Hi, I am glad to finally find a community of other atheists. I am currently on a long road trip with just my Christian mother, while my atheist dad and sister remain at home. I happened to download a copy of Greta's "Why are you atheists so mad? 99 things that piss off the godless", and when my dear mother questioned what I was reading she turned her head away and proclaimed how disappointed she was with me. We have gone through countless arguments, during which I have stated multiple different opinions from valid sources, on why religion is harmful and how likely it is that god does not exist. Her counter argument is always "You must be so sad and miserable, not believing in anything." I then tell her how I am, in fact, a very happy person, to which she never fails to say "You get it from your dad, I should have taken you to church more. You have to listen to your heart more." HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO ARGUE AGAINST THAT???!
In any case, it's nice to meet you all! I am Aleps, or Alex if you like.
Quote from: "Aleps"Hi, I am glad to finally find a community of other atheists. I am currently on a long road trip with just my Christian mother, while my atheist dad and sister remain at home. I happened to download a copy of Greta's "Why are you atheists so mad? 99 things that piss off the godless", and when my dear mother questioned what I was reading she turned her head away and proclaimed how disappointed she was with me. We have gone through countless arguments, during which I have stated multiple different opinions from valid sources, on why religion is harmful and how likely it is that god does not exist. Her counter argument is always "You must be so sad and miserable, not believing in anything." I then tell her how I am, in fact, a very happy person, to which she never fails to say "You get it from your dad, I should have taken you to church more. You have to listen to your heart more." HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO ARGUE AGAINST THAT???!
Welcome! =-)
I wouldn't argue. I would first ask her if and why she has an issue with you being a skeptic... then go from there.
Yeah, tough to argue with your mother. Welcome.
Thanks! I will try that!
Don't forget to tell her atheists are smarter than the religious.
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2023 (http://www.atheistforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2023)
:-D
Welcome Alex, you can always vent here. :)
Lol, thanks. I think my atheist girl friend is sick of my venting to her over Skype.
Quote from: "Aleps"Lol, thanks. I think my atheist girl friend is sick of my venting to her over Skype.
I need one of those lol
Quote from: "Aleps"HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO ARGUE AGAINST THAT???!
Don't. You literally can't argue with someone who is unwilling to use logic. I run into this damn problem with my grandparents all the time. Welcome to the group. I just got here, too.
Quote from: "PickelledEggs"Quote from: "Aleps"Lol, thanks. I think my atheist girl friend is sick of my venting to her over Skype.
I need one of those lol
+1!
Quote from: "PickelledEggs"Quote from: "Aleps"Lol, thanks. I think my atheist girl friend is sick of my venting to her over Skype.
I need one of those lol
Lol, they are hard to find. We like to sit together and read bible contradictions.
Quote from: "Aleps"Quote from: "PickelledEggs"Quote from: "Aleps"Lol, thanks. I think my atheist girl friend is sick of my venting to her over Skype.
I need one of those lol
Lol, they are hard to find. We like to sit together and read bible contradictions.
LOL! I'f i could find a redheaded atheist girlfriend, I would be set!
Which is weird... because I'm colorblind and usually can't tell what color the hair is...
@The Whit
Average believer: "God is beyond logic and science, you need to think with your heart!"
Le me: "Well, you certainly don't sound like your thinking with your head. However, if the organ pumping blood thought my system suddenly starts talking to me, I will let you know"
I am glad to see logic holds such a high status with these people, lol.
[/quote]
LOL! I'f i could find a redheaded atheist girlfriend, I would be set!
Which is weird... because I'm colorblind and usually can't tell what color the hair is...[/quote]
Lol, if you can't tell, why do you care about the hair color so much?
(//http://i.qkme.me/3pfrt0.jpg)
Yeah, logic means a lot to these people...
Quote from: "Aleps"LOL! I'f i could find a redheaded atheist girlfriend, I would be set!
Which is weird... because I'm colorblind and usually can't tell what color the hair is...
Lol, if you can't tell, why do you care about the hair color so much?
I can sort of see color, when the chroma goes down it gets tough to tell the difference between colors like red and green and green and yellow and stuff like that.
I can sort of see red hair though, if it's red enough. Karen Gillan makes my heart go baboombaboombaboom.
Quote from: "Aleps""You get it from your dad, I should have taken you to church more. You have to listen to your heart more." HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO ARGUE AGAINST THAT???!
Tell her your heart is a pump and that the Bible makes more atheists out of Christians than science ever will.
"You can't reason someone out of a position they didn't reason themselves into."
-- Author Unknown
and welcome!
Quote from: "Aleps"@The Whit
Average believer: "God is beyond logic and science, you need to think with your heart!"
Me: If God wanted me to think with my heart, why did he create me only able to think with my head? Bad day at the people factory? Or incompetent god?
I like to annoy them.
Oh, and welcome.
Thanks for joining up, Aleps!
follow your heart when your heart doesn't take you to jesus and you're happy, that'll show her.
Simple solution: Mom, I love you. Do you still love me?
If yes then don't worry. If no, count change for bus fare home.
Simple solution: Mom, I love you. Do you still love me?
If yes then don't worry. If no, count change for bus fare home.
Quote from: "AllPurposeAtheist"Simple solution: Mom, I love you. Do you still love me?
If yes then don't worry. If no, count change for bus fare home.
Winner winner chicken dinner. Don't argue with your mother, there's no upside to it. Let her say what she wants and follow your own path.
Last time I argued with mom I found out what dad learned on shore patrol duty. It was not pretty. :shock:
I listened to my heart once.
It told me to suck a dick.
Then it tried to kill me.
My heart is an asshole.
Hiya Aleps.
:-D Welcome aboard Aleps! Solitary
Quote from: "Aleps"Hi, I am glad to finally find a community of other atheists. I am currently on a long road trip with just my Christian mother, while my atheist dad and sister remain at home. I happened to download a copy of Greta's "Why are you atheists so mad? 99 things that piss off the godless", and when my dear mother questioned what I was reading she turned her head away and proclaimed how disappointed she was with me. We have gone through countless arguments, during which I have stated multiple different opinions from valid sources, on why religion is harmful and how likely it is that god does not exist. Her counter argument is always "You must be so sad and miserable, not believing in anything." I then tell her how I am, in fact, a very happy person, to which she never fails to say "You get it from your dad, I should have taken you to church more. You have to listen to your heart more." HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO ARGUE AGAINST THAT???!
Noone and I mean noone can argue with your own mother. It's impossible. Don't even try. Oh and welcome
I agree i get so irritated when i am told that i have no hope. Hope for what?
Quote from: "sealoch"I agree i get so irritated when i am told that i have no hope. Hope for what?
Hope that some Christian, some day, will actually understand what "atheist" means. (Don't hold your breath.)
I hear this often about "thinking with your heart." It is metaphorical of course as the heart does no thinking (nor do any other organs except the brain and with some even that is dubious). They are talking about emotions. But emotions don't think either. They react. Reacting is not thinking.
I will make a reference to Guridjieff/Ouspensky who talked of there being three centers in our brains: The Intellectual, Emotional and Instinctive. They each serve to motivate behavior. Fight or flee for example is an instinctive response. It can overpower the other centers or may incorporate them. It depends. In a perfect individual I suppose all three centers would be working together in balance. In actuality, they are usually out of balance and the consequent motivations and behavior will be skewed which invariably causes problems. So to say that the Theist experience requires only emotional (heart thinking) commitment is out of balance.
Perhaps thinking with our "gut," is a metaphor for instinctive motivations. Thinking with only our gut or our heart will necessitate irrational behavior. Religion is irrational. The manifestation of religious beliefs indicates irrational thought processes. The difficulty in trying to argue with a Theist is they are basically irrational. So using logic (or the Intellectual center) will not work. Ever! Reason is a foreign language to them.
As human beings generally we do not wish to die which is instinctive. We also want to be loved which effects our emotions. God ostensibly provides a life everlasting which appeals to instinct and supposedly unconditional love (theoretically) which appeals to emotions. Of course since there is no God it is all a mirage.
The apologist for God/Religion are always confused because they are allowing their intellectual center to be governed by emotion and instinct. They are trying desperately to reconcile the instinctive and emotional through what they perceive to be logic. But this is disingenuous as it ends up being not reason but irrational rationalizations. Quite a paradox they create for themselves. Only when a person realizes the futility of such endeavors do they have an epiphany and realize the only correct course is to throw the whole thing out.
Atheists are a threat to Theists. It threatens their emotions and their instinct. Much (if not all) of the arguments between the two are at cross purposes. There may also be a failure on the part of Atheists if they do not also include the instinctive and emotional aspects in their dialogues.
So a question: the position of not believing in something that cannot be proved is a logical manifestation and the fundamental tenet of atheism. But what are the emotional and instinctive aspects of being an Atheist?
Quote from: "Aleps"Hi, I am glad to finally find a community of other atheists. I am currently on a long road trip with just my Christian mother, while my atheist dad and sister remain at home. I happened to download a copy of Greta's "Why are you atheists so mad? 99 things that piss off the godless", and when my dear mother questioned what I was reading she turned her head away and proclaimed how disappointed she was with me. We have gone through countless arguments, during which I have stated multiple different opinions from valid sources, on why religion is harmful and how likely it is that god does not exist. Her counter argument is always "You must be so sad and miserable, not believing in anything." I then tell her how I am, in fact, a very happy person, to which she never fails to say "You get it from your dad, I should have taken you to church more. You have to listen to your heart more." HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO ARGUE AGAINST THAT???!
Family is a hard issue to deal with when it comes to this issue. I consider myself lucky because my adoptive mom really never pushed religion on me, although for a long time when I first said I was an atheist thought it was a "phase". But she has been a great listener in recent years when I talk about arguments I make online with theists and often get an agreement from her.
I do not envy you though. My younger biological sister has been blasted by our biological family for coming out and she gets the same types of reactions you depict here.
I'd say unless she sucks the life out of you to the point you, you might simply refrain from making it an issue. I have an older "doomsday" biological brother I cut ties with because of his constant "you're going to burn in hell" crap. But all things considered if you get along well outside that topic, I'd simply vent online and let any religious tripe she may peddle, go and bitch about it here.
From her viewpoint as with any parent, no matter how wrong headed and wrong it is, our species has always evolved to want to protect their offspring. She truly believes, all be it falsely, that believing will protect you and save you.
My adoptive mom is Catholic and still believes, but not in a preachy way and she is a wonderful listener. But I am lucky. Only you can judge how to deal with family on this issue. You don't have to allow others baggage to control you, but you also don't have to force the issue if everything outside that issue outweighs that one issue.
Just remember, you have a place here if the superstitious bullshit, not just of family, but of society in general get to you. We do understand.
when saying fed, comes my mind federal reserve.
what a demonik instution.!