Why Do You NOT Believe In God?

How do you know yours are?

"Love everyone, question everything and look up!"

Because mine is based on divine experience and gut feeling.

Its based on treating everything as equally false. Its by making as few assumptions as possible. Its also admitting what I think is true can change from today to tomorow depending on new evidence.

But most important, everything is equally false (not guilt) until shown to have some truth.

"Durch Nacht und Blut das Licht"

Clearly you are more open to new possibilities. But is it wisdom if we carelessly except falsehoods. I thinks skeptics are humble, they assume they know nothing and try to be ruthlessly honest against their prejudices.

"Durch Nacht und Blut das Licht"

indeed, what has brought such sobering thoughts to such a youth as yourself DT? Is this just how you are or were there perhaps incidents that helped shape or guide you in your opinion.

"The Greatest Enemy of Knowledge is Not Ignorance, It is the ILLUSION of Knowledge. Stephen Hawking"

If you are assuming that I am "carelessly accepting falsehoods" that is a judgement because my experience isn't something that you want to hear or believe. That's not exactly fair. If your views are valid because of "divine experience and gut feeling" than so are mine and you have to accept that.

I think humble could also be defined as considering the possibility that we are not all that, that there is something above us, wiser than us.

"Love everyone, question everything and look up!"

It is true, you have said that you accept things without proof. Only if they have "resonance" or if they fall into your original ideas. But what tells you your original ideas are valid? Its like a pyramid of untested ideas and assumptions, a single falsehood would bring it tumbling down.

" If your views are valid because of "divine experience and gut feeling" than so are mine and you have to accept that. "
But mine are not of gut feeling, they are minimalist. My views are "if we accept this is true then this is necessarily true". At the base I know absolutely nothing for certain. But I have a lot of "ifs" and giving all views equality.

Ifs like "if I assume there can be a christian God, then there can be a Muslim God." Incompatible therefore the consequences of that if contradict the initial IF, hence being impossible."

Another if "if we assume there is a God, then there must be a purpose to the universe or a design". However, that doesnt seem to be the case, so God is assumed false for now.

"Durch Nacht und Blut das Licht"

And I dont know why people might think I seem pessimist. By showing the limits of what we know, we are in fact asserting the extent of what we undeniably know.

"Durch Nacht und Blut das Licht"

My beliefs are not based on assumptions, they're based on experience, just as yours are. You're hearing what you want to hear again. The "resonance" I have referred to is what makes me consider or not consider. If it resonates, I hold onto it and look for experiences and evidence that backs it up. If I find it I hold onto it and add it as part of my truth. If I don't or find evidence that leads me to believe otherwise, I discard it. You seriously have to start assuming you know how I operate without listening to the words that I say.

You said your beliefs were based on divine experience and gut feelings. That is how you said you know they are valid.

I don't see how you are giving all views equality because certain kinds of ideas you write off immediately and quickly without even considering it. Programming? Something you have raised to believe?

What if christian god, muslim allah, indigenous creator and eastern life force is exactly the same thing, just different interpretations. That's what the common thread helps you to find, the truth of it.

"Love everyone, question everything and look up!"

"You said your beliefs were based on divine experience and gut feelings. That is how you said you know they are valid."
Nonono. I didnt say that.Or if I did I meant the exact opposite.

"What if christian god, muslim allah, indigenous creator and eastern life force is exactly the same thing, just different interpretations. That's what the common thread helps you to find, the truth of it."
There we would see purpose and design in the universe. Which I do not.

"Durch Nacht und Blut das Licht"

I see designs, I see pretty circles.

"The Greatest Enemy of Knowledge is Not Ignorance, It is the ILLUSION of Knowledge. Stephen Hawking"

In reference to leftwood...

I want what he's having!

DT... So we are it? There is nothing more than us or beyond us, wiser than us? We (us and the world that surrounds us) are as good as it gets?

You said that because there are differences in the moslem god and the christian god then god must not exist. I said that becase there are commonalities that it must hold some validity. If you look for conflict you're going to find conflict... in everything. Conflict is always a possibility. If you go on that basis to find your truth, there won't be much you find to be true. If you look for commonalities it opens up a whole new world of possibilities. If everyone who believes in a divine source of some kind believes that the foundation of that source is love then, in my opinion, that is the truth.

"Love everyone, question everything and look up!"

I agree about a general way of people being to choose to ignore reason based on commonalities to the point where they will argue with or even themselves to avoid seeing it, esp in race and religion.

"The Greatest Enemy of Knowledge is Not Ignorance, It is the ILLUSION of Knowledge. Stephen Hawking"

"DT... So we are it? There is nothing more than us or beyond us, wiser than us? We (us and the world that surrounds us) are as good as it gets?"
Just because we are the most wise, doesnt mean we are wise at all.

" If you look for conflict you're going to find conflict... in everything. Conflict is always a possibility. If you go on that basis to find your truth, there won't be much you find to be true."
Its not conflict, its inconsistency. We must be consistent, it is the foundation of truth. And no we wont find much truth, but its "real" truth, not "pretend truth".

"If everyone who believes in a divine source of some kind believes that the foundation of that source is love then, in my opinion, that is the truth."
If the whole wide world believes a lie, that doesnt make it true.

"Durch Nacht und Blut das Licht"

Love is a romantic notion derived of a socio-emotional explanation to a basic survival/procreation instinct. It feels like the strongest emotion for a reason, it is, the basic survival/procreatrion instincts in us are the most powerful internal forces of influence and motivation we have as understood to this point.

Love on the level of a God and us is more closely linked to that love between A human and a pet, which doesn't make sense because we want to talk to our pets, and as an all powerful god that becomes and option, so whats the deal, and don't give me that your not listening crap, god is all powerful, I want to know things he knows this and he can MAKE me hear, there is no room for such uncertainty with an all powerful god, and thats a base argument of mine against religious beliefs

"The Greatest Enemy of Knowledge is Not Ignorance, It is the ILLUSION of Knowledge. Stephen Hawking"

Leftwood... When I talk about love I'm not talking about romantic love, I'm talking about universal love. Which is the foundation of all the good that we find in the world. Acceptance, truth, patience, freedom, trust, on and on. All of that as one unit is love. That goes beyond romantic love.

I'm not sure where the "uncertainty" comes from. Love is everywhere therefore god (if that's what you all it) is everywhere because god is love. Most of our society (as we have talked about) is pretty messed up and runs on anger, revenge, guilt, shame, worry, useless emotions that are a waste of energy. Love and its many manifestations are very quiet so they don't get your attention in the same fashion. Most people walk right past without paying it any attention. But it is EVERYWHERE and in EVERYONE.

If you're sitting in a room and there's a guy in one corner yelling and screaming in anger, and there's someone in the other corner sending love to the room, who are you going to notice? The angry guy guaranteed. Because we are conditioned that way. We are not yet conditioned or know how to notice and listen to love. It's quiet, it's a calmness and a peace of mind that you described beautifully in the euphoric thread. A knowing that everything means something and your worries aren't worth worrying about anymore. It resembles a "nothingness" but it's not nothing, it's the absence of what we now know as reality, crap mostly, replaced with the alternative... love.

That's how I see it.

"Love everyone, question everything and look up!"