Why do men reject God?

[Taz]

But how did Noah get kangaroos from Australia into his boat?

 

[harmonica]

god can't be rejected because there is no god

 

[hobelim]

god can't be rejected because there is no god

Did you ever consider the possibility that you can perceive no God because God has rejected you?

 

[WinterBorn]

I believe this guy nailed it. In fact. I once asked the question...If there was proof that God was real, would you worship Him? Most people said no, and gave reasons similar to the ones in the OP. As you can see, disbelief is not the result of rational thought, but emotion.

by Wayne Jackson
Most people in the world, throughout the ages of history, have believed in some concept of a Supreme Being. They may have had a perverted sense of Who that Being is, but they were convinced that there is a Personal Power greater than man. Given the evidence available, faith is reasonable. That is why the psalmist declared: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm 14:1). The Hebrew word for “fool” suggests one who is not thinking rationally.

Since unbelief is neither reasonable nor the norm, one cannot but wonder why some people become atheists. I am convinced, after reflecting upon the matter for many years, that religious disbelief does not result from logical conclusions based on well-researched data. Rather, generally speaking, emotional motivation of some sort is a primary causative factor.

Consider the following case. In 1996, Judith Hayes, a senior writer for The American Rationalist, authored a caustic, atheistic tirade titled: In God We Trust: But Which One? In this treatise, Mrs. Hayes revealed two clues as to why she left the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) and became an atheist.

As a youngster, she had a friend who was a Buddhist. Judith was very close to “Susan,” and she simply could not tolerate the idea that her friend, who did not accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God, might be lost apart from the biblical redemptive system.

So, rather than carefully examining the evidence to determine whether or not the claims of the Lord (as set forth in the New Testament record — see John 14:6; Acts 4:12) are true, she simply decided, on an emotional and reactionary basis, that Christianity could not be genuine.

Eventually Judith married, but the relationship degenerated. Mrs. Hayes claims her husband was verbally abusive. Again, though, instead of considering the possibility that she might have been responsible for having made a bad choice in her marital selection, or that her husband decided on his own volition to be abusive (in direct violation of divine teaching — Ephesians 5:25ff), she blamed God for her disappointment.

“[H]ow could I possibly have wound up married to a tyrant? Why had God forsaken me?,” she wrote (1996, p. 15). God did not forsake her. He honored her freedom of choice, and that of her husband as well. Human abuse of that freedom is not the Lord’s responsibility.

The infidel William Ernest Henley (1849-1903) was known principally for his skeptical poem, Invictus. As a youngster, Henley contracted tuberculosis, and had to have one foot amputated. He suffered much across the years and became quite bitter. He wrote:

In the fell clutch of circumstanceI have not winced or cried aloud.Under the bludgeonings of chance,
my head is bloody, but unbowed.

His disbelief, however, was emotional, not intellectual.

The late Isaac Asimov once wrote: “Emotionally I am an atheist. I don’t have the evidence to prove that God doesn’t exist, but I so strongly suspect that he doesn’t that I don’t want to waste my time” (1982, pp. 6-10, emp. added).

In one of his books, Aldous Huxley acknowledged that he had reasons for “not wanting the world to have a meaning.” He contended that the “philosophy of meaningless” was liberating. He confessed that the morality of theism interfered “with our sexual freedom” (1966, p. 19). This is hardly a valid argument for rejecting the vast array of evidence that testifies to the existence of a Supreme Being!

Here is an important point. When men have motives for resisting faith in God, and when — out of personal prejudice — they are predisposed to reject the Creator, they become “ripe” for philosophical skepticism.

"Since unbelief is neither reasonable nor the norm,..."?

I find it amusing that you think you know why someone is an atheist. Unbelief is neither the reasonable nor the norm? lol It is quite reasonable, despite your claims to the contrary. It is very reasonable to reserve your faith until you have something more to go on than "most of the people in the world have believed in a supreme being", when you consider that most of the people over our history also believed the sun was a deity, thunder was a noise made by God, and all the other superstitions that went with mankind's original people.

As for it being "the norm", perhaps following the masses is where you excel. But just because lots of other have done it has no meaning for me.

 

[harmonica]

god can't be rejected boecause there is no god

Did you ever consider the possibility that you can perceive no God because God has rejected you?

no

 

[hobelim]

god can't be rejected boecause there is no god

Did you ever consider the possibility that you can perceive no God because God has rejected you?

no

Alrighty then.. consider it now and then ask yourself honestly if you could blame him..

Would you let someone into your house who is knocking at your door in the middle of the night, dressed in filthy rags, reeking of cheap wine and vomit?

 

[WinterBorn]

god can't be rejected boecause there is no god

Did you ever consider the possibility that you can perceive no God because God has rejected you?

no

Alrighty then.. consider it now and then ask yourself honestly if you could blame him..

Would you let someone into your house who is knocking at your door in the middle of the night, dressed in filthy rags, reeking of cheap wine and vomit?

So you are saying God only answers if you knock in the daytime, are well dressed and smelling good? Really?

 

[hobelim]

god can't be rejected boecause there is no god

Did you ever consider the possibility that you can perceive no God because God has rejected you?

no

Alrighty then.. consider it now and then ask yourself honestly if you could blame him..

Would you let someone into your house who is knocking at your door in the middle of the night, dressed in filthy rags, reeking of cheap wine and vomit?

So you are saying God only answers if you knock in the daytime, are well dressed and smelling good? Really?

So to speak, yes, really.

If you were invited to a black tie event, so to speak, but you showed up at the door late, dressed in filthy rags, reeking of cheap wine and vomit, the doorman has no choice but to throw you out into the darkness, where you can complain about it all you like.

People were given clear instructions about how to ascend to a higher realm of conscious existence a very long time ago.

If you don't climb the stairs you will never get out of the basement. Its as simple as that.

 

[harmonica]

god can't be rejected boecause there is no god

Did you ever consider the possibility that you can perceive no God because God has rejected you?

no

Alrighty then.. consider it now and then ask yourself honestly if you could blame him..

Would you let someone into your house who is knocking at your door in the middle of the night, dressed in filthy rags, reeking of cheap wine and vomit?

yes--no--wtf are you blabbing about?? there is no god

 

[hobelim]

god can't be rejected boecause there is no god

Did you ever consider the possibility that you can perceive no God because God has rejected you?

no

Alrighty then.. consider it now and then ask yourself honestly if you could blame him..

Would you let someone into your house who is knocking at your door in the middle of the night, dressed in filthy rags, reeking of cheap wine and vomit?

yes--no--wtf are you blabbing about?? there is no god

Ok then.... Everything has been settled for you. Anyone can see that you have your reward already...

Congratulations.



.

 

[WinterBorn]

god can't be rejected boecause there is no god

Did you ever consider the possibility that you can perceive no God because God has rejected you?

no

Alrighty then.. consider it now and then ask yourself honestly if you could blame him..

Would you let someone into your house who is knocking at your door in the middle of the night, dressed in filthy rags, reeking of cheap wine and vomit?

So you are saying God only answers if you knock in the daytime, are well dressed and smelling good? Really?

So to speak, yes, really.

If you were invited to a black tie event, so to speak, but you showed up at the door late, dressed in filthy rags, reeking of cheap wine and vomit, the doorman has no choice but to throw you out into the darkness, where you can complain about it all you like.

People were given clear instructions about how to ascend to a higher realm of conscious existence a very long time ago.

If you don't climb the stairs you will never get out of the basement. Its as simple as that.

Oh, I thought you were referring to the Christian God. My mistake.

 

[harmonica]

god can't be rejected boecause there is no god

Did you ever consider the possibility that you can perceive no God because God has rejected you?

no

Alrighty then.. consider it now and then ask yourself honestly if you could blame him..

Would you let someone into your house who is knocking at your door in the middle of the night, dressed in filthy rags, reeking of cheap wine and vomit?

yes--no--wtf are you blabbing about?? there is no god

Ok then.... Everything has been settled for you. Anyone can see that you have your reward already...

Congratulations.



.

ok............------------------------???!!!!!
wtf??

 

[MarathonMike]

His sheep heed His voice, His goats do not. Damnation and salvation were both predestined before the beginning of time.

"His"? Why not "Hers"?

Why not "it's? Why couldn't God be a genderless entity?

 

[WinterBorn]

His sheep heed His voice, His goats do not. Damnation and salvation were both predestined before the beginning of time.

"His"? Why not "Hers"?

Why not "it's? Why couldn't God be a genderless entity?

Unless God is a biological entity, there is no gender.

Besides, how can you claim God created all life and then claim it to be male? Could it be more about controlling the population?

 

[hobelim]

Did you ever consider the possibility that you can perceive no God because God has rejected you?

no

Alrighty then.. consider it now and then ask yourself honestly if you could blame him..

Would you let someone into your house who is knocking at your door in the middle of the night, dressed in filthy rags, reeking of cheap wine and vomit?

So you are saying God only answers if you knock in the daytime, are well dressed and smelling good? Really?

So to speak, yes, really.

If you were invited to a black tie event, so to speak, but you showed up at the door late, dressed in filthy rags, reeking of cheap wine and vomit, the doorman has no choice but to throw you out into the darkness, where you can complain about it all you like.

People were given clear instructions about how to ascend to a higher realm of conscious existence a very long time ago.

If you don't climb the stairs you will never get out of the basement. Its as simple as that.

Oh, I thought you were referring to the Christian God. My mistake.

I see... no problem..

I never went for that maudlin story about God himself becoming a little baby in a diaper only to grow up to speak in riddles and be hated and reviled until he was crucified because he loved the Romans so much.

 

[hobelim]

Did you ever consider the possibility that you can perceive no God because God has rejected you?

no

Alrighty then.. consider it now and then ask yourself honestly if you could blame him..

Would you let someone into your house who is knocking at your door in the middle of the night, dressed in filthy rags, reeking of cheap wine and vomit?

yes--no--wtf are you blabbing about?? there is no god

Ok then.... Everything has been settled for you. Anyone can see that you have your reward already...

Congratulations.



.

ok............------------------------???!!!!!
wtf??

lol... exactly!

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

I believe this guy nailed it. In fact. I once asked the question...If there was proof that God was real, would you worship Him? Most people said no, and gave reasons similar to the ones in the OP. As you can see, disbelief is not the result of rational thought, but emotion.

by Wayne Jackson
Most people in the world, throughout the ages of history, have believed in some concept of a Supreme Being. They may have had a perverted sense of Who that Being is, but they were convinced that there is a Personal Power greater than man. Given the evidence available, faith is reasonable. That is why the psalmist declared: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm 14:1). The Hebrew word for “fool” suggests one who is not thinking rationally.

Since unbelief is neither reasonable nor the norm, one cannot but wonder why some people become atheists. I am convinced, after reflecting upon the matter for many years, that religious disbelief does not result from logical conclusions based on well-researched data. Rather, generally speaking, emotional motivation of some sort is a primary causative factor.

Consider the following case. In 1996, Judith Hayes, a senior writer for The American Rationalist, authored a caustic, atheistic tirade titled: In God We Trust: But Which One? In this treatise, Mrs. Hayes revealed two clues as to why she left the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) and became an atheist.

As a youngster, she had a friend who was a Buddhist. Judith was very close to “Susan,” and she simply could not tolerate the idea that her friend, who did not accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God, might be lost apart from the biblical redemptive system.

So, rather than carefully examining the evidence to determine whether or not the claims of the Lord (as set forth in the New Testament record — see John 14:6; Acts 4:12) are true, she simply decided, on an emotional and reactionary basis, that Christianity could not be genuine.

Eventually Judith married, but the relationship degenerated. Mrs. Hayes claims her husband was verbally abusive. Again, though, instead of considering the possibility that she might have been responsible for having made a bad choice in her marital selection, or that her husband decided on his own volition to be abusive (in direct violation of divine teaching — Ephesians 5:25ff), she blamed God for her disappointment.

“[H]ow could I possibly have wound up married to a tyrant? Why had God forsaken me?,” she wrote (1996, p. 15). God did not forsake her. He honored her freedom of choice, and that of her husband as well. Human abuse of that freedom is not the Lord’s responsibility.

The infidel William Ernest Henley (1849-1903) was known principally for his skeptical poem, Invictus. As a youngster, Henley contracted tuberculosis, and had to have one foot amputated. He suffered much across the years and became quite bitter. He wrote:

In the fell clutch of circumstanceI have not winced or cried aloud.Under the bludgeonings of chance,
my head is bloody, but unbowed.

His disbelief, however, was emotional, not intellectual.

The late Isaac Asimov once wrote: “Emotionally I am an atheist. I don’t have the evidence to prove that God doesn’t exist, but I so strongly suspect that he doesn’t that I don’t want to waste my time” (1982, pp. 6-10, emp. added).

In one of his books, Aldous Huxley acknowledged that he had reasons for “not wanting the world to have a meaning.” He contended that the “philosophy of meaningless” was liberating. He confessed that the morality of theism interfered “with our sexual freedom” (1966, p. 19). This is hardly a valid argument for rejecting the vast array of evidence that testifies to the existence of a Supreme Being!

Here is an important point. When men have motives for resisting faith in God, and when — out of personal prejudice — they are predisposed to reject the Creator, they become “ripe” for philosophical skepticism.

Why do you reject unicorns and fairies? Same reason.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Did you ever consider the possibility that you can perceive no God because God has rejected you?

Who gives a shit? Have you ever considered why eagles hate strawberry pancakes? Of course not, because it is an absurd proposition .

 

[hobelim]

Did you ever consider the possibility that you can perceive no God because God has rejected you?

Who gives a shit? Have you ever considered why eagles hate strawberry pancakes? Of course not, because it is an absurd proposition .

What is an absurd proposition is that there is no God given our limited ability to understand the tiny part of reality that can be seen much less when considering the vast majority of what constitutes reality about which we know absolutely nothing.

Given the fact that you are about three hairs on the back of the neck away from baboons, the inability to even accept the possibility that you are not very high on the visitation list of a superior intelligence only reflects a flaw in you.

You still smell your finger every time you scratch your ass.

What else can I say?

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

What is an absurd proposition is that there is no God given our limited ability to understand the tiny part of reality that can be seen much less when considering the vast majority of what constitutes reality about which we know absolutely nothing.

What an embarrassingly bit of horrible unlogic. Let's trim the fat (the used car salesman spiel) from this rotten word salad to see what it says:

"It is absurd to think there may be no gods, because we understand so little about reality."

Of course, this is embarrassingly specious, and obviously so, once the shaman's flourish of flowery langauge is stripped away.