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However, I believe time will lead humanity towards new forms of massive worship ..as today few of us still continue to believe in Zeus and Thor, tomorrow few ppl... will believe in the modern divinity
Thank you for asking! Few bother. I looked at most of the responses posed by the OP and while I read some Richard Dawkins, the intellectual discussion goes way over my head much of the time. I grew up Catholic and I was probably on the fence about it since high school when the nuns hit us hard with all the sexuality stuff that most teens were experiencing, I had a real problem then as I do now when strangers are asking pervy questions about my very private parts. But it took a few more years of reality to vomit all that god stuff right out of my mouth, I'm Italian and the large role that Catholicism plays in our ethnic heritage took some time to undo.
I'm a strict atheist in that I do not believe in any kind of higher power: past, present, or future.
About 5 years ago I came down off the fence and admitted to myself to being an atheist after reading a lot of true crime novels and hearing one too many sensational headlines. Macabre to some I suppose, but if some theist parents knew what kind of monsters were out there lurking among us and their children, they might question it too.
The next few paragraphs represent a rhetorical Q&A I began with myself internally (not proselytizing).
For example, if one supreme all powerful god could not save a roomful of 5 year olds, why would he give a hoot about me? All it would have taken was a simple bolt of lightning to avoid that entire tragedy. Seems like a pretty simple choice for a "loving" god, one less a-hole man in exchange for 30 innocent children, am I reaching for the stars here? Not really. A pretty easy solution for a being powerful enough to create the entire universe or read the thoughts of every man, woman, and child that ever walked the earth. Quite a feat, yet there were others supposedly just as powerful, like Santa, who could deliver gifts to every child on the planet in record time. We stopped believing in that nonsense at a young age, so why do we continue to do it with a higher power?
One word: FEAR.
The reason gods were invented in the first place were to either alleviate fear or cause it. Sure they told teenage Hebrew boys that GOD insisted on circumcision. No man in his right mind would allow a blade around that part of his body! Deemed necessary for health reasons in a sandy desert climate. Either that or more perviness. Why can't these religions leave my peen alone? I suppose that was why they switched the practice to shortly after birth when we're defenseless. I'm still not sure why grown men have not yet filed a class action lawsuit for it. This isn't the desert and we have more to wear than robes and togas. Sand should never be an issue when we're not at the beach. We demand compensation!
So for me it gave back control and had a lot more to do with pragmatics than the philosophical or academics. The less faith I put in a god to protect me, the better off I will be. Millions of people go through their lives without bending their knees in humility once, TO ANYONE! And they are doing just fine. And so will I.
Edit: keep in mind this is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg, I could write volumes about why I am an atheist, but these are the highlights.
Last edited by Garethe; 09-22-2013 at 01:53 PM..
Reason: clarity
Believe me my questions did not come from being 'snide'. Like you, just trying to make a way.
I was not referring to the questions. I was referring to the pointless "perch" comment. However it was only one tiny part of a much longer on topic post and I look forward to you actually replying to the body of my post and not one introduction line from it.
I grew up in a very Christian home going to a church where my family was very active on a weekly basis. I became "saved" at the age of 7 to beat my younger sister to the punch. At the age off 8 I transferred from a Christian school to a college preparatory school. As a kid, I was fascinated with knowledge, and always wanted to learn more. I was reading by the age of 2 and doing math a year later, which I fell in love with. By the time I was 5 I was doing multiplication, and by age 7 I began doing Algebra problems. I skipped 2 grades when I was younger, but decided to stick with the grade I belonged in once I transferred. By the time I was 9, I was reading a 200 page book every night, and I had the vocabulary of a Junior. When I turned 10, I stopped caring about school and such. In Middle School, I became involved with some pretty bad guys and would put people down for fun. I found enjoyment in tearing others to pieces, and I was very good at it. I almost rejected my Christianity, but was still a Christian. Second semester of my 8th grade year I cussed out a teacher and was suspended. Tore my family to pieces, and I had to change, for I couldn't hurt them like that. I became very involved with a church, and began to withdraw from my old friends and focus on school a little again. I became truly saved in April of my 8th grade year, and was on fire for my religion for the next year. Despite being a complete brat yuppie, I had always tried to argue in favor of God's existence since I was 12. In March of my Freshman year, I began seeing problems with the religion I found from Physics work I was doing. I became open-minded at that point, and the more I dug for answers, the more problems I uncovered. 2 months later, in May of this year, I finally considered myself agnostic. Only a few people know, and I have yet to tell family members and most friends, for I'll be shunned once this is uncovered. I've battled severe depression for the past 6 months because I don't want to lose everything that's been such an amazing chapter in my life, and cannot cope with that. I am 95% Libertarian and 70% Socialist. I do not believe in the existence of God, or of any religion's god, but I do acknowledge the possibility of higher dimensional entities, per se. I technically could be considered atheist, but I feel as though agnosticism is a better label. Last time I checked, my GPA is around a 4.7, but I'm an extremely apathetic individual. I recently went to Homecoming with the girl of my dreams, but I feel everything drifting away, and I can't hold on any longer. Everything finally started going well for me, but I'm stuck at a crossroads where the roads I may take are ones I don't want to take.
Everything finally started going well for me, but I'm stuck at a crossroads where the roads I may take are ones I don't want to take.
LAF, growing up and maturing is tough, especially for those of us who think too much. You probably have many difficult years ahead, but if you can avoid doing things that hurt you (like having drugs warp your brain) you may turn out OK.
Other people have problems too. They may seem happy and appear to have their life figured out, but they don't. They are having a difficult time, just like you are.
I am 68 years old and I am now a zillion times happier than when I was your age.
I don't have any answers for you. You have to figure them out for yourself, just like I did.
... in May of this year, I finally considered myself agnostic. Only a few people know, and I have yet to tell family members and most friends, for I'll be shunned once this is uncovered. I've battled severe depression for the past 6 months because I don't want to lose everything that's been such an amazing chapter in my life, and cannot cope with that. I am 95% Libertarian and 70% Socialist. I do not believe in the existence of God, or of any religion's god, but I do acknowledge the possibility of higher dimensional entities, per se. I technically could be considered atheist, but I feel as though agnosticism is a better label. Last time I checked, my GPA is around a 4.7, but I'm an extremely apathetic individual. I recently went to Homecoming with the girl of my dreams, but I feel everything drifting away, and I can't hold on any longer. Everything finally started going well for me, but I'm stuck at a crossroads where the roads I may take are ones I don't want to take.
LAF,
You aren't that different from my 21 year old step son in some respects, and not that different from myself in others. I can only say, everything seems like a much bigger deal in your teens than it ends up actually being. Indeed, it seems like a bigger deal in your 20's, 30's and 40's than it turns out to be. I'm 56 now and strongly suspect I'm still more attached to particular outcomes and ideas than I will be at 66 or 76.
I implore you to quit trying so hard and caring so much. All it does is produce a lot of pointless angst. All the idealism and perfectionist thinking ends up accomplishing little other than making you chronically dissatisfied and frustrated.
As for the homecoming queen, you'll eventually learn that no woman is worth that much idolization and ultimately they end up resenting being on your pedestal for you and having to live up to it. They are just as confused and doing just as much improvising as you are. Let go of the idea that your problems would seem smaller if you just had her by your side. The truth is, she'll just amplify and feed back to you whatever you already have -- whether good or bad. You're way too young to go to those places. Enjoy dating for what it is in the moment and wait until you're done getting educated and employed before you even start fantasizing about playing house with someone. It's too much of a burden, too soon, believe me.
Finally ... you have way more options than you realize or appreciate. Just let each day unfold for you, and answers will present themselves. Running out of options happens in your 30's and beyond when you start barnacling yourself with mortgages and children and a career. Eventually, as a comedian I heard once aptly pointed out, you find yourself on a ladder scooping glop out of your eave trough simply because it's a place you can have some peace and quiet. So your job in your teens and twenties is to try to avoid becoming that guy on the ladder. If I had it to do over again I would not have kids and I would keep my life aggressively simple and find someone like minded to share my life with -- after first learning to be perfectly content by myself.
My $0.02 plus inflation for whatever it's worth to ya.
Realizing different cultures find a Supreme Being in other ways. I have a difficult time believing Christianity is the ONLY way to find an, alleged, afterlife.My cultural experience has been with Catholicism and many, many different denominations within Christianity. When you look at the age of Christianity to other beliefs it is "young". I see lots of control and thought being waged through Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
I don't know if I am a "hard core" atheist, as I do NOT see proof of a Supreme Being who intervenes. I am open to learning about how other people "find" this Supreme Being.
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Deemed necessary for health reasons in a sandy desert climate. Either that or more perviness. Why can't these religions leave my peen alone? I suppose that was why they switched the practice to shortly after birth when we're defenseless. I'm still not sure why grown men have not yet filed a class action lawsuit for it. This isn't the desert and we have more to wear than robes and togas. Sand should never be an issue when we're not at the beach. We demand compensation!
