Posts by paul from cleveland

128

The upside of atheism

by paul from cleveland in

i realize whether you believe in god or the non-existence of god it has to be taken on faith since both positions are unknowable and unprovable.

however, i can understand faith in god as basically a hope for something better.

i can also understand agnosticism; admitting it's unknowable but still leaving the door open (perhaps the only intellectually honest option).

paul from cleveland

"Life is a swirling, sucking eddy of despair filled with brief glimpses of false hope in an ever darkening universe" - Bill Maher

Always makes me laugh for some reason

Wow, that doesn't seem funny to me.

Even though I believe in God, I always know I could be wrong. Most of us believed what we learned as Witnesses was the truth only to learn later that we were wrong. Seeing how we were deceived for so many years, how can we have 100% confidence now?

The scripture about God putting 'eternity in the hearts of men' really seems true in my case. I just can't get used to the idea of death. Maybe I'm selfish. I've noticed on other links that some people say that if you want to live forever you're selfish. Some people say I'm depressed because I think about it too much. Maybe I just feel this way because I was taught this from birth and never had the opportunity to get "used" to it from childhood. It's come as a shock to me to learn that death is inevitable as an adult. But if it's true that it's natural to have eternity in our hearts, then it would be natural to fear it. There is nothing wrong with me. Every day I wake up, I'm grateful for another day. I realize that any day can be my last and I live that way. I focus on letting the people in my life know that I love them because I could be gone tomorrow. I feel that I've gone to the doctor and he told me I only have "X" amount of years to live. Wouldn't anyone feel bad about that? I really want to be able to accept it like atheists do just in case I'm wrong about God. Forgive me for always going on about this.

29

Who do you pray when you feel the need to pray if you dont believe in God?

by cyberjesus in

sometimes when we face difficult situations i feel the need to pray to god for help, and i know that plenty of times the sole act of praying makes you feel hope and have a better outcome of the situation.

you can call it suggestive or that you prepare a positive scenario by using faith.

the outcome is that regardless if there is someone who listens or not to your prayers oftentimes you feel better afterwards and have more positive attitude.. the problem is that i dont believe in god anymore.

paul from cleveland

I think the best part of growing old is that you lose your fear of death.

Is that really true?

37

Were You Afraid To Talk Out Loud For Fear The Demons Might Hear You?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i know of many witnesses that were petrified that if they spoke about something out loud, the demons.

i swear jws think the demons.

paul from cleveland

I remember being told that but where did that belief come from? Is it in the literature somewhere?

128

The upside of atheism

by paul from cleveland in

i realize whether you believe in god or the non-existence of god it has to be taken on faith since both positions are unknowable and unprovable.

however, i can understand faith in god as basically a hope for something better.

i can also understand agnosticism; admitting it's unknowable but still leaving the door open (perhaps the only intellectually honest option).

paul from cleveland

I've realized that hope and faith don't equal truth.

I know, and again, I'm not questioning the validity of my position. I'm not asking if it's "true". I'm just asking, if there really is no God, no hope, why does that make you happy? What's so good about it? How does it bring you peace knowing this "truth"?

128

The upside of atheism

by paul from cleveland in

i realize whether you believe in god or the non-existence of god it has to be taken on faith since both positions are unknowable and unprovable.

however, i can understand faith in god as basically a hope for something better.

i can also understand agnosticism; admitting it's unknowable but still leaving the door open (perhaps the only intellectually honest option).

paul from cleveland

I do feel loved by many people but the thought of eternal death fills me with terror. The fact that we can die at any moment is terrifying to me. When I hear about things like the Haiti earthquake I feel terror. This world terrifies me. If I didn't have any hope for something better I don't think I'd make it through. That's why I'm trying to understand the mindset of an atheist. How can you be an atheist and still be at peace? Even though I believe in God, there are always those times of doubt. If I could be okay with atheism too, I'd have everything covered.

128

The upside of atheism

by paul from cleveland in

i realize whether you believe in god or the non-existence of god it has to be taken on faith since both positions are unknowable and unprovable.

however, i can understand faith in god as basically a hope for something better.

i can also understand agnosticism; admitting it's unknowable but still leaving the door open (perhaps the only intellectually honest option).

paul from cleveland

PAUL - Love DOES exist.

Hi Flipper, I do believe that too. Without it, there is no meaning to life (for me).

128

The upside of atheism

by paul from cleveland in

i realize whether you believe in god or the non-existence of god it has to be taken on faith since both positions are unknowable and unprovable.

however, i can understand faith in god as basically a hope for something better.

i can also understand agnosticism; admitting it's unknowable but still leaving the door open (perhaps the only intellectually honest option).

paul from cleveland

Nathan, Like I said in my last few posts, let's just say you're right. What makes you happy about it? Why does it make you happy to believe that nobody loves you and all that awaits you is a cold dark grave? Like I said, I'm not asking about the validity of the position, I'm asking how you live with knowing this "truth". If I believed that, I would just want to die now and get it over with. Like I said in the first post: "what's the upside of atheism?"

128

The upside of atheism

by paul from cleveland in

i realize whether you believe in god or the non-existence of god it has to be taken on faith since both positions are unknowable and unprovable.

however, i can understand faith in god as basically a hope for something better.

i can also understand agnosticism; admitting it's unknowable but still leaving the door open (perhaps the only intellectually honest option).

paul from cleveland

Also, the only thing that I enjoy about life is connection. Those brief moments when I feel connected to someone that cares about me and that I care about. Also those moments that when I contemplate that there may really be a God that loves us and has something better in store than this torture I experience now. If it's all not true, if love doesn't exist and is just a "neuro-chemical part of our survival mechanism" what's the point of living? Why not just die now? I don't understand.

128

The upside of atheism

by paul from cleveland in

i realize whether you believe in god or the non-existence of god it has to be taken on faith since both positions are unknowable and unprovable.

however, i can understand faith in god as basically a hope for something better.

i can also understand agnosticism; admitting it's unknowable but still leaving the door open (perhaps the only intellectually honest option).

paul from cleveland

This is because you do not understand atheism.

Exactly!

I'm not asking about the validity of theism or atheism. Let me put it another way. Let's say you're right. There is no God. No one really loves me because love is just a "a neuro-chemical part of our survival mechanism". There is really nothing to look forward to except old age then eternal death. No hope of anything more. Basically "Life sucks and then you die". How am I supposed to feel good about that? Is it supposed to bring me peace because it's "true"? It might also be true that I have an inoperable brain tumor but knowing that truth doesn't make me happy. I'm just saying that I don't get it. If it's true how are we supposed to feel happy about it? What perspective can I have about it that can bring me peace?

128

The upside of atheism

by paul from cleveland in

i realize whether you believe in god or the non-existence of god it has to be taken on faith since both positions are unknowable and unprovable.

however, i can understand faith in god as basically a hope for something better.

i can also understand agnosticism; admitting it's unknowable but still leaving the door open (perhaps the only intellectually honest option).

paul from cleveland

your feelings, as important as they are, have nothing to do with a logical argument.

I've had logical arguments made to me that are pretty convincing both ways. Both for atheism and theism. I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. I can see both points of view. I was just more or less curious as to what is it about atheism that people find comforting. So many people say that atheism "set them free" in a sense. I'm just trying to understand why that is. It seems so cold to me. I'm just hoping that it's not true.

I'm not using my feelings as any kind of proof for anyone else. Agnostic Theism is just my intuition, not a provable fact of course. Just like Agnostic Atheism ,I believe, is an intuition. Gnostic Atheism, however, is another story. Is anyone here a Gnostic Atheist?