Why are Atheists...Atheists?, page 25

reply to post by MatrixProphet

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Ok, well I grew up with no one telling me what religion to practice,my parents said that they wanted me to decide my own religion which was one of the best things that they have ever said to me, I think that most people that believe in God do so because their parents made them into something that they might not want to be, making them go to church and pray not letting their own children decide for themselves.
After all of that I would say that I am an Atheist because when they said I could choose for myself I did a lot of research throughout my life and after reading what I would call stories in the bible, quran, the torah and all of the other books, I decided that I wasn't going to have a cage around me, that a God was going to smite me down if i did something wrong and that when I die there was going to be a man sitting there at the pearly gates letting me into an imagination land.
That is why I am an Atheist.

Atheists are Atheists for a number of reasons. It could be because they use reason and logic to define their life, not superstitions and supernatural events that were recorded by people who lived thousands of years ago in a scientifically devoid civilization.

It could also be the fact that they realize the notion of a "correct" religion is ridiculous because of the simple fact that every religion throughout history thinks it is the only correct one, and for ultimate salvation you must listen to them, and that if you listen to another religion you will be banished to some form of eternal hell or non-existence. If god is a truly gregarious being, he would ensure that there is one obvious option and you can take it or leave it. Putting thousands of religions, and hundreds if not thousands of SECTS of a SINGLE religion on earth to choose from is just cruel and unusual for a supreme being. (cough)

It could also be that they have looked at the theory of evolution (don't start the whole "it's just a theory" argument - lots of things are theories and are highly predictable), the fossil record, and have concluded that it makes the most sense. There is clear evidence, and more gets added every day, to the case for evolution. If people do their own research it is very clear that evolution is real. There is no such thing as macro or micro evolution, it's just evolution. Very small steps over millions and billions of years. Yes, evolution can account for things such as eyes, and Intelligent Design is a farce.

With that said, I think you'll find most Atheists are actually Agnostics, because they do allow for the extreme possibility that there is a god out there. I, personally, am an Agnostic. I have atheistic beliefs in evolution and whatnot, but I think there is obviously something more to this existence that meets the eye. I'm not talking about ghosts, aliens, or generally hokey/spooky things.

If there is a god, he does not take any action other than the creation of the universe. We already have many theories on how the gaseous state of the universe post-creation/big bang coalesced into stars and planets, and once you get a planet, the rest is history (if it's in the right location in relation to a star[s]).

As a side note, I would like to say that I don't care if someone is religious. It's great that you think religion works for you, go with it. However, don't try and push it on me, or if had children, them either. A particular religion does not belong in school to be taught as the correct method of how we came to be because it is not scientific and has no accepted scholarly evidence to prove it, and should remain a personal opinion that someone comes to through their own means.

As far as supernatural happenings go... If I were to find a planet with a civilization that has just come out of the stoneage, and show them, say, a radio, would it not seem supernatural? They have no way to explain it, but there are voices coming out of this box, and you obviously can't fit a person in there. Technology to someone who is not as advance will seem like magic. This is a simple example of how things can seem supernatural, but obviously aren't.

Almost everything has scientific explanation related to it. It may take some time to figure things out, but it's attainable, with time. We still can't get Quantum Theory and Relativity to mesh well (the science of the very small and the science of the very large). Hopefully, String Theory will be the theory that does this. If string theory proves correct, this opens up even more questions than answers, but at least we'll be one step closer to understanding the truth.

I think I've rambled on enough, I probably took more tangents than necessary, but that's just a bad habit of mine.

reply to post by TruthParadox

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Religions base their belief on faith and emotions due to a lack of proof. Emotions are highly blinding and illogical.

True, but emotions were given to us to judge the quality of our life. Are we being hurt? Do our senses tell us something is wrong with someone? We may "feel" that something is wrong and have no definitive way of saying why, yet we know it to be true. Emotions are not wrong but it is what we do with them!

It also speaks of God in that same way. A knowing that he exists without the definitive proof.

I agree - religion is the culprit of hell etc. I don't believe in religion so it is a lot easier to let many of its teachings go. No, I don't believe that God is loving all the time. I think that we are lemmings and are not as important as man would like to believe.

{quote]If any god did exist, he/she would see all the religions in the world and know that what you believe in is determined by where you live 95% of the time. If you're born in China, and the Christian God is correct, then you're screwed. If you're born in America, and Buddhism is correct, then you're screwed. This makes god a racist.

Ditto, Ditto!!!

Even if you believe in a god, you cannot deny that human psychology plays a major role in why we have so many religions today.

Ditto, again! That is why it is important to separate God from religion, as many other scientists are doing. If we are part of the masses then we can expect most to follow the herd and this certainly applies to religion, since most of mankind are members. There is only an elite number of mankind that separate themselves from all religion, and I mean all!!

reply to post by OutoftheBoxthinker

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Anyway, humanism is as revolting and as ridiculous as Christianity

Couldn't agree with you more!! Is it no wonder that God has abandoned mankind on the whole, in my observation? I have seen that it takes much more to get his attention, and it is not surprising!

As I have said many times on this forum..."Look around, how many people do you see that just - eat, sleep, procreate and defecate?" How much of mankind actually gives a @&!@?

reply to post by Mossboss16

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Love your signature:

"...man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but usually manages to pick himself up, walk over or around it, and carry on. "

Winston Churchill

Well, again I see that you are attaching God to a lot of religious beliefs. Is there a hell or a heaven? Look on earth! There certainly is enough hell right here!

My God is not part of religion nor it falsehoods. Yes, I'm confident, LOL!

I do indeed understand where you are coming from!

"But people with a low threshold for shock didn't last long in a world without fairy dust." - Elizabeth Lowell

reply to post by Corum

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Mod Edit: Funny. But off-topic. This is a Big thread and 1-liners/off-topic posts are strictly forbidden.

Oh, sorry I missed it? I can always use a good laugh!

reply to post by heyo

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In my experience, God is a realist. Not an idealist! Idealism is so subjective, don't you think so? Your post indicated that and I agree.

I first of all had to rid the fairy dust out of my eyes before I could become a realist. To some extent I feel atheists are just as romantic as many of the religious. To believe in "POOF" takes a lot of faith - romantic faith, as those who believe in religion. When the answer may be somewhere in the middle!

reply to post by Bigwhammy

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Brainwashing: "a method for systematically changing attitudes or altering beliefs, originated in totalitarian countries, especially through the use of torture, drugs, or psychological-stress techniques."

Religions scare people into believeing that if they don't live a certain way, if they do certain things they will suffer for all eternity, and if the are good and live by certain rules they will have eternal happiness. That is "systematically changing attitudes or altering beliefs". Nobody is born believing in heaven or hell, God or Satan, Allah, 72 virgins, Krishna, Egyptian Gods, etc. Those beliefs require brainwashing.

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