When talking to theists about the existence of God, who has the burden of proof? Does it fall to them or to secularists? Secularists would say it falls to theists because they are the ones making the claim for the existence of God. Theists say it falls to secularists to prove he doesn’t exist.

Theists say they “feel” God’s influence in their lives in the way of prayers being answered or coincidences and chance encounters causing wondrous things to happen. Then I have to say….many in the world are not so “divinely” blessed and prayers are not answered. Also, I would have to add that many in the world who disbelieve and do not pray have wondrous things happen to them as well.
The theists also will say the Bible is about God. Well, let’s look at the Origins of the Bible. Many copies and translations have been made by scribes. Ancient god stories pre-dating Christianity tell of gods that save, have virgin mothers, and overcome death. The Bible contains errors, inconsistencies, myths, legends, forgeries, and therefore not reliable as true. All this information comes from scientific studies by scientists, anthropologists, biologists, and astronomers to name a few.

One only has to really read the Bible to see the horrific things attributed to the God of the Bible. He supposedly let his people know that stoning of others should take place for not abiding by his demands. This Biblical God used sacrifice and suffering to supposedly save mankind from his sinful nature (if he made us in his image, why are we sinful?) and demands we worship him. Why, after thousands of years, have we not heard a peep from a God who supposedly wants the entire world to worship him?

The Bible and other religions give reason for prejudice against groups of people….women, slavery, gays, and those who don’t believe. Violence abounds all around the world, past and present, in the name of religion.

So how do we know which God to follow…or which religion to follow? It’s only a matter of what culture, religion or part of the world a person is born into. How can anyone say that his/her religion and beliefs are the “real” ones?

To come to my conclusion, I began to think outside the box. Too many things in the Bible were troubling to me and didn’t make sense. Over the years in educating myself, I have come to believe differently. Still I cannot prove for sure God does not exist, so I’ll leave it up to the believers to prove there is one.