Other A serious question to atheists...

[Zombocalypse]

A serious question to atheists in this forum...

Are you an atheist because you genuinely, truly believe and are convinced that there is no God, or are you an atheist simply because you're mad at God for not letting things go your way?

I ask because I was once an atheist. I was an atheist not because I didn't believe in God, but because I was mad at him for not making me the lord of the known universe. I was immature back then.

 

[Windsock]

Are you just assuming everyone is as immature now as you were back then? Is that it?

I have a hunch that's it.

Plus, we all know the best religion! I'm the pope of it, after all! Moistureism is love.

 

[Lorsh]

Overall, I just don't believe that one exists. I'm probably just not a very spiritual individual.

Though, when I used to be semi-religious, seeing arguments that brought the benevolence of God into question were probably a large factor that made me stop believing initially.

Nowadays, I don't really care. I don't feel any emotional connection towards any God(s), and that includes negative feelings.

 

[taliaangeni]

It's not only that I don't believe there isn't a god but it's also the people. I've had two strange things happen to me while at work. 1: When I worked fast food these old timers would come in every morning. The longer I worked there the more I got to know them. I started to notice a lot of the people who worked and ate there were religious. One morning an older guy asked me a religious question, I forget what it was but I remember my answer and his reaction. I told him I didn't believe in god but in science. (Not scientology) He looked at me like I had grown a second head and never really talked to me anymore after that.

2: I worked in a bargain store like Big Lots. I was helping this lady and she said to me, "You're so nice! You must be christian." That really rubs me the wrong way. Even now just thinking about it. Like, to her, the only nice people in the world must be christian.

 

[AsrielGoatChild]

Well, atheism inherently implies a lack of belief, not anger. From your own description, it seems you weren't technically an atheist, since you say that you still believed in a god.

Look at it this way - There's no possible way I can be mad at something I have no reason to believe exists.

 

[Zombocalypse]

Well, atheism inherently implies a lack of belief, not anger. From your own description, it seems you weren't technically an atheist, since you say that you still believed in a god.

Look at it this way - There's no possible way I can be mad at something I have no reason to believe exists.

You actually have a good point. Thanks.

 

[AsrielGoatChild]

No problem! Glad I could clear that up a bit for you.

 

[crumbelivable]

Honestly, i don't really believe there is a God like the one they show us. I always like to joke that the bible is an early fan-fiction too. But i do believe there might be some kind of spiritual thingy or afterlife out there.

 

[Windsock]

My personal theory is that we all turn into skeletons when we die and have to go to bone-jail.

 

[crumbelivable]

But what about the Skeleton war

 

[Idea]

As a catholic that strives to strengthen my own faith with reason, I kind of resent this question a little. Not because I don´t believe people can cease believing in God out of rage or greed, but simply because most of the time that an Atheist is not an atheist out of their own reason, it´s usually a disregard for the "old" values of religion, including God himself. It´s a rebellion, in those cases, much like a teen may rebel against their parents and end up doing some sh*t he didn´t really think about, but in this case as a militant movement, which is a real problem. So, my point is, there are dumb people on both sides, and oppressive people on both sides, but I would argue topics like these pull attention away from matters about modern religion that really matter, the attack on Christian values and for-profit religions, for example.

And I read a comment here saying "I don´t believe in religion I believe in science" at one point, quoting themselves. I won´t say who it was, since I don´t want to start some big argument here (though if anyone wants to argue off-site, by all means, be my guest), but that is just wrong on so many levels... The biggest one being that science and religion are not mutually exclusive by a long shot, rather, they complement each other. One does not dismiss the other.

 

[Windsock]

As a catholic that strives to strengthen my own faith with reason, I kind of resent this question a little. Not because I don´t believe people can cease believing in God out of rage or greed, but simply because most of the time that an Atheist is not an atheist out of their own reason, it´s usually a disregard for the "old" values of religion, including God himself. It´s a rebellion, in those cases, much like a teen may rebel against their parents and end up doing some sh*t he didn´t really think about, but in this case as a militant movement, which is a real problem. So, my point is, there are dumb people on both sides, and oppressive people on both sides, but I would argue topics like these pull attention away from matters about modern religion that really matter, the attack on Christian values and for-profit religions, for example.

And I read a comment here saying "I don´t believe in religion I believe in science" at one point, quoting themselves. I won´t say who it was, since I don´t want to start some big argument here (though if anyone wants to argue off-site, by all means, be my guest), but that is just wrong on so many levels... The biggest one being that science and religion are not mutually exclusive by a long shot, rather, they complement each other. One does not dismiss the other.

You're catholic? You really should convert to moistureism.

Aside, I really dislike the 'meme' that atheists are just rebellious teenagers. Like, is cold the rebellious teenager counterpart of heat? It's just absence of heat.

Of course, those richard-dawkins, 'black science man', bill nye, fedora-thumping, thesaurus fucking, bible burning, m'lady saying, 'nice guy' kind of atheists are atrocious, so I agree with you there.

 

[Idea]

Aside, I really dislike the 'meme' that atheists are just rebellious teenagers. Like, is cold the rebellious teenager counterpart of heat? It's just absence of heat.

I didn´t strictly say that. I said the unreasonable ones tend to be. The militant ones tend to be. Most of those just trash on religious people that they know are easy to pick on, while disregarding any serious argument and or just being pretentious in their answers to them instead of taking them seriously. The kind of people who would say religion is the cause of evil and point to the templars as an example, as if they knew a tenth of the history there. And speaking of history, the kind of people who purposely omit or change history books to make religion seem more harmful or less prevalent than it really was, just for the sake of not associating anything good with religion. The kind of people who seriously think that what religious people expect of heaven is an old man in a cloud. Those are the kind of people I compared to rebellious teenagers.

 

[Windsock]

Yeah, as I said, I agree with you there.

 

[MISTER UN. 0W3N]

To be honest, I started out not raised in a religious environment. So, I just didn't really think about the existence of a God and what have you. It's only when religion was "forced" into my life that I started to read through the Bible and formed my own opinion. Personally, I can't believe in a being that has caused so much pain and suffering for the sake of teaching Man a lesson along with all the "do's and don'ts" of Christianity such as the whole "don't wear mixed fabrics" dealio. That, and the whole "forced" into religion didn't help matters in convincing me that there is a God. For the most part, the people behind "saving my soul" were nothing more than the type of Christians that only wear the name as a status moreso than following their own beliefs. To me, it's still the most disgusting thing to experience if you want to try to present religion as something "positive" in someone's life.

But, bottom line, as an Atheist, I don't make it a point to push my own agenda/belief on to others that have a faith. At the same time, I also expect it the other way around. It just sucks that when I'm asked about my religious stance, it's usually from people looking to "fight me." At the same time, it's not like I'm dead set on my belief either. Maybe, it'll change? Maybe, something happens and I come to believe in a God? Who knows? People change all the time. Honestly, people can believe what they want in this world. Time's short. If having faith in a higher power (not just with Christianity) helps, then go for it. As long as your belief isn't forced on to others (physically and otherwise).

And.. ranting done. =w= /

 

[Lappi]

I was raised in a southern home and I was drilled with so much religion that it had a opposite effect. I became atheist at age 13 after I realized 2 things, If people are so sure of there belief then why do they codemn all opposing ideas, including the lack thereof. It makes no sense. Also 2. Is that, I read the full Bible and realized all the inconsistencies. So now I'm atheist. Yay, I guess.

 

[Alexander Time]

This post is probably gonna rustle some jimmies lol. Believe it or not I was once the same as you, though I never really called myself an atheist, I was honest about my personal thoughts re: God and religion.

 

[Axel The Englishman]

Meh. I just don't believe in God. I just don't believe in a supreme cosmic deity.

 

[KhazTheGiraffe]

Why can't we just let everyone believe in whatever they want and live in our own separate caves away from all people with only the bare necessities needed to survive and netflix and a tv and also unlimited supplies of puppies

 

[Count Gensokyo]

I find it impossible not to believe in at least a prime mover of the universe due to the idea of creation ex nihilo supported by the currently accepted ideas of the Big Bang Theory and expanding universe (universe had a beginning, therefore the singularity had a beginning. What caused the singularity?), and the high unlikeliness of life on Earth originating from purely naturalistic processes. The theory for how it happened is shaky, too. A "catalyst" (best thing offered is a lightning strike) struck a primordial sea at just the right conditions to somehow make life emerge from non-life. To me, it feels like many of these scientists are trying to manipulate data and probability itself to have something that seems to be evidence against their theories work out for them.

 

[minajesty]

I just don't believe anything like that. No Adam and Eve, or god, or any other figure mentioned. I only believe in what I see. And thats people right now, animals and such. Nothing beyond that. Im not atheist based of hate towards this figure most people believe in

 

[Neon Valkyrie]

Idea The bible is pretty clear (well, ... clear as it gets) ... you either choose religion, introspection, faith, and righteousness, or you choose something other than god to focus on.

"And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:" -Luke 17:20

Then just read ... like ... the REST of Luke.

A MAJOR point in that whole book is that the religious person sees the world, and without question, takes it as proof of god and nothing else.

That the pious are unconcerned with that which is earthly, and instead focus on the divine, and embrace the idea that we are not capable of knowing the truth, except through god, for we are petty and finite.

... a religion that fosters placation can not simultaneously foster discovery.

 

[Idea]

Neon Valkyrie I´d like to begin by stating that I am at this point on my second reading of the bibe, not counting masses, studying, research and other uses of reading the bible that not just the reading the bible.

Second, I can´t speak for every religious person, especially not christians, albeit I can´t speak for all christians either. Heck, I doubt I can even speak for catholics, my own religion, but I know for certain that I can´t speak for protestants or fundamentalists.

Now, I can say this, if you think that reading the bible and taking i litterally is something actually religious people do, you don´t know them very well. The most literal part of the bible, the new testament, still has a lot of things that are metaphorical. You may ask what the split is and who gets to decide, and that´s where I can´t defend protestants anymore, since we catholics answer "the pope and the holy church".

Of course, this does predicate on the assumption that the church has indeed, in of itself, that kind of authority. To explain this much (and I can if requested to, somewhere else preferably), I would take a lot longer than I have at 3 in the morning here, though. The point is though, that the Popes themselves and many religious figures as well, now considered Saints, that if religion couldn´t hold up to the facts, then it´s false and meaningless.


Regarding the passage you quoted: that passage is the rebuttal to the traditional judaic idea (of the time, I´m not sure if it holds up now), that the kingdom brought by the Messia would be an actual kingdom on Earth, conquered by the force of arms and the might of God. Jesus points instead to a Heaven beyond this world.


Yes a religion where they say "just accept this" is not one that fosters discovery. However, "accept this" is the basics of teaching. Until a child is old enough to understand why things are the way they are by themselves, they have to be forced to swallow it. And religion, if anything, defends that you follow your understanding of things, after all, God gave us freedom, and he gave us that precisely because he didn´t want people to just follow him like blind slaves. For being slaves we couldn´t be truly happy.

On the other hand, an ideology of rejection is defintely limiting. Especially when that rejection is founded upon little more than pretensiousness and ideas that should have been abandoned when one gained the ability to understand that there is more to the world than what is within their line of sight.

 

[Neon Valkyrie]

Idea I don't care how many times you've read the bible, I just want you to think about it critically. Either you take the whole book as a manual for being a member of your religion ... or you understand it the way you would any other great piece of fiction. Either the bible is a metaphor, and god is a metaphor, or both are literal. You can't say "I love the metaphorical story of lord of the rings, which is about the real person, Gandalf." That is neither logical, nor analytical. You can't hold the same work up to two standards. If you de-legitimize the source material that provides you with a though, you de-legitimize that thought. If you can't get that, you can't science.

Answering to a man who professes to know how the word of god should be updated is absolutely ludicrous.
The passage from Luke is followed by the suggestion that the kingdom of heaven resides within each of us, but that one who hasn't accepted it into their heart as a child is likely not going to accept it at all. That god reaps from the sinful and righteous alike, and that the repentant sinner is more exultant than he who professes piety but lives apart from humility ... perhaps by suggesting that a second reading of the bible had any more merit than the first. Give up all that thou hast.

And a philosophy of rejection is what science IS. That's why the term "scientific fact" is colloquial, and science has no actual facts. Every theory stands to be disproven, with the hope that the act of disproving it will lead to a greater understanding of the universe. How can you profess forward thinking when you cling to a multiple thousand year old understanding of what makes the universe work?

You can believe in a greater power in general, a guiding force, but there is no excuse for being catholic.

 

[KhazTheGiraffe]

Neon Valkyrie Idea

y'all can stop arguing early on cuz you're not gonna change each other's minds. You're both right in your own worlds so leave it at that :3