Why Do Some People Choose To Be Atheists, When There Is So Much Evidence That God Exists?

Because of the corresponding and overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

There is no evidence at all that God exists. This is actually admitted by most educated believers - indeed, many believers would say that real evidence of God's existence would make faith unnecessary. After all, you don't say you "believe" in typhoons, trees or horses. You don't even have to say you "believe" that there were once dinosaurs, since the fossil record is plain for all to see.

Some people see the fact that we are here as evidence that someone must have created us. This is not evidence of anything - to see why this is so, just ask yourself: "If someone must have made us, then who made God?" If your answer to this is "Well, he just WAS" - the next question must be, how do you know that?

There are a few scientists who believe that life is so complex, there may well be some kind of intelligence behind it - but again, any trained scientist would have to add that this idea doesn't PROVE there is anything - it's only an idea, unsupported by any evidence. So far all the phenomena used by proponents of so-called "intelligent design" have been scientifically explained.

Final point - no one chooses to be an atheist. You CHOOSE to follow a religion. Atheism is based on the fact that, as there is no evidence for God's existence, there is no reason to believe that he or she does.

Your question is intrinsically flawed. You assume that what you take as evidence, others will. This makes you look like a jerk.

Evidence? WHAT EVIDENCE? The only way to whole heartedly trust in the bible is by FAITH? Without faith, there is no empirical evidence that shows "The Bible", "Christianity" or GOD truly exists.

Anyone who has chosen to be an atheist will have thought very hard about making their choice.  Some people cannot accept that their is one God and a male one at that when creation is made up of  female and male people and animals.  The fact  that  the world and other universes exist doesn't have to attributed to one divine being. If you look at the creation myths of any culture their are usually a host of gods and causes and these were used to explain things that people couldn't explain in any other way.  Many people can look at the world and all that's in it and accept it's existence without the need for a central being i.e God.  It's a very personal perspective and not everyone can accept that there is any evidence for God.

Why do some people choose to believe in a Deity(ies) when there's no independent, verifiable evidence at all?

That's why you call it "faith", because you choose to believe in God even though you can't know for certain. By definition, having a religion ("faith") means believing in something that can't be proven.

Keep your faith if it keeps you happy, but don't be surprised that many other people don't go along with it.

I agree with rickcas06. What evidence? Please explain and don't say look at the sky and the moon. Science can prove how the Earth and the moon and the stars were created. What evidence do you have, the bible, please!

I have not chosen to be atheist. I was born, raised, informed about lots of aspects of life (thus also religion) but nothing made me choose religion, or athiesm for that matter. So you can say, I am as I was born, without religion. I simply do not believe in a higher power whatsoever.

Well, one can still manage to be an Atheist given that there is NO PROOF WHATSOEVER for god's existence. If find this question appalling and disgusting. It should be rephrased to be :

"Why do some people choose to believe in god, even with the lack of proof of his existence, and even how science has proven all of the crack-pot theories in the bible wrong?"

What evidence? Lol

People choose to listen to the Scientific evidence.

If there was evidence that god exists then there would be no atheists.

I know of no evidence that can convince me that G-d exists. I would be curious to know what evidence you are referring to.

Show me all that evidence you seem to know about, and then I'll give you my answer. :)

Because what you consider evidence, to anyone, not just atheists, sounds like nonsense to people who don't believe in God. I for one am athiest and wonder why you choose to be monotheist when there is so much evidence that we are made of atoms and not another persons rib. Your question seems very offensive to athiests and I have therefore attempted to let you see that question from our perspectives. Is it not so that Jesus or God decided to let people believe what they want? Then why are you, a christian, forcing them to believe? To help you understand: Atheism literally translates as absence of a god not people against religion. Monotheism means one god, polytheism means many gods and duothiesm means two gods. It sounds like you're targeting people without a god rather than every single person who isn't religious which is ridiculous because then you are singling them out and making them look bad just because they're athiests. It doesn't matter if they are people like you or me you say. Also, athiests are NOT only those who believe there is definitely the big bang! There are also those who are agnostic (waiting for a "sign") and Buddhists too because they technically don't have a god! They have a special person but no god, so why are you just targeting us based upon your biased idea of athiests. I am sick and tired of Christians constantly targeting athiests just because we don't believe! The majority of us don't attack you and those that do should not be seen as the entire community but rather as a person who has serious moral issues. We let you get on with your beliefs without trying to persuade you because we have respect, something you are very clearly lacking! So why can't you just believe what you want to believe, let us believe what we want to believe and just get on with your miserable lives without bickering about who popped their head out of the cloud or who blew up in the centre of the universe!

Its all OWN will my child.. If you don't have it you tend to be blind with all the evidence.. =D just respect each difference and love god more the way you know it..

What evidence?!! Are you going to invite jesus over for some tea?!! The evidence you know is like gossip.. Rumors... How do you think the bible was written?!!

Evidence?

Bring it forth so we may evaluate this evidence.

Atheism is a lack of belief in god(s) and for the very reason that every time a believer brings forth " evidence " for god(s) it is not evidence, that which manifests itself in the world.

There is absolutely zero *evidence* that God exists, your question is an insult to any thinking being.

Simple. There's a lot of information that proves otherwise. You're asking this question because you can't see how anyone could believe that there wasn't a god. Try seeing things in someone elses perspective. What proof of god do you have? A bible? It's a book without an author or any other real proof that what occured in it was an actual historical event. The beauty of the world? Beauty is defined by the brain through shapes and colour. A feeling of complete and utter hope? Well, you can believe what you want, but there is more scientific proof that there is no god.

I'm not trying to change your judgement or beliefs, I'm just saying that you can't say that without seeing it differently first. You do that and give your complete and honest opinion and I'll consider why that might be true. I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes, but you're the one who asked the question.

Because they are hard heads and not evan something right in front of them can make them believe.( Only god can )

HAhahahaha. What evidence? Send an angel with a package with some "evidence" inside to me.

Ok I hate to break it to you but god does not exist! There is too much evidence against his existance. If you are inteligent then you will see the truth, god is a myth, a fake, if god did exist he would of made you all intelligent yet he didnt, surely you can see that he does not exist. He is not real c'mon how could humans develop? How could fossils be created before people? The earth has been inhabited for around 5 billion years by things which eveolved into us and eventually into the people who thought of your god, sorry to put you down but HA

If you ask most Christian theologians, they would probably say that some people 'choose' atheism because God allows everyone to freely choose what they wish to believe, or what they would prefer to reject. That having been said, there are a great many factors that may lead one to reject theism and these may include disdain at the way in which some Christians, or leaders of religious institutions behave, a general lack of knowledge about religions, especially for people raised in entirely secular environments where atheism is, in fact, the default world view, as well as state-sponsored persecution of religious institutions and people of faith in the case of some dictatorships, or single party systems.

I would illustrate this latter point by drawing your attention to the former communist states of Eastern Europe. In most cases, there is an entire generation of people in many of these countries that grew up without religious instruction, or religious influence of any kind. This is especially true of those who were born between the 1960s and 1980s. In many cases, they did not 'choose' atheism, they simply grew up with it and it was considered the normal, default position to have.

I do think that there are signs of God's existence, although there is no proof and that is why faith and trust are such key components of the Christian message. Such signs, for example, include a sense of ethics and a conscience, which are present in nearly all people. Without this common sense of ethics, conscience and guilt, society could not function as people would not be likely to abide by rules and regulations. Threats and the looming spectre of punishment are not what usually deter people from committing crimes, since most people who do break the law presume that they will not get caught. Just check out the crime rates in those American states where capital punishment is used, in order to see that extreme punishment is not the best deterrent. One's good conscience and sense of ethics tend to function better, and I do think that this does point to the existence of God.

I do not think that religion should be based on blind faith, but rather on the notion that people of faith must bolster their spirituality with intellectual exploration, as well as an inquisitive mind, so that they are able to better explain their beliefs to others in a thoughtful, intelligent manner.

Such as?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I've never heard of any evidence that God exists. Personally, I think that the Bible has many flaws. For example, the Bible says that God created two sources of light (meaning the sun and the moon), but the moon isn't a source of light.

God never actually wrote the Bible himself, people wrote it down for him. Who can say that they even received his message? They could have just made it up.

I like the idea of helping people - the good Samaritan, loving your neighbour, etc. - but Christians do it because they will be judged at the end of their life and they don't want to go to hell, not because they believe it's the right thing to do. Honestly, though, hell doesn't sound like something a loving God would create.

I also think it is selfish of him to say that Christians are only allowed to worship him and no-one else.

I've heard that the Bible says it's okay to beat your slave...

When I look up in the sky I don't see any magical floating bastard that rules over us, so there is no god, thankfully.

I don't know why there are Atheists, but it makes me very sad that there are people that don't know what their missing out on.