I'm now an atheist

[Stash]

:clap

Relax!

God gives you reason, then withholds sufficient evidence to reasonably conclude that He exists.
Obviously he's not overly worried about weather you believe in Him or not.

Perhaps He wants to see how you will conduct yourself without the threat of Hell or lure of Heaven motivating your every decision. Maybe he hopes you can behave properly as an independent moral agent.

Someone who can conduct himself properly with no threat of retribution or promise of reward is clearly a much higher quality person than those craven individuals who blindly follow an arbitrary, external set of rules.

I havent read the rest of this thread, but I just wanted to say that even though I am quite certain there is no God, I love what you said... It sounds weird, but thats a lovely thougth process...

 

[Sententia]

:clap


I havent read the rest of this thread, but I just wanted to say that even though I am quite certain there is no God, I love what you said... It sounds weird, but thats a lovely thougth process...

Right there with ya. He is well spoken and reasonable for the most part. Refreshing like water in the desert. :clap

 

[stacey bo bacey]

Phasmid, I feel you on this.

I am atheist, yet I don't feel comfortable using that term to describe myself yet because it literally just happened, like this month. That may sound odd to those whose transitions took an extended period of reflection and questioning, but to me it was like the snap of my finger. It was like when I learned how to tell time in 3rd grade. I remember that day, I was completely lost and didn't understand at ALL, haha, and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I just GOT it. It was weird because it just happened so suddenly.

My struggle is, while I no longer believe there is a god and I feel that is the honest truth in my heart, I still find myself thinking about him and sometimes I will start to talk to him or start saying little prayers in my head all of a sudden. I think I still do this out of habit. I think things like that will fade with time as I get used to this new idea. Does that make sense? To know that you don't believe in him, yet still revert back to old habits just because the idea is so fresh to you? While I am more at peace than I ever have been about my beliefs, it's harder than I thought. It's like breaking up with someone...your feelings just don't stop. I feel love for the God I once thought existed and I think I'll always cherish the relationship I had with him..because at the time it was what I believed to be true. I feel sad that I now have to let go of the notion of Heaven, of seeing my friends and family again. They're gone. But that just makes me cherish my life and the lives of those around me SO much more.

But those feelings definitely don't override what I feel is true now. I believe with time, like all of you are assuring, it will get easier. In the meantime, I will keep enjoying my newfound freedom/peace of mind!

 

[Alceste]

Phasmid, I feel you on this.

I am atheist, yet I don't feel comfortable using that term to describe myself yet because it literally just happened, like this month. That may sound odd to those whose transitions took an extended period of reflection and questioning, but to me it was like the snap of my finger. It was like when I learned how to tell time in 3rd grade. I remember that day, I was completely lost and didn't understand at ALL, haha, and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I just GOT it. It was weird because it just happened so suddenly.

My struggle is, while I no longer believe there is a god and I feel that is the honest truth in my heart, I still find myself thinking about him and sometimes I will start to talk to him or start saying little prayers in my head all of a sudden. I think I still do this out of habit. I think things like that will fade with time as I get used to this new idea. Does that make sense? To know that you don't believe in him, yet still revert back to old habits just because the idea is so fresh to you? While I am more at peace than I ever have been about my beliefs, it's harder than I thought. It's like breaking up with someone...your feelings just don't stop. I feel love for the God I once thought existed and I think I'll always cherish the relationship I had with him..because at the time it was what I believed to be true. I feel sad that I now have to let go of the notion of Heaven, of seeing my friends and family again. They're gone. But that just makes me cherish my life and the lives of those around me SO much more.

But those feelings definitely don't override what I feel is true now. I believe with time, like all of you are assuring, it will get easier. In the meantime, I will keep enjoying my newfound freedom/peace of mind!

It's not necessarily one or the other. You don't need belief in order to feel spiritual love and bliss, or to pray. Liberating yourself from a religious doctrine can open the door to an even greater relationship with divinity, such as it is (unknowable). Now that you have let go of one God, all the gods of the world are available to you. None of them exist any more than the others, but they all have properties that can contribute to your psychological growth and your pursuit of contentment. Guan Yin, the Buddhist goddess of compassion, is an excellent companion in tense or angry times. Kokopelli is great for certain types of mischief. The God you grew up with is useful when you feel vulnerable or overwhelmed by unfamiliar things. Somewhere there is a god or goddess dedicated to the things that are most important to you, and even though he or she does not "really" exist, simply holding the image in your mind can help to light your way, like holding the image of who you want to be or who you admire can sometimes help you destroy the parts of you you can't stand. Now that you are free from religion, you're free to discover what gods are really for.

 

[Aupmanyav]

:clap

Someone who can conduct himself properly with no threat of retribution or promise of reward is clearly a much higher quality person than those craven individuals who blindly follow an arbitrary, external set of rules.

.. It sounds weird, but thats a lovely thougth process..

I agree with Seyorni's last paragraph and not what was written before that. I find it quite reasonable. So what rules the believer follows. The commandments about God are useless. The others which say act in a socially acceptable way are useful. That is 'Dharma' or 'Dhamma' in hinduism and buddhism, too.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I feel sad that I now have to let go of the notion of Heaven, of seeing my friends and family again. They're gone. But that just makes me cherish my life and the lives of those around me SO much more.

Your friends and family too, are not in heaven. So even if you had gone there, you would not have met them, since there is no God, heaven, or hell. They are right here on earth, in this soil, in this atmosphere. You would meet them here on earth. Hindus meet their friends and family almost immediately when they are cremated, it takes just about half an hour and they are one with them.

 

[stacey bo bacey]

It's not necessarily one or the other. You don't need belief in order to feel spiritual love and bliss, or to pray. Liberating yourself from a religious doctrine can open the door to an even greater relationship with divinity, such as it is (unknowable). Now that you have let go of one God, all the gods of the world are available to you. None of them exist any more than the others, but they all have properties that can contribute to your psychological growth and your pursuit of contentment. Guan Yin, the Buddhist goddess of compassion, is an excellent companion in tense or angry times. Kokopelli is great for certain types of mischief. The God you grew up with is useful when you feel vulnerable or overwhelmed by unfamiliar things. Somewhere there is a god or goddess dedicated to the things that are most important to you, and even though he or she does not "really" exist, simply holding the image in your mind can help to light your way, like holding the image of who you want to be or who you admire can sometimes help you destroy the parts of you you can't stand. Now that you are free from religion, you're free to discover what gods are really for.

Wow, that's great. I never thought of it that way.

 

[stacey bo bacey]

Your friends and family too, are not in heaven. So even if you had gone there, you would not have met them, since there is no God, heaven, or hell. They are right here on earth, in this soil, in this atmosphere. You would meet them here on earth. Hindus meet their friends and family almost immediately when they are cremated, it takes just about half an hour and they are one with them.

That's a beautiful belief. I love it!

 

[Charlotte,NC Humanist]

Phasmid:
You have had the courage to finally get the monkey off your back. Please know now that there is ,IMO , no burning need ( ie. No Hell) to impose religion on your children when & if you have them.

Rather consider a Camp experience like Camp Inquiry:"Here campers begin can begin
discussing God, the planets and humanity's place in the universe. But at Camp Inquiry, which has a secular humanist focus, God takes a back seat to reason. Of course, the camp schedules familiar camp activities like hiking, swimming, and arts and crafts for kids ages 7 to 16; but the thrust of the camp is to teach children to think skeptically about everything, including religion and the supernatural."

 

[Charlotte,NC Humanist]

Aupmanyav:

Please document the research that supports your opinion that, "it takes just about half an hour and they are one with them." ie , with family after cremation. Perhaps emotionally for the still
living but other than a physical intermingling of ashes in the Ganges ,for example - NO WAY.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Atheism is fine. Wonder is better.

 

[Halcyon]

... but other than a physical intermingling of ashes in the Ganges ,for example...

I think that's exactly what he was implying.

 

[Sententia]

Atheism is fine. Wonder is better.

And you cant have both? Really? Why?

What even does this reponse mean? You trying to diss on atheists? Is this a veiled or open insult? Speak up... I can't hear your sarcasm these days.

 

[yearningknight]

So you are now athiest now huh? I definitely know how you feel now. I was once Baptist then Mormon then Agnostic and am now Atheist. I too couldn't get rid of the whole god aspect either so I sought out many different religions such as Satanism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Scientology, Daoism, Budhism, Confuciousism, Wicca, Pagan, and Taoism however here recently I have given up my search for some sort of spiritual enlightenment for I have come to realize that all religions are all the same just worshiping the same gods and goddesses in their own way. I am glad to see that you are happy now. In no means am I telling you to study out religions and do I did just do what you what. Live by your own rules and care not what others think of you.

 

[tomspug]

Thank you! Feels like I'm finally standing on my own 2 feet.

Better than being a Christian standing on the faith of other people.

 

[blackout]

So you are now athiest now huh? I definitely know how you feel now. I was once Baptist then Mormon then Agnostic and am now Atheist. I too couldn't get rid of the whole god aspect either so I sought out many different religions such as Satanism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Scientology, Daoism, Budhism, Confuciousism, Wicca, Pagan, and Taoism however here recently I have given up my search for some sort of spiritual enlightenment for I have come to realize that all religions are all the same just worshiping the same gods and goddesses in their own way. I am glad to see that you are happy now. In no means am I telling you to study out religions and do I did just do what you what. Live by your own rules and care not what others think of you.

That is unequivocally untrue.

But welcome to the forums just the same.

 

[blackout]

I have come to realize that all religions are all the same just worshiping the same gods and goddesses in their own way

That is unequivocally untrue.

Hey Yearning.
I guess I should have elaborated a bit more.
Time is not always on my side when posting.

People's "God"/"Goddess" concepts can be SO radically different from one another as to have really nothing in common at all. Not everyone "worships" their "God"(s) either. Some people are their own God's as well. People whose "God" concepts are in direct opposition to each other.... I doubt they would be too quick to agree that they simply share a scyzophrenic God, with personalities "split" between the two religions. But of course those in the Buddhist religion might simply explain it as a duality. Even though they don't "believe in a God" at all.

As a Panenthiest,
I myself know "God" as the Interactive Sentient UniVerse.
Not a "seperate" OR judgmental entity.
Pan en theism
All in God.

Oh yes... and some religions would "suffereth me not to live"
for my practice of Magic...:witch:
and send me off to hell for a whole host of other reasons as well.
By decree of their own "God's" "holy book".

I'm perplexed honestly as to how you have come to say they are all the same?
(beneath the surface)

 

[Shelley]

I no longer claim to be a Christian, becuase I cannot accept their teachings. And I get annoyed by those Christians who claim to be able to prove there is a God, or to know for a fact there is a God. Having said that, I also have a problem with Athiest for the same reasons. I can neither prove or disprove a deity, therefor, I call myself an Agnostic.

 

[TurkeyOnRye]

I no longer claim to be a Christian, becuase I cannot accept their teachings. And I get annoyed by those Christians who claim to be able to prove there is a God, or to know for a fact there is a God. Having said that, I also have a problem with Athiest for the same reasons. I can neither prove or disprove a deity, therefor, I call myself an Agnostic.

Then you are also an atheist as well. The word "atheist" simply means "not a theist." A person who believes matter-of-factly that there is no god is generally referred to as a "strong atheist." Agnosticism is simply a stance on knowledge of god meaning "without knowledge."

 

[Don Penguinoini]

Congratulations on finding something good for you!