In the July 25 issue of the New Statesman there is a feature on the replies atheists give to the question of why they do not believe. This gave equal space to non-believers, since the magazine had printed in a previous issue replies from believers.
The answers fell into a few categories. The first is "lack of evidence." For many, science can answer all the questions about why the universe is the way it is, or why we human beings behave the way we do. The second is more pointed, that religion is responsible for so much suffering in the world and has no basis in reality as it is. The third is the impossibility of believing in a loving deity when life is often incredibly cruel.
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