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Or did you have an accident made you feel there is no God??
I am pretty sure there are some reasons to be an atheist....right!!
Well, in my case, I was raised in a Baptist family. I believed in a god, but some things never really stuck with me. I generally didn't follow anything that any church would teach. I've never hated or disliked gays, even though the church would say that they are sinners. Didn't believe in only having sex after marriage. Didn't believe that Christianity was the "only way". When I was about 14, I considered myself a deist and didn't follow any religion. At age 15, I read "Courage: The Joy of Living Dangerously" by Osho. Around that time, I became an agnostic. A few months later I watched a debate between an atheist and deist. The atheist was using pure logic and what he was saying made perfect sense. I then became an atheist.
I was just shy of 21. I did alot of searching, repeating all I had been taught over the years about religion and mythology. I spent time wondering why did I believe in YWHW if I didnt believe in any others..what made Christianity more right than say .. Hinduism? I eventually came to the conclusion that there really isn't anything that makes any one religion more right over the other.
Quote:
Originally Posted by New-Mona
Did you read books which led you to this way??
No, I never read any books geared toward atheism. Actually, I spent alot of time studying religions. I was raised Christian, was "saved" when I was 16, went to a private Christian college on a full tuition scholarship. There I studied every religion I could. I took short term classes on everything from Judiasm to Neo-Paganism.
It actually wasn't until the last year or so (long after deciding I was atheist) that I realized there were books out there like The God Delusion. I still haven't read them. It's not really my cup of tea for reading material. No vampires.
Quote:
Originally Posted by New-Mona
Or did you have an accident made you feel there is no God??
I am pretty sure there are some reasons to be an atheist....right!!
Hm.. There were some events that probably aided my movement away from theism, but they were never the flat out causes of the decision.
There you go again, not listening. I, and the Catholic church agree with you, rather you agree with the Catholic church. Until you take the time to learn what we actually believe, please stop acting like you do. I think I'll past the link again, in my vain hope that you might actually read it, and discover that you agree with it, that you believe the same thing. So here you go. Why not for once, give it try, step away from your self induced ignorance.
I refer people back to posts #2, 5, and 8 and read them objectively. Nothing derogatory was said. And yet some are offended. So be it. I presented the true Bibilcal perspective of what a saint is. And some don't like it. I am interested in pleasing God. Not man.
Ironically, going to a Jesuit college is what finally made me an atheist. My parents aren't religious at all, so I grew up not going to church or knowing much about religion. I used to just be agnostic and didn't really know what I believed. I guess you could say I didn't really care. However, once college started a few years ago I started finally learning about religion. I also started reading some texts geared toward Atheism during this same time. I've also tried to take as many science courses as I can throughout college (i.e. Geology, atmospheric sciences, astronomy, etc) as I have a slight obsession with these topics.
The result? Atheism!
(On an off topic note, I'm curious if there are any studies that examine the percentage of atheists who are non-believers because they never had religion growing up).
Ironically, going to a Jesuit college is what finally made me an atheist. My parents aren't religious at all, so I grew up not going to church or knowing much about religion. I used to just be agnostic and didn't really know what I believed. I guess you could say I didn't really care. However, once college started a few years ago I started finally learning about religion. I also started reading some texts geared toward Atheism during this same time. I've also tried to take as many science courses as I can throughout college (i.e. Geology, atmospheric sciences, astronomy, etc) as I have a slight obsession with these topics.
The result? Atheism!
(On an off topic note, I'm curious if there are any studies that examine the percentage of atheists who are non-believers because they never had religion growing up).
The bolded part was very interesting to me. I've been mentally correlating things lately using my facebook account (it's new to me...I'm a little behind the times). There was a rather large Christian school across the street from my high school, so I was friends with a large number of religious people growing up. I did go to youth group and bible study on my own time when I was branching out philosophically during my teen years so I became quite good friends with many. Now, as they find me and I find them on Facebook, I've noticed that a very large number are now publicly avowed Atheists and Agnostics. On the flip side, many kids that were known as 'bad kids' at the public high school are now highly religious and irritate me to no end with bible quotes every day. A little overboard on Jesus, if you ask me.
Maybe it's that feeling of finding something 'new' to them? I've basically been an Atheist my entire life so I don't really feel the need to 'convert' others to my way of thinking, but I know plenty of new Atheists that do...it's the same with new Christians.
Do atheists like to hang around Christians in their real lives or do they stick to others with their same lack of belief?
What someone believes or doesn't believe is really none of my business. I prefer to keep it that way. When those of the christian faith begin to get preachy, I tell them that I really have no damn interest in what they consider christianity to be, I consider it to be mythology. I have done this enough times that, very seldomly do people get preachy at me. I have friends who are believers and friends that are not. I appreciate intelligence, honesty, and a sense of humor. I will normally entertain intelligent questions, I have spent years learning about christianity, I thought that perhaps my disbelief was caused by a lack of knowledge on the subject. I was wrong, my disbelief is because, to me, theistic belief structures make very little sense. The more I studied, the firmer I became in my atheism. Since I don't preach, I don't expect friends to preach at me.
What is the difference bet freewill and determinism?
Regards Oceanic
Since no - one picked this up:
Determinism.
1 a : a theory or doctrine that acts of the will, occurrences in nature, or social or psychological phenomena are causally determined by preceding events or natural laws b : a belief in predestination
Free will.
1 : voluntary choice or decision <I do this of my own free will>
2 : freedom of humans to make choices that are not determined by prior causes or by divine intervention
(Merriam - Webster)
It comes down to whether human choice and decisions can be in any way random - not based on any influencing factors - or whether there is always some reasons (not always apparent to us) that decides what makes us chose in a particular way.
For myself, I would say that free will (rather like matter) is an illusion, but a very convincing one.
This question about Atheists has always been elusive in that is it the absence of a belief in a higher power or the rejection of current religious higher powers?
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To put it as simply as possible...
Do Atheists not believe in a higher power being?
