Originally posted by galveston75
Is there a reason you don't want there to be a god?
Why do you want there to be one?
Not believing in the existence of gods... Or believing in the non-existence of gods...
Does not require not wanting a god or gods to exist.
You could want there to be a god really badly and still not believe in a god if you didn't
think that the evidence supported such a belief. (or precluded such a belief)
Conversely you could really not want there to be a god and still believe in one if the
evidence did support such a position.
I find the idea of the bible god to be repulsive and terrifying and hate the idea of such
a god. However if there was evidence to support the existence of such a being then I
would be compelled by my own honesty and desire to know the truth whatever the truth
is to believe in it's existence however much I disliked it. (I believe in the existence of flat
Earthers, Creationists, and Holocaust deniers without liking any of them or wanting them
to exist)
However I distinguish between believing in the existence of a god and worshipping one.
While belief is a pre-requisite of worship, worship is not required given belief.
I would believe in the existence of a suitably evinced deity or deities, but I wouldn't worship
it/them.
The point about rationality/reason/skepticism and science is that they have at their core a
belief in searching for the truth whatever that truth is and regardless of what you might want
the truth to be.
If your pet hypothesis is unsupported by evidence (or disproved by it) then it gets thrown out.
If you really do CARE about the truth then the price is that you can't believe in things simply because
you wish the world was that way.
You believe in things only if they are adequately supported by evidence.
Reality is the arbiter of what is real, not the hopes or feelings of a monkey that falls out of trees.