Atheists: Would you like to believe in God if there was good evidence for God?

[columbus]

There is only one true God, but there are many human conceptions because there have been many different scriptures revealed in different ages.

If people would look at the latest version of God, the Baha'i version, they would know what God wants us to know about Him now.
The older versions were written to and for people who were primitive or less advanced, so why would they be useful for this new age of men?

OK.
So what you mean is that if I accepted you as an authority on God I would know what God wants me to know about Him.
Sorry pumpkin, your God image is rife with internal contradictions and incoherent claims.
I am unable to believe it, because God made me too inclined to use evidence and reason. If God is a sentient being who made me as I am.
I see no reason to believe that, but you do.
Tom

 

[Trailblazer]

Nope, they believe religious believe its true and to this day those religious argue long refuted nonsense that the bible says xxxx so xxxx.
The evidence shows it did not happen so the argument is why do some religious belief such bronze age claptrap and make excuses for what is said in the bible to be the cause

The Bible has a lot of spiritual truth, but I think it is time to put it on the shelf because it has done much more harm than good, and it continues to do harm to people, turning them away from God. Moreover, we do not need the Bible anymore because it has been superseded by a new Revelation from God.

According to the Baha'i Faith, anything that science can prove to be false cannot be considered true. Keeps it simple.

 

[Trailblazer]

OK.
So what you mean is that if I accepted you as an authority on God I would know what God wants me to know about Him.
Sorry pumpkin, your God image is rife with internal contradictions and incoherent claims.
I am unable to believe it, because God made me too inclined to use evidence and reason. If God is a sentient being who made me as I am.
I see no reason to believe that, but you do.
Tom

No, that is not what I said. I am no authority on God.
You should only believe what your own reason can accommodate.

 

[NewGuyOnTheBlock]

Personally, I'm interested in theism as a social phenomenon.

 

[columbus]

No, that is not what I said. I am no authority on God.
You should only believe what your own reason can accommodate.

You don't use the words "I am an authority on God". But you say it all the time.

That's why you think you know more about what I believe than I do. That's why you can say "God is Almighty" out of one side of your mouth, and "God cannot say anything coherent to humans" out of the other side of your mouth.

You claim to know a great deal about The Creator, but the things you claim to know don't make any sense.
Tom

 

[ChristineM]

It is not a lower threshold, it is just a different threshold.
Most atheists will never believe in Messengers of God, no matter how good the evidence is.
I have accepted that is just the way it is, after talking to atheists 24/7 for over five years.

Definitely lower.

That's because the evidence you accept is subjective and does nig actually meet the criteria of the definition

Evidence : the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid.

You are welcome to your beliefs

 

[Trailblazer]

This is kind of a silly non- question because 'sufficient to believe' and 'proof' are two totally different concepts.
Proof is not dependent on what people want or believe. It's based on facts or documents that can be used to show that something is true.

If there were actual proof there was a god, someone who didn't believe it would probably have mental health issues.

Wanting a God to be real is irrelevant. Either there is proof there is one or there is no proof there is one.

No, there is no proof and there probably never will be, UNLESS God decided to offer proof. Nobody can know if God will ever do that but judging by His track record, I highly doubt it will ever happen.

God has another plan so God knows that in the future everyone will know He exists, so God is just patiently waiting.
In the meantime, it is no skin off God's nose if everyone believes He exists.

But playing along, it would depend on what the god was and what it wanted as to whether or not I would want it to be real. So far, none of the thousands of Abrahamic man made god conceptions seem anything worth value. I'm not familiar with Hindu gods but maybe there are some with good values which I would want.

If God is real and God is a certain way there is nothing we can do about it. We either accept what God is and what God wants or we reject it. Obviously, there is nothing we would be able to do about it because God is omnipotent.

God has always given us a choice to accept or reject Him.
If God proved that He exists to everyone then people would accept Him out of fear, and God does not want that, so maybe that is why God does not prove he exists. God only wants us to accept Him out of love.

 

[ChristineM]

The Bible has a lot of spiritual truth, but I think it is time to put it on the shelf because it has done much more harm than good, and it continues to do harm to people, turning them away from God. Moreover, we do not need the Bible anymore because it has been superseded by a new Revelation from God.

According to the Baha'i Faith, anything that science can prove to be false cannot be considered true. Keeps it simple.

There are over 2 billion christians think you are wrong

 

[Trailblazer]

I doubt there will ever by the type of evidence for God I find sufficient. After all the track record is pretty poor

No, there will probably never be any proof that God exists because God does not want to provide proof.

 

[Trailblazer]

There are over 2 billion christians think you are wrong

Why would that matter?
Beliefs do not create reality.
In the future, Christianity will be a thing of the past.

 

[ChristineM]

Why would that matter?
Beliefs do not create reality.
In the future, Christianity will be a thing of the past.

Correct, so why do you say your beliefs are real, and evidenced?

You want clairvoyance? In the future religion will be a thing of the past

 

[Trailblazer]

You don't use the words "I am an authority on God". But you say it all the time.

I never said ** I ** was an authority, I said that Baha'u'llah was an authority.

That's why you think you know more about what I believe than I do.

I never said I know more about what you believe than you do. Only you know what you believe. I could only know what you believe if you told me.

That's why you can say "God is Almighty" out of one side of your mouth, and "God cannot say anything coherent to humans" out of the other side of your mouth.

I never said that either. That is how you perceive what I say.

You claim to know a great deal about The Creator, but the things you claim to know don't make any sense.

I do not know a great deal, only a few things that Baha'u'llah wrote, which is mostly about how God is unknowable.

 

[Trailblazer]

The evidence you accept is subjective and does nig actually meet the criteria of the definition

Evidence : the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid.

The evidence I have does meet the criteria for the definition because I have facts and information that indicate whether my belief or proposition is true or valid.

 

[ChristineM]

The evidence I have does meet the criteria for the definition because I have facts and information that indicate whether my belief or proposition is true or valid.

Nope, what you have is supposition and belief tempered with a liberal does of confirmation bias. But i dont expect you to accept that because you dont want to

 

[Trailblazer]

Correct, so why do you say your beliefs are real, and evidenced?

Because I have evidence.

You want clairvoyance? In the future religion will be a thing of the past

You are wrong about that as the evidence indicates.

Since the year 2000, religion has made resurgence whereas atheism and agnosticism are on the decline.

The growth rates of the Abrahamic religions from 1910-2010 were as follows: Judaism .11%, Christianity 1.32%, Islam 1.97%, and Baha’i Faith 3.54%.

Atheism was growing at a rate of 6.54% from 1910-2010 but dropped to a growth rate of 0.05% from 2000-2010. Agnosticism was growing at a rate of 5.45% from 1910-2010 but dropped to a growth rate of 0.32% from 2000-2010. That demonstrates that both atheism and agnosticism are on the decline but also that there are many more agnostics than atheists.

Statistics from: Growth of religion - Wikipedia

Atheism growing? No, atheism is actually on the decline!

16 March 2016, 07:56

Atheism is not growing despite what atheists may say. Real surveys and statistics say atheism is on the decline worldwide. Sorry atheists but atheism is not on the rise nor is it winning. It's still the minority and a declining one at that.

The Pew Research Center's statistics show that atheism is expected to continue to decline all the way into 2050 with a continued growth of religion. Other research also shows a huge surge in growth for Christianity in China which is currently the world's most "atheist" nation because of the atheist communist government suppressing religion, the research suggests that China will soon become the world's most Christian nation within 15 years.

This is simply history repeating itself: Christianity prospered in Rome back in the ancient era when it was suppressed and it still grew in the militant atheist soviet Russia when it was suppressed there only a century ago with the majority of Russians today now also identifying as Christian. Just goes to show that atheist suppression of religion still doesn't stop religion.

Sources:

The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050
Religiously Unaffiliated
China on course to become 'world's most Christian nation' within 15 years
http://masterrussian.com/russia/facts.htm

Atheism growing? No, atheism is actually on the decline!

 

[Trailblazer]

Nope, what you have is supposition and belief tempered with a liberal does of confirmation bias. But i dont expect you to accept that because you dont want to

The facts and information will soon be getting posted on this forum because @ Left Coast has asked me on more than one occasion to post a thread with evidence for Baha'u'llah.

I have have the thread all ready to post for some time but I have been too busy with other threads to post it. Barring any more unforeseen circumstances, that thread will probably be posted next weekend and it will be called
Evidence that Baha'u'llah was a Messenger of God

I do not expect any atheists to buy it but I promised I would post it and I always keep my promises.

As for confirmation bias I have none of that because I had NO religion before I became a Baha'i, so there was nothing to confirm. I was a blank slate. Such cannot be said for atheists, most of whom used to be Christians, so they have plenty of confirmation bias against religion.

 

[ChristineM]

The facts and information will soon be getting posted on this forum because @ Left Coast has asked me on more than one occasion to post a thread with evidence for Baha'u'llah.

I have have the thread all ready to post for some time but I have been too busy with other threads to post it. Barring any more unforeseen circumstances, that thread will probably be posted next weekend and it will be called
Evidence that Baha'u'llah was a Messenger of God

I do not expect any atheists to buy it but I promised I would post it and I always keep my promises.

As for confirmation bias I have none of that because I had NO religion before I became a Baha'i, so there was nothing to confirm. I was a blank slate. Such cannot be said for atheists, most of whom used to be Christians, so they have plenty of confirmation bias against religion.

Whatever you want. Would you "evidence" stand up in court? Csn you evidence be falsified?

 

[Trailblazer]

Would you "evidence" stand up in court? Can your evidence be falsified?

No to both of those.
Religion is not law.

Religion cannot be proven true or false.
But that does not mean it is not true.
Proof is not what makes anything true.
Proof is just what atheists want.
Reality simply exists. Some people discover it and others fail to do so.

 

[Trailblazer]

Personally, I'm interested in theism as a social phenomenon.

I gave up on the idea that theists might have reasonable justification for their beliefs a long time ago. However, the question of how many theists not only maintain these ridiculous beliefs but make them the core of their belief systems and their lives is fascinating.

I gave up on the idea that atheists might become believers a long time ago, although with God, all things are possible, IF an atheist has the desire to believe in God.

How atheists manage to maintain non-belief in the face of evidence and make atheism the core of their belief systems and their lives is fascinating.

I want my beliefs to align with reality as closely as possible. If a god existed, I would want to know about it.

That is a very rational and wise answer.
So, what if God exists and you don't know about it?

 

[wandering peacefully]

No, there is no proof and there probably never will be, UNLESS God decided to offer proof. Nobody can know if God will ever do that but judging by His track record, I highly doubt it will ever happen.

God has another plan so God knows that in the future everyone will know He exists, so God is just patiently waiting.
In the meantime, it is no skin off God's nose if everyone believes He exists.

If God is real and God is a certain way there is nothing we can do about it. We either accept what God is and what God wants or we reject it. Obviously, there is nothing we would be able to do about it because God is omnipotent.

God has always given us a choice to accept or reject Him.
If God proved that He exists to everyone then people would accept Him out of fear, and God does not want that, so maybe that is why God does not prove he exists. God only wants us to accept Him out of love.

Yeah, it always comes down to that choice doesn't it?

Pick the wrong one, and one is effed for eternity eh?

No thanks and very silly.

Just do good things and have good thoughts about others. Stop looking for revenge and look to compassion.

Even if you cannot understand the position of another, trust they are telling you the truth as they see it as a sentient being.

Just because one has a mindset they are completely right and have all the answers does not mean they do no matter how much they believe it.

We have one life for sure. My theory is to stop blaming everyone but our individual selves for not taking actions that could possibly make a difference in real life.

How much time do proselytizers spend avoiding real life , trying to convince others of a maybe life?

How many people waste their talents on silly speculation of things no one can know?

Of course anyone who has lay under the stars in the mountains has considered ife, death, and the universe. Some decide they know it all because of something they read in a book or someone told them. Always seeking revenge for perceived injustices. There are a lot of religious texts which back that sort of thinking.

Others know they cannot know so they spend their lives actually doing good things for all life, wondering about the unknowable but mostly learning about the reality in front of them. And doing their best to be kind and helpful to all who need it.