Some years ago, I wrote a blogpost arguing that followers of the scientific method cannot be atheists. I argued that the only reasonable position on the question of gods is one of agnostism- the position that one cannot be sure that gods exist or do not exist. Since then, I have grown, I have read a fair bit on religion, I have been part of debates, and now my position is that of a strong atheist. I'm fairly sure that gods do not exist. Of course, I don't say that about every possible definition for gods. If one defines god as "the universe", or "the entity that created the universe", or "a coat hanger", then the answer to "Does god exist?" is "yes", "maybe", and "yes" respectively.
The gods I refer to are the standard gods used by religion- a being that cares about human beings, a being that created human beings, a being that created an afterlife for human beings, a being that made up rules that must govern human behavior. These gods cannot exist. And in what follows, I will show why these gods cannot exist.
First, I must counter the argument that is often made for gods- "So many people believe in gods. Surely, all of them cannot be wrong."
It is precisely because so many people believe in gods that we must be skeptical about the existence of gods. People don't all believe in the same god. Gods come in different flavors, from the element-of-nature-gods of Hindu, Greek, and Norse mythology, to the one-god-to-rule-it-all version of Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). There are also shamanic gods- the tribal gods that supposedly speak to priests in the tribe- gods that tend to respond to sacrifice and gifts (to the priests, of course).
There are so many religions that tell you so many mutually contradictory things that it's fairly obvious that most of them were invented by people. We need to accept the fact that gods can be invented, and that they are routinely invented. We also need to accept that entire civilizations would believe in invented gods without reservation. Norsemen believed for a long time that the best way for a man to go would be to have a glorious death on the battlefield, so they could be chosen by Odin to join legendary heroes and kings in Valhalla. Most people today would agree that they followed an invented god, that their god does not exist. But people of the time did believe in the god without question, and tons of people took to arms for a place in Valhalla.
Gods can be invented. Gods are invented. Tons of people believe in invented gods. A child born into a society that believes in an invented god also believes in the invented god. If you, the reader, can let this sink into your mind, you would start to understand my position of skepticism. "So many people believe in gods. Surely, all of them cannot be wrong." That is not an argument. It only shows us that people are gullible, that people would believe in gods if everyone around them believed in a god. People believe all sorts of things if that is what they are taught to believe.
The gods I refer to are the standard gods used by religion- a being that cares about human beings, a being that created human beings, a being that created an afterlife for human beings, a being that made up rules that must govern human behavior. These gods cannot exist. And in what follows, I will show why these gods cannot exist.
First, I must counter the argument that is often made for gods- "So many people believe in gods. Surely, all of them cannot be wrong."
It is precisely because so many people believe in gods that we must be skeptical about the existence of gods. People don't all believe in the same god. Gods come in different flavors, from the element-of-nature-gods of Hindu, Greek, and Norse mythology, to the one-god-to-rule-it-all version of Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). There are also shamanic gods- the tribal gods that supposedly speak to priests in the tribe- gods that tend to respond to sacrifice and gifts (to the priests, of course).
There are so many religions that tell you so many mutually contradictory things that it's fairly obvious that most of them were invented by people. We need to accept the fact that gods can be invented, and that they are routinely invented. We also need to accept that entire civilizations would believe in invented gods without reservation. Norsemen believed for a long time that the best way for a man to go would be to have a glorious death on the battlefield, so they could be chosen by Odin to join legendary heroes and kings in Valhalla. Most people today would agree that they followed an invented god, that their god does not exist. But people of the time did believe in the god without question, and tons of people took to arms for a place in Valhalla.
Gods can be invented. Gods are invented. Tons of people believe in invented gods. A child born into a society that believes in an invented god also believes in the invented god. If you, the reader, can let this sink into your mind, you would start to understand my position of skepticism. "So many people believe in gods. Surely, all of them cannot be wrong." That is not an argument. It only shows us that people are gullible, that people would believe in gods if everyone around them believed in a god. People believe all sorts of things if that is what they are taught to believe.
