why do athiests blame a God they dont believe in?

Question

I see a lot of atheists asking questions like, “if there is a God then why do bad things happen”. Atheists continually try to associate negative things towards God in order to absolve themselves of believing in him. To put it simply they connect the idea of God with a negative experience thus justifying their disbelief.

Now from this established viewpoint God does not exist, so what is the cause of these negative things. If it is not caused by God then do these negative things need not be explained? You can no longer blame God, he does not exist. Now I know some of the sharks are going to attack me by saying, the majority of bad things happen by religious nuts killing in the name of God, so this line of reasoning is justifiable.

While I’m not in total disagreement to this it is still incorrect, the greatest atrocities known to man have been committed by atheists, this is undisputed. If you don’t believe me do some researches on people like Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong and Adolf Hitler (there is debate to Hitler’s Belief). A belief or following in God was not a basis for these crimes so whether or not there is a God bad things still seem to happen. Whatever the motives for atheist bloodthirstiness, the indisputable fact is that all the religions of the world put together have in 2,000 years not managed to kill as many people as have been killed in the name of atheism in the past few decades.

It just seems completely contradictory to condemn religion because of the atrocities caused by it when, recent history has shown us far greater atrocities have been committed by the non-religious.

Overall I do realize the tone of my question is, well I guess slightly biased and harsh and I do apologize. (Disclaimer) I do not have a problem with atheists. Just the other day my best friend for over 15yrs was over, he is an atheist and we had a lengthy chat on our differing beliefs. It was quite enjoyable and in no way hostile, I do not label atheists as blood thirsty killing machines I just think the attacks on this forum are a little unfair. Anyhow just interested and any opinions welcome.

Answer 1

I don't blame any "God" or deity for anything. I blame PEOPLE.

Answer 2

I think you`ve got that wrong.

We do not blame a god which we do not believe in, that is a contradiction of terms. How can we blame someone or something that doesn`t exist?

I think what you mean is, that we query the existence of a `god` which people pray to and, if it exists why is it so bloody-minded and evil? Killing people for no good reason? It does not make sense, but then, neither does any of the bible.

The Asian tsunami is a case in point, why did 250,000 die when an under-water eartquake took place? If a `god` was responsible for that, what was his - it` - her reason for doing that?

Conversely, I believe the earthquake and resulting tsunami was simply the earth moving, as it always does periodically - still being made, despite the claims of six days etc., so, if it was the job of a `god` to continue forming the earth, why did he, she, it have to kill 250,000 people to do it?

No, no, no, no, no, it`s all a load of absolute rubbish. But what I do find intriguing, and so do many others, is how can so many so-called intelligent christian people still believe in all the rubbish that the bible claims.

Why can`t they see through all those claims?

I tell you why, because when a young brain is `programmed,` to use a computer term, it`s difficult to get rid of the rubbish it`s been told. Brainwashed, like teaching a dog tricks that it will always perform because it thinks it has to.

The bottom line is: There are no gods, except in the minds of those who are not clever enough to work it out for themselves and take no notice of the rubbish they`ve been taught previously by fanatics.

Answer 3

Wow. My friend, you have things backward. Perhaps it is your 'atheist' friend who has it backward and therefore you do because his arguements were so weak.



1) An atheist never blames god for anything, nor does he asign kudos for good things. If your friend or anyone else blames a god for things, then he must believe in a god and, therefore, is not an atheist.



2) Negative things happen by chance and by people exercising their free will in a negative, misguided or cruel way. The negative things you seem to be talking about-the ones caused by human action, are typically results of the manifestation of human greed, power-hunger and/or cruetly. What is the source of this? More than likely evil intelligence and our need to survive run amok. Atheists typically believe that there is either goodness or there is no goodness; much like there is heat or no heat. When we find something cold, the coldness isn't a thing unto itself, rather it is a lack of heat. Likewise, evil is a lack of goodness, usually caused by a lack of education and consideration for each other.



3) Atheists at times have been to blame for many of history's problems, but here you are dead wrong; it is absolutely wrong to claim that the world's worst have been acted out by anyone other than the religious. I wish that I could complete the proof here, but it would take another 10,000 words to be specific and detailed. Instead, I will point out the best research I have found. If you really are open-minded, read the two texts listed below in the sources.



4) I agree that the attacks on both sides are unfair. Mostly we have to agree to disagree because it is the difference between basing life's journey on faith vs science. They are not compatible views, regardless of what anyone may argue. So the best we can hope for is to continue to talk and be kind to one another.

Answer 4

First of all, atheists don't blame god...we illustrate the logical fallacy of a deity. An all powerful god who allows the negative, is not all loving. A god who can't stop these things is not all powerful. These are both attributes given to the christian deity.



These negative things do have explanations. Famine has hundreds of possible reasons, from over farming, to poor weather, to people living in inhospitable areas. Disease has a way of preventing overpopulation. You get the point.



Now onto your foolish arguement. You miss a very important point when you claim atheists have caused the most bloodshed. That point is simple: none of the atrocities of communism were done in the name of atheism. An atheistic outlook is only one component of communism. (On a side note, Stalin gave state approval to the Russian Orthodox church). Does that mean these things didn't happen? No, of course not. It only means that the reason for them occuring had nothing to do with a lack of faith (except Hitler. The only people debating his faith are christians...the pope even approved some of his actions!).



On the other hand, the Salem Witch Trials, Spanish Inquisition, The Crusades, the systematic destruction of thousands of indigenous people (who refused to convert at the point of a sword), 9-11, and hundreds of other attrocities were the direct result of religion. They were started, and followed thru by followers doing (insert appropriate deity here)'s work.

Answer 5

I'm of the mind that religion causes most of the wars over the years or the idea of religion is used as an excuses to be more exact. not recent wars unless u live in the middle east. being religious or athiest doesnt make u a nasty person. i dont believe in god I have no reason to. I have never seen any proof of him (darwinisim). I know your thinking its not seeing its believing. i read a book a while back called the god dellusion I got board half way through (bit to deep for me) but the quote in the front by douglas adams I found quite good. '' Cant you just enjoy the garden without beliving that there's fairys at the bottom of it'' this only means something to me. If anyone wishes to believe in god that is there right. the only thing i see is a old society (the church) trying to have some form of influence and control over what we say and do. its not religion the causes ''holy wars'' its blind faith and stupidity by evil people.

Answer 6

Atheists (and this agnostic) will often point to the state of the world when debating whether a compassionate and loving God has created it - not to blame God, but to point to the inconsistency of the world being created by a loving compassionate Biblical God.



The atheist isnt saying he belives in God, more generally he is saying that the Christian belief in God doesn't match up to his creation. Of course, you may disagree with that view.



It seems clear to me that human beings whether religious, atheist or agnostic all have the capacity to do malicious things, and also compassionate ones. A great many atrocities have been committed by people who claim to be acting with God on their side. Harder for an atheist to claim they are acting with a lack of God on their side I guess ;)

Answer 7

when a atheist say that, it mean the atheist using the religous people point of veiw to answer the question.



the religious keep say there is a god but when we ask why god allow the bad thing happen occur espcially when the god is a loving god.



atheist never blame god for their mishap, we take it outselves and make improvement in ourselves so if the same thing happen, it won't hit us hard again.



is the religous ppl assume that there is a god, not the atheist.



what you say that atheist is bloodthirsty. but i never heard that any atheist that kill other just because they believe in god.



even atheist himself understand that we need to take the result of our actions. when we do bad, we have to suffer the result of our action have produced.



the world is unfair especially to atheist, we are being condemn just because we refuse to believe what other is believe.



even until now, my friends are nagging at me about i don't believe in god. i don't want to sound like we are the victim of a unfair world, but it is a fact that occur around the world.

Answer 8

We don't believe in a god (any of them). However, the Christian god of the Bible, if he were real, would be a particularly nasty, egotistical piece of work. Look at the amount of bloodshed, particularly in the old testament, spilt in the name of this God.



You will also read about Moses Joshua and the 'Promised Land'. Archeological evidence shows evidence of great slaughter and carnage in respect of the Caananites. This is one of many acts of bloodshed which makes your assumption that most wars are caused by atheists totally and utterly incorrect.



And why is it that there are more believers in prisons the world over than atheists? Again, these facts are verifiable.



I suggest you check such facts before coming out with such a ridiculous diatribe.

Answer 9

God, AS XTIANS BELIEVE IN HIM, is both a megalomaniac and a monster, who supposedly is responsible for everything in the Universe which by definition must include Evil. That's not contradictory to not believing that He actually exists. Lord Voldemort is an evil, sadistic monster--as presented in the Harry Potter books. Acknowledging that is not proof that I belief in him or hate him.

Answer 10

I really, really want to tell you you've put forth a solid argument. You've used correct grammar, spelling and punctuation, which is extremely rare for the religious posters on this board. But what you lack is the ability to see our side of the argument through our eyes. When we say things like "Why does God allow bad things to happen," it doesn't mean we think badly of God (it's hard to hate something you don't believe in); we're merely asking a question as to why a God who is so good and pure let such horrible things happen. I mean, if he created the universe and is omniscient, he knew that evil would also be created, and that would make God unable to be perfectly good.



And no, the greatest atrocities by man have not been committed by atheists. Evil atheist dictators are just rare flukes in the pattern set forth by the vast majority of religious dictators. Atheists have no one to kill people in the name of. Atheists don't kill people because they think they're doing God's work. Evil atheists have ulterior motives for slaughtering people, none of which can be attributed to God (obviously). But to say that atheists have no morals, well, that's just not true. Some atheists, such as myself, are humanists. This means that we live life by, in layman's terms, the golden rule. We live as we would want to live, peacefully, side by side with each other, without some all-powerful sky daddy telling us what to do.



Clearly the likes of Tse-Tung and Stalin do not compare to the inquisition, the crusades, the witch trials, Hitler (who was a devout Roman Catholic, by the way - he mentions it many times in Mein Kampf), the concept and enforcement of slavery, the oppression of women and believers of other religions, the shunning of homosexuals, and so many other things. Religion does more harm to people than it does to help them.



The reason we atheists argue about religion lies in the concept itself. Religion, when spread throughout many people, creates a giant monster that can't easily be defeated. We start creating laws after religion and live our lives by religion, whether we want to or not. "Under God" was not originally in the pledge of allegiance and "In God We Trust" was not originally on our money. Religion has, like it or not, infiltrated our government and our laws. We were not founded as a Christian nation, and we shouldn't base our laws around the religion. But we do anyway.



The bottom line is, atheists don't hate religious people, we just hate religion itself. Religion can comfort people in a time of need, but people shouldn't need religion for that! Religion is like a drug. It will work with you and keep you happy, but not without horrible side effects.

Answer 11

Not only atheist put the blame on God. Many of the faithful, too attribute disasters to the working of God, believing it that it was God's way of testing his flock



As for reasoning of negative happenings without God's existence, Buddhists have something called Karma. They believed, that if one was to do something evil or bad, the act would eventually come back and torment that person.



For example, the reduction of available fisheries or the current weird or increased weather phenomenons, can be simply attributed to man over reliance on the Earth, without sparing a thought for the system itself.



We are casuing an imbalance to the overall system, disregarding the need for the oceans to replenish itself, or subjecting the environment to much harsher conditions, like overpopulation and over polluting

Answer 12

*Yawn*



The supposed logic in your creationist rhetoric bores me. The problem is not within my lack of belief in God. Christianity has attributed certain traits to their magical being. They say he is omnibenelovent. Thus, the problem of evil does not stem from my lack of belief. The problem lye's within this supposed God like characteristic.



If God is omnibenelovent then why is there evil. See the contradiction? Lets assume that evil is necessary in some way. The supposed test you people talk about. Well then the question becomes why does evil exist in the world at such a great degree. Why does it exceed the soul building minimum?

Answer 13

When I ask the "If God exists then why is there bad things happening to good people?" it is not because I am blaming a being I do not believe in. It is an attempt to get you thinking about questions about your faith.

Unfortunately most of the believers have the stock answer about people being inherently evil. Mostly they are so restricted in their minds that they can not even understand this question.

Answer 14

Those questions are sarcastic. The blame is there for levity, not reality. You must be young as you do not yet know the difference. I can help. For instance, I could also say that the "FSM does not exist because Midgets would never live near a forest." Now, the part I said about midgets does exist in the tome of the FSM, yet I put it there as a sarcastic reference. It is the same thing with the referece that a supposedly benevolent god allows "bad things to happen"

Answer 15

it's better than believing that God is seemingly incompetent or uncaring..



i don't think they're blaming God ...

if there was a God then this world would be more fair (not including the stuff people do) - i.e. droughts, diseases, etc..



btw - Hitler was Catholic - that does not mean all Catholics are evil, or Hitler's actions were Catholic-like, and it's unfair to use Hitler's religion to label all Catholics as evil - i don't

Answer 16

Hi



Atheists like myself ask those sorts of questions because they are interested in the answers that religious people come up with. It's a bit of fun for us to see how daft some people are!!



I certainly do not blame 'god' for anything that happens in my life - if it's bad, I blame my husband; if it's good, it's my fault!



And to answer your point about the majority of killings being done 'in the name of atheism', please show me where the perpetrators gave atheism as their motivation.



An atheist

Answer 17

Atheists are capable of dealing in hypothetical scenarios.... which is sometimes necessary to point out the flaws in a belief system one at a time when some of them are reliant upon others.



i.e. They are willing to hypothetically suggest a scenario in which they were willing to accept that god existed.... in order to demonstrate some other fallacy in the christian belief system...

Answer 18

I believe that you have made an over generalization. MOST atheists don't give the matter a thought. At least I don't.

Answer 19

It's called irony.



I would like to see your proof of murders committed "in the name of atheism".



You see, I have proof that Hitler killed Jews in the name of God. It is something he repeated on numerous occasions in "Mein Kampf". His soldiers had "Gott mit uns" (God with us) inscribed on their belt buckles.



I am not saying that the atheists you've mentioned never committed murders, what I am saying is that they were not committed "in the name of atheism". That, I guarantee you.

Answer 20

The point of course is to see how you would come to the defense of an irrational and sadistic God...

That only exist in your mind!

Elementary my dear believer.

Answer 21

Atheists do so because...as you've said they don't believe in a God and you do!



Simply they just want to find a way out..if it means condemning ones religion, or even breaking up a relationship..they will go the extra mile...to defend themselves!



It is simply a gesture of insecurity!...The fear of the unknown!

Answer 22

People need something to believe in.

Answer 23

no atheist blames god that would mean they believe in one which by definition makes them not an atheist

Answer 24

I have read and answered thousands of questions from atheists and what I have found is that most believe in God. It is rather that they hate Him because they do not think HE - the one who MADE THEM - does not live up to THEIR expectations.



They accuse HIM of being UNFAIR.



Eze 18:25 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?



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Eze 18:29 Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?



What is wrong with this picture?

Answer 25

Gods do not exist.

I for one am testing the truth of your beliefs on your own playing field. Your beliefs, so far have been found wanting.

Answer 26

because they don't believe in God so, they might think that God isn't exist and everyone that believes in Him is ridiculous and so the God they worship to

Answer 27

I think they are more of a doubting Thomas, than an atheist.

Answer 28

I know, it seems like athiests gotta get it straight, I am kinda stuck on the fence and I guess it's a problem.

Answer 29

Its no wonder, they believe on Darwin and on the monkeys which is their God.

jtm

Answer 30

if you did not have the creator ---say he did not excised who else would they balm----another atheist or the big honcho

Answer 31

I agree with you.

Also atheist people DO believe in God but they say they don't because they are mad at god for whatever reason they have.



yeah thumbs down don't bother me at all