PoetPhilosopher
Veteran Member
I've made 3 to 4 pro-Atheist threads in the past.
For me, the reason why I'm religious, is I can't come to grips with the idea of there being no afterlife, no meaning to a meaningless existence. An atheist may say "Ah, but life does have meaning, and you should enjoy it now!", but no, my life isn't very enjoyable in every sense of the word, and part of it is due to being surrounded by Fundamentalists who always think they know what's best for me.
Another counter would be that an atheist may say "When you die, your life has meaning because you decompose into part of the environment." Well even fire doesn't destroy atoms, but that statement doesn't mean your life after death will really necessarily be made useful.
My issues with religion is that every great religious guide, or manifestation of God, has gotten at least one thing wrong. Even my Bahaullah said that homosexuals should see a physician; if they see a modern physician, they will often likely get told that if that's all they're struggling with, well there's no cure.
I also don't understand why these manifestations of God can't give us hints about science to show they are correct in their statements and guide us.
My best understanding is that it's all a test. That God wouldn't want people to choose Him over say, helping someone in need. That He leaves people to decide the best morality, then is impressed when people come up with it. That God is a bit of an obstacle.
I think when people die, they are going to be shocked to be in the midst of everyone who died, in some heaven like place, and have God tell atheists, "Well done, my faithful creation."
So even though I insert God into some of my beliefs, I still think there are things atheists can teach me about life, morality, and science.
Maybe a start to all this is me saying I don't quite understand whether it takes faith or not to believe in the Big Bang. Faith that how should I put this, the starting of it all came from absolutely nothing, or how that "something" didn't have to be created.
I do feel like if God exists, He is kind of trapped rather than trapping us into say, worship - you see, if God punishes people for something no one in the world quite understands, He isn't a God worthy of worship. Yet if he doesn't and IS worthy of worship, Him not establishing this discipline means atheists are not going to be punished anyway.
For me, the reason why I'm religious, is I can't come to grips with the idea of there being no afterlife, no meaning to a meaningless existence. An atheist may say "Ah, but life does have meaning, and you should enjoy it now!", but no, my life isn't very enjoyable in every sense of the word, and part of it is due to being surrounded by Fundamentalists who always think they know what's best for me.
Another counter would be that an atheist may say "When you die, your life has meaning because you decompose into part of the environment." Well even fire doesn't destroy atoms, but that statement doesn't mean your life after death will really necessarily be made useful.
My issues with religion is that every great religious guide, or manifestation of God, has gotten at least one thing wrong. Even my Bahaullah said that homosexuals should see a physician; if they see a modern physician, they will often likely get told that if that's all they're struggling with, well there's no cure.
I also don't understand why these manifestations of God can't give us hints about science to show they are correct in their statements and guide us.
My best understanding is that it's all a test. That God wouldn't want people to choose Him over say, helping someone in need. That He leaves people to decide the best morality, then is impressed when people come up with it. That God is a bit of an obstacle.
I think when people die, they are going to be shocked to be in the midst of everyone who died, in some heaven like place, and have God tell atheists, "Well done, my faithful creation."
So even though I insert God into some of my beliefs, I still think there are things atheists can teach me about life, morality, and science.
Maybe a start to all this is me saying I don't quite understand whether it takes faith or not to believe in the Big Bang. Faith that how should I put this, the starting of it all came from absolutely nothing, or how that "something" didn't have to be created.
I do feel like if God exists, He is kind of trapped rather than trapping us into say, worship - you see, if God punishes people for something no one in the world quite understands, He isn't a God worthy of worship. Yet if he doesn't and IS worthy of worship, Him not establishing this discipline means atheists are not going to be punished anyway.