Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
You assume we all start from a position of faith. That was not the case for me. I've never believed in the existence of a supernatural being some call God
I envy you. I often wonder what my life could have been if I hadn't spent the first 32 years of it trapped in fundamentalist Christianity.
I envy you. I often wonder what my life could have been if I hadn't spent the first 32 years of it trapped in fundamentalist Christianity.
I wouldn't worry too much. As a lifetimer, I probably spent 30 years worrying about religion much more than if I'd have been in a church . And I'll carry scars to my grave..or whatever...just not the religious ones.
I wouldn't worry too much. As a lifetimer, I probably spent 30 years worrying about religion much more than if I'd have been in a church . And I'll carry scars to my grave..or whatever...just not the religious ones.
My wife likes to point out that everything that has happened to this point in my life has made me what I am, given me the children I have, etc., and it's not like I don't value those things. If it had not been the stupid mistakes and involvements I now decry, it would just be something else. It is just crying over spilt milk really. I know people who have been into far more overtly destructive things ... addictions, needless hurtful conflicts with family, or simply scarred / limited by terrible accidents. Locally not long ago some teens were diving near a dam and one of them never came back up ... the area was prohibited because of hidden concrete pilings and such. Talk about regrets and losses ... nothing's ever so bad that it couldn't have been a lot worse.
I never blamed "something" for what people did. If we run naked on an African plain why would we be surprised that we were magically turned into a meat-sickle?
My wife likes to point out that everything that has happened to this point in my life has made me what I am, given me the children I have, etc., and it's not like I don't value those things. If it had not been the stupid mistakes and involvements I now decry, it would just be something else. It is just crying over spilt milk really. I know people who have been into far more overtly destructive things ... addictions, needless hurtful conflicts with family, or simply scarred / limited by terrible accidents. Locally not long ago some teens were diving near a dam and one of them never came back up ... the area was prohibited because of hidden concrete pilings and such. Talk about regrets and losses ... nothing's ever so bad that it couldn't have been a lot worse.
So no, I consider it a sunk cost and move on.
Yes...if a god wanted to prove it existed, provide me with the opportunity to Do It Again say from age 15 - but knowing what I do now, so as to avoid the mistakes and time -wasting. That'd secure my belief in it, more than miraculously helping me to find the hanky I couldn't find yesterday. But it is futile to long for the unavailable. Instead cram as much as you can into the time you have left.
What made you start to disbelieve God's existence? Or at least disbelieve that there was a God who cared about us individually?
Wow, sooo many things. Let me see if I can put together s short list.
- how is it possible for one being to follow and read the minds minds and heart of BILLIONS or people every second of their lives?
- there is no way to prove life after death
- the authors of the bible were not even there; none of them were en first-hand witnesses
- no historical proof of Jesus
- no concrete proof of Jesus or a God
- there is no way to prove how humans first arrived on the planet
- because humans had proved time and time again that they can be gullible in believing all kinds of crazy things (remember when the earth was flat)
- if humans didn't have the capacity for rational thought, there would be no religion
- the universe and planets clearly do not revolve around humans. We are just one living creature in it.
- Our human lives are far less important than we think it is. Just read up on any natural disaster or plague or incident were thousands of human lives are wiped out in the blink of an eye. We THINK we're so important just because we have the ability to do so. We're not important to this earth. It would still be here without us but we wouldn't be here without it.
- so much suffering in the world, millions are starved and live horrible lives daily
- Christians and the religiously faithful are not granted better lives or situations than anyone else. They can still suffer all the same illnesses, murders, poverty and injustices as everyone else. There is no special protections whatsoever. For instance, if I were a god, I'd block any child from ever being hurt or killed. Period. No child would ever die i childhood. Why allow it?
- its very easy to promise rewards to people during a time that cannot be proven (such as after in the afterlife). The entire bible is built around promises for the hear after. But its much harder to promise things in THIS lifetime, which could be very easily observed and proven.
and lastly (cause I"m running out of time) the bible features so many inconsistencies and horrible verses, clearly its written by man, which makes it imperfect and why would I worship anything man-made????
What made you start to disbelieve God's existence? Or at least disbelieve that there was a God who cared about us individually?
I think it must have been when I was in 4th grade, Catholic elementary school, and I accidentally ate meat on a Friday during Lent and I didn't spontaneously combustion and spend eternal damnation in H-E-double hockey sticks!
What made you start to disbelieve God's existence? Or at least disbelieve that there was a God who cared about us individually?
I can answer the OP question in two words...Christian Dogma. Thomas Paine does a better job, although he does use more words in the process.
"Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is none more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifying to man, more repugnant to reason, and more contradictory in itself, than this thing called Christianity. Too absurd for belief, too impossible to convince, and too inconsistent for practice, it renders the heart torpid, or produces only atheists and fanatics." -- Age of Reason
I can answer the OP question in two words...Christian Dogma. Thomas Paine does a better job, although he does use more words in the process.
"Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is none more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifying to man, more repugnant to reason, and more contradictory in itself, than this thing called Christianity. Too absurd for belief, too impossible to convince, and too inconsistent for practice, it renders the heart torpid, or produces only atheists and fanatics." -- Age of Reason
Excellent quote! The mainstream Christian dogma and "precepts and doctrines of men" have done exactly what Paine has accused them of doing to Christ's beautiful Gospel and our loving Father. They are indeed the apostate anti Christ majority prophesied for these "latter days."
Fully stopped being a religitard when I was 23 and heard about the horrific sexual abuse the Jehovah's Witnesses were trying to hide. (silentlambs.org)
- ever since I was girl, Christianity always felt like a game being played on innocent people
- started reading "apostate" literature that made more sense than anything written in the bible
- studying Western Civilization, how the bible was created, gaping holes in time from when the gospels of JC were written (not
until 200 years after JC allegedly died.
- other stories of JC from other cultures have circulated prior to JC, ie Mithra
- forum for ex-JW's helped a lot
- seeing the gross suffering in the world...why would an omnipotent creator allow wars, mental retardation, sickness, hunger
and poverty to be rampant?
- becoming fascinated with science...which continually throws Christianity under the bus
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. And I'll carry scars to my grave..or whatever...just not the religious ones.
The mainstream Christian dogma and "precepts and doctrines of men" have done exactly what Paine has accused them of doing to Christ's beautiful Gospel and our loving Father. They are indeed the apostate anti Christ majority prophesied for these "latter days."
