd be able to trust anyone who'd never doubted their faith. Except, perhaps, for agnostics (if you call agnosticism a faith); my reaction there would be less mistrust and more confusion. I mean... "I don't know- but then again, maybe I do"? How does THAT work?

And I cope with it logically; if there is no god, then humanity is the highest moral authority, and our actions become MORE important, not less. In some ways, it would simply things for me.

[Asker]

Very well said.

[Subglacial]

I "wonder" in the sense that I occasionally consider everything I've heard and learned and revisit my position. Not much has changed over the years.

As for how I cope... I dunno, there's not much to cope with. The version of Christianity I was raised with focused more on treating other people well than on believing in Jesus specifically for the sake of my soul, so I don't have that deeply-ingrained fear of hell that some ex-Christians do. Supposing God does exist, it's hard to imagine my faith being THAT important to him.

My easy-going personality probably also helps. It gets me in troube more often than not, but I guess it's nice not to be constantly dreading my own death like some people unfortunately do.

[Kaneki05]

No or I would say yes but not in the fun way like thinking Oh it would be cool if ghosts did exist.
god existing would be a bad thing so even in theory it's not an idea I want to be true. Because very simple logic goes if god created outcomes of everything to be then he created outcomes such as 'Insert any horrible crime or tragedy or disease here' which then after allowing them to be caused is a sign that for whatever reason god wants that to happen.

So you see if god was real he would be evil by my judgement, well god also caused all the good things to happen too but does that mean the bad stuff is worth it?
Welp not to the humans who suffered those things that's for sure.
And even more not so when god been all-powerful could've just created a world which is just good very easy.

[SotiCoto]

Do you ever lie awake at night wondering if maybe Santa Claus is real and delivers presents made by elves from the north pole? And that when people revealed to you as a child that it was all an elaborate ruse, that it was in fact true all along?

Or perhaps do you ever wonder if dragons are real? Perhaps they're out there somewhere. Giant multicoloured flying reptiles that breathe fire, soaring through the skies... and somehow mysteriously unnoticed by the entirety of humanity for centuries?

Because if so, you're an idiot. Same with gods, but even worse. Peak idiocy, in fact.

[lightbulb27]

But there is Santa Claus with supporting evidence. That came from Saint Nicholas... whom gave gifts of food to hungry children. Not sure that science evaluates "inspiration", but that inspired these made up stories... which spreads cheer to many at holiday time. Thus, it's not real, but it is inspired real. St. Nick would have been inspired by Christ (early Greek Christian in modern day Turkey), one might soundly assume. And that spirit... is a good one... caring for others not your own blood whom are in need. And thus... is God, the creation of everything... inspiration... not persperation?
Dragons... don't know enough. someone find dinasaur bones long ago?
Einstein did a lot of wondering... it's ok to wonder... because we don't know...

[lightbulb27]

right?

[Asker]

@soticoto So according to you, it's wise to never doubt regardless of your beliefs, but questioning is just plain stupid, got it.

[SotiCoto]

@lightbulb27 No no no. I'm not talking about "it came from". I'm talking about literally the way he is portrayed in media. The fact that some bloke was once called Saint Nicholas does NOT automatically lead to being able to fly around the world in a night distributing elf-toys.

[SotiCoto]

@veles Don't attribute your idiocy to me. I advocated doubting and you somehow got it backwards. That is all on you.
There is no idea in existence that doesn't have some sort of flaw, hole or inconsistency in it, but that does not apply to its opposite. There are many ideas that are plainly incompatible with reality and can be rejected outright. And the why of it is simple: In any given context there is only one possible way to be correct and infinite ways to be wrong.

[lightbulb27]

haha... I see. Yes, there is no guy in a red suite that flys around dropping presents made by elves. It's like it is so far fetched it's intentionally blatantly false... kids love it for a while. where that came up don't know... adults having fun? There should be, but we don't have that tech yet. maybe someday we'll use drones. this is the problem though, people can be hurt by the lies in it when the original intent was really good... like kids that got nothing... real intent has been lost in fairy tales. People won't die for fairy tales and lies... they have to really believe it.
That is supporting evidence the story of Christ, has some support... for most went to their deaths saying was true. That's just one piece to a puzzle.
Have you read on Quantum theory? what I read of it seems to support the ideas espoused in religion... entangelement, multiple universes. There's no proof either way... both are faith.

[Asker]

@soticoto You're the one who admitted to not questioning your beliefs but simply blindly accepting them, deal with it.

[SotiCoto]

@veles : I really don't like libel. People claiming things about me which are not only obviously false but actively contradict reality kinda gets on my nerves. I do not like being misrepresented. So, you lying degenerate, I'll try to make this brief and clear:

I don't have beliefs. I don't accept anything, let alone blindly.

Anyway... go kill yourself now.

[lil_will_12]

i did, and then used logic and now i believe he doesn't exist, he's just made up by your own brain basically in my opinion

i mean think, every religion has their own ideas of what and who god (or gods) is, so they can't all be right, right?

that being said, i dont think there's anything wrong with believing in god.

[slatyb]

Not really. So what if there is? Praying is uselessand there's no evidence for an afterlife. There's nothing for me to do besides live as if this life is all I get

[PavlovsCogk]

What about schizo gnostics, knowing that the creator enslaved us?

[abc3643]

Of course, there's a god!

Black Jesus!

[Yannae]

Sometimes, but I still need to find me a believe who is willing to talk And who is able to convince me. I've seen things that I can not explain. But those looked more ghostly and demonic than angelic.

[TonyMetal___86]

I always believe in god but evil tries to ruin our relationship with him but in the end, god always finds a way to help us

[OddBeMe]

Wondering is what humans are good at. Beleiving some wonderous thing is real without evidence is idiotic.

[OfDeath]

Not anymore. But that wonder is what led me to be an atheist. I wondered, searched, did not find and then realised the exercise is a futile waste of time.

[AngryCarl]

Occasionally, yes. Belief in a deity seems to be hardwired into the human brain.

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

Everyone knows there's a creator/God deep down.

The evidence stares them right in the face through creation, but they delude themselves and suppress the truth of obvious God existence..

[OfDeath]

This doesn’t actually address the question. Not the place for your delusional projection.

[soe11]

Personally I think let people believe whatsoever believe, for not a improvement thing.

[Date_a_Snob]

I dont believe in a god any god but I dont judge people who do

[Hanrej]

No, never since I started thinking critically.

[Lyndsielee666]

Never wondered that tbh

[EmmaMary]

No, absolutely not.

[FunkyMonkee]

No, there's no proof of it.

[Jennz6]

I’m a Christian now

[Redstang88]

No not really

[jahaims]

Nope

[jjj101010]

Nope