Atheist with crisis of conscience. Please help.

by parakeet 70 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  tec

  Still waiting to hear from you, Christians. I can't make up my mind until I've heard both sides of this issue. - parakeet

  First, I am a Christian - follower of Christ, not an organization.

  My two cents on what atheism is? Atheism is not faith in disbelief. It is a lack of faith or belief in anything that cannot be proven by science. I do not believe that it is a religion.

  Being an atheist does not make you a bad or a good person. Neither does being a Christian. Our deeds tend to show this, but then again, we all make mistakes.

  A righteous person (not a self-righteous person) is someone who believes and trusts in God. By this definition, you cannot be both an atheist and be a righteous person... but I don't see why that should bother an atheist in the least.

  I do not mock the atheist for his lack of faith. From my point of view, that is between him and God. From his point of view... there is no God, and my thought means nothing.

  However, I am mocked for my faith-- for my belief in my 'invisible friend in the sky' or my belief in a 'fantasy afterlife', because I cannot cope with life or do good unless there is a reward. I am foolish, ignorant, uneducated and gullible. I unable to reason, unable to think for myself, etc, etc...

  I assure you, I examine my beliefs in scripture with my experiences and knowledge of science, as do many believers... and I do not find a conflict between the two. Science can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God, and until that changes, then I am as entitled to my faith as you are to your lack of faith.

  To be fair, however, the atheist has also been mocked by the believer, for all of the things you and others have mentioned in this post. But speaking to all the atheists who assert that atheism is not devoid of goodness... do two wrongs make a right?

  If you're tired of being mocked by a believer, then by all means, say so. I know I'm tired of being mocked by the atheist. But I don't go out and mock a group of atheists in protest... which seems, at least to me, to be the intent of this post. Or perhaps I have mistakenly heard sarcasm where there is none?

  If so, then I apologize.

  Tec
• 

  cyberjesus

  No there is no sarcasm here. She is trying to figure out how to be a good Atheist. One that deserves dying and going to "nowhere" she wants to be deserving to give out her atoms back to the universe where she borrowed them from. I mean where God borrow them and let her use them..wait a second. No the atoms belonged to whom?

  Anyway
• 

  wobble

  Dear Parakeet,

  Thanks for the (tongue firmly in cheek?) thread. I used to think , when an active Dub that the Atheist position,(so much more fun than the missionary position) or should I say Atheist intellectual stance, was not one that could be honestly held.

  I reasoned that if we use "reason" to come to that position, we cannot trust our conclusion because it is just an electro-chemical process that has gone on in our brain and has no more validity than something we create in a test-tube that produces an electro-chemical process.

  I thought that a creator was necessary to validate our brain function as "Truth"

  I have since done a 180 degree turn and I am now an Atheist/Agnostic/Humanist. That label will be questioned by JW's and Christians perhaps, but it works .

  I do not believe in God, (Atheist), I am without facts about creation and intelligent design (Agnostic), I believe in The Golden Rule (Humanist).

  I am free of all man made rules and mores, except those made by one man, ME. I believe my stance is intellectually viable and honest.

  I do not practice my Atheism, that is impossible, it just is, you cannot have faith that something does not exist, faith is belief IN something ,not belief in the absence of it

  Love

  Wobble
• 

  The Scotsman

  I don't think Mr. Christopher Hitchens will object to my copying this here (source: god is not great).

  LOL - Mr Hitchens is one of the most miserable men I have ever seen - not exactly flying the flag for the supposed freedom of atheism!

  Without a pesky diety to fear

  Many believe in God - but do not "fear" a deity.

  As to the atheist lifestyle, I'm not sure I'm living it correctly

  Huh???? What lifrstyle? I am religious but have no set lifestyle.

  Is atheism a belief? Or is it that atheism is "not" believing something? I am not sure what the correct definition would be.

  Anyhows - I know plenty of atheists - are they happier people than believers - well, no to be honest - they are as happy/unhappy as everyone else.

  Are they more free than believers? I suppose they are in certain ways - but it does not seem to lead to greater happiness for them.

  Believe what you want and live the best way you feel - enjoy life.

  The Scotsman
• 

  THE GLADIATOR

  A well written and fair post tec.

  I am sometimes called an atheist but I resent being given such a lable just because I have not embraced the risen Jesus. I have not embraced Allah, Yahweh, Thor or Odin either.

  Some find comfort in believing that there is a powerful God in charge somewhere out there or deep in their hearts. Others are angered by this because they have decided they do not believe, so they don't see why others should enjoy something they are unable to.

  I DO NOT KNOW where the universe came from. In the same way that religious people DO NOT KNOW where a creator would have come from.

  The fact is that despite all the labels on offer - NONE OF US ACTUALLY KNOW!
• 

  streets76

  To be an atheist you have to fail to see the evidence of a designer in all aspects of life.

  Here we go with "there's got to be a designer" again.

  Who designed our designer? Must have been a complex dude. Who designed our designer's designer? Must have been a complex dude, too. Who designed our designer's designer's designer's designer? Now that dude was really complex! Who designed...?
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  I hear ya, Parakeet

  So many assume that atheists are just bitter at God over some bad experiences. Since this is almost entirely an ex-JW forum, they know what that bad experience is. These same ones often put us into one category of beliefs. Sincere believers in God assume that atheists automatically fall into a specific category of belief that is similar, in their minds, to Satan-worship.

  The good news, Parakeet, is that you do not belong to a religion known as atheism. You don't even have to firmly support Darwinism or the belief that life started when lightning struck the primordial soup loaded with enzyms. You can believe that aliens brought life here, you can believe that life arrived on a meteor. You can believe that life was guided by superior beings or was not guided at all. Isn't it great to be free to believe what you want?

  You can even exchange gifts on religious holidays. I do.
• 

  zoiks

  OTWO-

  NO! We have a strict set of tenets that MUST BE FOLLOWED, or else the Grand Atheist Poombahs will cast you out of the darkness into the darker darkness and you will have no unscriptural hope of dying forever. Didn't you know?
• 

  leavingwt

  parakeet -- Whatever you decide, you're among friends. Many of us have pondered similar questions. At times, it can be a little distressing. But, you know what? Life goes on. The sun rises, no matter what you and I, and seven billion other people "believe".

  We are a mixed bag, here. As such, here are some possibilites. . .

  - The Holy Spirit will reveal unto you God's will.

  - You will literally "hear" the voice of Jesus Christ (he may go by other names, too)

  - You will be unable to distinguish between the various invisible persons that many are so fond of

  - You will lose interest and become mostly Apatheistic (meaning, you don't really care about God)

  - You will be recruited into another cult or into a certain flavor of Fundamentalism. All of your questions will be given certain answers.

  Again, you're among friends, here, whatever you decide.

  -LWT (of the Church of I Don't Know)
• 

  drwtsn32

  Parakeet, you are going down a dangerous path. You should not question such things. Please speak with atheist elders after the meeting. They will help you.