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There are many things that cause a change in one's worldview - in both directions - not the least of which is trajedy. Near-death experiences may cause an atheist to believe. Interpreted injustice may cause a believer to lose faith.
yeah, as the saying goes; there are no atheists in fox holes. . interesting the instant conversion. . funny how it never goes in the opposite direction then. so much for "growing."
yeah, as the saying goes; there are no atheists in fox holes
Yes. It's a saying. Do you know many atheists who have been in the military? Did they all instantly convert as soon as danger is near? This is a *saying*. It is an assumption but who says it's true?
yeah, as the saying goes; there are no atheists in fox holes. . interesting the instant conversion. .
As JerZ pointed out, this is a saying. I don't put much stock in sayings unless there is evidence to back up their veracity. As there are numerous instances of military graves with the atheist symbol, I'll take that to mean that there are indeed atheists in foxholes.
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funny how it never goes in the opposite direction then.
The words "never" and "then" are contradictory/ambiguous. What are you saying?
If you're still referring to the military, then I must disagree. It's quite possible that a soldier lose faith in God after seeing his best buddy blown to bits.
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so much for "growing."
Again, what are you saying?
Unless one is in a coma, people grow with age. This includes their personal philosophies.
Unless one is in a coma, people grow with age. This includes their personal philosophies.
What did I mean by "so much for growing?" I was refering to the posters statement that people "grow and change." I believe they were implying that some people "grow out of their belief in God" as if this is somehow leaving their naive ways behind.
My point is that not too many people who are facing death (and yes the foxhole is simply an analogy-it could be any life or death situation) "grow" into atheism at this critical time. . but many have had a sudden conversion/belief in God.
thanks for the reply MG so you were never a believer, but what about people that were and then had a change of heart?
That would be me. I have written elsewhere how I was a devout believer in my mid to late teens. To repeat this story briefly:
I was raised catholic. I had several good friends in a variety of strict, biblical branches of protestantism. I decided that god wanted me (or, as I would have put it at the time, god called me to learn...) to read the bible, study it thoroughly, and determine which of these various denominations was the closest to True Christianity.
I put a lot of time and effort into this.
The end result was that I determined that none of it made any sense, it could not be true, and that started me down the path that resulted in my atheism.
Now, if if makes you feel better, you can say that I was not a True Christian, but you would simply be wrong. I was, I studied, I became an atheist as a result.
What did I mean by "so much for growing?" I was refering to the posters statement that people "grow and change." I believe they were implying that some people "grow out of their belief in God" as if this is somehow leaving their naive ways behind.
Growth is simply the addition of layers of knowledge and experience over time. As I said, only those in a coma don't grow. What direction people take in response to growth can be debated, but the fact that we all grow cannot.
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My point is that not too many people who are facing death (and yes the foxhole is simply an analogy-it could be any life or death situation) "grow" into atheism at this critical time. . but many have had a sudden conversion/belief in God.
Okay, but so what? Fear is a common denominator in many religions, and many people exhibit this fear. In other words, this is what we'd expect.
To complete your assertion, I'll bet that many of these converts revert back to atheism once the danger and fear response wane.
I believe that if one is truly a Christian and has accepted Christ as their Saviour then there's no going back. If one says they used to be Christian and our now athiest then one of two things happened: 1. they never really understood what it meant to be a Christian and therefore wern't in their heart, or, 2. Satan has got such a strong hold of them and pulled them away from the truth
There is no way that someone who is a Christian and has accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour would turn their back on Him without the influence of Satan.
For the ignorant, the thought may never occur to them that its possible they are ignorant. The truly ignorant claim to know all.
Hello, my name as you may have guessed is Carl. I was brought into this world by a non practicing Catholic mother and an non practicing Protestant father.
They decided not to take their children to church, claiming they could not decide which faith to follow. Consequently I have never really belonged to a church, although I feel drawn to the Lord.
I have no proper teaching and harrdly ever went to church, yet I pray often and feel a strong connection when I do so. (extreme chills) I am in my forties and a single divorced father of a teenager who lives with me full time.
In my heart, I think I should join a church and am leaning toward becoming a Catholic. I would like the same for my child. Does anyone have any thoughts or advice for me? I am quite confused because I don't know the details between most beliefs.
I have been told by some to look into becoming a Lutheran, I just don't know..
Thanks for any advice.
Alot of people talk about how someone faced with death might suddenly start crying out for God. I think it's true that someone who finds themselves in a desperate situation might do just that but that still wouldn't make God real. If I was drowning it's quite likely I would become so desperate that I'd probably scream "God help me" or something like that in those circumstances. I think almost anyone would do that but when I'm thinking rationally I realize that there's no God out there who's looking out for me. People drown everyday and die in every imaginable situation you can think of but God never shows up at the last second to rescue them.
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