People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive. - Blaise Pascal
And then they go looking for reasons to substantiate their belief.
This likely applies to one’s ‘rejection of’ the existence of God...as well as one’s ‘belief in’ the existence of God.
Thomas Nagel is a professor at New York University who teaches philosophy and law, and he’s an atheist. And as an atheist he makes an extraordinary confession...he didn’t just come to the conclusion based on the data...he said:
“I ‘want’ atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers.” - Thomas Nagel
“It isn’t just that I don’t believe in God and, naturally, ‘hope’ that I’m right in my belief. I don’t ‘want’ there to be a God; I don’t ‘want’ the universe to be like that.” - Thomas Nagel
There’s clearly a difference between “I *don’t* believe it” and “I don’t *want* to believe it”.
