Declare your religion or lack of.

[sharks104]

I was born a mormon(mormons belive EVERYTHING that christians belive, they just have another book which is also catshit). When I was twelve I realized religion was bullshit and refused to go to church. When I was at my Mom's she let me stay home. When I was at my Dad's he would force me to go. If I said I wouldn't go, he threatened to call the police and once he actually did. Since we lived in a small town the police said they would take me in if I didn't obey my dad. Our church was split into three sections. In the first section everyone in the whole chuch meets in the chapel. The second is sunday school, and the third is priesthood. So after the first meeting I would run out of the chapel and hide for the last two hours. I did this until I didn't have to go to my dads any more.

Religion is the load of shit. I can't understand why people believe in a book that:

1. A quarter of the ancient hebrew could not be translated, which means 1/4 of it is missing.

2. The parts that are there are riddled whith mistranslations.

3. Was edited by high priests, who decided which content went into the book and which content was left out.

There is a movie called Zeitgeist on google video that is amazing(only the first part).

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...PMrPjSCA&hl=en

If anyone is interested watch from 13:30 until part two. I promise you won't be disappointed. The information that you will learn will stay with you for the rest of your life. It has already changed my outlook and answered my lingering questions about christianity.

[PhillySons]

Originally Posted by MaFuJon

agnostic atheist here

well which is it?

moron

[madeyeshawn]

Originally Posted by DaveNJ

All I can say is, I didn't feel compelled to state why I believe what I believe or make any case for my faith. I'm not here to convince you to follow my faith. If you feel compelled to tell me why you believe what you believe then fine, but I hope you don't mind sounding like someone who tells me they're Christian because they believe in the Bible and Jesus.

I think its important for an atheist to not hide his/her non belief. As equally important as a Gay/Lesbian to not hide their sexuality. There is a ton of negative stigma and ignorant ideas of who and why someone is an atheist. I have heard the words "I'm a Christian so i just don't like atheists" from a very friendly girl i talk to at my office everyday. I quickly gave her some reasons why she should be more open minded to an atheist and how were not different, evil, or on drugs like she has been strangely lead to believe.

Alot of people want to blame atheists in the same way they blame violent video games and school shootings.

And in many ignorant minds an atheist is not different than a practicing satanic.

Maybe these are extreme, but you dont have to look hard to find these people.

And our "keep it to ourselves its not their business attitude" is partly to blame. Not saying we should all go screaming down the street "im an ATHEIST im an atheist" But we should be proud and actively sharing our non-religion anytime someone is telling us about their own.

Without a hearty and positive representation why would anybody think we deserve equal treatment.

Its a pissing contest cause thats what we do in this country, Fundamentalist are protesting an abortion clinic right now as we speak and nobody is protesting them.

[DaveNJ]

Originally Posted by madeyeshawn

I think its important for an atheist to not hide his/her non belief. As equally important as a Gay/Lesbian to not hide their sexuality. There is a ton of negative stigma and ignorant ideas of who and why someone is an atheist. I have heard the words "I'm a Christian so i just don't like atheists" from a very friendly girl i talk to at my office everyday. I quickly gave her some reasons why she should be more open minded to an atheist and how were not different, evil, or on drugs like she has been strangely lead to believe.

Alot of people want to blame atheists in the same way they blame violent video games and school shootings.

And in many ignorant minds an atheist is not different than a practicing satanic.

Maybe these are extreme, but you dont have to look hard to find these people.

And our "keep it to ourselves its not their business attitude" is partly to blame. Not saying we should all go screaming down the street "im an ATHEIST im an atheist" But we should be proud and actively sharing our non-religion anytime someone is telling us about their own.

Without a hearty and positive representation why would anybody think we deserve equal treatment.

Its a pissing contest cause thats what we do in this country, Fundamentalist are protesting an abortion clinic right now as we speak and nobody is protesting them.

So because some people have misconceptions about atheism you feel the need to profess why you're an atheist everywhere? I mean, I hate to break it to you, but in this thread you're basically preaching to the choir. So even in a majority venue, where these attitudes you bring up aren't present, something compelled you to state why you are the faith you are.

I'm sorry, but I'm just not seeing the difference here in terms of sheer MO between you and a random Evangelical.

Nobody told you to hide your belief or was attacking your faith here, but you still wanted to turn it into a pissing contest, and I just don't get that. I guess it just shows that no matter the faith or lack of faith one has people are generally quite convinced they're right, and feel compelled to at least try to change people's minds any chance they get.

And sorry to tell you, but turning religion vs. atheism into a pissing contest is a losing battle. I'd really try to find a different strategy, because isn't the point of rejecting traditional faith that it's NOT some contest, but rather a search for inner truth?

I agree that without positive representation it's harder to gain true equality, but you're not putting out a positive representation. You're coming off like the equivalent of an atheist version of a Bible-thumper. Which is exactly what happens when you turn religion into a pissing contest.

[dEadERest]

brought up Catholic, was not confirmed until the kids were going to be baptized (wife wanted that, she, Episcopalian upbringing, converted). Kids 16, 18 are not confirmed but all sacraments to that point.
Whole life I've been atheistic, just kept my mouth shut.
There is no creator. There is no god. The purest form of worship is ancestor worship. We owe everything to our ancestors. Religion is a creation required to harness our consciousness in the tribal setting, to alleviate fear. The focus had to be taken from the ancestor to the group focus. This was subtly portrayed in the film Gladiator.

[Grapist]

Wow, this thread got pretty far without any significant infighting. I'm impressed.

One thing I have noticed concerning karma, it seems to be invoked by people typically in a negative context. You typically hear people say, "Karma's a bitch", or "Karma will catch up to you", in response to a wrongdoing someone commits. You don't, (or at least I don't) ever see it used in a positive context, like "oh wow, that was a great thing you did, karma is going to reward you for that". This makes me question whether karma does exist or whether it is a human construct designed to set a person at ease in knowing that something bad will happen to someone who has done something bad.

Bad things happen, I have seen no proof that one person's bad did is directly related to some event in their future causing them pain or suffering. Coincidense seems more likely the case.

[BrianAlt]

Originally Posted by Grapist

"oh wow, that was a great thing you did, karma is going to reward you for that".

Yeah, in fact you only hear the opposite. As in, "only the good die young." Or as in, "it's such a pity. Three kids and he died so young! He was so giving to the community." Etc.

[dEadERest]

Originally Posted by Grapist

Wow, this thread got pretty far without any significant infighting. I'm impressed.

personally, i don't give a rat's scrotal scraping what anyone, including my immediate family, believes. I value peace and intelligence. Religion, historically, values neither.

[Grapist]

Oh, and I don't practice any religion.

[motownguy]

I grew up the son of a South Baptist (on TV) preacher. My wife went to Catholic school through 12 grade. I became agnostic, she became Wiccan. When we had kids she really wanted to have a religious community and the only thing we could agree on was reform / humanistic Judaism, so we both converted. For me, it's pretty much the same idea:

There is probably something bigger than me out there. It is fundamentally unknowable from my perspective, so deal with it. Be good to others, teach them to fish.