Reminds me of a saying'

God is just, not fair

two thoughts are inspired from the op

the first is that people get hung up on God being 'loving', only with their worldly mortal idea of love,, and they forget the part about him also being 'just'


the second is that it seems to me it would be easier and more desirable for a God not to exist, for it would mean anything we can 'get away with' in the flesh we would do with no respect of consequence,,,

I'm not saying I believe in the existence of a god, because I don't.
I'm mostly posting here because the atheist forums are practically dead, which I don't really understand. Over 200k posts in religion and 1k in atheist forums. How do so many people in the age of logic and reason still believe in the existence of a god?

It is written in the bible that god is a loving god, god is a forgiving god, blah blah.

But in practice, god is a vindictive god, god is a childish god and god is a cruel god.

The whole story about Noah's ark is basically a story about a god that got mad, threw a childish temper tantrum and killed everyone on the planet save a boatload of people and animals. Does that really seem like an all knowing god of great wisdom to anyone?

If anyone has seen the movie "machine gun preacher". There's a movie based on the real life of Sam Childers, a biker that found religion after he thought he killed a man then traveling to Africa and helping to save a bunch of children from a corrupt warlord. On to my point. In the movie(based on real life) you see a bunch of children in a pile that were torched to death because they tried to escape. Was that all part of gods plan, did god "love" these children in their final minutes as they were brutally burned to death and screaming? Seems like a damned sadistic god to me.

Basically what I'm saying is that if god does exist, he's pretty much using us as lab rats in his psychological experiment.
All of the good stuff and "miracles" that he's let happen really do pale in comparison to all the atrocities that he's turned a blind eye to all in favor of fulfilling his "divine plan".

In my honest opinion the novelty of "god" died off in the 20th century. I think that many of us are smart enough to come to the realization that the invention of a god in inevitable because we all fear death and therefore invent the prospect of an afterlife, and who would be powerful enough to design such a thing? "God" and only that.

But all that is self defeating, instead of confronting our fear of death and helping to seek a method of prolonging our lives through science, we run to religion which has a long standing history of stifling science.

Many people will argue the existence of a god because they feel that they've seen him in one manner or another. His face is on a door, his face was on a grilled cheese sandwich or the classic "I see it in the miracles that happen every day". Such as what? Newborn life? Every time a baby is born it's a "miracle". Well what about those born into third world countries that starve to death before they're old enough to read or what about those born into overpopulous that struggle through their entire life just trying to make ends meet(because it's a rat race just to get a job)then ultimately succumb to suicide. Was there really a point in either of those being born just to live a life of pain and suffering with no chance for a happy ending? Or perhaps people will argue the "miracles" of rain or the sun coming up each day. Nope, the sun is a giant ball of gas and the rain is just precipitation.

God exists because like an imaginary friend when we have no other, we want him to exist and if we stop believing, he will not exist.

Do you have a sense of morals? You claim to be an atheist? What do you believe is right? What do you believe is wrong?

why would you think only religious people have morals? thats a really narrow minded way of thinking...

believe it or not, athiests are not the devils soldiers or whatever the hell you think we are, we are just people who do not have the same "faith" based thought processes that religious people have...

Because there is nothing to tell you what morals are. Moral can only be taught. And the only moral criteria set in the world stem from religion. What set of moral standard do you have without parameters set forth of right and wrong. Nothing else addresses it and if there is a book on it stems from religious or from teachings from religion any religion not just Christianity. Where do you learn your morals? Laws, no they stem from religion. Everything we live religious or non religious spiritual or non spiritual are based on OEM of religion. Atheists believe in no religion and that means according to atheist no set of moral basis to go off of. So in essence that means that despite what ever religious beliefs say it is okay to.murder because there is nothing that says it is not okay if religion never existed.

A Fool says in his heart there is no God. So if there is no God who created you?

so people that don't believe in a god are just stupid? they need a god to tell them right from wrong? is killing things right or wrong to you? well, i hate to be the one to tell you this, but more people have been killed in the name of a god than any other one reason... so by your standards, there are no religious people in prison? they make up about 70% of the prison population...

so who really cares where morals stem from? atheists don't think religion is a bad thing, it helps some people out, and turns others lazy and stupid... if you want to spend all your time thanking and praying to a deity that may or may not be around, then be my guest, means nothing to me...

the bible is a great book for learning morals, it has some great teachings... but is nothing more than a book, written by a human, just like any harry potter or steven king book...

so people that don't believe in a god are just stupid? they need a god to tell them right from wrong? is killing things right or wrong to you? well, i hate to be the one to tell you this, but more people have been killed in the name of a god than any other one reason... so by your standards, there are no religious people in prison? they make up about 70% of the prison population...

Moe I.like and respect you but without religion there is no standard for a moral basis. I never said you were stupid. But why do you feel the need to prove otherwise. When there is no proof you can give? There is no proof I can give you except that I have been healed when I can not take meds and am allergic. And not something that could be healed by anything except surgery. I never had surgery and even on x-rays it's healing. I prayed and I prayed. What can I say to you or you to me. I can not say when we pray the answer is always yes but sometimes it is a yes

did you and cowboy over look my response? "the bible is a great book for learning morals, it has some great teachings... but is nothing more than a book, written by a human, just like any harry potter or steven king book... "

morals can come from anywhere, being a good person doesn't mean anything other than that...

there are millions of childrens books that teach morals as well...

if you believe god healed you, i won't argue that, it's what you believe... but to say atheists have no morals is not real good thinking on your part, and a bit ignorant... lack of morals and understanding comes in all types of people, and to pin it down on atheists is very wrong on your part...

No an atheist has no morals a no direction of morals and is not wrong. I am not trying to make you admit you are religious in anyway. But you are not an atheist either because an atheist has no morals and no basis for morals even if your parents taught you morals and those moral were last down through the generations how do you know where those moral came from. I might have missed a post they are getting so quote long. But still an atheist has no morals period and can not unless they were given direction of morals from somewhere. I do not think it is a reach to say a true athiest has no morals.