hello!
Offline Hello everyone.
I have had internal debates with whether or not god existed for a long time. And I'll admit that my christian upbringing made me hold on to that belief out of fear. All of the scientific evidence that I have seen/read about has always made more sense to me than a belief in some all knowing, all powerful, invisible creator based on faith. I have always been a person who needs physical evidence to believe something. It has taken me 27 years to come to my personal conclusion that, in fact, god doesn't exist.
I have read through a few of the topics in these forums and have seen repeatedly multiple points that I have made myself, all pointing to the nonexistence of god. And then I see attempts by christians to make their point, and I laugh because they actually make no sense.
I will be a frequent visitor here. I'm glad I found this place.
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I am fairly new here myself, but would like to say welcome aboard and that I can somewhat relate. I rejected religion, many years ago, when I was a teen, but could not totally admit to myself, at that time, that there was not a God. I clung onto that belief, for many years, long after it was no longer rational. I think it was simple fear and the simple fact that my background was so strongly religious that it prevented me from summoning up the accurate courage to simply say, what I internally felt was true. That god does not exist. I will say this, it was somewhat frightening at first, to finally admit that all of my religious background and all the other spiritual paths that I had tried out were all a lie. But then, it became intensely liberating. Becoming an open Atheist has probably proven to be one of the most beneficial things that have ever happened in my life. Hope you enjoy your time here as much as I am enjoying mine.
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
Congratulations Sbowman. Welcome aboard, it's much easier to defend your position from this side of the fence, have fun with it.
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Well done, showman. I was in my early 40s before I was able to admit to myself that I could no longer believe in any kind of god. Congratulations on liberating yourself from shackles of religion.
Reality is the graveyard of the gods.
I was 35 when I suddenly realized that I had no belief in gods. I wish I had seen a place like this or known atheists personally because it would have happened a lot quicker.
I'm 62 now and have never regretted the change, and I'm a very happy person.
Welcome to the forum.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors, | As I foretold you, were all spirits, and | Are melted into air, into thin air; | And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, | The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, | The solemn temples, the great globe itself, - Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, | And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, | Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff | As dreams are made on, and our little life | Is rounded with a sleep. - Shakespeare
I really wish that I would have let go of trying to believe a long time ago. I guess I was just afraid of what would happen. Well no lightening bolts have come my way so far and everything is just as stressful as before lol. Anyway, hi and congrats. It so much easier when you give up all hope
If all the Christians who have called other Christians " not really a Christian " were to vanish, there'd be no Christians left.
I had a christian upbringing also but the fears came before age 10 and the question of "why should I or anyone be afraid of a loving god" hit me early; and the answer I heard was "or else you go to hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!" ; so much for a loving god. No loving god: No god: No religion and no need of one.
"Very funny Scotty; now beam down our clothes."
VEGETARIAN: Ancient Hindu word for "lousy hunter"
If man was formed from dirt, why is there still dirt?
I was 30 when I finally realized I didn't believe. But it feels so good inside. All that confusion, the inability to really defend your old beliefs falls away and your head is clear.
A lot of atheists simply say they never believed even as kids. I began to feel bad that I was so thick headed it took me 30 years. But that was 6 years ago and I'm happier now without those odd, conflicting ideas floating around.
Now you can experience the fun of listening to Christians say, "You don't believe because you want to do whatever you want and not be held responsible." It's strange the ideas that believers invent to try and understand why we don't believe. Heck, I lead a more "sin free" life now than back when I was a Christian. I just don't go to church. Oops, breaking a commandment every week.
Welcome!!!
"I am an atheist, thank God." -Oriana Fallaci
Thanks for the welcomes. If anyone cares to read, I posted a more in detailed story about how I came to this point in the "talk about how you escaped religion" thread in general conversation.
I've kinda trolled the forums reading topics I'm afraid but its great seeing people sharing the same beliefs I do.
www.facebook.com/sbowman1983
Welcome!
Everything makes more sense now that I've stopped believing.
Congrats on escaping the cycle of iniquity.
Now you can experience the fun of listening to Christians say, "You don't believe because you want to do whatever you want and not be held responsible." It's strange the ideas that believers invent to try and understand why we don't believe. Heck, I lead a more "sin free" life now than back when I was a Christian. I just don't go to church. Oops, breaking a commandment every week.
I know exactly what you mean by that. Some of the most common ones that I seem to get are :
Without a God, you have no basis for right or wrong.
Which makes me wonder, could it be the only reason why they follow a "right/wrong" concept is because they think a God is watching ?
Without a God, your whole life is meaningless.
Hmm, did it ever occur to them that I find so much more mystery and wonder to life, now that I do not try to use a God to explain everything.
Without a God, your life must be empty.
Wonder how they draw that conclusion ?
Without a God, there is no purpose to all of this.
So, you would rather just use the word God to explain everything rather than actually think about purpose ?
There's hundreds more. I've heard them so many times that I almost have automatic responses when I get them. Depends on what mood that I am in. The one that I like the most is :
Don't you want to go to Heaven ?
To which I always reply : Not if all these religious people are going to be there.
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
I really hate the alleged morality of the god claim when it comes to their claim "If I didn't believe in god I would rob and murder".
So what they are saying is unless daddy is telling them what to do they couldn't figure it out on their own.
If there is change on your co workers desk, the believer wouldn't take it because there was a camera. If there were no camera, they would take the change.
The atheist morality is not dependent on a fictional cosmic camera. That change on the same desk, would stay put, regardless of a camera being there or not.
It is a childish morality the god of Abraham sells and a very arbitrary dictatorial on at that. The god of Abraham is not only insecure but demands you be dependent on him, rather than be independent without him.
Better morality and healthy morality is doing the right thing, not out of fear of punishment or promise of reward, but doing the right thing, even if no one is watching and even if you don't get rewarded for it.
The morality of the god of Abraham reflects the selfish self centered abusive husband who threatens to beat the wife if they try to leave him.
Now here is where the believer AND atheist make this a pissing contest which it really isn't.
Being an atheist DOES NOT automatically make you moral anymore than being a Christian automatically makes one moral.
The only thing the atheist is arguing in this case is that a god is not needed for morality, that doesn't make all atheists moral by default.
Humans are all capable of the full range of human emotions and actions, both good and bad, regardless of label or position. The argument here does not negate that fact or place one human above another. It merely argues that a deity by any label is a needless addition to explaining human behavior and why we do what we do.
Atheists should not claim that by merely making this argument that a god is not needed for morality that all atheists will always do the right thing, it is merely an argument that a god is not required to do the right thing.
This is merely an argument about use of logic, not absolutes in actual human actions.
It simply makes more sense to do things because they are the right thing to do, not out of fear of being watched or promise of a bribe. The god concept does not reflect a mature attitude of morality. It makes you the baby in a nanny state. And not just a nanny state, but an abusive state, where even if you are doing the right thing, if you chose not to pay homage to the cosmic camera, but are still doing the right thing, you still get the shit beat out of you.
The god of Abraham reflects more the Stalin and Kim Jong Ill and Iran theocracy. All those authoritarian rulers are fine with you as long as you don't rock the boat or question them. You "Obey or else".
The God of Abraham is a tyrannical concept that has plagued humanity for thousands of years, and it has only been because of the likes of people like Pain and Jefferson that humanity has learned to live with delusional thinking without allowing the powers that be turn that thinking into tyranny.
Humanity has to question all forms of dogmatism, be it worship of the state, or worship of a god. BOTH are destructive to human rights and are equally oppressive.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
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Very well put, Brian37.
I'm sure you've noticed by now, by talking to Christian Crack Heads, how completely different they sound. I'm sure you will be glad to be rid of that glassy stare they all seem to have. It is so much nicer to listen to a Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris or Chris Hitchens, then well.....just about every other moron that believes in....well just about everything they are told.
You were born without belief, and you've finally come back to the family. You are Re-born!!!
Welcome sbowman! I hope you'll enjoy your stay here, and get in some good practice debating with the resident theists
No kidding, but there's also a drawback to that: Sometimes it's too easy, and debate becomes less challenging and more repetitive.
But then again, there's always politics to debate about when religion becomes too obviously bunk to bother debating.
I agree with you on that but my political beliefs would probably get me killed on here lol and I'm afraid I'm alone on my beliefs here. While we can prove whether god exists or not, politics are strictly opinion. I've avoided the political forums here and will continue to do so.
www.facebook.com/sbowman1983
You're reborn too.... nice to see you back here.
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