Atheists/agnostics, why did you become atheist/agnostic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those of you, what do you think happens when you die?

My life will cease and my body will be cremated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you, what do you think happens when you die?

Typically your body will get cremated or buried. So back to carbon in one form or another.

I’ve asked for my ashes to be spread in a special place for my family so they can think of me if/when they go there in the future.

Pretty arrogant

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you, what do you think happens when you die?

Typically your body will get cremated or buried. So back to carbon in one form or another.

I’ve asked for my ashes to be spread in a special place for my family so they can think of me if/when they go there in the future.

Pretty arrogant

How so?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was raised Catholic by abusive parents during the 90s, when all that stuff about the pedophile priests came out. Realized no one “knows” shit and that organized religion is often just a method to wield power over other people.

I met members of other faiths as I got older and my position mellowed— I saw how fulfilling a shared spirituality was for many of my friends and appreciated how it connected them to their families and in some cases their home countries. I even considered converting to Judaism in my 20s because I became very involved with a Jewish community and spent some time studying the religion. But ultimately I knew I’d always be an outsider and it would never quite give me what people who are raised Jewish get out of it, especially given my lack of personal connection to the oppression Jews have faced. I still have a lot of love for it though.

So I am agnostic, with a lot of antipathy towards the Catholic Church, but generally respectful of what others believe. None of us knows. I don’t think you should try to control other people. That’s about it.

Actually you are Catholic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^Many people view it as a spectrum.

Many people believe in God. Doesn't mean it's real. No way of proving it, because god is outside of nature -- supernatural

Interesting that fairies, goblins, etc, which are just as supernatural as God, don't get the attention or the concern that God gets. People, if they ever believed in fairies, just stop believing in them once they grow up - or long before they grow up (e.g., Santa Claus). But then, these fairies don't promise what God does -- everlasting life, favors, status, etc. And whole systems of worship have been established for God. There's nothing like that for the other supernatural beings.

Santa Claus gets a lot of attention at Christmas from little children, but God gets attention all year long, with all the religious holidays, requirements and restrictions and "Houses of Worship."

Which god are we talking about? The Christian god?

All gods

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because I can think logically.

Some believers think quite logically in their work or personal lives, but are able to suspend logic when it comes to religion.

[Anonymous]

Just look at the Catholic Church for this answer. Religion, and not just Catholicism, is a salve for fears of death, nothing more. We live, we die. It's just too hard to accept. Religion provides a social structure and answers to questions we cannot know, but, in doing so it often provides great harm. Social constructs are very powerful. Very powerful- but they are manmade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you, what do you think happens when you die?

Typically your body will get cremated or buried. So back to carbon in one form or another.

I’ve asked for my ashes to be spread in a special place for my family so they can think of me if/when they go there in the future.

Pretty arrogant

How so?

Yeah, how so? I am not the poster, but I cannot imagine why anyone would think this is arrogant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe I am ‘losing my religion’ as we speak.
I have been an active Methodist all of my life; I married a Catholic guy who goes through all the motions but doesn’t actually have deep faith. I realized we keep up the pretense for our children (kind of like the Santa analogy above) because my Methodist church provides a convenient way to help us reaffirm the values we want to instill in our children.

I want to live like Jesus... I just don’t think any religion has any (provable) truth deeper than old earthly creation stories that morphed into stories of divinity.
This has been a mix of influence of my anthropological education background / having children / burying loved ones / not feeling stronger faith as I age, but the opposite. Shouldn’t faith strengthen as we invest in it? I’ve given it 42 years.

I am struggling with this, though. It’s tough to let go or something after a lifetime of trying.

I hear you. It can be tough to make the transition to non-belief. "Letting go" doesn't need to be as complete as cutting a bad ex out of photographs if you don't want it to be. It's still okay to want to live like Jesus. In the same sense that it's okay to want to live like Atticus Finch or Robin Hood or Tom Sawyer.

Personally, as a committed atheist, I'm actually really impressed by the bible. I think it's kind of cool and interesting that humans' desire to understand -- to understand the world, to make sense of creation, to explain what they didn't have the science to explain -- resulted in the creation and codification of these stories. Not that it's necessarily great literature, and a lot of it is simply not well written even in a good translation, but there's a lot there. So feel free to interpret the New Testament Jesus stories as a reasonably-decent guide for how to live. You don't have to give that up as you move away from really "believing."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe I am ‘losing my religion’ as we speak.
I have been an active Methodist all of my life; I married a Catholic guy who goes through all the motions but doesn’t actually have deep faith. I realized we keep up the pretense for our children (kind of like the Santa analogy above) because my Methodist church provides a convenient way to help us reaffirm the values we want to instill in our children.

I want to live like Jesus... I just don’t think any religion has any (provable) truth deeper than old earthly creation stories that morphed into stories of divinity.
This has been a mix of influence of my anthropological education background / having children / burying loved ones / not feeling stronger faith as I age, but the opposite. Shouldn’t faith strengthen as we invest in it? I’ve given it 42 years.

I am struggling with this, though. It’s tough to let go or something after a lifetime of trying.

I hear you. It can be tough to make the transition to non-belief. "Letting go" doesn't need to be as complete as cutting a bad ex out of photographs if you don't want it to be. It's still okay to want to live like Jesus. In the same sense that it's okay to want to live like Atticus Finch or Robin Hood or Tom Sawyer.

Personally, as a committed atheist, I'm actually really impressed by the bible. I think it's kind of cool and interesting that humans' desire to understand -- to understand the world, to make sense of creation, to explain what they didn't have the science to explain -- resulted in the creation and codification of these stories. Not that it's necessarily great literature, and a lot of it is simply not well written even in a good translation, but there's a lot there. So feel free to interpret the New Testament Jesus stories as a reasonably-decent guide for how to live. You don't have to give that up as you move away from really "believing."

Interesting point of view -- thanks for expressing it. Sounds like, having removed or discounted the Bible's power as a must-follow book of rules, you are able to recognize its value as ancient literature.

This is a view that can be difficult for formerly religious people who became atheist because they were taught to "believe" the Bible as the word of God, and then found it to be a sham.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe I am ‘losing my religion’ as we speak.
I have been an active Methodist all of my life; I married a Catholic guy who goes through all the motions but doesn’t actually have deep faith. I realized we keep up the pretense for our children (kind of like the Santa analogy above) because my Methodist church provides a convenient way to help us reaffirm the values we want to instill in our children.

I want to live like Jesus... I just don’t think any religion has any (provable) truth deeper than old earthly creation stories that morphed into stories of divinity.
This has been a mix of influence of my anthropological education background / having children / burying loved ones / not feeling stronger faith as I age, but the opposite. Shouldn’t faith strengthen as we invest in it? I’ve given it 42 years.

I am struggling with this, though. It’s tough to let go or something after a lifetime of trying.

I hear you. It can be tough to make the transition to non-belief. "Letting go" doesn't need to be as complete as cutting a bad ex out of photographs if you don't want it to be. It's still okay to want to live like Jesus. In the same sense that it's okay to want to live like Atticus Finch or Robin Hood or Tom Sawyer.

Personally, as a committed atheist, I'm actually really impressed by the bible. I think it's kind of cool and interesting that humans' desire to understand -- to understand the world, to make sense of creation, to explain what they didn't have the science to explain -- resulted in the creation and codification of these stories. Not that it's necessarily great literature, and a lot of it is simply not well written even in a good translation, but there's a lot there. So feel free to interpret the New Testament Jesus stories as a reasonably-decent guide for how to live. You don't have to give that up as you move away from really "believing."

Interesting point of view -- thanks for expressing it. Sounds like, having removed or discounted the Bible's power as a must-follow book of rules, you are able to recognize its value as ancient literature.

This is a view that can be difficult for formerly religious people who became atheist because they were taught to "believe" the Bible as the word of God, and then found it to be a sham.

DP - I think the best way to let go of your religion is to study your religious book as part of a comparative literature study. Once you see so many other religious books, with many similarities and differences, it becomes much easier to understand that it's all mythology.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe I am ‘losing my religion’ as we speak.
I have been an active Methodist all of my life; I married a Catholic guy who goes through all the motions but doesn’t actually have deep faith. I realized we keep up the pretense for our children (kind of like the Santa analogy above) because my Methodist church provides a convenient way to help us reaffirm the values we want to instill in our children.

I want to live like Jesus... I just don’t think any religion has any (provable) truth deeper than old earthly creation stories that morphed into stories of divinity.
This has been a mix of influence of my anthropological education background / having children / burying loved ones / not feeling stronger faith as I age, but the opposite. Shouldn’t faith strengthen as we invest in it? I’ve given it 42 years.

I am struggling with this, though. It’s tough to let go or something after a lifetime of trying.

I hear you. It can be tough to make the transition to non-belief. "Letting go" doesn't need to be as complete as cutting a bad ex out of photographs if you don't want it to be. It's still okay to want to live like Jesus. In the same sense that it's okay to want to live like Atticus Finch or Robin Hood or Tom Sawyer.

Personally, as a committed atheist, I'm actually really impressed by the bible. I think it's kind of cool and interesting that humans' desire to understand -- to understand the world, to make sense of creation, to explain what they didn't have the science to explain -- resulted in the creation and codification of these stories. Not that it's necessarily great literature, and a lot of it is simply not well written even in a good translation, but there's a lot there. So feel free to interpret the New Testament Jesus stories as a reasonably-decent guide for how to live. You don't have to give that up as you move away from really "believing."

Interesting point of view -- thanks for expressing it. Sounds like, having removed or discounted the Bible's power as a must-follow book of rules, you are able to recognize its value as ancient literature.

This is a view that can be difficult for formerly religious people who became atheist because they were taught to "believe" the Bible as the word of God, and then found it to be a sham.

DP - I think the best way to let go of your religion is to study your religious book as part of a comparative literature study. Once you see so many other religious books, with many similarities and differences, it becomes much easier to understand that it's all mythology.

Good advice! This was my experience, plus the knowledge that so many of the ancient stories from different religions borrowed from each other and were developed in pre-scientific times when stories were humans' only way of trying to make sense of their lives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe I am ‘losing my religion’ as we speak.
I have been an active Methodist all of my life; I married a Catholic guy who goes through all the motions but doesn’t actually have deep faith. I realized we keep up the pretense for our children (kind of like the Santa analogy above) because my Methodist church provides a convenient way to help us reaffirm the values we want to instill in our children.

I want to live like Jesus... I just don’t think any religion has any (provable) truth deeper than old earthly creation stories that morphed into stories of divinity.
This has been a mix of influence of my anthropological education background / having children / burying loved ones / not feeling stronger faith as I age, but the opposite. Shouldn’t faith strengthen as we invest in it? I’ve given it 42 years.

I am struggling with this, though. It’s tough to let go or something after a lifetime of trying.

Maybe you can let go without entierely giving it up. For instance, keep the favorite music without the unbelievable words, the good moral teachings, without the supernatural frills, the holidays without the beliefs.

Thank you for this comment!
I believe this is where I will land... because it feels right to me.
But in a church environment where are expected to stand up and assert a commitment that I am not comfortable doing... this is where I am saddened at the prospect of leaving a church community I love. (Is it hypocritical to participate when not fully believing / committing?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you, what do you think happens when you die?

Typically your body will get cremated or buried. So back to carbon in one form or another.

I’ve asked for my ashes to be spread in a special place for my family so they can think of me if/when they go there in the future.

Pretty arrogant

How so?

Yeah, how so? I am not the poster, but I cannot imagine why anyone would think this is arrogant.

Maybe PP is a dictionary atheist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe I am ‘losing my religion’ as we speak.
I have been an active Methodist all of my life; I married a Catholic guy who goes through all the motions but doesn’t actually have deep faith. I realized we keep up the pretense for our children (kind of like the Santa analogy above) because my Methodist church provides a convenient way to help us reaffirm the values we want to instill in our children.

I want to live like Jesus... I just don’t think any religion has any (provable) truth deeper than old earthly creation stories that morphed into stories of divinity.
This has been a mix of influence of my anthropological education background / having children / burying loved ones / not feeling stronger faith as I age, but the opposite. Shouldn’t faith strengthen as we invest in it? I’ve given it 42 years.

I am struggling with this, though. It’s tough to let go or something after a lifetime of trying.

Maybe you can let go without entierely giving it up. For instance, keep the favorite music without the unbelievable words, the good moral teachings, without the supernatural frills, the holidays without the beliefs.

Thank you for this comment!
I believe this is where I will land... because it feels right to me.
But in a church environment where are expected to stand up and assert a commitment that I am not comfortable doing... this is where I am saddened at the prospect of leaving a church community I love. (Is it hypocritical to participate when not fully believing / committing?)

You're welcome! happy to be helpful. As for "Is it hypocritical to participate when not fully believing?" you might find, if you asked, that you're not the only person in church feeling this way. Then again, maybe not, or people might be loath to admit to it.

Consider that you could stand up and mumble. Look around - I bet you'll find plenty of people doing it.