I believed in God when I was not educated. Now by education, I do not mean a university degree but the understanding of the reality and the knowledge of the universe. Despite having western education, I still believed in God until I started questioning my beliefs by asking questions which really bothered me my entire life. I found resources to understand how massive is the universe, how could humans evolve from fish, how far-fetched and silly are the religious tales, etc.
These are my top 10 reasons for not believing in God.
1. There is no proof for the existence of God
The Earth has inhabited several billion people, yet none has an irrefutable proof for the existence of God. Neither is there a testable method that can be used to see, feel, or measure God's presence. Why does God need human messengers to carry out his tasks? What stops him from appearing on the sky globally and proof all skeptics wrong?
2. God and religions are men-made
All religions were simply tools of human revolution against the status quo. Stories mentioned in religious books reflect only what the authors of those times were capable of thinking. Why did the almighty God need a flood to wipe out everyone? Why did the same powerful God need a boat to save a select group of people and animal species? Even I can think of better and more efficient ways of accomplishing all of this if I were the God. Then there were all these mirales which were so frequent in the past. Every second religious figure could demonstrate some kind of miracle. It is no surprise that since science has provided methods of recording and validating phenomenon, these miracles have all disappeared.
3. God is cruel and barbaric
God has killed millions of people as told in the religious stories. God tested Abraham by commanding him to leave his infant son and wife in a dessert with no supplies. Then when that son grew up without his father, God asked Abraham to sacrifice him, only to save him at the last minute. What kind of sick mentality does this God have where he derives pleasure by putting them in unimaginable situations. The same God killed Job's entire family just to prove Satan wrong. Though, we were told that he was give a new family afterwards as if human life can be so easily replaced. The same God who loves you more than your mother will send you in hell to burn for eternity. Even an insignificant human would want to torment another human for eternity (trillions of years).
4. God is inconsistent and confused
He creates then he destroys, the same cycle continues several times. He makes Adam from clay but then he creates Eve from his body. He stops people from working on the Sabbath days, then years later, he abolishes his own order. He lets Muslims pray facing Jerusalem then he tells them to face Kaaba. God is indecisive and can't make up his mind for once.
5. Prayers or other forms of worships to God are useless
If praying to God works then why is not everyone a happy millionaire? If God does not grant all wishes because he knows better then what is the whole point of praying? What is the purpose of reading text or going through motions when 90% of the time you do not even understand it?
6. Religion or selling God is a business
Religion is a very lucrative business. Any half decent religious preacher is easily a millionaire. It is unbelievable that billions of dollars are spent worldwide to construct and run religion institutions which provide no benefit to humanity.
7. God's commandments are impractical
99.99% do not practice what they preach. Religion imposes just too many restrictions which are humanly impossible to follow. Religion does not stop people from killing each other or abusing innocent children withing religious institutions. God's orders sometimes defy all common sense but they have to be followed blindly.
8. God is unnecessary
God was needed in the past just to fill the gaps in the knowledge. If human mind could not comprehend anything, it was attributed to God. Today, we know a lot more about the cosmos, the human evolution, the quantum world, etc. which renders the whole concept of God completely useless. Almost everything can be explained today with a much simpler and testable theory. Things we do not know will be discovered with the passage of time as it has been the case so far.
9. Concept of God crushes free thinking
God wants you to be his slave. He does not want you to use your brain. Curiosity compelled Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. The result was that they were stripped off their clothes and sent to Earth as a punishment. Any discovery or ideology can go to a trash can if it goes against the principles laid out by God.
10. People believe in God because their ancestors believed in him
Lets be honest to ourselves. Majority of Muslims practice Islam because their parents were Muslims. Same is true for Christians, Jews, Hindus, etc. There are so many religions to follow. What makes your religion or your interpretation of God any better than others? A catholic Christian born in a Christian family will have as strong a faith on the Holy Trinity as the Muslim born in a Muslim family believing in Prophet Mohammad ascending to the heavens on a horse with wings.
