Atheists: How can you prove God does not exist

[Tank]

I'd like to thank all of you who took the time to answer my questions with honest thought-out answers. I'm still looking for answers, but I hope to find some.

I was born and raised in a small town, and have not had much contact with atheists. That does not make me simple.

No. But it might make one a little parochial. The saying the travel broadens he mind is very true, provided you engage with the locals, so have a think and come back with some more questions  

[epepke]

I'd like to thank all of you who took the time to answer my questions with honest thought-out answers. I'm still looking for answers, but I hope to find some.

I'm glad you're still here.

Despite your claim that god is simple, you are declaring one particular, absolute quality of god, that if he exists, he will send to Hell everyone who does not believe in him.

You also imply that this is a bad thing, which presupposes that an eternity spent with a being as evil, stupid, vitriolic, egoistic, nasty, vicious, and just plain awful as you believe him to be is something that everyone should want.

You will probably justify this based on a book that has god killing millions of people, while his adversary killed around ten.

I don't mind if you're a masochist, but I'm not a masochist.

[The Magic Pudding]

Theists tell me god is everywhere.
Let's put it to the test.

Is he behind the door? ... No
Is he in the grandfather clock? ... No
Is he in the piano?  ...  No
Is he under the stairs?  ...  No
Is he in the wardrobe?  ...  No
Is he under the bed?  ...  No
Is he in the box?  ...  No
Is he under the rug?  ...  No

This is quite the methodical scientific approach for me.
I conclude, he is not there.

[Asmodean]

Theists tell me god is everywhere.
Let's put it to the test.

Is he behind the door? ... No
Is he in the grandfather clock? ... No
Is he in the piano?  ...  No
Is he under the stairs?  ...  No
Is he in the wardrobe?  ...  No
Is he under the bed?  ...  No
Is he in the box?  ...  No
Is he under the rug?  ...  No

This is quite the methodical scientific approach for me.
I conclude, he is not there.

Ah! But have you checked in your septic tank?!  

[humblesmurph]

I'd like to thank all of you who took the time to answer my questions with honest thought-out answers. I'm still looking for answers, but I hope to find some.

I was born and raised in a small town, and have not had much contact with atheists. That does not make me simple.

First, I'm glad you came back.  Second I apologize for using the term "troll" to describe you, I never actually thought you were a "troll" I just have the habit of using the same terms as the person I'm arguing with.

Most importantly, I apologize for referring to you as "simple".  I didn't mean simple in the sense that you lack intelligence, just that you haven't fully explored your faith/religion.  I shouldn't have even made that assumption.  Again, I'm sorry.

If you haven't noticed, or been told already, there is a very knowledgeable Christian scholar that has been a recent and active member of this forum.  His handle is Jac3510.  His blog makes for interesting reading.  He is a man of faith who is quite reasonable and his knowledge of the Bible and philosophy might be  helpful to you.

As for contact with atheists, you've come to the right place.  Good luck in finding the answers you seek.

[Martin TK]

But, I will warn you... If you hang around with us Atheists too long, the Tea Party will revoke your membership... They don't take kindly to our kind, you know.

[Graham Pilois]

I'm new to this forum, so I have one biting question, and I think this is a great platform to ask it. I'm not prejudiced against atheists or anything, however I never understood how someone can not believe in God when one fundamental truth exists: you cannot disprove the God of the bible's existence.

How can you prove God does not exist?

I can't. But you can't prove that he does. However, just as you have your conviction that he exists nonetheless, I have my conviction that he doesn't. Call it faith if you will.

[The Magic Pudding]

Theists tell me god is everywhere.
Let's put it to the test.

Is he behind the door? ... No
Is he in the grandfather clock? ... No
Is he in the piano?  ...  No
Is he under the stairs?  ...  No
Is he in the wardrobe?  ...  No
Is he under the bed?  ...  No
Is he in the box?  ...  No
Is he under the rug?  ...  No

This is quite the methodical scientific approach for me.
I conclude, he is not there.

Ah! But have you checked in your septic tank?!  

If he was, he'd be dead.

[hackenslash]

I'm new to this forum, so I have one biting question, and I think this is a great platform to ask it. I'm not prejudiced against atheists or anything, however I never understood how someone can not believe in God when one fundamental truth exists: you cannot disprove the God of the bible's existence.

There are several things wrong with this. Firstly, I can't disprove the existence of many things. Does that mean that I should believe in all of them? Should I believe in pixies? Fairies? Invisible dragons? Orbiting teapots?

As for the god of the bible, it's pretty trivial to demonstrate that this particular entity does not, and cannot, exist, by simple application of the law of non-contradiction:

1 John 4:8 (NLT) - "God is love." 1 Corinthians 13:4 (NLT) - "Love is not jealous." Exodus 20:5 (NLT) - "I the LORD thy God am a jealous God

Existence disproved.

But what if you're wrong?

What if you're wrong about invisible dragons?

But what if you're wrong?? There's a 50/50 chance that you're wrong and going to hell, so why not just to sure?

Pascal's wager? Seriously? Is that the limit of your vision? Pascal knew himself that this was a terrible argument, not least because any deity given the (logically absurd) attributes cited for your particular imaginary friend would be able to see through any sort of deception. Further, we don't choose what to believe, we believe what the evidence suggests.

Finally, with regard to your woefully non-rigorous calculation of odds, it doesn't remotely hold water. In a situation where a proposition is presented with no evidential support whatsoever, such as a creator deity, and where the evidence for the converse is abundant, namely in the form of testable natural mechanisms being sufficient to account for every single natural phenomenon ever elucidated, the odss of your deity actually existing are not 50/50, nor even remotely close to it. They are vanishingly small. So close to zero, in fact, that at a first approximation the proposal is absurdly impossible.

You don't go to heaven if you're good. You go if you believe. Don't underestimate belief. Belief can move mountains.

And, of course, you have critically robust evidence to support this ex recto assertion?

But what's the problem with that? They perfectally understood that their lack of faith (like yours) could potentially land them in hell. It's their fault.

I see. So you think it perfectly reasonable that people who live good lives, giving of themselves for the betterment of society in general, should spend eternity in a magma jacuzzi, while criminals like Kent Hovind and charlatans like Henry Morris should be rewarded, just because they share you peurile masturbation fantasy, is that it?

As it happens, the concept of heaven is one of the more awful fates I can think of, as is eternity.

You guys are overthinking it.

Are we indeed? Again, care to support this assertion?

Faith is simple.

It's also entirely without utility. Limitless faith and $1 will buy you a $1 cup of coffee.

God is simple.

Don't know about that, but it seems that many of his followers are. Not that I'm suggesting that of you, incidentally. Just a general observation. Your questions seem genuine enough.

I'd like to thank all of you who took the time to answer my questions with honest thought-out answers. I'm still looking for answers, but I hope to find some.

Then stick around. You might actually find what you're looking for.

I was born and raised in a small town, and have not had much contact with atheists. That does not make me simple.

And this shows what inculcation does to people. You're making the right steps, though. One piece of advice. Don't come with assumptions. Questions are never dumb, but assumptions almost always are.

[Asmodean]

I like this here new person I've never seen before  

[KebertX]

That's all I have to say, I'm not dealing with this illogical BS.

[Asmodean]

That's all I have to say, I'm not dealing with this illogical BS.

All you have to say is... A broken image..?  

[humblesmurph]

That's all I have to say, I'm not dealing with this illogical BS.

All you have to say is... A broken image..?  

Oh, I see it now.  It's a picture of a homeless troll.  "Unsuccessful Troll Is Unsuccessful" is the caption.

[KebertX]

Oh, damn! The image isn't showing up.

Wow, I guess Unsuccessful Troll really is Unsuccessful...

[epepke]

Oh, damn! The image isn't showing up.

Wow, I guess Unsuccessful Troll really is Unsuccessful...

You could have called it a Buddhist statement.  The image that is not an image.