I was initially pushed toward atheism by my realization that neither Christian apologetics\u2019 argument from evidence nor its the argument from experience were actually valid. After realizing this I had an additional problem: the core doctrines of Christianity stopped making sense. End the end formulating my own version of Pascal\u2019s Wager, which I call Libby Anne\u2019s Wager, allowed me to make peace with the God question and accept my lack of belief.<\/p>\n
The Argument from Evidence<\/strong><\/p>\n I see no evidence of a God or a supernatural realm. Little by little, science has eliminated the need for God, explaining the causes of rain, disease, and earthquakes. If there was a God out there, you would think it would be fairly obvious. Wouldn\u2019t a God make himself known, show himself to be real, leave some evidence of his existence? Nope. Christians often point to\u00a0the Bible<\/a> or\u00a0the Resurrection<\/a> or\u00a0young earth creationism<\/a> as proof of God\u2019s existence, but none of these arguments hold up to scrutiny.<\/p>\n The Argument from Experience<\/strong><\/p>\n Many Christians will argue that God does make his existence known \u2013 through personal connections in our hearts. Many Christians will speak of having a \u201crelationship with Jesus.\u201d I had one too. And then I realized that\u00a0it was all in my head<\/a>. If God really does form personal relationships, I began to wonder, why do people who all claim to be trying to listen\u00a0hear such different things from him<\/a>? Why has the church been\u00a0forever fractured<\/a>? This made no sense at all.<\/p>\n Christianity Stopped Making Sense<\/strong><\/p>\n Even as I came to see that there was no evidence for God\u2019s existence and that feelings alone weren\u2019t enough to justify belief, I also began to realize that basic Christian doctrine makes no sense. Christianity is a religion based on human sacrifice. Why, I wondered, would God set up a system where he has to have his son brutally murdered in order to forgive humans, whom he created flawed in the first place? The Trinity, which I had so long justified as \u201ca mystery,\u201d also stopped making sense. How could God turn his back on himself on the cross, and how could part of God \u201cdie\u201d while the other parts remained alive? It made no sense.<\/p>\n Libby Anne\u2019s Wager<\/strong><\/p>\n Yet for a long time I was afraid of identifying as an atheist, afraid of being wrong and afraid of being damned to hell. I clung to the idea of a God and clung to faith, mostly because of\u00a0Pascal\u2019s Wager<\/a>. But then someone pointed out to me that Pascal\u2019s Wager was inadequate: What if it turned out that it was the Muslim God, not the Christian God, that existed? What if God valued skepticism rather than belief? With these thoughts in mind, \u00a0I developed what I call\u00a0Libby Anne\u2019s Wager<\/a>.<\/p>\n When it comes to the question of God, there are four basic options:<\/em><\/p>\n 1. There are no gods.<\/em> In the case of options one or two, what we do or do not do here on this earth does not ultimately matter in a cosmic sense and will have no consequences after death. In the case of option three, a loving God would care more about whether we live by love and help others than about whether or not we believe in him or her. In the case of option four, do we really want to serve a God who cares more about legalism than love, a God who sentences humans to eternal torture for not worshiping him or her?<\/em><\/p>\n After formulating this wager my fear left. I was raised a Christian and have little to no experience outside of Christian traditions, but this wager set my mind at ease as to the existence of the Gods of other religions because it applies there too.<\/p>\n Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n In the end, I\u2019m fairly certain that there is no god or gods \u2013 about as certain as I am that there are no fairies or unicorns \u2013 but if there turns out that I am wrong, I\u2019m not worried.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was initially pushed toward atheism by my realization that neither Christian apologetics\u2019 argument from evidence nor its the argument from experience were actually valid. After realizing this I had an additional problem: the core doctrines of Christianity stopped making sense. End the end formulating my own version of Pascal\u2019s Wager, which I call Libby […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3331","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n
\n2. There is a god or gods, but he\/she\/they do not care about humans.<\/em>
\n3. There is a god or gods, and he\/she\/they are good and loving.<\/em>
\n4. There is a god or gods, and he\/she\/they are evil and hateful.<\/em><\/p>\n