>>182299636

nothing new.
for years i've been in the same situation with my family where i ask them for actual facts (ie: real proofs, not just some cryptic paragraph where some random act happened/is happening/will happen) and they get really offended.

not to sound cliché, but the lyrics of "you will lose your faith" by NoFX are pretty good, btw

>>182299636

just being curious:
do you believe that there's something divine, a god-like figure, or nothing at all?

I mean, for example: in an extremely dangerous situation, would you pray or something?
I'm asking this because often is very common to keep the bad habit of doing such thing (monkey sees monkey do, you know).

The messed up thing is that my family will concede my side of the argument (i.e. that the existence of a creator who gives a shit about each of us on a personal level) is complete garbage. But for some reason the cannot give up their prayers or beliefs.
This is nothing more than fear/guilt instilled by years of brainwashing.
Religion is a disease.

>>182301500

exactly, like i was saying right here:
>>182301453

even if they realize that even praying is completely bullshit, the society pushes you to do so. In a subliminal level, you are kind of obligated to be religious, otherwise you're a communist (?), a bad moral figure for the kids and bla bla bla.

The irony of this is that the very few people that act as 'good samaritans' are the one that at some point stopped believing in imaginary deities and started doing stuff to generate a real change. The rest just point and calls a blaspheme to anybody that doesn't share their (crappy) beliefs.

>>182301453

I am agnostic myself because god is the type of being which would exist outside of time and space and therefore to believe either in god's existence or non-existence is just a belief and can never be verifiable via scientific methods.

So while i believe there is nothing I refuse to take that stand because it is not scientific.

As for the praying etc. I will catch myself wishing or cutting deals with thin air sometimes like "OMG grandma has cancer please o please let her make it through"
I'll catch myself in the act or at a later moment and realize my hypocrisy in my moment of weakness and feel a little embarrassed.

But I also realize that in that moment emotion took over for logic and its okay because years of evolution has made it so.

>>182302253

The point I always try to make with my folks is this:
If you are a good person whether you pray or not will not change that fact and if you are a bad person no matter how much you pray you will still be a bad person. So if God truly is all knowing and all seeing then he should be able to sort out the good from the bad without the need for ritual.

And if he truly does need us to perform ritual to prove we a good then he isn't actually judging us on our deeds but instead on how obedient we can be without using our brains. And that God is not God of mine and I shall salute him only with my middle finger

I learned to think

God went away

/thread

>>182303046

"Amen"

Some people just give up and go along to get along. Some people actually believe. (no, really, they believe that shit deep down in their heart of hearts) And some people are lunatics who use that shit to talk good girls into doing naughty naughty things. Sometimes during the sermon.

Shit is so cash.

because those who believe are idiots.

i feel like atheism is actually dumbass rebellion and not really how they feel. it's like the 'punk' of this era.

I was, then wasn't, then was again, strongly, now I'm strongly anti-religion.

Mainly because it's a bunch of people pretending they can, "Prove" god and "Disprove" science as if that was even the point. Religion isn't something you prove, I mean LOOK at it! It has NO evidence. Compared to science, which ABSOLUTELY MUST provide convincing evidence of something. I know who would win in a court of law there.

Religion shouldn't be something people take seriously, much less as fact. It's not something you should BELIEVE, it's a metaphor to live by.

My problem comes from it being a bad metaphor about being a sexist asshole...

I am.

It took me a while to realize that just because Judaism and its bastard children Christianity and Islam are false and ridiculous, does not mean ALL religions are ridiculous.

Just mostly those three.

>>182301500
ur fat

>>182302302

right, that thing of wishing things to the air is common, sometimes i do it myself too, but as i said, if you grew up with this stuff it's likely that you'll keep doing it (even if you didn't ment it)

On the other hand, the "hardest" part of becoming atheist was the history of the "devil". Not just the part where we all go to hell, but the fact that there *might* be an "evil" something out there.
Then I started to question myself:
- is there a devil?
- if there is, does it exists to be the counterpart of god? or the other way around?

It is my firm belief that 98% of religious people have this place way way down deep in their minds that it is all obviously bullshit

>>182300810
Dear /b/, I have just solved all of our problems.

>>182299636
PROTIP: no one gives a shit
you arent special for not believing in god. nearly every atheist today (including myself) was raised religious. All it fucking means is that you're making the same choice as millions of other people.

>>182299636 Why do you think some people can escape and others remain in the brainwash cycle.

because some of us have a sense of logic.

>>182304282
well sure i'm a couple of pounds overweight but i don't see how that has anything....
Oh I see what you did thar.
GTFO

>I fought for my right to not believe.

lol

>>182299636
you're an idiot

Raised catholic. Catholic school K-8. Public high school. Eventually stopped saying prayer at meals, then refused to eat with them. Moved out after senior year of high school, stayed with friends/roommates. Put myself through college. Still go home occasionally, as soon as someone says the word God I just fucking leave, I'm an adult, they can go eat a dick.

>>182302302
well done

>>182304390

well no one gives a shit about anything do they?
isn't /b/ a place where people come together to not give a shit?
But then if you didn't give a shit would you have posted?

I just never had faith from the get-go. I believe I am a logical thinker that like proof, but won't discount things just because they aren't apparent to me. I'm agnostic and I came from a relaxed (and what I'd consider, true) Christian home that respects my beliefs.

>>182304390

cool story, bro

>>182304582
You realize in certain countries religion is so ingrained into peoples lives that it encroaches on every aspect of it.
Jobs are denied, friends and family become alienated.
Its not so easy to break away sometimes.

>>182305366

meanwhile in Vaticano

I went to church, I was an alter boy, I turned 18, nobody makes me go to church. Think for yourself, believe what you will. It's not hard. Dumbass

My father is insane
My sister won't talk about it
My mother is a heretic, basically

The first thing I do is try to make the "god" vs. the bible distinction. Without divinity the bible looks like shit. Without the bible personal experience is all that's left to determine what god is, and if there is a god it does not make itself known to us. Deism and atheism is all that's left after that. This is all theoretical though. The trouble I think is faith based thinking ignores common sense, and this is supposed to be a virtue.

>>182299636

I have an Aunt who is systematically disowning her kids right after their 18th birthday because the first thing they do after moving out is disown the faith their parents forced on them since birth. (In this particular case, Mormon)

I'm an Agnostic Theist, was raised Mormon. If your family can't respect your right to individuality and an opinion, then too bad. Most religious people I know are respectful of my beliefs, but there are the occasional few who try to preach at me.

The best thing you can do if you can't interact socially is to explain to them that they can either respect your beliefs and leave it alone, or they can expect to see less of you.

I was raised in a southern baptist setting. I'm now in college. That experience alongside me just growing up and becoming more of an independent thinker has caused me to become more of a logical thinker and to question more than I did as a child. This caused me to recognize the many fallacies that plague religion.

Thus, I am now an atheist and I'm slowly showing my wife the more logical side of life, and she is slowly becoming one as well.

Hope that answered your question.

try this:

http://www.youtube.com/user/AzureFlameElk

OP: Here's my theory: Religion is a psycholgical necessity for some.

The best example I can give is the realization of one's own mortality. An atheist believes that when you die then that's it. Period. No reward for a life well lived, no continuation of your consciousness, nothing. You're just fucking gone.

Some people can accept that. Others can't. Why do you think the largest part of any religion has to do with what happens when we die?

A person's only frame of reference for the entirety of the world is their own perspective, opinions, thoughts, and memories. For some people the thought of that just ending is terrifying as hell. Anything that offers them the slightest ray of hope will be welcome.

Now, that's just one example but the best one I can think of.

>>182299636
That's really the trick of it, isn't it? You wanna make some claims, you get to play the proof game.

I was once accused of not respecting their beliefs. I told them that I respect their beliefs exactly as much as I respect my own; as far as they can be proven.

Apparently that wasn't the right thing to tell them.

( ; _ ;) Atheists make this emote cry

>>182306335
Seriously, why does everyone demand substantiation of eachother's religious beliefs? I don't give a shit what anyone else believes or why. They should have the same level of disinterest.

Until we get done with the divine dick-waving matches we're never going to see peace between religions.

"Peace is not swinging the axe." Penn Jillette

>>182304282
Im coming in youR AsS

My grandmother is hardcore Christian.

Like, the southern bible-thumping christian old lady kind.

I had a dog die relatively recently. She got hit by a car. My little sister whom is 9 asked my grandmother if she will ever see that dog again if she goes to live in Heaven when she dies.

My grandmother proceeded to tell her that Heaven isn't a place to 'live', but when we die, and if we're really good and do everything right, we'll go to Heaven where we'll wait on God hand and foot.

My grandmother made heaven sound like shit. I was amazed.

Raised Roman Catholic. I saw the bullshit even as kid - never seemed logical to me. Then I discovered science and the pursuit of answers through knowledge rather than make believe.

>>182307277

I see heaven as finally becoming one with God

I'm just a Christian. I'm not really sure what branch we are. We were previously known as the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints(not Mormons, hence the re-organized part).

I've been one my entire life and I'll continue being one for the rest of it. I've had plenty of close encounters with death(born with pneumonia, gained terrible asthma from it, cancer in 5th grade) and I'm still alive.

Most of my atheist friends share a lot of my views, we're not an extreme church and it's easy to connect with us.

>>182305911
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAtheistExperience
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheoreticalBullshit
http://www.youtube.com/user/Thunderf00t
http://www.youtube.com/user/Qualiasoup

>>182307689

God sure does love you, man.

because its easier to do what your told and not think than it is to think for yourself and form your own opinions. it doesn't really have anything to do with religion anymore

>>182307972
God loves everybody

>>182308218

Some more than others.

where are all the trolls? normaly they would be pretending to be religous.

It's people's rights whether they wanna believe or not. One side shouldn't try and force and belittle the other

>>182305911
fagfag is gay

>>182308218
If god loves everybody then he treats everyone equally.
It would be just the same if he loved nobody.
Besides, god is an asshole.

>>182308365
TROLLING ISN'T IN THE BIBLE

>>182308348
I think he loves everybody equally

my family is very religious, but luckily my parents didn't force anything on me. i am very much against organized religion, and have convinced many people close to me to question their faith.

>>182299636

>>182309115

Right because Cancer, AIDS, Asthma, Harlequins, brain tumors, MS, and all that other shit that kills people for no reason is signs of a loving God.