Of course this is not about Christian, Muslim or religious God, as it can be seen as wrong easily by things like creating the world in 7 days, or stoning people to death. This is about the philosophical God, the first cause of the universe which is above all religions.
And also, while I think there is no God the creator, I still believe there are Gods as spiritual beings similar to Greek Gods of Olympus, they are not the creators but just special beings. The reason is simple, if you think the material in human brain can create consciousness, then material can create consciousness in other form, which are the minds of spiritual beings. Why don't we see them? Because the spiritual beings lack the physical body, so they can not contact with us, as we only contact through physical medium like sound, visible light or touching...
So special abilities like mind reading are real, people, but it does not has significant effects on the real world. I don't know why. And while I believe there are supernatural abilities that can affect physics, there is no evident to support it. The only problem of this "supernatural world", is that it seems useless, and dangerous, as people involves in it only want to manipulate other people, e.g. to scare or convert people to their faiths. No real benefit from them, no real knowledge or scientific achievements. If you want to get rich, you still need to work hard and smartly. Those spiritual beings can not do anything to help as it seems they are stupid, lack scientific, engineering and business skill. They are just a bunch of narcissistic liars, so be careful and don't trust them, they want to manipulate people. Just ignore them like they don't exist.
Back to the topic, my faith is that there is no philosophical God, or the first cause. I quite like the Rene Descartes's approach, that we assume we don't know anything about the world. Everything may be just a dream or an illusion, or a simulation (well, Descartes did not know about the simulation so it is just a catch in our time). That why everything is possible, e.g. maybe there is god, maybe there isn't, so we must try our best to reach the truth for ourselves.
Based on that stance, we should be open minded on every possibilities until we have a conclusion. And things closer to us, in front of our eyes are much more reliable than things far in the past or distance like God the creator. We should investigate thing we can know, before applying the knowledge on thing we don't know. That is how we see the universe, i.e. we test the physical laws on Earth, e.g. measure gravity law, speed of light... before we apply it to the stars and galaxies at distance. If we did the opposite, e.g. measure the stars and universe before knowing physical law, it can easily come into a superstition mess.
So here we go. I start with "soul", the concept about each individual self. It is very close to us, but by understanding this concept, we can know there is no God.
I - The soul
1. What is the soul?
Soul is simply just yourself. If you think soul doesn't exist, then yourself doesn't exist. If you think yourself doesn't exist, then hit your head to the wall, rob the bank, rape 10/10 chicks, just do whatever you want, because you don't exist. On this problem, I agree with Rene Descartes, as he said, I think therefore I am. The whole world may be just an illusion, a dream, or a simulation, but if you think, you see, you feel, you perceive, or whatever you do, that is the proof that you exist. So in the end, self exists, or the soul exists.
But while Rene Descartes knew self exists, he did not know what is the soul or yourself.
Soul is just what makes you yourself. What really makes your self? Does your name make your self? No, name can be changed, and you are still yourself. Does your body make yourself? No, body can be changed, e.g. limbs and organs can be cut, and replaced, but you are still yourself. People bet it on the brain, but I don't want to touch that matter yet, even with a ten meters pole.
OTOH, does your consciousness make yourself? Consciousness is based on the physical brain, e.g. things like memories, personality, thoughts... make you yourself? No, they are not. For example, if you don't think about anything, then in that moment, are you a different person? Or if you forget about a time in the past, e.g. your childhood, then you are a different person? Or in a dream, you have different personality and memories, then you are a different person? No, all the answer is no. Memories, personality... can be altered, e.g. by accidents that damage the brain, but you are still the same person. Since consciousness is based on the physical brain, it seems even the brain is irrelevant to the self.
From these examinations, it can be said that all your body and your mind (consciousness) are not yourself. Because of this, some people come to the conclusion that there is no self, as they can not find anything that don't change in your life. Some people come to another conclusion that there are multiple selves. For example, your childhood is a separate self, and your adulthood is another self... The extreme of this view is that, each moment is a separate self.
The self (soul) problem is one of the most difficult question. But if you understand, you will see why people can not find it.
2. The soul does exist
Firstly, for people that think there is no self, just punch your face, because there is no yourself, you don't exist. So don't worry, just punch it really hard, action is more worthy than words. Just show the world that you don't exist.
And for people who think there are multiple selves, you must agree while selves in different time are different, they are still not another person, i.e. you still can not become Bill Gate or anyone else. Or if you still think there are different selves overtime, just rob bank, then damage your brain, because the one goes to prison will be a different person, so why worry? Just enjoy the robbed money yourself and let that different self suffers later.
It shows that the ability to be the same person over time is actually the soul or self, no matter what you do, your identity don't change. A 1 month old baby that small and just fit in parent's hands, and the 1m80 guy 30 years later are the same person, even it is hard to find anything common between the two. Actually, there is maybe nothing the same in the body.
The human body is similar to a river, or a stream of water. From afar, the river looks like it is staying the same over time, the shape of it. But if you look closer, the river always changes, as new water flows in, and old water flows out, the whole river is new every moment. The human body is the same, from distance, it looks like it staying the same over years, but at molecular, atomic or even quantum level, it is just a stream of material. Electrons and atoms run in and out like a river of material.
If you think you are material, then when the river of material runs out of your body, to toilet, to dirt, to tree, to food, and to another human body, why are you not that person?
It shows that your identity is still the same when material changes. It should be noted that there is an essential difference between the human and the river example. In the real river, the material is changed completely. While the concept about the river stands still, it is just an imagination of the observer. Actually, there is no stand still river, it is just an illusion. OTOH, in the human body, even if the material is changed, the ability to feel consciousness is still in the same person. This ability does not follow the stream of material and can not be transferred to another body. Or in other words, the river has no self, while the human has self.
This identity is the only thing that doesn't change over time in your life, it is the display of the self (soul). It is real, it is not an imagination, reality actually happens like that. Because of this, we know the soul exists. Without this self, just imagine that today you are someone, and the next day when the stream of material runs out, you feel the consciousness of Bill Gates... That is not the case, you are stuck with this body.
3. The logic of self
Actually if you view it from logic, you will see why people can not find self. Self means what really makes you, which means soul must be self-existence. What is self existence? It can exist by itself. If your self is not self existing, then it does not really make you, as you must depend on other things. For example, a car is a sums of many components, so the car is not self existing, because it must depend on others, e.g. tire, engine, chassis... Tear them apart and the car does not exist anymore, the car can not exist by itself. OTOH, tire, engine, chassis... are also not self existing because they all can be decomposed into multiple compositions.
If something exists by itself, then it means its existence does not depend on other thing. So other can not change it, because its properties are defined by its internal, not external thing. Self existing means a car is a car by itself. A tire or a human can not change it, because the car makes it itself, makes its own properties, how it looks... But since human can change the car, destroy it, the car can not exist by itself. The car's properties and existence depend on external factors.
So every material does not have self, or self existence. Material depends on other material to exist, they interact with each other, destroy each other and create new material... They can not exist independently, or self existing.
Another sign that material does not have self, is that material changes over time. Because when something changes, it turns into a different thing, not itself anymore. Self means makes it what it is. If a thing makes it what it is, how can it change? Because change means not make it what it is, as it can not support its own existence.
From this logic, self existence can not be divided by space or changed by time. If it is divided by space, its existence depends on multiple components, if it is changed by time, it turns into a different things, not itself anymore.
So yourself must be self existing, because it doesn't change over your life, when your whole body changes from sub kilogram to 70 kg, or even when you replace your organs, your self doesn't change.
4. Detecting the soul
If self (soul) exists, it can not divided by space or changed by time. Since material or consciousness is changed over time, that why soul (self) can not be material (body, bone, limbs, brain...) or consciousness (feeling, memories...). Because if that is the case, self will be changed over time. A self turns into another thing, is not itself anymore. A self must not change, and reality actually shows that your identity doesn't change.
That why no one can find soul, especially the scientists. Because the scientists use physical instruments to interact or measure physical phenomena (material), they can not measure non physical phenomena like consciousness. And since self does not change, scientists can not measure it, too. Because from physical point of view, any measurement is just a change. For example, to see a image, electrons need to change their energy level, to emit photons. Any physical measurement means an interaction and a change of something in space, time, energy... A thing does not change, can not be measured, because it does not interact with anything in space and time. Quite the opposite, it will be shocking if physicists or scientists can measure the soul.
The conclusion is that, soul does not change, even the whole body changes, and because of that, soul is not material nor consciousness. All of these are facts that can be seen from reality, in front of you. OTOH hand, the concept of God the creator needs to be returned to the beginning of time, and can not be seen in the moment. Which is easier to see and verify? Of course the soul (self) is easier to see and verify, because it is here and now.
5. The false concepts of soul
People are often mistaken the concept of self. Some of them are listed above, e.g. there is no self, or there are multiple selves of one person. Some people think consciousness is self, but it is not, as consciousness changes over time. Actually, the most accurate description about the self is that, both body and mind are not self.
Another misconception of the soul, is that religious people think there is a thing in this body that doesn't change. This concept is wrong, because when you think about in this body, you mentioned a volume of material in space and time. That means the soul depends on material (in this body) and space (the volume of this body), which is totally wrong. If something depends on material and space, it will change. So if the soul lives in this body, it will change. That why the concept is wrong, we can not mention soul in anything relate to space and time.
Soul is not something in this body, and you can not find soul in this body. Soul is outside of space and time. It is weird but that is the reality of the matter.
6. There is no God
While soul is outside of space and time, God the creator, or the first cause, depends on time. We can not say there is a creator, but the universe has no beginning. If there is the first cause, the universe must have a beginning measured in time. The creator or first cause only has meaning when we talk about time. For example, the Big Bang is one of the possible first cause when we reverse the process of the universe. But since the big bang is based on the spreading of space and material over time, it can not change the soul, as the soul does not interact with material, space and time. So, even the big bang can not create the soul because the big bang is just a phenomenon of space and time, while the soul is outside of space and time.
In the end, the soul is self existence, because it does not change and interact with material. So it can not be created. The existence of soul is based on itself, i.e. self existing. That means the soul exists through infinite time, there is no beginning or end for the soul. And since the soul is self existing, it can not be created, and has no beginning, it means there is no God.
If you think God can self exist, then why don't you accept something like self can be self exist? Which one is harder to verify? The God that no one has ever seen, and you needs to return to the beginning of time to verify, or the soul, stands here with you (it is actually you, not with you). The conclusion about the self is hard to believe, but that is just how the reality is.
II - The rant
I am quite annoying, so I will try to bash religions.
I can stand monotheistic religion, as it is proved above, there is no God. Yourself is a God, why do you need to find and worship another God? We are all God, as each individual, we all have an immortal soul, that exists from the beginning of time, so why lower yourself in front of a faked God?
We are all equal, because our souls are all pure, nothing in this world can touch our souls, as they are outside of space and time. No one created us, we are already God by our own nature. But people lower themselves to the faked God, because of traditions or teachings, that is terrible. Like in a totalitarianism state, where people think they are inferior to their leader because of brainwashing, that is totally wrong. Every soul is pure, and equal, we are much higher than the God people created for us.
If you don't see this immortal soul, then what is the matter of life anyway? Even if there is God, without an immortal soul, your life is just a flash in the amount of time, so why should you worship God? You will cease to exist. If there is an immortal soul, then we don't need God, as God can not create anyone.
1. Respect life
I heard a Christian taught that Christianity loves and respects human life, because life itself is the creation, or gift from God. I find this is pathetic, and they said like if life is not from God, then there is no meaning in it. What the heck is this?
First of all, respecting life because its God's creation, is not respecting life at all. That is only respecting God. Imagine you love a girl and tell that girl, I love you and respect you because you are the daughter of (e.g. a billionaire name). That is not love, its gold digging. Or someone tells Ivanka, I love you because you are the daughter of the president. That is not love for the woman, that is the love for her father. Do you say to your wife you love her because she is the daughter of someone else?
How blind and pathetic the Christians when they think they love life like that? Why can't they respect life just because of life? So for example, if life is not from God, then we should kill as we want? Why can't we respect other because we just don't want to hurt them? Or we just want to make them happy because everyone want to be happy? Why we need God for this is so pathetic. Why can't we just love a girl/woman for herself, not because of her parent?
2. Meaning of life
And then Christians talk like if there is no God, or if life is not God's creation, then life is meaningless. What the heck is this? Actually, there is no God, and life is meaningless. But even if there is God, how can God make a meaning out of life?
For example, let say if you give birth to a child, then does that create a meaning for this child? No, you don't give any meaning to the child's existence, you only give birth to it. And in a similar manner, if God creates life, then he just creates life, he does not create any meaning for life.
If there is God, then what is the meaning for God's existence himself? Who gives meaning to God's existence? If God's existence does not have any meaning, then how can God gives meaning to life?
If God's existence has a meaning in himself, then why can't life have a meaning in itself? Why does life need God for its meaning? Too much pathetic.
3. God is not perfect
Perfection is just an illusion when we lack the information. Hardly we see anything as truly perfect in real life, so it is clearly just an imagination.
What is perfection? Good in every way? But hardly anything can be like that. Reality is an exchange, not much can do about that. For example, being rich is consider good, but it takes your freedom in someway. If you are dirt poor, you can travel to many regions without anyone noticing, but by being very rich, travelling like that will attract robbers, criminals who want to take your life or your money, so there is a negative side. Being a celebrity will attract unwanted attentions... Almost everything in reality has its own cost, so there is no perfection. Only our imagination creates the perfection, even then, we don't know how perfection really looks like.
What is perfection? We think about 10/10 perfect girl/woman, but they can't have it all. For example, long hair is considered beautiful, but short hair has its own amazing look, too. A girl can only choose between one of them, she can not have both long hair and short hair at the same time. So a perfect woman should have long hair or short hair? Maybe you choose long hair until when you see an amazing girl with short hair then everything go out of the window. By choosing one, she lacks the other's beauty, and is not perfect, i.e. has everything that good. Black hair or blonde? White or tanned, Asian or Brazilian girl, fat or skinny, tall or short, each has her own unique beauty. No one can has it all or has everything that good. By choosing one form, she must sacrifice the others.
What is the perfection? Imagine the Earth that is a perfect sphere. There is no mountain, no river, everywhere is perfect round under the water. That is a perfect geometry, but will anyone consider that is a perfect planet for life? No tree, no animal, no joy, no anything just for the perfect shape. That is the price of perfection: it is not perfect at all.
Everything has to make the exchange, so the reality is perfect in it own sense. Without pain, what is the meaning of happiness? Without poor, what is the meaning of being rich? If God wants to be perfect, he should not exist, because existence is not perfect. If he is tall, he is not short enough, if he is short, he is not tall enough, if he is average, he is still not tall at all. If he is beautiful, he is not familiar with the poor, if he is ugly, he is not worth to be God. What kind of existence should he be? Not in human form, OK, he is so alienated. Or should God exist as a sphere? Why doesn't God exist as a cube or a cylinder? What is the perfect form for God to exist? Why doesn't God exist as a huge spaghetti disk? What makes sphere better than spaghetti?
So God chooses to exist without any shape, any size, any form to avoid anything imperfect? That still is not perfection, that is nothingness. Only nothingness can be without any shape, size or form. So now God is nothingness, well, we can call him coward. If God is nothingness, then he is equivalent to some of the spaghetti monsters that flying in vacuum around the Sun. And even His Holy nothingness is not perfection.
It shows that we can think about perfection easily, but the hard part is that we can not imagine how actually perfection looks like. We can say, it is not our understanding, but that is just an excuse. In the end, it is quite simple, God can not be perfect, because there is no God.
