Maj
Emperor
Just out of curiousity, to those atheists out there, what religion did your parents follow, or their parents follow? Are you the first generation in your family to hold atheist beliefs?
-Maj
-Maj
Atheism
- Thread starter Maj
- Start date
My parents and g-p were catholics, but my father was already not very warm about religion. Young generetion grow more intelligent. They also have access to more informations and more freedom of opinion regarding religion or tradition. A good explanation I think...
Zwelgje
Deity
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2001
- Messages
- 3,953
My parents were catholic.
But I saw quite early that there really isn't any proof of a god whatsoever. I mean astronomy and evolution theory can explain almost everything about life on earth so there was no god who made the world. Just believe it, we are animals and the only purpose for us is to get children and raise them so they can make children themselves, just like all the other animals. It's just that we have a better developed brain so we think we are special....
But I saw quite early that there really isn't any proof of a god whatsoever. I mean astronomy and evolution theory can explain almost everything about life on earth so there was no god who made the world. Just believe it, we are animals and the only purpose for us is to get children and raise them so they can make children themselves, just like all the other animals. It's just that we have a better developed brain so we think we are special....
Strik
MAD SCIENTIST
My parents are catholic. My father even went to vicar school only he bailed out. Lucky for me, otherwise it would be a real hellhole at home.
I don't know if I am an atheist. I don't believe but I am not against religion either. As for the bible to me it is like reading fairy tales.
I don't know if I am an atheist. I don't believe but I am not against religion either. As for the bible to me it is like reading fairy tales.
scorch
Legalize Pot
im gonna let the mystery be, whether god exists or not, i think maybe he does, but christiananity isn't what he wants it to be (i used to be christian, but got sick of the hypocracy and beliefs, like homophobia).
My parents were christain btw.
My parents were christain btw.
Mongol Horde
Resident Savage Army
My parents are officially Christian but neither have been to church (other than weddings, funerals etc) for as long as I can remember. I would be an atheist whatever they believed though, my brain cannot conceive the notion of a god.
Strik
MAD SCIENTIST
For all people: When you don't believe in a god you are not an atheist. You are an atheist when you are against religion. So what are you really?
Atheist or non-religious.
Atheist or non-religious.
floppa21
Crusty Manhole
ATHEISM: Denial of or dibelief in the exsistence of God.
That's the Webster's Dictionary Definition. I think if you are against religion, you're anti-religion and that's it.
That's the Webster's Dictionary Definition. I think if you are against religion, you're anti-religion and that's it.
Sixchan
Emperor
My mother is Catholic, my father is Atheist, and I am Secular Humanist. :love2:
atawa
Mastered by puppets
So what if you just dont care??
I dont know if there's a god/gods, the only way to know or sure is to die and thats not an option right now.
Spending time at something that might be true seems like a waste to me, life is to short as it is.......
Sixchan
Emperor
Then you are an agnostic, which is someone who believes it is impossible to know if God exists or not.
atawa
Mastered by puppets
ah ok, after 29 years of soulsearching I finaly know what I am 
CurtSibling
ENEMY ACE™
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2001
- Messages
- 29,455
My family is indifferent to religion...
Most religion is designed to make people easy to control by the
leaders or priests of the religion in question...very bad.
The current monothesic religions are merely a left-over form our darkages, when humankind could not explain the forces around him, (weather, death, harvests etc...)
The interpretaions individuals make today are as much use to modern man as a slingshot on the modern battlefield.
Most people I see that are heavily into religion are either lacking
self-esteem or had religion pounded into them by thier parents/guardians...
humans are so witless!
Most religion is designed to make people easy to control by the
leaders or priests of the religion in question...very bad.
The current monothesic religions are merely a left-over form our darkages, when humankind could not explain the forces around him, (weather, death, harvests etc...)
The interpretaions individuals make today are as much use to modern man as a slingshot on the modern battlefield.
Most people I see that are heavily into religion are either lacking
self-esteem or had religion pounded into them by thier parents/guardians...
humans are so witless!
floppa21
Crusty Manhole
That's my big thing. I won't rule it out, but I can't and won't accept it on blind faith. I have none. I'll keep looking and thinking and questioning, but I can't just join the herd.
Divis
Ball5 groupie
I was raised in a Luthern house hold (For those of you not familiar to the Luthern teachings, just think of us as watered-down-catholics 
) Anyhoo, I had doubted my religion ever since my confirmation, but my senior year in HS is when I became agnostic. I took an English class and we studied the bible as a "literary work." Our teacher pointed out the different writing styles and the blatant contradiction between the two genesis books both depicting creation. I began to think about religion more seriously and came to the conclusion that there is no good evidence for the existence of any god.
) Anyhoo, I had doubted my religion ever since my confirmation, but my senior year in HS is when I became agnostic. I took an English class and we studied the bible as a "literary work." Our teacher pointed out the different writing styles and the blatant contradiction between the two genesis books both depicting creation. I began to think about religion more seriously and came to the conclusion that there is no good evidence for the existence of any god.
floppa21
Crusty Manhole
there is no good evidence for the existence of any god.
And there will not be any good evidence. So it comes down to some blind faith. So if you are agnostic or atheist, are you still searching for some answer? Do you think you will ever reach that answer?
And there will not be any good evidence. So it comes down to some blind faith. So if you are agnostic or atheist, are you still searching for some answer? Do you think you will ever reach that answer?
If you are unsure about its existence, you are an agnostic.
If you believe in a God that has created the universe, but does not interfere/care about humans (so humans don't have to care about God at all), then you are an deist.
Some people might believe in God, but not in paradise or in the after-life. Others might not believe in God at all, but believe in another life later (not a paradise, but another/others life in the real world, whatever it is).
I have personally evolved from deist to atheist after long philosophical reflexion. If you consider that the universe is everything that exist, the reality in others words, how could God be out of the universe. If it's the case It is not real, it doesn't exist, by definition. If It is part of the universe, how could it be superior to it ? You could think that God is the universe/reality in its whole ; in this case you'd be a pantheist (like the Buddhist, Hindu or the philosopher Baruch Spinoza, among others). Pantheism is just saying that the Nature in its whole (ie the universe) is God and therefore God is omnipresent in all things. Why have 2 so many words for the same thing : Universe, Nature, God, reality... Scientific-minded people call it universe, Religious people call it God, others Nature... What's the point arguing about terms that mean the same in this case (pantheist view) ; you could just rename pantheism, (pan-)universalism or even atheism, viewed like this.
allan
Cabrón
"Why have 2 so many words for the same thing : Universe, Nature, God, reality... Scientific-minded people call it universe, Religious people call it God, others Nature... What's the point arguing about terms that mean the same in this case (pantheist view) ; you could just rename pantheism, (pan-)universalism or even atheism, viewed like this."
Actually if you attach a spiritual value to the universe and nature, you would probably foster a reverence of natural things, and a reverence for yourself as part of that nature.
This actually isn't a bad thing, IMHO. I've explored pantheistic ideas, and while I neither believe in it nor rule it out, I still feel a reverence for the nature around us, and the sustenance it gives us that we often take for granted, and sometimes abuse.... I would say that if the dominant religions of the world were pantheistic, we would likely be better off and advanced more in harmony with our home (our mother?), the earth.
As for me, I guess I fall into the Deist category. I was raised Lutheran, had a two-year immersion in fundamentalist Christianity (Pentecostalism to be exact) when I remet my converted biological father, and that latter experience led me to ultimately reject organised religion altogether. I went through atheism for awhile, but in the back of my head I've always had a sense that there is a spiritual presence in things, so I guess you can call it God, but it is not something you could really describe in words. I think a lot of people have that sense, and since they are taught religion they tend to interpret that sensation in those terms they are familiar with.
I'm content to leave it a mystery, and concentrate on being a good person. Whether or not that matters in some afterlife, I know it CAN matter here on earth, in this lifetime....
Actually if you attach a spiritual value to the universe and nature, you would probably foster a reverence of natural things, and a reverence for yourself as part of that nature.
This actually isn't a bad thing, IMHO. I've explored pantheistic ideas, and while I neither believe in it nor rule it out, I still feel a reverence for the nature around us, and the sustenance it gives us that we often take for granted, and sometimes abuse.... I would say that if the dominant religions of the world were pantheistic, we would likely be better off and advanced more in harmony with our home (our mother?), the earth.
As for me, I guess I fall into the Deist category. I was raised Lutheran, had a two-year immersion in fundamentalist Christianity (Pentecostalism to be exact) when I remet my converted biological father, and that latter experience led me to ultimately reject organised religion altogether. I went through atheism for awhile, but in the back of my head I've always had a sense that there is a spiritual presence in things, so I guess you can call it God, but it is not something you could really describe in words. I think a lot of people have that sense, and since they are taught religion they tend to interpret that sensation in those terms they are familiar with.
I'm content to leave it a mystery, and concentrate on being a good person. Whether or not that matters in some afterlife, I know it CAN matter here on earth, in this lifetime....
Mongol Horde
Resident Savage Army
Here here, I'll drink to that.
Yes, but is "evrything that exists" a good definition of the universe. Is an idea or a concept part of the universe? Is the theory of relativity part of the universe.
In my opinion, we can say that everything that is material (or that we can see or touch) is part of the universe, but apart from that, everything else is pure speculation.
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