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monkey, I don't think labels are all that important, but Doubt does explain a lot of the philosophies and philosophers. I learned a lot from reading it. In fact, I'm planning to reread it and to research the different philosophies as I go. It's also very interesting to read that a lot of the logic religions use to prove their beliefs have been around since 2500 BCE and were used by Greek god believers. Same logic, different religion & different millennium.
Oh, boogieman, it's so nice to know there are a few agnostics & atheists in my old home state!
I would label myself as an Agnostic because there may be a supreme being but I DONT KNOW and i dont claim to know. I dont have an answer for death and i dont have an answer for how this all began and i dont have an answer to why we are here. PEOPLE claim to know but the truth is that the squirrel eating acorns in the back yard knows just as much. nothing
That is how I feel I can't say for sure that there isn't a god, I don't know but I feel that religion was created to tame the masses. Rulers let people believe that if they were good and gave money to the church then they would have a mansion in the afterlife. Even though they were living on the streets and poor they would one day have a mansion just like their king, but if they weren't good then they would burn in hell. I don't know if god is real but I don't feel like he is.
When I left Christianity (which I was eyebrow deep in), I too had those early moments of "what the hell just happened?" Fortunately for me, I ran into ExChristian.Net (scroll down to "testimonials" and enjoy) and found a place where I found so many others who had similar experiences as mine. I suggest checking it out. You will find tons of people out there just like you and you won't feel so alone.
monkey86: I don't think anyone can say for sure that there isn't a god. A negative cannot be proven. But ask yourself how likely it is. No one can prove that there isn't a planet made of solid iridium in the Triangulum Galaxy, but it isn't likely.
I suggest you read Atheism: The Case Against God by George H Smith. It is an excellent book and solidified my thinking on the matter.
When I left Christianity (which I was eyebrow deep in), I too had those early moments of "what the hell just happened?" Fortunately for me, I ran into ExChristian.Net (scroll down to "testimonials" and enjoy) and found a place where I found so many others who had similar experiences as mine. I suggest checking it out. You will find tons of people out there just like you and you won't feel so alone.
I'll second the recommendation for that website.... I'm on there a lot as well. Helped a lot to reinforce that you (actually, we) are not alone in our beliefs (or lack thereof).....
Hi Monkey86! I definitely agree with exploring your beliefs and finding out how you really feel about everything. But also know that you don't have to have all the answers! I don't think anyone has all the answers! So - maybe "not knowing" is what you believe. I don't really remember my parents ever telling me what they believed. I don't remember finding out about God or anything. I know my mom would sometimes talk about God - mostly to make me feel better about things. And by that, I mean that she told me that thunder was God farting so that I wouldn't be afraid of thunder! I wasn't surprised when others talked about God or religion - but I don't remember learning about it for the first time - and I know that I was never really interested in it, at least from a believing in it standpoint. I've always been interested in the people who follow religion but not necessarily the religion itself. I even went to some church retreats and parties with some of my friends in middle school and highschool - but obviously, it didn't take! I wasn't raised with religion (and I'm very happy about that) and I came out agnostic/deist/atheist depending on the day! However, I have other friends that were raised with out religion who became born agains. So - I guess people will be what they are going to be!
Good luck on your journey!
That is how I feel I can't say for sure that there isn't a god, I don't know but I feel that religion was created to tame the masses. Rulers let people believe that if they were good and gave money to the church then they would have a mansion in the afterlife. Even though they were living on the streets and poor they would one day have a mansion just like their king, but if they weren't good then they would burn in hell. I don't know if god is real but I don't feel like he is.
monkey, we do have to be careful about people's beliefs, so I am not going to tell you what you should or should not believe. That really is up to you. What you want is something that you can happily live with without fear.
So can I ask you - I think it would be valuable to look at publicly - what you fear or what result you fear in your questioning of beliefs? I think we may be able to find a way to settle those without having you saddled with beliefs or non - beliefs that you don't quite buy into.
I'm not really sure what I'm afraid of. I don't know if I'm more afraid of the idea of what if there is a god and I'm wrong or what people will think of me. I don't feel like I could ever go back to Christianity though because of everything that I have learned and I hate the idea of being around those people. I don't know why I should care about what people think of me either, I try not to but its always in the back of my mind.
Boy, I really do understand you! I actually worked a bunch of that out in therapy. I'm not necessarily suggesting that you need that, but it helped me a lot. Ugh, it's depressing to think how much religion messed me up.
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I don't feel like I could ever go back to Christianity though because of everything that I have learned and I hate the idea of being around those people. I don't know why I should care about what people think of me either, I try not to but its always in the back of my mind.
