Doesn't being an Atheist disappoint you? at least a bit? (behavior, exist)

[Violett]

Originally Posted by coosjoaquin

Violett of course we are going to be defensive when you claim that most of us came from unloving homes.

OK, let's get one thing crystal clear.

I, in no way, think that coming from a broken home in and of itself makes someone defective.

Let me say that again.

I, in no way, think that coming from a broken home in and of itself makes someone defective.

one more time

I, in no way, think that coming from a broken home in and of itself makes someone defective.

Just because I thought atheists may or may not come from broken homes I was not implying, nor did I ever state, that I thought they were defective.

Originally Posted by coosjoaquin

Baiting, Hypocrisy, Acting thick, Attempts at psychoanalyzing over the Internet,Progressively getting more insulting, the bobblehead effect and using a variation of the dribble found in every single forum populated by trolls on the internet makes me hesitant to continue posting in this thread.

Boxcar attacked me and, because I obviously don't have anything better to do, I defended myself. He was pretty vicious, way more than I was, and I'm not going to apologize for my actions because I don't think I did anything wrong. Besides, who cares? It's just a messageboard.

let's get back to the actual discussion, shall we?

Originally Posted by coosjoaquin

I'm not saying they will make them up on their own. I'm saying that it makes them more susceptible to believing in one of the myriads of gods already there and I don't think I need to look very far to find people who would put their god(s) before their family. To them, feeling that they are doing god's work is infinitely more "fulfilling" than their family and friends will ever be.

ok, but I wasn't talking about organized religion. I was talking about a solitary, imaginary friend that a little kid could make up completely on their own without the backing of a structured organization.

Originally Posted by coosjoaquin

Heck, there shouldn't be any argument against this. It's a fact that many people have "found" god(s) after a series of traumatic experiences.

Adults, yes. But not little kids who've never been exposed to God/judeochristian religion, which is actually a pretty good argument AGAINST God. Why do people have to be introduced to him to know that He exists? If he is indeed God, shouldn't he make himself known, easily, and without a lot of fanfare? If he is a loving God, wouldn't he happily make himself known to children, who are arguably the people who need him most and are the least capable of finding Him on their own (because they can't drive, internet is restricted, etc.) Again, I'm talking about the Christian-Judeo God, not the "God" that people find in nature or pieces of wood or something.

Originally Posted by coosjoaquin

Oh but now I'm crious to know about how atheism is more fulfiling. I mean this whole thread is all about atheists being disapointed with their lack of belief.

This is totally an assumption on my part, but it seems to me that it's not more fulfilling to the people I was talking about, only that it's what's left. The emptiness they find where God is supposed to be is parallel to the emptiness they find inside where the installation of love and guidance from good parents are supposed to be.

[justme58]

Originally Posted by Violett

uh, yeah. therapists are real human beings, not robots.

QED

Someone who's only argument is that I must suck in real life is accusing ME of using the strawman tactic? LOL.

Yes lolly, you seem very immature, nitpicking on spelling and Boxcar is not American so it is likely English is not his 1st language.

If you have any reading comprehension whatsoever, you would see that the ONLY debate him and I were having was who sucked more, which he started by insulting me and my profession.

Therapist a "profession" that is rich. I know of better ways to spend my money than "talking" to a dumpling like you.

But if you think I'M the one who's "immature or incapable of proper debate" (whatever that means), when he attacked me instead of arguing ideas, then be my guest. That conclusion shows so little reasoning that it's truly laughable.

You showed your true colors in presenting this post and others. You are a moron.

See how easy it is to throw insults around?

[Violett]

Originally Posted by justme58

Yes lolly, you seem very immature, nitpicking on spelling and Boxcar is not American so it is likely English is not his 1st language.

"Appearently"

Originally Posted by justme58

I know of better ways to spend my money than "talking" to a dumpling like you.

THEN STOP TALKING TO ME!

"I have so many better things to do than to talk to you. But, I'm going to keep talking to you anyway." lol.

Is dumpling supposed to be an insult? I think dumplings are cute. <3

Originally Posted by justme58

You showed your true colors in presenting this post and others. You are a moron.

See how easy it is to throw insults around?

Yeah, but I backed them up with evidence. Just calling someone a name doesn't really mean anything.

If you think nitpicking and namecalling is "so immature" then why don't you stop doing it? Calling someone out on behavior, and then yourself partaking in that SAME behavior really takes all the wind and sting out of your assertions, no?

In this post and others? I have three rep boxes, you have one and I have less posts than you! You must never say anything of value. Justme must be justlame. Tell me, are ALL your posts this enthralling?

[rifleman]

The three most troubled people I knew when I was growing up were all from devout Christian families. One girl I knew had a vastly overbearing minister father who always defaulted to biblical incantations in times when he should have thought things through to help his teen-aged daughter.

The next was my first wife, who had a very Churchy father & mother. She didn't know how to think for herself, a common problem with religious types; they default to others' decisions and pronouncements.

The third one committed suicide when his rote-taught world view so obviously failed.

Now, my son has a friend who is a confused but hyper-Christian problem 19 year-old male who has recently had full arm and body tattoos to show his love of Jesus. He's always distressed about some life crisis and is always off to get counselling from his youth pastor.

Oddly, my many atheist friends (I wouldn't have it any other way) all come from well-adjusted, loving families where they were taught to think for themselves, to reason things out, to question the Universe and to avoid dogma. Thus, they evolved to be confirmed atheists.

BTW:

How many Taoists does it take to change a light bulb? You cannot change a light bulb. By nature, it will go out again. And again.

[Violett]

Originally Posted by rifleman

The three most troubled people I knew when I was growing up were all from devout Christian families. One girl I knew had a vastly overbearing minister father who always defaulted to biblical incantations in times when he should have thought things through to help his teen-aged daughter.

The next was my first wife, who had a very Churchy father & mother. She didn't know how to think for herself, a common problem with religious types; they default to others' decisions and pronouncements.

The third one committed suicide when his rote-taught world view so obviously failed.

Now, my son has a friend who is a confused but hyper-Christian problem 19 year-old male who has recently had full arm and body tattoos to show his love of Jesus. He's always distressed about some life crisis and is always off to get counselling from his youth pastor.

Oddly, my many atheist friends (I wouldn't have it any other way) all come from well-adjusted, loving families where they were taught to think for themselves, to reason things out, to question the Universe and to avoid dogma. Thus, they evolved to be confirmed atheists.

BTW:

How many Taoists does it take to change a light bulb? You cannot change a light bulb. By nature, it will go out again. And again.

See, I know people blame religion as the problem, but I really think people who follow religion that strictly are the problem, not the religion. If you're using something as a crutch, be it drugs, sex or religion, then something is going wrong in your life. I think if these people who used religion as a crutch, didn't use religion, they would use something else. I think the problem, whatever it is, lies within the person, not the crutch they use. But it makes sense if people who grow up in these suffocating households learn to link religion with the people who use religion as a crutch, they would see religion as the problem and not the person, the same way a person who had an alcoholic father swears they will never touch alcohol.

that's just my .02 tho.

I find that people that use religion to condemn others have a set of beliefs FIRST and then use their religion to back them up, as sort of their own magical reference guide that can make whatever they want true. For example, when people say that homosexuality is looked down upon according to the bible I think it's because people have those beliefs first and then scour the bible for references to back them up.

I also think if it weren't for religion, people would find other equally stupid reasons to condemn others. It's not religions fault, trying to control others to make yourself more comfortable is just the way society is. There will always be societal pressure to conform, only when it's taken to extremes does it have deleterious conseqences.

Most people are SHEEP. They want to believe in something, they SEEK to believe in something otherwise they feel lost. These are the masses and they are easily mislead. As the times progress and humankind becomes more convinced of it's power to explain the unexplainable it starts to rely on POLITICAL doctrine rather than religions to lead people. But political doctrine, when misapplied, has the same deleterious effects as religion does. Look at what National Socialism became in Germany. Look what Communism became in the old U.S.S.R.

People are easily lead astray because they need something to believe in that's bigger than themselves, they need order, the need to be able to explain the unexplainable, the need dictum on how to treat others because most people can't figure these things out on their own. Needing to be lead is the nature of most of humankind. If religion is erradicated, it will just be replaced with something else that will lead the people because that is what most of the people need.

What do you guys think? Don't you think people would just find other philosophies to believe in and use them to try and control their neighbors because they know what the right way is and it's their job to enforce and educate the right way to the rest of the world? Isn't that basically what the neo-cons are did when they went over to Iraq?

[coosjoaquin]

Originally Posted by Violett

ok, but I wasn't talking about organized religion. I was talking about a solitary, imaginary friend that a little kid could make up completely on their own without the backing of a structured organization.

Adults, yes. But not little kids who've never been exposed to God/judeochristian religion, which is actually a pretty good argument AGAINST God. Why do people have to be introduced to him to know that He exists? If he is indeed God, shouldn't he make himself known, easily, and without a lot of fanfare? If he is a loving God, wouldn't he happily make himself known to children, who are arguably the people who need him most and are the least capable of finding Him on their own (because they can't drive, internet is restricted, etc.) Again, I'm talking about the Christian-Judeo God, not the "God" that people find in nature or pieces of wood or something.

Well for what it's worth, skepticism in children is unheard of. They pretty much biologically programmed to believe anything their parents tell them.

Originally Posted by Violett

This is totally an assumption on my part, but it seems to me that it's not more fulfilling to the people I was talking about, only that it's what's left. The emptiness they find where God is supposed to be is parallel to the emptiness they find inside where the installation of love and guidance from good parents are supposed to be.

Probably if they grew up in homes with parents that were both abusive and religious. I can see how that can make anti-theists or anti-religion.

[rifleman]

Since we were all born atheists, we may briefly or permanently veer into that paradigm. Some like it there; it's nice and warm on their self-perceived souls, but others, like me, found it distinctly like the frog realizing, early enough on to save himself, that he was being slowly warmed up 'til he would have found himself in a pot of boiling water.

Yikes! Out I hopped! And lived to tell about it! And to educate my kids well about the evils of requiring supernatural mythology as a key element in their daily lives.

Religion being a necessary construct of the human need for a father figure, it thus falls on it's "patoot" rather early on in the intellectual and spiritual development of most mature, rational and intelligent folks.

[justme58]

Originally Posted by Violett

"Appearently"

THEN STOP TALKING TO ME!

Why? STOP SHOUTING AT ME. This is just mindless banter like your assertion/study.

"I have so many better things to do than to talk to you. But, I'm going to keep talking to you anyway." lol.

Is dumpling supposed to be an insult? I think dumplings are cute. <3

No, you missed the connotation. People dump on you hence "dump"ling.

Yeah, but I backed them up with evidence. Just calling someone a name doesn't really mean anything.

If you think nitpicking and namecalling[sic] is "so immature" then why don't you stop doing it? Calling someone out on behavior, and then yourself partaking in that SAME behavior really takes all the wind and sting out of your assertions, no?

What assertions, I merely called you a moron like you called Boxcar.

In this post and others? I have three rep boxes, you have one and I have less posts than you! You must never say anything of value. Justme must be justlame. Tell me, are ALL your posts this enthralling?

Oooh *runs and hides in shame*

Rep points = reputation - yeah I can see how that would work for someone as immature as you - like I give a s**t what others think of my posts.

The only reason I post here is for amusement. There are no serious discussions but sure a lot of cyber-straw, IOW stuff that ends up as BS.

[MysticPhD]

Originally Posted by rifleman

Religion being a necessary construct of the human need for a father figure, it thus falls on it's "patoot" rather early on in the intellectual and spiritual development of most mature, rational and intelligent folks.

Yeah . . . "a little knowledge is truly a dangerous thing" . . . It leads to this sort of self-congratulatory crap. I was an atheist early on and into my late thirties for similar intellectual reasons. Thank God . . . I grew beyond it . . . unlike some who stagnate simply because of the ridiculous views of others . . . rather than seek to ascertain the truth.

[effie g-tad]

this may be a risky, but IS a (very) polite question:

are we putting characters or characteristics on display here?