I don't get Atheism

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, for me the question is... well which version of "God" should someone believe in, and why? There are thousands of versions of god that humans have created. Which one is the right one, and why are all the others the wrong version of God? For example - do you believe in a vengeful god or loving god? Why? How are you making your decision? What qualities and attributes are the right and wrong ones, and how are you making your decisions? Based on what?

There's an oft quoted saying: "I just believe in one less god."

Atheism is more than not believing in anthropomorphous gods. It is materialistic in its essense, i.e. if I can't see it, it must not exist. It is a lot more restrictive than many people realize. It's one thing to say you don't believe in, say, Christian gods. It's quite another to say that what we can't observe/explain in materialistic terms cannot possibly exist.

Atheism has a spectrum, just like any other religion.

My favorite quote is that "atheism is a religion, like bald is a hair color."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, I'm not a troll. Yes, I'm VERY insecure, but I don't lack any critical thinking skills at all and I find offense with your post. I am a free thinker because I don't let religion influence my beliefs.

That's not the definition of a free thinker. Your beliefs about what is true in the world should affect your other beliefs. If you think God commands you to care for the poor, do it. If you think God says something is murder, you should outlaw it.

Signed,
An atheist whose morality affects my beliefs.

How can you have morals if you're an Atheist?

This is the most often asked question I get when I say I don't believe in any gods. And my answer is this:

Do you really think that belief in a supernatural being is the only way you can distinguish between healthy sustainable behavior and unhealthy unsustainable behavior?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, I'm not a troll. Yes, I'm VERY insecure, but I don't lack any critical thinking skills at all and I find offense with your post. I am a free thinker because I don't let religion influence my beliefs.

That's not the definition of a free thinker. Your beliefs about what is true in the world should affect your other beliefs. If you think God commands you to care for the poor, do it. If you think God says something is murder, you should outlaw it.

Signed,
An atheist whose morality affects my beliefs.

How can you have morals if you're an Atheist?

This is the most often asked question I get when I say I don't believe in any gods. And my answer is this:

Do you really think that belief in a supernatural being is the only way you can distinguish between healthy sustainable behavior and unhealthy unsustainable behavior?

My morals come from an internal knowledge that certain things are just plain wrong. If it hurts someone in some way, you don't do it.

This thought that atheists don't have morals is either funny or sad.. I can't decide.

So.. when you think like that, and hear of terrible things happening on the news or something do you automatically assume that the person must be an athiest? Are all of the religious people who have harmed others, the environment, committed fraud or whatever actually atheists pretending to be christians? I don't understand how you figure atheism = lack of morals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

My favorite quote is that "atheism is a religion, like bald is a hair color."

Brilliant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, I'm not a troll. Yes, I'm VERY insecure, but I don't lack any critical thinking skills at all and I find offense with your post. I am a free thinker because I don't let religion influence my beliefs.

That's not the definition of a free thinker. Your beliefs about what is true in the world should affect your other beliefs. If you think God commands you to care for the poor, do it. If you think God says something is murder, you should outlaw it.

Signed,
An atheist whose morality affects my beliefs.

How can you have morals if you're an Atheist?

It's honestly frightening to me that for [some] religious people, the only thing stopping them from killing or raping their fellow humankind, stealing from them, or causing any other harm towards another, is a very old book compiled from some loose stories about men thousands of years ago. If a book is all that stands between you and committing violence or grief towards another, that's fucking terrifying.

You have no internal moral compass? Do you only do things for a selfish reward when you die? Do you really have that little compassion for your fellow humanity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, I just don't feel like I can accept it anymore and I drift further and further away from religion each year. I don't want to be like that because it doesn't seem right at all to become an Atheist.

Even though my father was one, I could never understand why he chose not to believe in God. I cannot make that choice because my conscience wouldn't let me.

Why would your conscience urge you to believe something that isn't true (by your beliefs)? You can be a good person who does good works still. Are you worried that you won't be a good person without the threat of eternal punishment?

Because I don't feel right accepting that God is probably a myth. I could give a flying fuck about eternal damnation. Based on the bullshit I get from Evangelicals, I'm already going there because I"m not straight, so why should I care? I'm a good perosn with or w/o religion, I just feel that I cannot truly accept that religion is fake and that God is not real. I was raised Catholic, my kids will be Catholic and I will die a Catholic; I cannot in good conscience allow myself to become a nonbeliever. There have been many things that have happened in my life that have reinforced my belief in the Lord and to disavow him now would be stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, I just don't feel like I can accept it anymore and I drift further and further away from religion each year. I don't want to be like that because it doesn't seem right at all to become an Atheist.

Even though my father was one, I could never understand why he chose not to believe in God. I cannot make that choice because my conscience wouldn't let me.

Why would your conscience urge you to believe something that isn't true (by your beliefs)? You can be a good person who does good works still. Are you worried that you won't be a good person without the threat of eternal punishment?

Because I don't feel right accepting that God is probably a myth. I could give a flying fuck about eternal damnation. Based on the bullshit I get from Evangelicals, I'm already going there because I"m not straight, so why should I care? I'm a good perosn with or w/o religion, I just feel that I cannot truly accept that religion is fake and that God is not real. I was raised Catholic, my kids will be Catholic and I will die a Catholic; I cannot in good conscience allow myself to become a nonbeliever. There have been many things that have happened in my life that have reinforced my belief in the Lord and to disavow him now would be stupid.

I don't think I understand your reasons. I'm not attacking them, I'm just confused. If you feel a healthy emotional attachment to the community and rituals of Catholism, you should acknowledge and honor that but if you mean to give another reason I'm missing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, I just don't feel like I can accept it anymore and I drift further and further away from religion each year. I don't want to be like that because it doesn't seem right at all to become an Atheist.

Even though my father was one, I could never understand why he chose not to believe in God. I cannot make that choice because my conscience wouldn't let me.

Why would your conscience urge you to believe something that isn't true (by your beliefs)? You can be a good person who does good works still. Are you worried that you won't be a good person without the threat of eternal punishment?

Because I don't feel right accepting that God is probably a myth. I could give a flying fuck about eternal damnation. Based on the bullshit I get from Evangelicals, I'm already going there because I"m not straight, so why should I care? I'm a good perosn with or w/o religion, I just feel that I cannot truly accept that religion is fake and that God is not real. I was raised Catholic, my kids will be Catholic and I will die a Catholic; I cannot in good conscience allow myself to become a nonbeliever. There have been many things that have happened in my life that have reinforced my belief in the Lord and to disavow him now would be stupid.

You're using "conscience" to refer to something else, I think. Can you use another word to explain what you mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, I just don't feel like I can accept it anymore and I drift further and further away from religion each year. I don't want to be like that because it doesn't seem right at all to become an Atheist.

Even though my father was one, I could never understand why he chose not to believe in God. I cannot make that choice because my conscience wouldn't let me.

Why would your conscience urge you to believe something that isn't true (by your beliefs)? You can be a good person who does good works still. Are you worried that you won't be a good person without the threat of eternal punishment?

Because I don't feel right accepting that God is probably a myth. I could give a flying fuck about eternal damnation. Based on the bullshit I get from Evangelicals, I'm already going there because I"m not straight, so why should I care? I'm a good perosn with or w/o religion, I just feel that I cannot truly accept that religion is fake and that God is not real. I was raised Catholic, my kids will be Catholic and I will die a Catholic; I cannot in good conscience allow myself to become a nonbeliever. There have been many things that have happened in my life that have reinforced my belief in the Lord and to disavow him now would be stupid.

I don't think I understand your reasons. I'm not attacking them, I'm just confused. If you feel a healthy emotional attachment to the community and rituals of Catholism, you should acknowledge and honor that but if you mean to give another reason I'm missing it.

What I am saying is that I will probably remain a Catholic until I die. I cannot embrace Atheism because it feels wrong and it goes against how I was raised.

[Anonymous]

OP, what you mean is that you will pretend to be Catholic until you die. If you don't believe in God, you aren't Catholic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, I just don't feel like I can accept it anymore and I drift further and further away from religion each year. I don't want to be like that because it doesn't seem right at all to become an Atheist.

Even though my father was one, I could never understand why he chose not to believe in God. I cannot make that choice because my conscience wouldn't let me.

Why would your conscience urge you to believe something that isn't true (by your beliefs)? You can be a good person who does good works still. Are you worried that you won't be a good person without the threat of eternal punishment?

Because I don't feel right accepting that God is probably a myth. I could give a flying fuck about eternal damnation. Based on the bullshit I get from Evangelicals, I'm already going there because I"m not straight, so why should I care? I'm a good perosn with or w/o religion, I just feel that I cannot truly accept that religion is fake and that God is not real. I was raised Catholic, my kids will be Catholic and I will die a Catholic; I cannot in good conscience allow myself to become a nonbeliever. There have been many things that have happened in my life that have reinforced my belief in the Lord and to disavow him now would be stupid.

I don't think I understand your reasons. I'm not attacking them, I'm just confused. If you feel a healthy emotional attachment to the community and rituals of Catholism, you should acknowledge and honor that but if you mean to give another reason I'm missing it.

What I am saying is that I will probably remain a Catholic until I die. I cannot embrace Atheism because it feels wrong and it goes against how I was raised.

So are your only choices Catholicism or Atheism?

You don't need to embrace Atheism to try to understand it, or at least accept that others understand it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, what you mean is that you will pretend to be Catholic until you die. If you don't believe in God, you aren't Catholic.

I'm not pretending at all, I was raised that way and will die that way. I cannot be an Atheist, its just not right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, I'm not a troll. Yes, I'm VERY insecure, but I don't lack any critical thinking skills at all and I find offense with your post. I am a free thinker because I don't let religion influence my beliefs.

That's not the definition of a free thinker. Your beliefs about what is true in the world should affect your other beliefs. If you think God commands you to care for the poor, do it. If you think God says something is murder, you should outlaw it.

Signed,
An atheist whose morality affects my beliefs.

How can you have morals if you're an Atheist?

You can't have morals without Gods/religion? Are you serious?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, I just don't feel like I can accept it anymore and I drift further and further away from religion each year. I don't want to be like that because it doesn't seem right at all to become an Atheist.

Even though my father was one, I could never understand why he chose not to believe in God. I cannot make that choice because my conscience wouldn't let me.

Why would your conscience urge you to believe something that isn't true (by your beliefs)? You can be a good person who does good works still. Are you worried that you won't be a good person without the threat of eternal punishment?

Because I don't feel right accepting that God is probably a myth. I could give a flying fuck about eternal damnation. Based on the bullshit I get from Evangelicals, I'm already going there because I"m not straight, so why should I care? I'm a good perosn with or w/o religion, I just feel that I cannot truly accept that religion is fake and that God is not real. I was raised Catholic, my kids will be Catholic and I will die a Catholic; I cannot in good conscience allow myself to become a nonbeliever. There have been many things that have happened in my life that have reinforced my belief in the Lord and to disavow him now would be stupid.

I don't think I understand your reasons. I'm not attacking them, I'm just confused. If you feel a healthy emotional attachment to the community and rituals of Catholism, you should acknowledge and honor that but if you mean to give another reason I'm missing it.

What I am saying is that I will probably remain a Catholic until I die. I cannot embrace Atheism because it feels wrong and it goes against how I was raised.

So are your only choices Catholicism or Atheism?

You don't need to embrace Atheism to try to understand it, or at least accept that others understand it.

I have no incentive to become a Protestant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what you mean is that you will pretend to be Catholic until you die. If you don't believe in God, you aren't Catholic.

I'm not pretending at all, I was raised that way and will die that way. I cannot be an Atheist, its just not right.

You said you can't accept it anymore and find yourself drifting further and further away. So you can't accept that there is a God anymore but you will believe anyway? That's not what "believe" means.