Hey all, I'm new here, nice to meet you all :) I suppose the first question I'd like to pose to you all is why you have rejected faith and embraced atheism? It's not a loaded question, I am myself an out and out atheist. I'm curious to know though the reasons why others here reject religion and faith, or equally if there are any theists in our company, why do you embrace religious teachings? I'm just getting the lay of the land with this query I guess, but i would be genuinely interested to hear peoples responses
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I started to doubt the teachings I was raised with when I started to learn science.
Later, when I became more invested into history and philosophy, I found reason to reject it all together.
Now, I am an atheist for a different reason.
"God" is an ill-defined term with an ever changing meaning, making in damn near useless. Furthermore, "god" is never really defined with primary properties, making it a useless term altogether.
With what is commonly associated with god we can tell, when looking at metaphyisics and the science, it is logically impossible for god to exist (unless you use a weird definition for god).
For now I still do, but I am growing ever closer to not believing any longer.
The biggest thing that pushes me towards this is personal experience. If I had seen a miracle, been healed, or had any one of the marvelous things God is capable of doing happen to me, I probably wouldn't be on the edge of leaving.
The truth is, I value my personal experiences more than almost anything in this world, because no one can tell me what I have and haven't seen. Only I know that. The day I see a miracle, and I know for a fact that it isn't staged because it happens to me, and I can fairly convincingly rule out coincidence, that is the day I become solid in my faith, but I dare say that at this point, that isn't going to happen.
you cant say that several good things going after each other are a god related events.
and if you won a dice game many times in the same day its nothing
as long that there is 1% chance in anything that means you can make it.
subsequent winning means nothing.
and if the miracle u are talking about is healing then i think you have under estimated the people s will to live.
hope you can tell us about you experience :)
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Since you are a rather unique person around here (you seem to be undergoing a transition right before our eyes) Jade, I'd like to ask you a question. I'm not trying to be nasty, I just don't have a first hand experience (I never believed):
Why/how did you start believing in the first place. I certainly doubt you were born worshiping the Christian deity; how did you get to where you are?
It's what I was taught from day one of my life. Simple as that. I think anything that you were told as a child is something you will have a hard time discarding.
If there is one thing the Bible got right, it would be "train up your child in the way they should go so that when they are older they will not depart from it." I think we can all agree that if you get someone as a child, you have a much better chance of keeping them than if you try to convince them at an older age.
It was a long journey.
Catholicism - deism - paganism - atheism - C.S. Lewisism - misotheism (I've posted a thread on that subject) - back to atheism.
I want to fulfill my emotional needs but also be rational. I've ended up with an appreciative reverence for the Universe, though I don't call it God. (I dislike the word pantheist because of its connotation.)
It's really interesting to hear these perspectives. Learning about real science was definitely a huge part of my transition from catholic to atheist. Sometimes I like to say that I was saved and saw the light when I embraced the teachings of our saviour Charles Darwin (I'm being facetious of course, I'd never dream of actually comparing Darwin to any deities or prophets. Scientific knowledge is most certainly NOT comparable to religious belief). Aside from the obvious and glaring inconsistencies between scripture and the universe that we observe around us I also feel that morality based on theism is deeply flawed and contrary to what most of us would consider right and fair. As the great man said; Christianity is a "damnable doctrine." So many people in modern society are so scientifically illiterate however, which many of these modern day "prophets" exploit ruthlessly, that I wonder if moral or philosophical arguments for atheism might be more effective in persuading some of those that are undecided. Is pointing out concrete, straight forward examples of the immoral and illogical practices of organised religions easier than trying to explain quantum theory, radioactive clocks and alleles to people who have little or no understanding of such things? Anybody have any thoughts on this?
Paddy, you've asked why we reject faith and embrace atheism.
I do not reject faith since I've never had it to reject. I also don't consider that I embrace atheism since I don't think there is actually anything TO embrace. Atheism, for me, isn't something, it's quite the opposite...it's not something (theism).
This may sound like word dissection, but it is an important distinction for me.
"why do you not believe???"
Because from burning bushes that talk, the dead coming back to life, all the way to blowing yourself up to acquire seventy-two virgins, it's ridiculous.
Talking snake and donkey.
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this is my first comment ,
when i was a child i was raised to love god and i think i ve felt what they called it ( the touch of inner peace and gods touch)
but now i understand i was too naive because i was never allowed to even question the existence of the god itself ,
then ive come to realize that god is the lie we tell the children so they dont be crushed by the cruelty of the world .
example: when you tell your children about the fairy and santa claus and others ,you will still talk about them like if they were truth until your child begin asking about if they actually exist and then YOU see the perfect moment to tell them the truth(the problem is that for us atheist is we are the child who questions the existence of the fairy but thers no one to tell us the absolute truth ) ....2000 years ago they cant explain things like the rain and the sunrise/dawn aka THEY LACKED KNOWLEDGE and now gods is the lie that gets smaller when you know more.
and besides i really hate arrogant people so how am i supposed to love a god who wants to be praised all the time
and i cant see the loving god( who i supposed to be the best judge) punishing a sinner who sinned for a 70 years for example for ETERNITY and make someone how sees faith in his last moment in life enters heaven.
am (islamic) thats why i am using this site because its hard to tell other Islamic people how i feel.
ty for reading :)
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I have no beliefs, I only accept empirical evidence and rational argument. No religion has ever provided either one in support of their assertions, and thus I find them unacceptable.
I had always been an atheist, and at best an agnostic in later child years (early teen, perhaps)... But was a confirmed and re-confirmed atheist when I thoroughly studied Christianity.
The hypocrisy was what made very clear to me that theology couldn't possibly be based on anything more than a myth. A man is born from a 'virgin' mother, or a Zeus-like incident of deity-mortal rape (strike 1), that same man is supposedly the 'son of the one true deity' and is then supposedly sacrificed, only to wake up A-OK only days later (Strike 2!), and then finally that prayer was tested using observations of others praying, and I realized that no religion, ever created has actually matched the real proportions of the universe (strike 3!).
To top it all off, an "omnipotent" god needs a break after making Earth? Can't even work a full week? An "omniscient" god knows what people will do, 'makes them the way they are', then punishes them for behaving the way he knew they would, or were constructed to? That was just extra credit on top of all the other bullshit.
I just can't understand how people could believe that their imaginary sky-man could condemn them to torture, sexual violations, grief, war, and yet "loves them".
Religion's excuses are all far too convenient. It's simply goal-post moving. Science admits when it is wrong... Religion likes to believe it is never wrong, which is exactly -why- it is always wrong.
My two cents, have an awesome week!