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When I finally accepted that I didn't believe in god last year, after years of struggling with the issue, it came as one of the most liberating if not the most liberating experience of my life.
When I was a believer in god, I was also a believer in many other supernatural phenomenon...mainly cryptozoology (such as bigfoot), ghosts, and ufos. After the fact, I started to question and critique these subject areas in much the same way that I did with my belief in god and found that there really is no evidence for any of it.
So, in what ways has atheism affected/changed your opinion on other subject matters?
I no longer fear death, for one thing. But I also found a renewal in my interest in science and astronomy that I had when I was a child. Somewhere along the way I became more interested in cars and making money, and forgot that child-like enthusiasm for the natural world. Dropping God from the equation allowed that fascination to return, and it feels wonderful.
BTW, although I cannot believe that such a creature as "bigfoot" currently exists, I do enjoy reading some of the encounters people claim. Especially the scary ones.
When I finally accepted that I didn't believe in god last year, after years of struggling with the issue, it came as one of the most liberating if not the most liberating experience of my life.
When I was a believer in god, I was also a believer in many other supernatural phenomenon...mainly cryptozoology (such as bigfoot), ghosts, and ufos. After the fact, I started to question and critique these subject areas in much the same way that I did with my belief in god and found that there really is no evidence for any of it.
So, in what ways has atheism affected/changed your opinion on other subject matters?
I can relate.
When I believed in God, I guess I had no basis to deny a bunch of the other weird ideas. You can't really say that Ghost can't be true if you believe there are little spirits inside of you, for example.
But after my Paul to Saul conversion, I just naturally became a complete skeptic. It was effortless. Suddenly, everything made so much more sense.
It has opened my eyes to how to truly be happy, and to be very strong in my personal happiness, and in general, has made me more of an accepting person.
It has even made me more accepting of people who do still believe. I know I will always be in the minority wherever I go, but that doesn't bother me.
I also take a sort of pride in being the 3rd party, non-advocate.
It has, however, made a lot of my friends curious how I can be so strong willed LOL. I'm just happy to have good friends.
When I believed in God, I guess I had no basis to deny a bunch of the other weird ideas. You can't really say that Ghost can't be true if you believe there are little spirits inside of you, for example.
But after my Paul to Saul conversion, I just naturally became a complete skeptic. It was effortless. Suddenly, everything made so much more sense.
Exactly...I'd listen to these stories and think to myself well...he seems like an honest person, maybe there is some truth to it. For better or worse, I've become much more skeptical to these second hand encounters. Although, I leave myself open to a changed mind...I just require physical proof now.
It has even made me more accepting of people who do still believe.
I've noticed this, as well. When I was a Christian, I wasn't very accepting of people who were of different denominations. I thought I was right and they were wrong, therefore I subconsciously looked down on them a bit. I was also foolish enough to think that someone who was a Christian (ie, my denomination) was automatically a better person than others. Looking back on it now, I was incredibly arrogant.
You know, I can really relate to all of you. Although I'm a believer but not a bible believer, I remember when I first started my search for God. I was, at that time reading and studying the bible. I wanted so much to be not one of those that "went to hell" or "feared God". When I realized that what I was being taught didn't adhere to what I thought, I changed my whole attitude and finally found the one religion that doesn't adhere to hell, punishment, fear or hate. It was a religion that let people just be. Be in the life and in the moment with whatever they loved about themselves and life. This included all persons on the earth. When I let go of the fear of the unknown and let love rule my life, I saw so much that I was missing. I found a God that loved me for me even when I stumbled, even when I was being hard on myself, even when I was not at my best. He saw beyond the material person that I was and saw that inner part of my being. He knew I was here to experience life no matter where that took me.
I am now free of all fear of a hating God and a world dominated by negatives and prejudice.
It changed my opinion of people in general. Once religion is rejected the only thing that makes sense is reason and truth. So I cannot comprehend how so much of the world can believe in something so irrational as a divine being. Or even more irrational, is their violent response to anything that questions their belief. Ironically enough it was a preacher who said it best, you may have heard of him.
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that"
- Dr. Martin Luther King
So why is it that religion, which preaches love to its fellow man, typically responds to any opposition with violence?? ... Because stupid people do stupid things, and religion makes it ok to be stupid.
Since I left the faith, going on now 15 years, I found that I am a nicer, more tolerant and generous person that I ever was before. I am more at peace as well. Being able to say "I don't know" and being okay with that is nice. By this I mean not wondering if I am offending the Grand Inquisitor, Yahweh himself, with my questions... wondering if I am going to be sent to eternal torture for wondering until I confess and even then torture continues...wow. Learning the origins of the hell and devil myth as well as the rest of church history really, to quote the bible, removed the scales from my eyes. The questions and research continue, but now it is met with wonder rather than consternation. It's nice.
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