Atheists and Family/Friends

[aneeshm]

I have trouble understanding how a Hindu could be anything other than agnostic. I mean, the concept of 'proof' from evidence just doesn't exist in your world-view ... does it?

A Hindu can be many things and still be a Hindu . An atheist can be a Hindu , like the Buddha , or the Jains . And the idea of proof by logical inference and deduction based of evidence is very much part of the Hindu worldview . In fact , there is one entire orthodox school of Hinduism devoted to understanding the world through only these means - the Nyaya school . In general , Hinduism stresses direct experience as a means to enlightenment .

 

[Der Sensenmann]

I guess I'm lucky I grew up in a staunchly atheist family, father, mother, even grandparents. Religion is just something all of us can rubbish together. Kinda funny, though, I now consider myself half-Wiccan, half-agnostic

 

[EolTheDarkElf]

Most of my family is at least long unpracticing Christian or openly atheist. My parents were baptised but me and my brother not anymore.

But one of my grandfathers and his family turned Protestant some time ago (roughly when communism fell and when being religious was trendy). Since then they were making some weak attempts to convert my father and me, but nothing I would deem overly intollerant or obtrusive.

 

[GenMarshall]

I dont know if its appropreate for an ex-agnostic can post in here. So I shall give you only part of my journey home in my agnostic years.

With that aside, I had recived infiant baptism in the Catholic Church. Years later, I remember attending sunday school as well as Catholic Mass in my local Cathedral where I used to live.

How I got to being agnostic was no fault of my own. I fell out of the Church at the age of six when my parents moved to a different town and never bothered to look for a new parish. I never fully gotten to know God and Jesus and they slowly became a question in my head, thats when I become an agnostic and began to start being comfortable with sleeping in on sundays. I never fully actively searched for God since I was preoccupied with School.

When my Mother and Step-Father got married in a church, they tried to get me to go in to attend that church (It was a Baptist), but I refused to since I did not want to. Then my parents then came to the conclusion that I was not interested in Religion. (Later I came to the conclusion that I personaly felt that I was not ready to persue religion and that the church they went was not the Denomination that I am interested in). Soon, my mother and step-father stoped attending that church and esentaily became non-practacing Christians.

I never openly admited that I was an atheist or an agnostic. Mainly because I did not have any knowlage of thoes words untill I came to CFC a few years back. I just went along with my parents and agreed with them that I was not interested in religion

the other part of my story has to deal with me finding God and since its not appropreate for this thread, I will leave that part out.

 

[Reno]

Agnostic, still members of the Finnish Lutheran church. My parents and family are all either Agnostics or Atheists, save for a few exceptions. My father's side (the more conservative right leaning part of the family) is more religious however then my mother's side (left leaning). My family doesn't really care what I believe, they see it as my own personal choice, and they don't want or try to force their views on me.

As for my friends, one of them is part of one of the awakening movements (Herätysliikkeet, I can't remember exactly which one), and even though he is very very deeply religious and conservative it doesn't get in the way of our friendship. Even if I know that he thinks that once I die, I'll end up in hell, while he will be saved, it doesn't matter to me.