Thread: Question for Atheists.

You're question is not weird. There's no such thing as a bad question.

The day that I became an Atheist was when I realized God was a tyrant. I used to swing back forth believing and not believing. I asked a lot people mainly religious friends, family, and a minister. I asked them, "Do Atheists go to heaven?" The unanimous answer was "no". Big surprise there. Thne I asked them, "What if an Atheist lives an honest life? He or she doesn't steal, kill, lie, use people,and just lives a good and honest life?" The response: it's impossible to get into heaven without believing in God. Atheists will go to Hell.
I started thinking to myself: What kind of God would do that? I mean, an honest person deserves to get into heaven. Then an epiphany came to me: God is a tyrant. A true God would not be jealous. A true God would not allow genocide to occur on His planet. A true God would allow a decent person into heaven. Regardless whether or not that person believed in Him.

That's a quick summary of my beliefs

I don't think I ever really believed in God. I mean, my mom would always basically force my sister, my brother, and I into going to church every Sunday, but I can't ever recall genuinely believing or praying.

Sundays were the worst. I would have rather went to school, and I hated school when I was that young.

I was never interested in the idea of a god. Never really thought about it never really cared. If someone had of asked me if I believed I would have told them no. It wasn't until I was about 18 when science began to strike my interest. Once I learned about evolution it was basically gameover for any lingering doubts I had that maybe god did exist. Here was an explanation of how we got here, billions of years in the making, I had no reason to look elsewhere.

So that's basically my religious history.

Originally Posted by RSFAD

God is a tyrant.

Amen!

Originally Posted by RSFAD

A true God would not be jealous. A true God would not allow genocide to occur on His planet. A true God would allow a decent person into heaven. Regardless whether or not that person believed in Him.

That realization is what changed me from agnostic to atheist. How I went from Christian to agnostic is another story.

Originally Posted by sora12

Hello there.
I am interested in knowing when some of you who are Atheist became/ realized you were atheist and or how? (Sorry if I worded the question in a weird way.) Lately, I've been doubting my belief in God. I grew up all my life believing in him and I've never really given a second thought to his existence. So I just wanted to see if anybody went through a similar experience before they became Atheist and stuff like that.

I had a vision

I haven't thought about it in a long time, but up until I was about 19 or 20, I did have a personal deity with which I communed, which I petitioned for aid, and whom I to some extent tried to serve. I didn't take it for the Lord of the Universe or Creator of Life, and I responded more or less as an atheist when confronted with monotheists, but I did have a relationship with an entity in a broader causal domain, and it was a very real part of my life.

That relationship soured because of an occasion on which I opened myself to this being and, as a sort of side effect, had a vision of my future including my death. It was a future in which I was increasingly isolated and would have no power (that is, this being would not intercede) to save loved ones from profound suffering, and in which my death (in the midst of great social upheaval two or three years from now) was by no means guaranteed to serve the greater good.

Suffice it to say my response was not, "Thy will be done."

A few years down the road I made peace with my deity through Guru Yoga and let it more or less melt into the Tao, which is much more relevant to my experience of the world now.

I know it's not exactly analogous to your situation, but perhaps my story will illustrate that there are more ways out of your dilemma than simply answering True or False.

God is not a tyrant. He has rules, he asks you to follow them. If that makes you a tyrant, then guess what? Every boss/teacher/principal/country rules in tyranny. And, you don't even HAVE to follow all of them if you want to go to heaven. All you have to do is receive Christ as your savior.

And heaven isn't even the point of being a Christian!!


Oh, and I love this point:

I think God is mean, thus, I decided to stop believing in him.
Does no one have a backbone these days? What kind of childish logic is that?

Originally Posted by Noogah

God is not a tyrant. He has rules, he asks you to follow them. If that makes you a tyrant, then guess what? Every boss/teacher/principal/country rules in tyranny. And, you don't even HAVE to follow all of them if you want to go to heaven. All you have to do is receive Christ as your savior.

And heaven isn't even the point of being a Christian!!


Oh, and I love this point:

I think God is mean, thus, I decided to stop believing in him.
Does no one have a backbone these days? What kind of childish logic is that?

Noogah, this is not a debate thread and those who have posted so far are only providing the OP with the information she asked for. Please take it to another thread.

Some people here make me sad to be theistic in certain ideologies(what)
God may no longer exist. Maybe the second coming is the return, but he isn't here now.
Goodbye.
(can't answer OP, not atheist)
but doubting your faith is good, helps you realize you aren't a mindless zombie.

Originally Posted by Taosaur

Noogah, this is not a debate thread and those who have posted so far are only providing the OP with the information she asked for. Please take it to another thread.

What do you mean it isn't a debate thread??? Such a thing does not exist in the r/s.

Anyways, I was not debating. I simply trying to clear something up.

Originally Posted by Noogah

God is not a tyrant. He has rules, he asks you to follow them. If that makes you a tyrant, then guess what? Every boss/teacher/principal/country rules in tyranny. And, you don't even HAVE to follow all of them if you want to go to heaven. All you have to do is receive Christ as your savior.

Or else!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Noogah

I think God is mean, thus, I decided to stop believing in him.
Does no one have a backbone these days? What kind of childish logic is that?

No, that's not it. It's, "Wait a second... God is more evil than Hitler and has severe emotional problems. That's the ultimate being in the universe? He's supposedly good and loving? What a crock!" The idea of something with infinite intelligence acting like a stupid redneck with a dominance obsession and lunatic rules is pretty absurd. It's not something I find believable.

Originally Posted by sora12

Hello there.
I am interested in knowing when some of you who are Atheist became/ realized you were atheist and or how? (Sorry if I worded the question in a weird way.) Lately, I've been doubting my belief in God. I grew up all my life believing in him and I've never really given a second thought to his existence. So I just wanted to see if anybody went through a similar experience before they became Atheist and stuff like that.

I researched my faith as I got older and am still drawn to it, something about God loving mankind enough to send us Jesus. There's nothing wrong with asking questions or wanting to understand things, but don't let anyone tell you it's childish or uneducated or uncool to believe in God.

When I evolved beyond something as mundane as some ancient belief system that subjugates, enslaves & lies to its people.

Originally Posted by RSFAD

I used to swing back forth believing and not believing. ... "What if an Atheist lives an honest life? He or she doesn't steal, kill, lie, use people,and just lives a good and honest life?" The response: it's impossible to get into heaven without believing in God. Atheists will go to Hell.
I started thinking to myself: What kind of God would do that? I mean, an honest person deserves to get into heaven. ... A true God would allow a decent person into heaven. Regardless whether or not that person believed in Him.

Cut out a few things, and you pretty much have what I think, but stated much more eloquently than I could have come up with on my own. I simply don't see how believing in someone makes you worthy of going to Heaven, while even if you're an honest non-believer, you're still going to Hell.

I used to believe in God simply because I never thought to question it. I never went to church or prayed or anything, it was just sort of aknowledged that he existed. I didn't think about religion much until I started becoming more aware of politics and people started using it to argue against what I believed. It always seemed unnecessarily cruel to me that a god would make people gay and then say that it's unnatural and immoral...

I'm guess I'm more agnostic than atheist. For all I know, there could be a god out there, and I think it's a bit arrogant of people to claim to know which is the right one. Considering all the different religions out there, statistically speaking you're very unlikely to pick the right one.

There are probably a couple of other reasons I'm forgetting. My decision was based on a lot of different things, not just one reason.

Originally Posted by Noogah

God is not a tyrant. He has rules, he asks you to follow them. If that makes you a tyrant, then guess what? Every boss/teacher/principal/country rules in tyranny. And, you don't even HAVE to follow all of them if you want to go to heaven. All you have to do is receive Christ as your savior.

And heaven isn't even the point of being a Christian!!

o.0 Hold on, back up a moment... did you just say that to go to Heaven, ALL you have to do is believe in Christ? That even if you're a horrible person but you're a believer then you're going to Heaven, whereas a righteous non-believer would still go to Hell? I thought being a good person had something to do with getting into Heaven, but, if I'm reading what you just said correctly, apparently it doesn't...

Originally Posted by sora12

Hello there.
I am interested in knowing when some of you who are Atheist became/ realized you were atheist and or how? (Sorry if I worded the question in a weird way.) Lately, I've been doubting my belief in God. I grew up all my life believing in him and I've never really given a second thought to his existence. So I just wanted to see if anybody went through a similar experience before they became Atheist and stuff like that.

Slow process. Just think more and more, and it really doesn't become neccessary.

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

Or else!!!!!!! ...
It's not something I find believable.

Um, when you said "Or else", I don't think you noticed that I said "NOT"

You do NOT have to follow every rule to get to Heaven.

Also, God is nothing like you portrayed, and you haven't explained why you said so.

There's a lot more unbelievable stuff in life. I'd get used to it, if I were you. For example: My ancestors were apes.

Originally Posted by Noogah

My ancestors were apes.

I thought you didn't believe in evolution..?

Originally Posted by sora12

Hello there.
I am interested in knowing when some of you who are Atheist became/ realized you were atheist and or how? (Sorry if I worded the question in a weird way.) Lately, I've been doubting my belief in God. I grew up all my life believing in him and I've never really given a second thought to his existence. So I just wanted to see if anybody went through a similar experience before they became Atheist and stuff like that.

Sorry, it's late, and I'm not going to read through the entire thread, so I'll just go ahead and respond to the OP. -.-

Growing up, I never went to church...not one single time. My parents never emphasized any school of thought, and basically told me what the facts were and ultimately left me to my own devices. God was sort of there, but never really spoken or taught. Around 7th grade, I started questioning, and after bouncing about for a bit, finally settled on atheism, which, after browsing through dozens of world religions, each containing the equal level of probability, starts to look pretty damn appealing. Eh, I guess I first went with agnosticism, and that sort of solidified into atheism. When you start waffling between straight facts and science on one side, and unproven, low-quality evidence and hundreds of religions all claiming to be the one true religion, there really is no contest.

There is nothing wrong with doubting your belief in God...in fact, I encourage it highly, and not just because I'm an atheist. Questioning the world around you is one of the best ways to discover truth and keep an open mind. What you believe is what you believe, but the fact that you're putting thought into it is a very good step, and no matter what you conclude, I am happy for this.

Originally Posted by Carôusoul

I thought you didn't believe in evolution..?

That brings a whole new level to "Out of context"

Originally Posted by Noogah

That brings a whole new level to "Out of context"

cheer up.

Originally Posted by Noogah

My ancestors were apes.

You are an ape.

in "him"? well that's your first problem

Originally Posted by juroara

in "him"? well that's your first problem

Oh come on, it's quite clear she's using that as a convenient way to refer to God and in no way believes god is a him. It's a figure of speech. I refer to god as a him, but I in no way think of him as anything gender based, lots of people do this.

You're just being pedantic.

I don't refer to God as a 'him'. Language influences your perspective!

Originally Posted by juroara

I don't refer to God as a 'him'. Language influences your perspective!

Yeah but she obviously didn't mean anything explicit by it. I don't think it's harmful. In this case it's pretty harmless to say him.

Thanks everyone for the insightful comments and experiences. I got a lot in one day.

Originally Posted by juroara

I don't refer to God as a 'him'. Language influences your perspective!

Originally Posted by Carôusoul

Oh come on, it's quite clear she's using that as a convenient way to refer to God and in no way believes god is a him. It's a figure of speech. I refer to god as a him, but I in no way think of him as anything gender based, lots of people do this.

Yeah, that's what I meant when I referred to God as "him", I meant no harm. For all I know if God does exist he could be genderless or a female. I'm just used to people around referring to God as a him.