Hello all! Hope everyone is well! I myself used to be an atheist, and I was raised in an atheistic/agnostic household. My viewpoint changed about 16 years ago when I was 19 or so. Anyways a couple years earlier my mom took me to see my cousin on the other side of the country and I was very disappointed because he had become a very serious Christian and we used to party together. The whole ride home from their house I kept complaining that he was brainwashed. He said to me that the bible says "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God", that God sent his son to the cross to die and take the punishment for our sin 2000 years ago, and he resurrected from the dead and ascended to heaven. That if we repent of our sin and believe in Jesus Christ we will be forgiven of our sin and spend eternity in heaven with God but if we don't repent we will face God for the judgement of our sins in hell after we die. He told me he wasn't sure if everyone in his church had eternal life but he knew 100 percent that he had eternal life. I could tell that if God did exist, he definitely had God. Anyways a couple years later when I was 19 years old I had become Atheist by that time, and I despised "religion" all together and believed in my heart that the world was better without it. At about age 19 surrounded by people who did not believe in God and were not religious in any way shape or form I ended up having a demonic experience in my house not much different than the haunting shows you might see on tv, and I knew immediately that this demon was able to influence me because of my severe disdain for Christianity and religion all together. I immediately knew Satan existed so I ran to God, and after seeking God for about 6 months I finally prayed believing in my heart that God had forgiven me(I was very doubtful that God could forgive me) and at that moment I received the Holy Spirit which is not like an emotional feeling but like an entity separate from me had filled me and it felt like pure joy, and was incredible, and I knew this was what my cousin was talking about, and to this day I can feel the Holy Spirit every day, especially when I am reading the bible. Jesus said the true worshippers will worship the father in Spirit and in truth and this is by the supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit given by God that we can know him intimately. I have since had much more incredible experiences with God since my conversion 16 years ago. Satans laughing when Atheists call Christians brainwashed because he is the greatest brainwasher to ever live.
God Bless
Can I come to your church and teach evolutionary theory?
But ole satan could only muster the power to overcome one of you amongst the 19ish? Impressive.
What's a gospel?... Of course I've heard the gospel, you dolt. That's why I'm an atheist.
Quote from: lifeordeath on September 06, 2020, 08:40:04 AM
Hello all! Hope everyone is well! I myself used to be an atheist, and I was raised in an atheistic/agnostic household. My viewpoint changed about 16 years ago when I was 19 or so. Anyways a couple years earlier my mom took me to see my cousin on the other side of the country and I was very disappointed because he had become a very serious Christian and we used to party together. The whole ride home from their house I kept complaining that he was brainwashed. He said to me that the bible says "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God", that God sent his son to the cross to die and take the punishment for our sin 2000 years ago, and he resurrected from the dead and ascended to heaven. That if we repent of our sin and believe in Jesus Christ we will be forgiven of our sin and spend eternity in heaven with God but if we don't repent we will face God for the judgement of our sins in hell after we die. He told me he wasn't sure if everyone in his church had eternal life but he knew 100 percent that he had eternal life. I could tell that if God did exist, he definitely had God. Anyways a couple years later when I was 19 years old I had become Atheist by that time, and I despised "religion" all together and believed in my heart that the world was better without it. At about age 19 surrounded by people who did not believe in God and were not religious in any way shape or form I ended up having a demonic experience in my house not much different than the haunting shows you might see on tv, and I knew immediately that this demon was able to influence me because of my severe disdain for Christianity and religion all together. I immediately knew Satan existed so I ran to God, and after seeking God for about 6 months I finally prayed believing in my heart that God had forgiven me(I was very doubtful that God could forgive me) and at that moment I received the Holy Spirit which is not like an emotional feeling but like an entity separate from me had filled me and it felt like pure joy, and was incredible, and I knew this was what my cousin was talking about, and to this day I can feel the Holy Spirit every day, especially when I am reading the bible. Jesus said the true worshippers will worship the father in Spirit and in truth and this is by the supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit given by God that we can know him intimately. I have since had much more incredible experiences with God since my conversion 16 years ago. Satans laughing when Atheists call Christians brainwashed because he is the greatest brainwasher to ever live.
God Bless
Ahhhh.....so you knew trump from before.
Yes, and I have met Jesus personally in a dream. Do you have a personal relationship with the Father? I read the Scriptures in the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Do you realize that Jesus is Jewish, not Christian?
Quote from: lifeordeath on September 06, 2020, 08:40:04 AM
Hello all! Hope everyone is well! I myself used to be an atheist, and I was raised in an atheistic/agnostic household. My viewpoint changed about 16 years ago when I was 19 or so. Anyways a couple years earlier my mom took me to see my cousin on the other side of the country and I was very disappointed because he had become a very serious Christian and we used to party together. The whole ride home from their house I kept complaining that he was brainwashed. He said to me that the bible says "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God", that God sent his son to the cross to die and take the punishment for our sin 2000 years ago, and he resurrected from the dead and ascended to heaven. That if we repent of our sin and believe in Jesus Christ we will be forgiven of our sin and spend eternity in heaven with God but if we don't repent we will face God for the judgement of our sins in hell after we die. He told me he wasn't sure if everyone in his church had eternal life but he knew 100 percent that he had eternal life. I could tell that if God did exist, he definitely had God. Anyways a couple years later when I was 19 years old I had become Atheist by that time, and I despised "religion" all together and believed in my heart that the world was better without it. At about age 19 surrounded by people who did not believe in God and were not religious in any way shape or form I ended up having a demonic experience in my house not much different than the haunting shows you might see on tv, and I knew immediately that this demon was able to influence me because of my severe disdain for Christianity and religion all together. I immediately knew Satan existed so I ran to God, and after seeking God for about 6 months I finally prayed believing in my heart that God had forgiven me(I was very doubtful that God could forgive me) and at that moment I received the Holy Spirit which is not like an emotional feeling but like an entity separate from me had filled me and it felt like pure joy, and was incredible, and I knew this was what my cousin was talking about, and to this day I can feel the Holy Spirit every day, especially when I am reading the bible. Jesus said the true worshippers will worship the father in Spirit and in truth and this is by the supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit given by God that we can know him intimately. I have since had much more incredible experiences with God since my conversion 16 years ago. Satans laughing when Atheists call Christians brainwashed because he is the greatest brainwasher to ever live.
God Bless
Your bullshit fictional stuff did not fly in December, why do you think it will change now??? Your fiction was fictional then as it is now and will forever be. What it boils down to is that you are lying, and mainly to yourself. If that makes you feel better, then good for you. But do not believe (I'd say 'think', but you clearly are not capable of that) you can get me to take you seriously.
First, it's generally a good idea to introduce yourself (http://atheistforums.com/index.php?board=2.0) before making threads like these.
Second, I was a Christian for the first 25 years of my life, I went to church multiple times a week (voluntarily), and was involved in more ministries than I can count. I think it's safe to say I've heard the Gospel. But are you sure you've thought it through thoroughly? You didn't just stop at what others have told you, but you took the Gospel to its logical conclusions?
Quote from: lifeordeath on September 06, 2020, 08:40:04 AMAt about age 19 surrounded by people who did not believe in God and were not religious in any way shape or form I ended up having a demonic experience in my house not much different than the haunting shows you might see on tv, and I knew immediately that this demon was able to influence me because of my severe disdain for Christianity and religion all together.
Okay. You have sparked my curiosity. Tell me more about this "demonic experience?" What exactly happened? Assuming you're not making this up, I can guarantee you it is easily explained away by psychology.
Edit: Wait. You joined here five years ago, and you've only made four posts? I thought you were a newbie.
Yup, I've read them. They're man-written. I've read better ones not only in terms of literary merit, but also in terms of ethical content. They're of no historical evidentiary value, and if you want to assert them as evidence, you must necessarily accept the Vedas, the Tripiá¹aka, the Homeric hymns, the Avesta, the Guru Granth Sahib, the Quran, the Book of Mormon, and every other religious text there is because they all have the exact same amount of external support as the Christian Bible: nil.
1. Paragraph breaks.
2. Everyone in the western world has been exposed to Christianity.
Quote from: Jason Harvestdancer on September 06, 2020, 02:42:29 PM
1. Paragraph breaks.
2. Everyone in the western world has been exposed to Christianity.
Sheeple follow Church or reject Church (goat people).
Quote from: lifeordeath on September 06, 2020, 08:40:04 AM
Hello all! Hope everyone is well! I myself used to be an atheist, and I was raised in an atheistic/agnostic household. My viewpoint changed about 16 years ago when I was 19 or so. Anyways a couple years earlier my mom took me to see my cousin on the other side of the country and I was very disappointed because he had become a very serious Christian and we used to party together. The whole ride home from their house I kept complaining that he was brainwashed. He said to me that the bible says "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God", that God sent his son to the cross to die and take the punishment for our sin 2000 years ago, and he resurrected from the dead and ascended to heaven. That if we repent of our sin and believe in Jesus Christ we will be forgiven of our sin and spend eternity in heaven with God but if we don't repent we will face God for the judgement of our sins in hell after we die. He told me he wasn't sure if everyone in his church had eternal life but he knew 100 percent that he had eternal life. I could tell that if God did exist, he definitely had God. Anyways a couple years later when I was 19 years old I had become Atheist by that time, and I despised "religion" all together and believed in my heart that the world was better without it. At about age 19 surrounded by people who did not believe in God and were not religious in any way shape or form I ended up having a demonic experience in my house not much different than the haunting shows you might see on tv, and I knew immediately that this demon was able to influence me because of my severe disdain for Christianity and religion all together. I immediately knew Satan existed so I ran to God, and after seeking God for about 6 months I finally prayed believing in my heart that God had forgiven me(I was very doubtful that God could forgive me) and at that moment I received the Holy Spirit which is not like an emotional feeling but like an entity separate from me had filled me and it felt like pure joy, and was incredible, and I knew this was what my cousin was talking about, and to this day I can feel the Holy Spirit every day, especially when I am reading the bible. Jesus said the true worshippers will worship the father in Spirit and in truth and this is by the supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit given by God that we can know him intimately. I have since had much more incredible experiences with God since my conversion 16 years ago. Satans laughing when Atheists call Christians brainwashed because he is the greatest brainwasher to ever live.
God Bless
Thanks for preaching [end sarcasm].
Yes, I was a theist for the first several decades of my life. During that time I read the Bible all the way through several times.
It was through my honest attempt to become the best theist I could be, that I became an atheist. I honestly searched for good, evidence based, reasons to believe.
It seems like you were convinced to become a Christian with what you claim was a 'demonic' experience, and your subsequent search for god.
Let me ask you a few questions:
1. How did you determine that the experience you had was due to demons? How did you rule out: ghosts, aliens, a natural event that you misinterpreted, a purely mental experience that occurred only in your mind, Jinn (Arabic mischievous entities), Yaksha (Hindu mischievous spirits), etc, etc.
2. Again, how did you know it was a demon controlling you due to your disdain for Christianity? Why couldn't it have been a Jinn that was messing with you due to your disdain for Islam?
3. How do you know that the experience you had after seeking god for 6 months, was not just what is known as "confirmation bias"?
4. How did you rule out that the emotional experience you had, was not simply a natural (but unusual) brain state, due to expectations you created yourself through your previous 6 months of searching?
You do understand, that people of all cultures and religions, claim to have supernatural events, that are described much like yours, and they attribute them to their gods,right?
There are so many natural explanations for every single event and experience you describe, and the human mind is so easy to fool in exactly the way you describe, nothing in your post is extraordinary.
Here is a video of British mentalist, illusionist, and an atheist, Derren Brown, deconverting an atheist into a theist, using purely natural methods. His subject, at the end of his process has, what could be described as a "religious experience". But is obviously just Brown manipulating the woman. It only took him part of a day, not 6 months.So, please convince us, that you had a 'real' experience with a god, and did not just do what Derren Brown did to this atheist woman, to yourself.
I don't doubt you were once an atheist. I will take your word for it. But were you a critical thinker? A skeptic? Seems doubtful...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51B8MzcxOX0
Quote from: lifeordeath on September 06, 2020, 08:40:04 AMI ended up having a demonic experience in my house not much different than the haunting shows you might see on tv
Any of that documented?
I don't think they're coming back. Just dropping a thread and then disappearing again.
Lots of reasonable/sensible people often get 'demonic experiences' when they interact with the majority through some medium or in real life. You don't see them go around bury themselves in scripture of some religion, do you?
I mean, in the Middle East we are fucked. But there are tons of other ways of...exorcising one's demons in Western cultures. You are so spoilt and stupid. Myeh.
Is it me, I mean, am I such perv that whenever I read something like this my mind immediately wanders off thinking that a person is actually describing a masturbation session or does it really sound that way?
"...and at that moment I received the Holy Spirit which is not like an emotional feeling but like an entity separate from me had filled me and it felt like pure joy, and was incredible..."
Here is what I have to say about your demons, LOL:
Bing bing bang a bang a bang bing bong bing a bing bang a bong
Binga bing a bang a bong bong bing bong bing bang a bong
Quote from: drunkenshoe on September 07, 2020, 03:29:39 AM
Lots of reasonable/sensible people often get 'demonic experiences' when they interact with the majority through some medium or in real life. You don't see them go around bury themselves in scripture of some religion, do you?
I mean, in the Middle East we are fucked. But there are tons of other ways of...exorcising one's demons in Western cultures. You are so spoilt and stupid. Myeh.
Most Westerners don't call on the Holy Spirit, they just take another hit from their uppers ;-) ... because the Devil made them do it.
Quote from: Blackleaf on September 07, 2020, 01:39:11 AM
I don't think they're coming back. Just dropping a thread and then disappearing again.
This is not atypical of Christian posters in atheist sites.
As if they think we have never heard any of this sort of crap before, and they are going to be the first to expose us, and we'll be convinced.
In their minds, they don't need to stick around for a bit of honest discussion. They just: knock over the chess pieces, crap on the board, then fly home to their flock and declare victory.
Quote from: Simon Moon on September 07, 2020, 05:27:22 PM
This is not atypical of Christian posters in atheist sites.
As if they think we have never heard any of this sort of crap before, and they are going to be the first to expose us, and we'll be convinced.
In their minds, they don't need to stick around for a bit of honest discussion. They just: knock over the chess pieces, crap on the board, then fly home to their flock and declare victory.
Maybe spending the weekend at "The Ark Encounter", that bastion of science and reason.
"Used to be an atheist"
ok.
So since they'll probably never describe their demonic experience, I'm just going to go ahead with my followup question. Why the Hell would a demon make its existence known? Think about it. If the entire point is to get you to die before being saved, wouldn't exposing oneself be counterproductive to that cause? If a demon shows someone that they exist, then they show that the supernatural exists. Like in the OP's own example. Their experience convinced them that God was real. Congratulations, demon! You really suck at your one job! All you had to do was hide, and you fucked it up.
Quote from: PickelledEggs on September 07, 2020, 07:05:48 PM
"Used to be an atheist"
ok.
Yeah, we've all heard that before.
I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and believe them.
But, the next question is; (if they weren't cowards, and decided to stick around here for discussion*) were they ever critical thinkers and skeptics, and understand logical fallacies?
*OK, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt here, too, and assume the holiday weekend is keeping them busy enough to prevent them from responding to our inquiries.
Quote from: drunkenshoe on September 07, 2020, 03:29:39 AMLots of reasonable/sensible people often get 'demonic experiences' when they interact with the majority through some medium or in real life. You don't see them go around bury themselves in scripture of some religion, do you?
In evangelical circles, it's pretty common to have a "witnessing" story where they start out as a godless heathen and then come to Christ after some sort of supernatural experience. The bible-beaters tie atheism and satanism together for some strange reason, so it's common to go with the story that demons attacked them because atheists are weak to demonic influence or somesuch bollocks. It's all a crock.
You know the real story? Someone got indoctrinated at a young age, drank the Flavor-Aid at some point and bam, we got ourselves a crappy Paranormal Activity knock-off. These people churn this crap out. Not so much for us, but to sell to each other. To convince themselves that they got it all right and they're privy to the grand truth of the universe. Truth is they have no idea. We have no idea. No one has any idea. They're just talking themselves into something they already want to believe and were raised to believe. That's the much, much simpler and imho much more likely explanation.
Quote from: Cassia on September 07, 2020, 05:52:19 PM
Maybe spending the weekend at "The Ark Encounter", that bastion of science and reason.
I'll go, but only if I can ride the triceratops. :P
Look, Imma level with ya, OP.
Maybe becoming an atheist wasn't exactly the smartest call in my life. But 'I've already signed the devil's contract in my own blood and sacrificed my firstborn to his unholy glory. So, yeah, I could be saved, but you know i' m already so deep in. And I'm just two black masses away of filling my stamp card. Then I'll get a free slurpee. I'm not walking away from that commitment.
Quote from: Hydra009 on September 07, 2020, 11:09:21 PM
In evangelical circles, it's pretty common to have a "witnessing" story where they start out as a godless heathen and then come to Christ after some sort of supernatural experience. The bible-beaters tie atheism and satanism together for some strange reason, so it's common to go with the story that demons attacked them because atheists are weak to demonic influence or somesuch bollocks. It's all a crock.
You know the real story? Someone got indoctrinated at a young age, drank the Flavor-Aid at some point and bam, we got ourselves a crappy Paranormal Activity knock-off. These people churn this crap out. Not so much for us, but to sell to each other. To convince themselves that they got it all right and they're privy to the grand truth of the universe. Truth is they have no idea. We have no idea. No one has any idea. They're just talking themselves into something they already want to believe and were raised to believe. That's the much, much simpler and imho much more likely explanation.
Oh I know, I get it. I was trying to be sarcastic.
But I believe that most of these possession stories are reflections of some sort of sexual or physical abuse; sometimes recieved, sometimes done to another person, maybe even witnessed. In the most extreme circumstances of oppression and brainwashing, it could even be just masturbating and feeling guilty about it.
See, in Islam there is no 'devil posession' but djinn posession. Of course there are countless different beliefs in itself but generally, according to believers djinns are another folk created by god before humans and exactly like humans they born, grow up, get marry have children and die. There are good, bad, religious (from every religion), atheist djinns. They do good or bad deeds. They're not of matter while we humans are, which makes them inferior to us. (Obviously we are the best thing ever happend to this universe...duh) They move in incredible speeds etc... Interaction with them is strictly forbidden for humans but djinns also fall in love with humans, have kids and live together all their lives...blah blah
Now, most of this stuff is just simple sleep paralysis because it almost always happens at night. I suffered and still suffer from it time to time, it can be pretty unsettling if you don't know what it is. I had almost everything from floating in the air, hearing the conversations of people from other centuries, in tongues, touching me, pushing me... 'wrestling with beings' in bed, which always feel very agressively and sexually male. (I wonder why,lol.) Think about mostly ignorant, religous people experiencing anything like that. Trust me, it's HELL of a job, mostly impossible to convince the most educated people that it just hallucinating during a natural state. I've tried. It pokes something very primitive.
But if you read about 'djinn incidents' esp. among young people in forums, anonymous stories, you'd see they're almost always sexual incidents. Long story short, if you read all this from a rational point of view with its positive and negative parts, this belief is a key ground to express anything that a human being in an oppressive, religious closed society, household cannot deal with. Be it something as simple as experiencing masturbation or intense sexual desire with a wet dream, half awake.
But the alarming part is the possible sexual abuse these people might be suffering from. This is pretty much like the alien abduction stories. I believe the same thing goes around in the Christian circles under the name of 'devil possession'.
Anything is done to the person or they have done to someone else or maybe just witnessed that they can't deal with under certain circumstances goe out as some 'possession'.
For many theists, "The Devil Made Me Do It," is still embraced as an acceptable rationalization for masturbating. "The demon takes control of my hand and makes me jerk off. I try not to do it, but the demon is too powerful. He only returns control of my hand after I blow my load and after I've shouted, 'God be praised!' I don't know why he makes me shout that, but it proves beyond doubt that the demon is real."
LOL It looks like a lot of cultural differences could cause misunderstandings up there in my post. When I said 'in tongues' I tried to say in different languages as in foriegn languages. None of them are religous experiences, just simple things from human culture. Just meaningless hallucinations of sleep paralysis.
Quote from: SGOS on September 08, 2020, 09:09:50 AM
For many theists, "The Devil Made Me Do It," is still embraced as an acceptable rationalization for masturbating. "The demon takes control of my hand and makes me jerk off. I try not to do it, but the demon is too powerful. He only returns control of my hand after I blow my load and after I've shouted, 'God be praised!' I don't know why he makes me shout that, but it proves beyond doubt that the demon is real."
I agree. I'm just saying there are dark parts of it we don't want to see. It's just Ockham's razor to me in this context. Because they're almost all the same in every religion.
Yeah, sexual instinct is more powerful than any demon human can invent. That's the thing with this moronic lot, isn't it? They think they can control or beat nature in any sense. LOL
Human psychology is universal, cultural expression is not.
In Genesis, the nephelim are what Muslims call djinn. Before that you find this in Sumerian and Babylonian culture.
Muslims call clever people 'djinn' in daily language, esp. children in my culture.
Quote from: drunkenshoe on September 08, 2020, 03:50:56 PM
Muslims call clever people 'djinn' in daily language, esp. children in my culture.
In Genesis, nephelim are mostly interested in having sex with beautiful human women. And even angels are tempted by women's hair (see Paul).
Quote from: lifeordeath on September 06, 2020, 08:40:04 AMI myself used to be an atheist
You're lying. Here's how I know.
Quote from: lifeordeath on September 06, 2020, 08:40:04 AMI ended up having a demonic experience in my house not much different than the haunting shows you might see on tv, and I knew immediately that this demon was able to influence me because of my severe disdain for Christianity and religion all together. I immediately knew Satan existed so I ran to God, and after seeking God for about 6 months I finally prayed believing in my heart that God had forgiven me(I was very doubtful that God could forgive me) and at that moment I received the Holy Spirit which is not like an emotional feeling but like an entity separate from me had filled me and it felt like pure joy, and was incredible, and I knew this was what my cousin was talking about, and to this day I can feel the Holy Spirit every day, especially when I am reading the bible.
Atheists don't believe in the devil and his demons anymore than they believe in God. No atheist would conclude a demon was behind some strange experience in their own home.
You know so little about atheists you can't even come up with a convincing origin story about your non-existent conversion. And speaking of lies, doesn't one of the commandments forbid you from doing that? Naughty naughty. God sends people like you to the celestial easy-bake oven.
Quote from: lifeordeath on September 06, 2020, 08:40:04 AMSatans laughing when Atheists call Christians brainwashed because he is the greatest brainwasher to ever live.
I don't know if most Christians are brainwashed, but you most certainly are if you think anyone is going to buy this hogwash.
Quote from: lifeordeath on September 06, 2020, 08:40:04 AMGod Bless
There's only one god, my friend, and his name is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL17EWQ-Xdg
O.P. saw a demon and ran to a god. How does seeing a demon prove that your god or anybody else's god is real? Did you get scared, turn around and run into a god's chest?
Many things are seen when drunk or on drugs, or just hallucinating.