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Lifetime off/on Religious - Atheist, Ready to commit.

Started by AFactNeedingPerson, September 10, 2020, 05:01:32 AM

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AFactNeedingPerson

Hi Everyone.
    Thank you admins for accepting.  I hope to make some friends here and have some good intellectual conversations with the other users.  Brief history.

Growing up as a child, my father would occasionally take me to church. We would bounce from church to church, all general protestant churches (Lutheran, Baptist...etc)  So there right off the bat, i was getting confused how there were different models of Christianity among different churches, all pronouncing the same faith.

As i grew into my teen years, I was sent to church as punishment...yah, you read that right. Bad grades - go to church.  Trouble at school - Got to church.  Disobeyed mom - Go to church.  It even got the point where i explored Paganism (yes, i went there to), and when my parents found out, i was sent to church....

Fast forward, I met my wife in High-school and she and her family were devout Christians, going to a Church of Christ. I became involved with the church, had lessons with the youth minister, and even got baptized.

Fast forward to my career as a Police Officer, my views of the world began to change.  I began to understand that faith and reason did not go hand in hand.  I wanted evidence and I wanted proof.  I then, quietly, began coming out as Atheist (and truthfully not really fulling understand what the mean, but just not believing in God).  I began reading some of the books (Currently reading Atheism: The Case Against God, by Smith) 

But overall, i have become more secure in my belief (or lack of) and am ready to explore it publicly.  I personally do not condone the mockery and distaste that many Atheist have towards theist, as I believe everyone has their right to their own belief. My wife is aware of my change and she supports me, just as i support her in hers.

I am 32, a little late to the party, but want to attend nonetheless!

Cheers everyone - I hope to learn more here !

“Religion has had the disastrous effect of placing vitally important concepts, such as morality, happiness and love, in a supernatural realm inaccessible to man’s mind and knowledge.”
― George H. Smith, Atheism: The Case Against God

Cassia

Welcome. Being surrounded by theists, I do not mock their beliefs in person, however it sure is a nice release valve do do some 'online mocking' on a site for atheists. Theists are always "praying" for me or warning me about my destiny of perpetual fire or blessing me for every sneeze and I just take it. Even my money has religious symbolism on every note and I must suffer a small sermon just to participate in my city's council. Throw in the vast ignorance of basic science and the prevalence of new age mysticism and a multitude of 'conspiracies' and at times it feels like I am stuck on a ship of fools. So here I will post what I like and the visiting theists can bugger off if they don't like it.

AFactNeedingPerson

I do get what you are saying.  I just hope to never feel that prejudiced against that I have to vent as such.  But your right....you even made realize that even the dang money is faith bound.  You just added another tick to my list of daily life that affected by religion.

Thanks for the comment and acceptance.
“Religion has had the disastrous effect of placing vitally important concepts, such as morality, happiness and love, in a supernatural realm inaccessible to man’s mind and knowledge.”
― George H. Smith, Atheism: The Case Against God

aitm

Welcome to our little place of sanity.....for the most part. And occasionally an off the cuff remark will have some exploding like a California wildfire. Fair warning. 🤫
A humans desire to live is exceeded only by their willingness to die for another. Even god cannot equal this magnificent sacrifice. No god has the right to judge them.-first tenant of the Panotheust

Mike Cl

Not really late to the party--at 32 you just have a good start at life. :))  Welcome.  We all have our stories of our battle with belief/faith and what that all means.  You are in good company.  Hope you stick around for awhile.
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?<br />Then he is not omnipotent,<br />Is he able but not willing?<br />Then whence cometh evil?<br />Is he neither able or willing?<br />Then why call him god?

Baruch

Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

SGOS

Once the US Supreme Court declares the US a theocracy, you'll be sorry you didn't mock theists when you had the chance.  My struggle was similar to yours.  Like you, my main issue is that I could find no evidence for a higher power, and it wasn't for lack of trying.  At one time I actually prayed for faith and evidence be damned.  In fact, in my late teens, I had a warm fuzzy feeling that I chose to accept as proof of God, but it only lasted a couple of days.  I was psychologically unable to trump reason with faith.  And today's evidences pandered by Christians that come in the form of images of Jesus on pizza dough, coastal flooding, or tornadoes always have simpler explanations.  Such bullshit needs mockery if ever there was a reason for it.  I'm insulted being preached to with this sort of nonsense.  There are Christians that don't preach to me, and I respect that part of them, but belief in the supernatural is just another form of mankind's innate dumbfuckery.

Blackleaf

Yeah... Your parents fucked up using church as a punishment. They basically trained your brain to consider religious activity to be unpleasant. But it kept you from drinking the Koolaid, so worked out for you.
"Oh, wearisome condition of humanity,
Born under one law, to another bound;
Vainly begot, and yet forbidden vanity,
Created sick, commanded to be sound."
--Fulke Greville--

AFactNeedingPerson

Visual way of putting it, yes!  We all know that religion is something statistically passed from generation to generation...so i have no hard feelings that they did what they though was right. 
“Religion has had the disastrous effect of placing vitally important concepts, such as morality, happiness and love, in a supernatural realm inaccessible to man’s mind and knowledge.”
― George H. Smith, Atheism: The Case Against God

SGOS

As per the thread title, "Ready to Commit," I was just thinking that I never committed to atheism.  It was something I accepted in my life.  I came to terms with it.  By definition atheism as well as general skepticism seems like the opposite of commitment.  Since they require evidence, it means that you remain continually open to evidence.  It's the opposite of theism.  Lutheran confirmation was a commitment that I made at eleven, but I was at an age when I didn't really understand commitment, logic, or reason, and I certainly did not understand atheism.

Baruch

Quote from: SGOS on September 10, 2020, 10:36:52 AM
Once the US Supreme Court declares the US a theocracy, you'll be sorry you didn't mock theists when you had the chance.  My struggle was similar to yours.  Like you, my main issue is that I could find no evidence for a higher power, and it wasn't for lack of trying.  At one time I actually prayed for faith and evidence be damned.  In fact, in my late teens, I had a warm fuzzy feeling that I chose to accept as proof of God, but it only lasted a couple of days.  I was psychologically unable to trump reason with faith.  And today's evidences pandered by Christians that come in the form of images of Jesus on pizza dough, coastal flooding, or tornadoes always have simpler explanations.  Such bullshit needs mockery if ever there was a reason for it.  I'm insulted being preached to with this sort of nonsense.  There are Christians that don't preach to me, and I respect that part of them, but belief in the supernatural is just another form of mankind's innate dumbfuckery.

The Jesuit shape changing Pope won' allow that ;-)
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

AFactNeedingPerson

Quote from: SGOS on September 12, 2020, 10:32:45 AM
As per the thread title, "Ready to Commit," I was just thinking that I never committed to atheism.  It was something I accepted in my life.  I came to terms with it....

Very well stated.  I guess by stating i am ready to commit,  I am ready to defend my position and not be deemed something of a nuisance or phase.   I am at a spot where not only do i believe in my lack of belief...lol, but I am ready to defend it and am able to articulate some of the key appoints of Theist.

So yah, 'Ready to commit' still stands in my understanding, because I am finally able to say it out loud.  There is not a god or gods.

“Religion has had the disastrous effect of placing vitally important concepts, such as morality, happiness and love, in a supernatural realm inaccessible to man’s mind and knowledge.”
― George H. Smith, Atheism: The Case Against God

PickelledEggs

Atheism isn't a choice to "commit to". You either believe or you don't.

In any case, welcome. I hope that mental abuse as a kid was something you were able to recover from.

AFactNeedingPerson

Absolutely its a choice...You cannot make a conscious decision to not believe in something, if first you aren't exposed to it or know about it.  I.e.  If we never heard of God, then we would not need the terms Atheist and Theist to articulate the terms of belief in him/them. 

Choice is everything.  And within every choice is the level of commitment in defending that choice.
“Religion has had the disastrous effect of placing vitally important concepts, such as morality, happiness and love, in a supernatural realm inaccessible to man’s mind and knowledge.”
― George H. Smith, Atheism: The Case Against God

Hydra009

Non-belief is a default state, and therefore requires no active decision-making.

In fact, viewing atheism as a conscious rejection of God is a common theistic argument - nonbelievers have somehow spurned God (very thin skin for an almighty) and therefore are presumed to deserve eternal punishment in retaliation.  The logic behind such reasoning is very thin and falls apart in a few places, but it was only a facade anyway, merely a rationalization of outgroup hostility.