I apologize if this is the wrong spot to post this. I am curious.
I am trying to understand Atheism better. I believe most atheists are some of the most intelligent and sharpest people around.
(Just so you understand my viewpoint, I am a person who believes the Bible is God's word and literally true, but we simply can't see this hidden "true reality" yet. However, I don't like to call myself a "Christian" because they have so much religious garbage that man mixed in and has to "do".)
So, my question is this.
Do most atheists reject "God" because of the way he is portrayed by the broken and blind people called "Christians" who follow him/her? Or is it something else?
Let's say we could invent our own God who:
1) Is like the most loving father, brother, mother, best friend that most of us never had that we just wanted to be with all the time.
2) Is all powerful and all knowing and all sovereign with no "buts" ( and not "double-speak" like the Christians teach)
3) Loves us all truly unconditionally exactly as we are and simply wants to spend every moment loving us
4) Requires nothing of us in return (and if he did, he would give it to us)
5) Assures us that "all will see me and be with me one day" and no person will be left out regardless of their religion or beliefs.
6) Overlooks all your wrongs and mistakes but lovingly tries to help you with them.
7) Wants to give us all things and help him rule and reign
If there was such a God as this, would atheists want to be around him/her/it? Why or why not?
I appreciate your inquisitive nature tremendously. Thanks for providing your input.
I think you are confusing the question a bit, though. Obviously, all atheists are different, and it is never a good idea (as you say yourself) to classify people as believing the same thing if they identify themselves as without belief in God.
You have to understand that there is not any necessary lack of want. In other words, many atheists say repeatedly that they would love to have the comfort and mental ease that comes with the belief in a deity. The issue is that they do not have the ability or want to believe in something unless they have a good reason to do so. And, when that belief requires the supernatural, the burden of proof is almost too high to surpass. Not to say in any way that they are stubborn, but they are only interested in truth that can be shown in this reality.
There are a great deal of problems with the Bible, so, first, you must understand that belief that the Bible is the word of God (without human manipulation/mistake) is to ignore what we know about those who actually put pen to paper. No one is perfect, and when a story is passed down through years of oral-telling, it inevitable becomes muddled. Here are some issues:
1) The writers of the Gospels were not those they were named for, nor did any of them have any 1st hand knowledge of Jesus.
2) Contradictions abound to the objective reader.
3) Reliance on circular logic/reasoning in order to provide justification for passages in the Bible (using one passage to prove another assumes that the first is accurate).
All in all, Atheists have not been given adequate proof to believe that a God exists that is deserving of worship or acknowledgment.
