What it takes to become an atheist.

by dontplaceliterature 90 Replies latest jw friends

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  cofty

  I'll join in any discussion that I please

  It would be nice if you did join in a discussion.
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  mrsjones5

  Oh Snap! Or should I say Bazinga!
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  Dagney

  corpusdei:

  That's part of it, but I think the core of the need for religion hinges on two points - our need to explain the unknown, and the difficulty of true independance. What made the sun move across the sky, or rain to fall? We're limited by our own experience, so without an understanding of astronomy or meterology we created Gods in our image to explain these things.

  Deeper, I think, is the idea of independance. It's scary to stand and live your life without the crutch of leaning your mistakes on sin, your hardships on a devil or your successes on divine assistance. Taking away those supports means that you have only yourself to blame for your own mistakes, and I don't think that we as a species are especially good at that.

  Well said. I'm in this camp. And the the talking snake did it for me.
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  Flat_Accent

  Definitely Bazinga, Jonesy.
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  elderelite

  To be an athiest one needs to susspend belief in thor. That alone makes i foolish....

  Thats said, i think the main hinderance for many is the comfort that a god gives, that they arnt alone and have a higher Power to relie on... I imagine it like the genie in "aladin" singing "you aint never had friend like me". Its comforting to people. For me, once i realized life was what i make it, that i was soley responsible, and that sometimes good happens randomly and sometimes bad too.... Once i realized that it all was clear ;-) No safty net of 'god' needed.

  I thank Thor i woke up to it all!!!
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  tec

  I was pondering this today during lunch, and to me it seems that it comes down to whether or not you can accept that you will one day be permanantly gone and anyone you have lost in death will never be alive again. Once a person becomes comfortable with these two

  ideas, there isn't really any incentive to believe. Maybe it's an over simplification, but it seems to me that this is the heart of the matter. Any thoughts?

  I cannot say what it is that causes someone else to believe or not to believe.

  I can say that I do not believe because I cannot accept that i or my loved ones will be gone permanently. It does not even factor in, in the tiniest amount, to the reasons for my faith. Definitely not the heart of any matter, for me.

  Peace,

  tammy
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  cofty

  Come on Tec surely the promise of eternal life in bliss sweetens the deal a bit.
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  tec

  But that makes no sense, Cofty. Promises can abound, but if they are empty, then they are empty. Why believe in someone/something simply because of the possible promises or rewards? If that factored into my belief in someone, then I would believe in almost every politician out there, instead of no politician out there.

  Am I happy about the possibility of eternal life... sure, I guess, if I think about it. But honestly, I don't think about it much, unless someone else brings it up. I am much more focused on what i should be doing here and now. So does the possibility of eternal life (or the fear of eternal death) even remotely factor in to why I have faith? Not in the slightest.

  Peace,

  tammy
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  NewChapter

  For me---I first concluded that there was no evidence for a god----it was afterward that I had to come to terms with my own mortality--not because I wanted to but because it was a fact. It wasn't as hard as one would think. Since I was an inactive JW clearly on that wide road leading to destruction---I had already come to think when I was dead I would just be dead. It wasn't that big a jump for me. NC
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  dontplaceliterature

  Tammy,

  I was always under the impression that the only reason that people worshiped was because of promises and rewards. Maybe in your particular case you are not concerned with a promise of eternal life. However, I would assume then, that you are more interested in how God is intervening in your daily activities to help you in some way or another. In this way, aren't you worshiping God because of a reward all the same?

  I'm not trying to challange with you whether or not God exists, I know you believe that he does. I'm getting to the point of why it is you feel inclined to believe if it is not for the positive influence it has on your life, which I feel is a reward-based faith. Please advise.