For me it seemed to have happened overnight shortly after my disfellowshipping for apostasy (Which had nothing to do with atheism.). It was as if the scales fell out of my eyes and I suddenly realized that there was nothing out there.
What made you turn atheist or agnostic?
by LevelThePlayingField 56 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Oubliette
Cofty: There is an inherent problem in defining atheism. You have to start by agreeing on an approximate definition of god.
Those are really good points!
This is why I say: God of the Bible? No. And not just, "No," but "Hell no!"
But how about those that posit some distant, now uninvolved and unknowable "creator" type in the past (reads a lot like the "god of the gaps," doesn't it?) that made all things and then has been evidently completely absent from the human experience in any discernible way?
What can I say? Could be. I suppose it's possible, although there's no evidence for this hypothetical god which has been carefully defined in just such a way as to positively preclude definitely denying its existence.
Other than a mental exercise, this particular "god" has no benefit or use as, by definition, it is not involved in human affairs, or in any other aspect of the running of the universe in any detectable way.
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LongHairGal
LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD:
When I walked away from the JW religion I thought I still believed in the bible to some degree. However, I wanted nothing to do with any other religion, church or movement.
That was about fifteen years ago and I feel I have drifted into agnosticism now. I believe in nature and natural spirituality and have no desire to argue the topic of a creator with anybody. I am weary of it.
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Vidiot
LevelThePlayingField - "What made you turn atheist or agnostic?"
Better arguments.
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titch
With me, I tend to be an agnostic. And, I came to that status, when I realized, around the late 1980s, that I simply had NO "spiritual hunger." I have no spiritual craving, no spiritual "appetite" that needs to be satisfied, or satiated, by any kind of religious or spiritual belief system or belief structure. I don't. It's just not there. What I mean is, Maybe there is a "god", maybe there isn't. To that, I say, Who knows and who really cares? A few years ago, I read an article in Time Magazine, about the so-called "God gene." Supposedly, many people---not all, but many---are born with some kind of gene that makes them want to "worship" or draw close to some "deity"---whatever deity that might be. I think that somehow, I missed getting the "God gene." That has happened to probably millions of persons. They were born without the "God gene."
But, for all that I know, I could be a "pantheist". From what I have read, pantheism is the belief that the whole, entire, known physical Universe, collectively, is "God." But, I have no desire to "worship" the Universe. It just exists. It is awesome, when you stop to think about it, but it simply exists.
Titch
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prologos
Oubliette:------this particular "god" has no benefit or use--"
Why would we expect to have personal benefits beyond the great gift of life and all it's great possibilities? should we expect to be able to harness the services of a creator for our personal benefit beyond what is provided through the energy, matter, space, time and laws that can work so well for us? why is it so hard to play with the deck of cards we are dealt! -- should the rules of the game be suspended, even magic tricks performed in order for us to win to the detriment of others?
As we narrow, close the "gaps" of knowledge, how things work, how it was done, will become clearer, and we can improve in our works too.
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Vidiot
Village Idiot - "For me it seemed to have happened overnight shortly after my disfellowshipping for apostasy (Which had nothing to do with atheism.). It was as if the scales fell out of my eyes and I suddenly realized that there was nothing out there."
You no longer had any residual incentive to believe.