shome42

My father urged me to go to church last week (he doesn't know I'm an atheist). He said, "I feel so much better believing there's a higher power out there; you're depriving yourself of a psychological passifier by not going."

He loves Geoge Carlin and gay priest jokes (he's Catholic). He also constantly tells me 90% of the population is stupid and will believe anything.

Something tells me my dad knows God is b.s., but believes anyway because it's psychologically comforting for him. He's one of the most anxious individuals I've ever known, so I can understand why that's important to him.

diana

AAAAAIIIIIGGGGGH!

Jobar! Are you out of your MIND, man? Don't bring them HERE!

Oh, btw...Pascal's Wager, strictly speaking, isn't an argument for the existence of God. It is an argument for belief in the existence of God. Albeit a pisspoor one.

d

Eudaimonist

The most popular reason for belief is that mommy and daddy took them to church when they were little, and everyone there said there is a God.

braces_for_impact

The largest reason I often hear is that without a god and the promise of the afterlife, that this life has no meaning, no purpose. Although I don't buy into that B.S., I can partially understand why some others do, especially after having it drilled into their heads that a supernatural deity is required to give their lives meaning.

I actually find it quite sad, but one has to be brave to accept the fact that at some point they will be obliterated from this existence.

Edited for spelling.

johngalt

I think the Argument from design is the most popular. Many religious people also have strong emotional but no objective feelings about God.

beastmaster

Michael Shermer did a comprehensive poll, with a heavy selection bias toward more educated Americans, on why they believe in god and/or why they think *others* believe in god. The most popular answer for why the respondent believed in god was the Argument from Design. Interestingly, the most popular reason given by respondents as to why they think *others* believe in god was because of psychological comfort.

the poll results appear in his book How We Believe.

onceuponapriori

The two most common explanations that I have encountered as to why a Christian believes in God are:

A. The Bible Tells Me So.
B. "You ask me how I know he lives, he lives within my heart".

The most common explanation for why atheists that I have encountered don't believe in God is a rendition of the genetic fallacy (methinx):

C. People only believe in God because they are scared or weak[; therefore, God does not exist].

Wyz_sub10

Most atheists you know don't believe in god because they do not think themselves scared or weak?

First of all, I don't buy that for a second. I know many atheists who are well aware of the fact that they can be scared and weak.

Furthermore, I know many Christians who are neither scared nor weak.

Anecdotals aside, belief in something is seldom (if ever) the default position. One does not believe that angels move the clouds until shown otherwise. The default position is ignorance, with evidence changing that position.

I do not question god's existence because I feel stronger and more assured that theists. I question it because I see no proof to the claims being made by theists.

If most atheists you know do not believe in god "because [believers] are scared or weak; therefore, God does not exist", then you know a disproportionally large amount of illogical atheists who sound more more confused theists.

onceuponapriori

You don't buy it? Interesting. I suppose that either I or the people I speak to are lying.

Of course.

I agree. But the context of this thread, as I understood it, was how a Christian would respond *if pressed* as to why the believe. I simply introduce my experience as it relates to atheists and their disbelief.

I suppose you don't have to believe me, but that *is* the reason that most atheists I've met (*exluding online*) posit as an explanation for their disbelief.

Perhaps. Either that, or maybe you spend a disproportionate amount of time at scholarly and/or formal message boards that exist (at least in part) for the purpose of *rational* discussion regarding the existence gods.

The genetic fallacy is very common among the atheists I know. Perhaps it would help to mention the situations from which come the majority of my experiences. It usually consists of *informal* discussions over coffee or at parties with people on or around my age: 21. They have usually received little, if any!, formal training in logic.

Thanks for reading.

j-ogenes

I think Godot makes a very meaningful discussion between those who have thought a lot about their beliefs and those who don't. I grew up Seventh-Day Adventist. I was taught in elementary school that evolutionists believe that on a day-to-day basis, today, in 2003, monkeys TURN into humans as if by magic. Many people I grew up around have never even QUESTIONED things like why are there no historical records for the Jews leaving Egypt and swallowing the Egyptian army in the magically-parted Red Sea or how could Noah fit every species in a boat, etc. They haven't questioned them-it's not even a matter of what their answers would be. I say all this just to point out that there really are plenty of people of all stripes who sadly just have not thought about whatever it is they do or believe.

Now, I'm not saying that the majority of Christians haven't thought things through--I'm just saying that when we ask about which arguments there are, for the sake of accuracy, let's remember those who have never heard of a first cause argument or Pascal's wager.