10 poor reasons to believe god exists

These are some of the arguments for God that come up most often. No particular order. 

1: Other people believe it. 

Although there may be many people who share your belief. There are at least 5 billion people who don't. At least 1.6 billion people have an alternate belief. You can't all be right. but you can all be wrong. 

2: My parents told me to believe. 

They also told you to believe Santa is real (maybe) or the tooth fairy. Not only have your parents lied to you, but their reasons for believing also fall under one or more of the poor reasons listed here. We've evolved to listen to our parents because some of their advice is good (don't touch the fire, watch where you're walking) but to believe them in everything, without question is questionable. 

3: I can't explain 'x' without God. 

People used to think that about lightning and earthquakes too. We can explain them now and guess what? No god required. What you don't understand is not proof that a god exists. For 'x' to be proof of god, you need to show that it *is* god, not that you can't imagine how it isn't. 

4: The prophecies in the bible/scientific revelations in the Qu'ran prove the book is from God. 

Biblical prophecy is vague and easily retrofitted. Sure, Israel became a nation, but did it really take a godly prophecy to predict it? Could a hopeful Hebrew have suggested it? Of course. The science in the Qu'ran is inaccurate (eg where sperm comes from, two kinds of water not mixing) The 'science' in the Qu'ran is consistent with what was known at the time. 

5: It's called FAITH!

Yeah, it is. As long as you recognise that faith, and good reasons to believe, are different things. As above, at least 1.6 Billion people have 'faith' that a different story is true. Faith gets people to fly planes into buildings thinking they've got 72 virgins waiting for them. Faith lets people eat a wafer thinking it's *literally* the flesh of a Jewish carpenter that lived 2000 years ago. Faith makes people throw virgins into volcanoes thinking it'll appease the god within. Faith makes people think a man rose from the dead is a better explanation than 'something else happened'. Faith may make you feel good, but it's not a pathway to truth. 

6: All cultures have developed a god - there must be something in it. 

There's no doubt humans have a hunger for answers. We crave explanations for what we can observe. The scientific method is the best way we've come up with to find those explanations. But the scientific method is recent. It wasn't around 2000+ years ago when gods and goddesses where being invented. A primitive mind thinking that thunder was the result of an angry god is understandable, but gods and goddesses were the answers we came up with when we didn't know better. We know better now. It's funny how the number of gods and goddesses we invent has slowed since the scientific method was developed. 

7: Without God, we wouldn't know right from wrong. (Morality) 

Says who? This is really just a stab in the dark and could easily be the 'x' in point 3. Non-human animals show traits that we call morality. The show compassion, cooperation, and empathy. They have a sense of 'fairness' and they look after each other when required. These are evolved traits and are easily shown to be beneficial to the species. No one has demonstrated that a god is required. 

8: Evolution is a religion (is false, can't happen etc.). 

Even if this were true (and it's not) it doesn't matter. Disproving evolution would in no way prove that gods and goddesses exist. All disproving evolution would do (if it could be done) is show that evolution doesn't happen. 

9: I feel something when I pray/worship. 

Sure you do. But people have feelings like that at concerts, and sporting events too. There's nothing concrete to suggest that this is an internal feeling caused by god or Jesus or whomever. More likely it's really just your body having a reaction to you having a good time.

10: There MUST be something more...

Saying it, wanting it to be true doesn't make it so. Sure we may want to see our loved ones when we die. Sure we may get a warm fuzzy feeling at the idea that we're here for a purpose greater than ourselves and that even after we die we'll somehow carry on. Some people may even like the idea that our existence makes a god happy and that's good enough reason to be alive. But wanting all those things to be true, doesn't make them true. 'Must' is a definite position. You need to demonstrate that it's true not just assert it and expect people to believe. When people say 'must' in this context, they're really saying 'I really hope there is'. 

There's also Look around you! 

I wrote a whole blog on this very topic. See it here