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The Bible clearly states that not everyone will go to heaven. Therefore, in effect, atheism is in fact an extension of prophecy (God's word). Why that doesn't scare the religion into an atheist is something i'll never understand.Nevertheless, continue to go your own way. Nowhere does it say that it will result in everlasting enjoyment, though.
Not believing in god comes in hand with not believing in heaven, hell or any other concept of the afterlife for that matter. We've heard all the arguments and frankly, the more we listen the less plausible it sounds to us. Promises of everlasting enjoyment and threats of hell just don't cut it nowadays.
I was raised in a southern baptist household and was taught that the bible was the EXACT word of god and that any questioning of that word meant eternal damnation for sure. I was also taught that god was all-loving and all-forgiving. I wondered how anyone could go through life investing in conflicting ideologies like that...
Although disillusioned, I continued to go to church just to please my family. I remember one Sunday service when the pastor began speaking in tongues (glossolalia) and the fact hundreds of people in attendance were captivated by this gibberish was just astounding to me.
I began to secretly read more into the arguements for and against the existence of god, and came to the conclusion that with rational thought, god/satan/heaven/hell etc.. cannot exist. As a result of becoming an atheist, my immediate family stopped talking to me altogether for quite some time, (I didn't have a decent relationship with my grandmother and grandfather until after high school) I was singled out by my high school baseball coach and by an earth sciences teacher (who initially refused to teach me).
I never argued anyone else points, I just had my own. Strictly fundamentalist christian beliefs can put anyone outside the circle in that sort-of position (or worse...MUCH worse)
The Bible clearly states that not everyone will go to heaven. Therefore, in effect, atheism is in fact an extension of prophecy (God's word). Why that doesn't scare the religion into an atheist is something i'll never understand.
Nevertheless, continue to go your own way. Nowhere does it say that it will result in everlasting enjoyment, though.
I would argue that if you're scared into believing in God, you don't really believe in Him at all.
That's like someone holding a gun to your head and forcing you to say that you love them. Sure, you'll say it to spare your own life, but you don't mean it in your heart.
If God is truly loving, He wouldn't want to scare us into submission, anyway.
I was educated by very religious people since the age of 6 until college age. All of them were very creepy. I always felt they had such a big agenda to suck me in to their crazy worldly scheme whenever they had a chance. That's how I realize Christianity is all BS.
It's complicated. I was raised in the Catholic church as a child...catechism, first communion, all that jazz. I probably really did think it was the truth at the time, and took everything Christianity threw at me for face value. It just didn't stick is the thing. I grew up and stopped believing in religion in much the same fashion I grew up and stopped believing in Santa Claus...it's comforting for people who need to believe in something other than the here-and-now I suppose.
I peed on the priest during my baptism when I was a baby. That was what my dad told me was my first reaction to religion
Later on I went through the motions, I attended bible study voluntarily to learn about what my friends were always talking about. Church youth group is VERY popular where I grew up. When I was in Jr. High or so I started meditating regularly, although I didn't realize that's what I was doing at the time. I would just sit and zone out for a while and afterwards I was always very relaxed.
While in High School, I just stopped believing altogether and started neutral. So far, Atheism makes the most sense to me as a belief (or lack thereof ) and I use teachings from many religions in my everyday life, but do not subscribe to them directly.
At what point did you realize you were an atheist?
When I realized that God was make believe.
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) and I use teachings from many religions in my everyday life, but do not subscribe to them directly.
