People are atheists for a number of reasons.

Some are real atheists .... truly not believing in any deity or afterlife. Some say they are atheists, but they really just don't know and choose not to think about it or practice any religion. Some, as I believe the OP was getting at, feel they might have to answer for things they don't want to answer for so choose to claim they are an atheist...whether they truly are or not. It makes them feel better about their choices in life.


I'll give you two major reasons why I think people choose not to believe, but first a little background.

I am not a christian/catholic but my family is, as are most of the people I associate with so my thought process regarding religion tends to relate to those concepts, because it's what my frame of reference is.

However, I am not an atheist either. I can say I probably switched between the first two groups from time to time but because of some personal experiences I have come to realize that there is more to this world than meets the eye. I don't claim to know WHAT that 'more' is, but I know without doubt that there is something. Some things were internal, as in, no way for me to prove to someone it was real. Other things were external with others witnessing. Some things were confirmed while I was not present, others having the same experience without knowing of mine. Anyway, why do people not believe?

The biggest I suppose is lack of evidence. There is absolutely no evidence of a deity. Things that are used as evidence really aren't, they are simply things we don't fully understand so are attributed to a deity. The origins of the universe, the complexity of life, mathematical relationships in nature, etc... These things are not proof of anything other than our ignorance of these things.

Next would be the perceived contradictions/hypocrisy in a supposed divine system. The concept of a merciful god who lets his most loved suffer, in some cases, horrendously...just to teach them a lesson is enough to turn many away. The idea is that god would punish man with eternal damnation and suffering for behaving the way he was created to behave. If it is true that god created man, then he created man to be as he is, yet punishes man for being the way he created him.

Yes, yes, I know ... free will. God gave you a choice. Well, you really don't have free will if god is as claimed. Here's where the really religious get angry with me....ready? If god is omnipotent as is claimed, he knows the past and future. He knows your future. If he knows your future, your destiny is already known before you are born. If your destiny is already planned, you do not have free will. Your outcome is determined no matter what you do. If he does not know your future, he is not omnipotent. If there is just one thing he does not know, he is not infallible. If he is not infallible, he is not worthy of worship and the entire religion collapses.

But but but.... man is only disobedient because he was tricked to into eating of the tree of knowledge. "The devil made him do it". Well, no. He disobeyed BY eating the fruit. Besides, wouldn't an omnipotent god have seen this coming? Either man was set up to fail, or god doesn't know what's going on.

These contradictions are hard to reconcile.