How many left the organization have become Atheist? (page 3)

B_Deserter

I became atheist and I haven't even technically left the borg yet. Waiting to build up a life outside it before I leave.

I became an atheist a few years after leaving the organization. It was only after I started to READ that I began to have doubts. The more I read, the more sense it made that the universe had a natural origin and not a supernatural one.

CyrusThePersian

Small Town Atheist

PrimateDave

My god is my belly. I make offerings to it several times a day. What? That doesn't count? Oh, well, I guess I'm an atheist then.

Dave

IP_SEC

I always was an atheist. Now I just believe in one less god than I used to.

Seeker4

Atheist here as well. I think my belief in god went at the same time that my belief in the Bible as from a supernatural source went, and all of that was when I was still a Witness, more or less.

Jaguarbass: You're in an odd place there. It sounds similar to where I found myself for a while - knowing that Genesis was utter nonsense if you tried to take it literally, yet, because of my JW background and years of studying the ideas in the Evolution and Life How Did It Get Here books, I was unable to accept evolution.

At one point I simply decided to research all those questions the Witness literature had raised about evolution. I found really satisfying answers, ones that made complete sense with my own life experiences.

One of the most powerful points for me was reading the comment of the man (his name escapes me at the moment) who has been in charge of he human genome project. Now this guy is a devout evangelical Christian, and to paraphrase him, he stated that if Darwin had decided to invent a body of evidence that would prove evolution beyond a doubt, he couldn't have come up with a better idea than what we find in DNA and the genome project. I can get the direct quote if you'd like.

Also, I've found that using mathematics to "disprove" evolution is a very slippery slope. The odds that a particular person will win Powerball or the lottery are astronomical, but you know what, it happens everyday.

Threestars: Buddhism, like Taoism, is more philosophy than religion, at least that's how they started. They allow you a full belief in science and evolution and have no need of a god. Personally, I would say that taoism has been the biggest influence on my thinking.

S4

greendawn

For the survey data I am not an atheist, I noticed most respondents say they are atheists. It's probably the way the WTS presented God that did it.

WTWizard

OK, so I have the answer to the moral yardstick. No, you do not need a God to have a moral society. The principles of morality is (1) Any action that is volitionally done that benefits self or society is moral and (2) Any action that is volitionally done that harms self or society is immoral. The rules are (1) No initiating the use of force, threat of force, or fraud against another person or their property. Force is properly used in defense to those who violate this principal.

And no God, nor Puketower Society, is needed to enforce these rules. To determine if an action is moral, amoral, or immoral, a simple honest cost/benefit analysis is needed. In doing that action, is there more benefit to society or self than the total cost? If so, then the action is perfectly moral to do. Examples are going to college even though there are drug parties there, listening to the type of music you want to listen to, getting Internet access if you can afford so, finding a better job, defending one's self or country, taking blood transfusions when doing so gives you more benefit than risk and cost, donating to charities that help those who fall into hard times for reasons beyond their control, and the like.

Immoral actions include wasting time on meetings and field service where there is a time cost but no benefit, donating to organizations that exist solely to create problems where none needed to exist, smoking and doing drugs, reckless actions that cause risk or harm to people, refusing to go to college when one is qualified to and the benefit exceeds the cost, dropping out of high school to pioneer, throwing away Christmas decorations that you still like and that are still working fine just to please another person (not a spouse or parent/child) or organization, and things like that. All these actions have higher costs and little or no benefit. They cause net harm to self and/or society and are thus immoral.

Amoral actions have no net effect. Such are where each person should be free to work within, without having someone else try to dictate how they are going to decide. All thoughts and emotions, what color shirt you wish to wear, whether you play Pokemon or Tetris at the a$$embly (assuming you cannot get out of going altogether), whether you drive a 4-door car or a 2-door, and things like this. Most actions have no consequences to the person or society and are amoral.

Effectively, I am antitheist. This means that I believe that the existence of a God damns mankind to a life of stagnation. God has created many "sins" that are really amoral. Committing one of those has no net negative effect on self or society, and thus should not be condemned. In doing so, God has created problems where none existed, and absolutely no value. Even honestly examining the Scriptures, I have found many occasions where God has destroyed value in the Bible. Who would want to honor such a being? I won't.

IP_SEC

It's probably the way the WTS presented God that did it.

sorry, but no. wouldnt believe in or need even a cool spirit poppa.

Seeker4

Greendawn,

It's not the way the WTS presented god that made me lose all belief in one - it's the way the Bible presents god! If his own book makes god look like a abusive, dysfunctional madman, well, you don't have much to work with!

Oh yes, there was that one other factor - the complete lack of evidence for his existence. I should think that if there was one thing an all-powerful god could do, it would be to prove he's around. I can do it, why can't he?

S4

Undecided

I'm just about there now. The more I see nature the more I doubt a supreme God making it the way it is. Things like fleas, mosquitoes, parasites, viruses etc. DNA to kill everything alive. Doesn't seem like a God would do that.

Ken P.

How many left the organization have become Atheist?

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