Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Religion and Spirituality > Atheism and Agnosticism
 [Register]
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.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 10-07-2018, 07:27 AM
 
13,011 posts, read 12,985,869 times
Reputation: 21913

Advertisements

I used to, many years ago, as a very recent deconvert.

I thought that I was supposed to search for answers, to seek understanding of the whys and hows of existence. I read philosophy, studied psychology, investigated physics. All were worthwhile, but ultimately I discovered there was no void. That was just another bill of goods sold to me by religion. It came with a cost, but no content.

The only void I had was the lack of a void.

I too realized that I had friends, families and hobbies. Sundays could be spent doing laundry, watching football, woodworking, or sailing. Reading could be done for leisure or general interest. Socialization could be done with people I like, around topics that interested me, rather than a group of people who filled their time talking about how 7nworthy they were, but st least they were better than other people who weren’t in church abasing themselves to a non-existent god.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 10-07-2018, 03:00 PM
 
Location: S. Wales.
50,081 posts, read 20,545,443 times
Reputation: 5927
I think there's a void. I think it's curiosity. Human beans want to KNOW. It's what makes us human. That's why so often any kind of answer is preferred to No answer. But the fact is that I have done instinctive -thinking, will all the wanting to win the argument than find out if I'm wrong, and just picking an Answer that I liked and fighting for it.

Then (thanks to atheist apologetics) I discovered rational thinking. It is SO much better. And half filling the void of not -knowing and accepting that the other may remain empty is better than either fretting that there are so many Unknowns and FAR better than picking up some unsubstantiated claim and thinking ..."Well, there's a space filler" Even if it's one that is supposed to answer every question there ever could be.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-07-2018, 04:03 PM
 
9,345 posts, read 4,294,093 times
Reputation: 3022
The void in my life is from the passing of our dogs and cats.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-11-2018, 02:47 PM
 
Location: "Arlen" Texas
11,562 posts, read 2,919,038 times
Reputation: 14424
One of the things about being an atheist is that all the wonderful things in life keep going. You just don't have to deal with religious crap.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-11-2018, 03:42 PM
 
Location: S. Wales.
50,081 posts, read 20,545,443 times
Reputation: 5927
Indeed - and this is a personal view, a people have the right to get out of life what is of value to them - to me religion is a terrible wast of time and resources - at the best. At worst it can be a terrible way of depriving people the opportunity to get what they value out of life.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-12-2018, 03:44 PM
 
Location: North by Northwest
9,321 posts, read 12,937,107 times
Reputation: 6169
No void here, boss.

Here’s the deal. As long as they use their faith as a reason to do good, and not evil, and don’t try to force their beliefs on me or the rest of society, religious folks are fine by me.

But even before I identified as an atheist, religious rituals for the pure sake of religious ritualism did nothing for me. There’s nothing wrong with people who appreciate or connect with religious rituals, because most everyone (atheists included) enjoys some ritual or another. On a nice weekend day, I love taking long, meandering walks to and from the coffee shop, when I have some work to do, but not enough that I don’t have the time to take in some fresh air, get in some good exercise, catch up with good friends over the phone, gawk at the neighborhood alpacas and emus and guinea fowl, enjoy the scattered remains of a gilded era robber baron estate that was awkwardly cut up into post-war tract housing but still retained some random relics, like a giant statue in the middle of a cul-de-sac. But that’s not for everyone, and that’s okay.

Rituals are a problem when people keep up with them because they’ve convinced themselves that they “have” to, even when they experience no joy from them. Obviously, that excludes things like brushing your teeth, getting cardiovascular exercise, and paying your taxes, which you should be doing regardless of how “fun” they are. But for things that are pure social constructs, whether it be going to church, playing with your weekly mahjong group, or reading the Sunday paper cover to cover, there’s zero reason to them if you don’t truly enjoy them.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-16-2018, 07:20 AM
 
118 posts, read 65,373 times
Reputation: 147
The only void I perceive in myself, is the lack of knowledge and understanding of the things I have a love of, and a passion for. Its the perception of this void that drives me to learn more. For myself, voids are like black holes that provide an irresistible desire to fill this void with knowledge, for a better understanding.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-19-2018, 08:01 PM
 
6,324 posts, read 4,303,605 times
Reputation: 4333
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tired of the Nonsense View Post
Would you be better off as a rock? Or an amoeba?
Dunno. Maybe. Would I even know?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-19-2018, 08:08 PM
 
6,324 posts, read 4,303,605 times
Reputation: 4333
Quote:
Originally Posted by TRANSPONDER View Post
Indeed - and this is a personal view, a people have the right to get out of life what is of value to them - to me religion is a terrible wast of time and resources - at the best. At worst it can be a terrible way of depriving people the opportunity to get what they value out of life.
I think one of the most horrific aspects of religion that makes it such a waste of time is how so many denominations are essentially anti-pleasure.

Instead, you're supposed to go through life as if everything is a somber ritual. Do nothing unless it gives glory to God. Does watching football give glory to God? Well, probably not, so BANNED!

Of course, the reason for their anti-pleasure mentality is that they're worried that if we have too much fun doing earthly things, we won't need God anymore.

And they're not wrong. Religion is tailor-made for the desperate, the sick, the dying, the incarcerated, the hopeless, those who have nothing.

Thus fun and pleasure have been demonized by religion going all the way back to Colonial America when the Puritans banned everything from going to the theater to playing cards. If you're not working your ass off, you're supposed to be praying and reading your Bible.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-19-2018, 11:14 PM
 
Location: S. Wales.
50,081 posts, read 20,545,443 times
Reputation: 5927
One of the hopes for humanity is how, in spite of the grinding deprecation by religion of any enjoyment or pleasure or value in this life, let alone the contempt they show for learning, so many religious people show such an appetite for fun, learning and valuing this life. But, as i also say of the many fine and peaceful Muslim people, it is in spite of their religion, not because of it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
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.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Religion and Spirituality > Atheism and Agnosticism
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top