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Christians have a 50/50 chance between heaven and hell. Those who deny God have a 100% chance of only one of those (and it's not heavenly).
That makes you feel liberated? I'd rather take my chances. If i'm wrong, I enjoy my afterlife 6 feet under just like the rest of the departed. If i'm right, my reward is in Heaven. Even if you find it difficult to humble yourself to God, why would you take that chance?
Too many non-believers look at God as a myth. I tend to think you're gambling with eternity. I will do plenty good and plenty bad while i'm here on earth, but I certainly don't want an afterlife to be an eternity of pure misery. It's worth the gamble to believe in God if you ask me.
So you only believe in God because of the potential consequences of not believin in God?
What makes you think that God wouldn't see that as a hollow facade?
So you only believe in God because of the potential consequences of not believin in God?
What makes you think that God wouldn't see that as a hollow facade?
I agree. Being ruled by fear has never made the blindest bit of sense to me. Surely a just god would want a genuine believer not a snivelling little coward edging his bets ?
I can't even fathom this kind of thinking. It is so alien to me. Faith as a potential winning heavenly lottery ticket seems an insult to god if he/she truly exists.
If I prove to be mistaken and there is a deity out there then I will expect to be judged on my actions and my life. Anything else is unthinkable quite frankly. I would rather be dragged down the brimstone fragrant pits of firey hell than have to bow down to a supreme being with such a ridiculous expectation of his creation.
One believes or one does not. One cannot pretend to feel something which is not there simply because it might, maybe, perhaps, potentially be the teeniest tiny chances that Atheism is the wrong path.
Anything else is fraud. Self -Deception . Lies. Nothing more than hot air ...
I certainly hope if there is a creator he/she is a tad less shallow than this.
The atheist that had functional childhoods don't come to see you.
um, duh. I know people who are atheists who aren't my patients.
Do you really think that a person, who has graduate level education in research, would be dumb enough to think that using her patients SOLELY wouldn't create a HUGE sample bias?
Oh good grief, don't be deliberately obtuse. You know damned well that atheists don't consider atheism a defect. I very CLEARLY stated that YOU were the one IMPLYING that we're defective in some way due to our supposedly lacking childhoods. I for one see that as a deliberate insult.
Trying to turn that statement around on me and implying that I find myself defective in some way is just plain silly.
I didn't imply any such thing. I'm not trying to turn anything around on anyone, you're the one who's seeing judgment where there wasn't any.
um, duh. I know people who are atheists who aren't my patients.
Do you really think that a person, who has graduate level education in research, would be dumb enough to think that using her patients SOLELY wouldn't create a HUGE sample bias?
Appearently.
Because otherwise I don't know how you got a meaningful sample of of atheist to sit down and talk to you about the amount of love in their childhood. It's not something that most people go into in their day-to-day conversations.
But do you know there are already studies on the mental health and childhoods of therapist? Turns out, psychiatrist are twice as likely to commit suicide as a regular doctor. (1) And a 1998 survey of 522 psychologists revealed that they disfunctional lives, to the extent that it caused them problems in their personal relationships and impaired their job performance.(2) In a 2002 survey of 1000 psychologists (Gilroy et al.), 62% admitted to relatively minor forms of depression. A handful reported more serious forms of depression, and one psychologist reported an attempt at suicide. One and a half times as many women were depressed as men.
Check this out:
Quote:
In a review of the literature on why people choose psychotherapy as a career, Farber et al. (2005) highlighted some of the more prominent pathological theories:
Therapists were marginalized as children, and that experience created a “heightened awareness of inner events and a strong need to heal oneself and others.”
As children, therapists experience more pain than others. Becoming therapists gave them the opportunity to develop intimate relationships without the risk of pain or disappointment.
The field of psychology is attractive to those who feel “frightened and impotent” in their own lives. Being respected by patients allows the therapist to create a pleasing illusion of competence.
Having emotionally demanding mothers, future therapists “learn to read exquisitely well the signals of others as a means of staying connected emotionally.”
As children, therapists were rushed through childhood. They were denied of warmth and acceptance and had emotional responsibilities thrust upon them. As a result, they developed a stunted relationship repertoire in which their main role was to nurture others.
....
Let us stop before we stray too far into the twilight zone. Farber et al. concluded that, “a consistent theme in the clinical literature -- albeit speculative, primarily nonempirical literature -- is that many therapists felt isolated, alone, sad, or hurt in their childhood and entered the profession in order to fulfill some of their unmet needs for attention and intimacy.”
1. Rich, C.L. & Pitts, F.N. (1980). Suicide by psychiatrists: A study of medical specialists among 18,730 consecutive physician deaths during a five-year period, 1967-72. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 41(8), 261-263.
2. Sherman, M.D. & Thelen, M.H. (1998). Distress and professional impairment among psychologists in clinical practice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 29(1), 79-85.
Because otherwise I don't know how you got a meaningful sample of of atheist to sit down and talk to you about the amount of love in their childhood. It's not something that most people go into in their day-to-day conversations.
But do you know there are already studies on the mental health and childhoods of therapist? Turns out, psychiatrist are twice as likely to commit suicide as a regular doctor. (1) And a 1998 survey of 522 psychologists revealed that they disfunctional lives, to the extent that it caused them problems in their personal relationships and impaired their job performance.(2) In a 2002 survey of 1000 psychologists (Gilroy et al.), 62% admitted to relatively minor forms of depression. A handful reported more serious forms of depression, and one psychologist reported an attempt at suicide. One and a half times as many women were depressed as men.
1. Rich, C.L. & Pitts, F.N. (1980). Suicide by psychiatrists: A study of medical specialists among 18,730 consecutive physician deaths during a five-year period, 1967-72. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 41(8), 261-263.
2. Sherman, M.D. & Thelen, M.H. (1998). Distress and professional impairment among psychologists in clinical practice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 29(1), 79-85.
You spelled apparently wrong.
Just because you copied and pasted from some website, it doesn't mean it's true, lol. It's not like you read all those journals articles you sited. Of course you're going to cherry pick to try to portray therapists in the worst possible light, even though I've never said one harsh word about atheists.
It seems as though you spent a lot of time on that post. All it makes me think is that I struck a nerve, people don't usually respond with such vehemence to a remark unless it has a kernel of truth they're scared to face or their life sucks in general and they're just negative about everything. Are you atheist? Because if so, you've kind of verified everything I've hypothesized thus far.
Truthfully, I don't have anything against atheists and I wouldn't and haven't put them down at all. But, and I say this in the most respectful way possible, the show I've seen in this thread isn't doing very well at bucking the stereotype that all atheists are angry, self-righteous and defensive. For people who think they're superior because they're above believing in God, a lot of you are exhibiting the same emotional symptoms of those who are fundamentalists of a religion. Kind of defeats the purpose of being atheist, eh?
Wow you read a lot into things. You must suck as a therapist.
No wonder you believe most atheist come from bad childhoods - it takes no evidence at all for you to jump right to that conclusion. Based on a simple showing of cited studies about disfunctional therapist, you draw the conclusion that I had an unhappy childhood? HAHA you are joke.
I never said a harsh word about therapist. I just pointed out there is support for the theory that they come from disfunctional childhoods. You had the same theory about atheist. Certainly there's more support for my theory than there is for yours, but neither is more harsh than the other. But it does beg the question; why are you so upset when it's pointed out that many people get into therapy because of disfunctional childhoods, yet you can't understand why atheist wouldn't like the same accusation. Again, your lack of empathy here tells me you suck as a therapist.
. For people who think they're superior because they're above believing in God, a lot of you are exhibiting the same emotional symptoms of those who are fundamentalists of a religion. Kind of defeats the purpose of being atheist, eh?
HAHA you don't have any idea how stupid you sound. Here's a clue for you Sigmund, there is no "purpose of being an atheist." Atheism is a conclusion, not a drive. It's the end, not the means.
It's clear you have lots of stereotypes about atheist, and that you invented your little "experience with atheist" as a vehicle to tell us about them.
I think you are lying, that you haven't met a lot of atheist from broken homes, and that your purpose here is to troll by posting passive aggressive attacks about the "cause" of atheism - trying to "take us down a notch."
You've revealed yourself as a thinly disguised troll.
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Being ruled by fear has never made the blindest bit of sense to me. Surely a just god would want a genuine believer not a snivelling little coward edging his bets ? 
