Atheists: Is the existence of God as simple as "seeing=believing"?

Question

Do you have to see everything in order to believe?

I don't see my spinal cord, yet I believe I have one. I don't see the wind, yet I can see what it does. I can't see south and north, but I know they're there.

Answer 1

You cant see your brain, and it is not there so what is your point?

Answer 2

The problem with that analogy is that there are natural explanations for everything that religious people see as being caused by god.  The bible was written by people who had no idea why the sun rose each day or why their women got pregnant.  As a result they, like other primitive civilizations, made up stories to explain natural phenomena.

Answer 3

It takes more than to mentally analyze things! I don't just have a brain but I also have a soul!! I know God exist by the blessings he had sent me and the strength and knowledge he had given me to use in my everyday life that some people would just call coincidence!  I feel sad for you people who believe that the world was just created by "accident".

And your telling me that we who believes in God doesn't make sense?!!

Science is just Human perspective *keyword* HUMAN! And a lot of things in the world are beyond human comprehension! No one is as smart and as powerful as God! Can humans create a planet?! A star?! Can humans create life with real feelings and personality on it's own without mother natures work??!! (No i'm not talking about computerize robots but REAL LIFE! REAL LIVING ORGANISM without using nature)

God is not a physical being he is a spirit! That's why he can't be proven by science but only you can see if you open up your mind (and heart) and look closely in your life!

Answer 4

Ugh.  I can experience much more than I can see.  I can use an xrays to see my spine.  I can use a wind sock to verify the wind.  North and south are just concepts - you can't go to a place called north, you can only head in the direction.  

Is there a wind sock for god?  Can I use xrays to see his work?  Can we we find any concrete evidence for god?

Answer 5

I can feel my spinal cord by touching my back.  I have also seen the skeletons of other humans, and I have seen their spinal cords in the place that I would expect them to be.  I can feel the wind when it blows against me.  I can also see the effect the wind has when physical objects, such as leaves, are moved by the air currents.  I can see the direction of the magnetic poles on the planet when I look at a compass.

God cannot be directly measured by any of my physical senses.  Therefore, I have no reason to believe that any god exists.

Answer 6

Oddly enough, science has proved all of those exist.

Answer 7

But you'd feel it if your spinal cord was taken away.  South and North are directions, concepts, non-material.  Keep trying.

Answer 8

The relationship is not equal, even though the saying is, "Seeing is believing." The equals sign implies that is is a two way relationship but it's really only one way and the opposite of what you wrote. Believing is seeing.

Perception happens in the brain not the eye. The information is interpreted by the mind. In the process of this interpretation the info is filtered through the belief system and world view of the individual. IOW, you see what you believe to be there.

For example, a dark skinned man in a hoodie is running down the street. A racist person stereotypes him as a criminal running from a crime. Someone else might notice that he's right behind a bus and assume he's chasing it. A third person knows that his wife is pregnant and guesses that her time has come.

Some of these people have more basic input to help them perceive the "true" reality but the visual information is the same for all of them. They interpret that info along w/ what else they know or believe to be true.

So believing comes 1st and is integral to interpretation. The expression should read   "believing --> seeing" I believe in God so I see the wonder  of His handiwork and intelligence in the beauty of nature. For the unbeliever the beauty is still there (unless the person has no aethestic sensibility) but the immanence of the Divine is not.

Answer 9

It's obviously not simple-minded like that. I think that most atheists would accept that God exists if there were any *evidence* for such a being, where the same standards of evidence apply to God as to everything else. If you claim that God created the universe and is actively involved in it, then there has to be physical evidence of it--not just strong feelings in your head, not an unreliable old book like the Bible, not things that lots of other people have believed without evidence for thousands of years.

Answer 10

No it is a much deeper examination. A 20+ year quest of mine, so far. I have studied religions seriously for many years now, even took a few courses in university to amuse myself. This conclusion is based on the fact that all religions have a documented formation point. And through history one can examine those variables that created such a religion, and you can conclude the reasoning accordingly.

Answer 11

Not all evidence is visually-based. There is no evidence, logical or evidential, for the existence of a god(s).

Answer 12

You are beyond help and have an IQ of a r****d.

Answer 13

The only way I can answer your questioN is this: I'm not capable of believing in anything for which there is no credible evidence. I am not a fundy atheist. I used to go to church. I would be happy with the idea of some supernatural entity that had my best interests at heart and would take care of me after I die. But I can find NO credible evidence of such an entity, and I'm not going to make that leap of faith that's required to become religious. If there were ANY evidence, it might make a difference, but it's JUST NOT THERE!

Answer 14

Yeh you've got a point. I mean I never see farts but I know they're there. Far.....g me. God must be real...(WTF?)

Answer 15

The existence of wind (and your spinal cord) is provable.

Answer 16

No but you do have to gain a scientific understanding

Answer 17

No. Making sense in the abstract is often times enough. God just doesn't make any sense.