Why Athiests Should Remain Athiests
kida
Join Date: 2003-02-20 Member: 13778Members
Join Date: 2003-02-20 Member: 13778Members
<div class="IPBDescription">my personal account</div> <b>Sorry, I spelled Atheists, Athiests.</b>
What happenned:
Today is sunday, the sabbath day, the day which we Christians are suppose to keep holy. Anyway, our church doesn't own a building, instead we rent from another church. The church that owned the building was doing something special today and so we had to go to another church to hold service, 30 minutes away...Seeing how our particular church takes forever to finish services and fellowship, I told my mom and dad that I didn't want to go because: 1) the drive was 30 minutes and back. 2) I had some physics, english, and math to catch up. 3) I didn't want to go just to have a quick 30 minute lesson with my sunday school teacher, along with the other 3 guys. 4) I didn't want to spend another 2 hours just lingering around the church.
My mom was like, "NO!!!NO!!You have to go, or else God will be very unhappy..blablabla...It is a sin..." and I was like, "so when is it a sin not to go to church..blablabla<insert communication problem> (she has bad english). My mom totally freaked outt when I didn't want to go to church, she doesn't understand that as a human, I have the right to go or not. My dad was so cool with it, he was like, "Ok, thats fine, just do a little personal prayer and whatnot with God, and do your homework." My mom can be soooo stubborn and ignorant, no wonder her faith is soooo strong. She kept telling me I had to go...ARRRGHH...<brain explodes>....
So I was on the computer playing cs while they were leaving and my sister was mocking me, because I wasn't doing my homework. The time was 2:00 P.M and service started at 3:00 P.M. It had been so long since I had played cs and already, they said something about it. So my mom said her last ditch attempts to persuade me and I told her and them, "you guys are hardcore christians..." My dad was kinda dissapointed with that remark so he said to me, "Since you have a pretty big conscience, I hope you live with the fact that God will judge you for that comment," like WTH! My sister was like, "your going to hell." So they all left and I said to myself, "what did I do wrong?"
If I hadn't grown up in a Christian family, I would probably be an atheist. As of right now, I am doubting my very own religious beliefs. I know there is a God, but Christians, like my family showed me today, deter non beleivers from the Allmighty. If I remember, Jesus said, "Judge and be Judged." There have been many a time, where I didn't believe in God for a while, but I kept on coming back to him for some reason.
Moral of the story: Some people can really force down your throat their religious principles, like some of my family did today, especially my mom.
I really don't know what will happen when I move out of the house, I might not even attend church anymore, seriously.
EDIT: Some really stupid errors
What happenned:
Today is sunday, the sabbath day, the day which we Christians are suppose to keep holy. Anyway, our church doesn't own a building, instead we rent from another church. The church that owned the building was doing something special today and so we had to go to another church to hold service, 30 minutes away...Seeing how our particular church takes forever to finish services and fellowship, I told my mom and dad that I didn't want to go because: 1) the drive was 30 minutes and back. 2) I had some physics, english, and math to catch up. 3) I didn't want to go just to have a quick 30 minute lesson with my sunday school teacher, along with the other 3 guys. 4) I didn't want to spend another 2 hours just lingering around the church.
My mom was like, "NO!!!NO!!You have to go, or else God will be very unhappy..blablabla...It is a sin..." and I was like, "so when is it a sin not to go to church..blablabla<insert communication problem> (she has bad english). My mom totally freaked outt when I didn't want to go to church, she doesn't understand that as a human, I have the right to go or not. My dad was so cool with it, he was like, "Ok, thats fine, just do a little personal prayer and whatnot with God, and do your homework." My mom can be soooo stubborn and ignorant, no wonder her faith is soooo strong. She kept telling me I had to go...ARRRGHH...<brain explodes>....
So I was on the computer playing cs while they were leaving and my sister was mocking me, because I wasn't doing my homework. The time was 2:00 P.M and service started at 3:00 P.M. It had been so long since I had played cs and already, they said something about it. So my mom said her last ditch attempts to persuade me and I told her and them, "you guys are hardcore christians..." My dad was kinda dissapointed with that remark so he said to me, "Since you have a pretty big conscience, I hope you live with the fact that God will judge you for that comment," like WTH! My sister was like, "your going to hell." So they all left and I said to myself, "what did I do wrong?"
If I hadn't grown up in a Christian family, I would probably be an atheist. As of right now, I am doubting my very own religious beliefs. I know there is a God, but Christians, like my family showed me today, deter non beleivers from the Allmighty. If I remember, Jesus said, "Judge and be Judged." There have been many a time, where I didn't believe in God for a while, but I kept on coming back to him for some reason.
Moral of the story: Some people can really force down your throat their religious principles, like some of my family did today, especially my mom.
I really don't know what will happen when I move out of the house, I might not even attend church anymore, seriously.
EDIT: Some really stupid errors
Comments
The thing is, how "hardcore" religious should you be? Your parents belive that telling someone they are "hardcore Christians" will send you to hell. But there are tons of Christians who aren't "hardcore." Are they all going to hell? Who's right and who's wrong? Why is there no clarification?
Inconsistencies among societies is what made me an atheist.
Most "softcore" christians out here will agree with us that religion is mostly a matter of personal faith , that is , if you don't feel the need to go to the church every sunday then you shouldn't , no one can force you to be faithfull , not even your family. Atheism would be much less widespread if the average christian was more tolerant and open minded...
I do get huge laughs watching the people on tv doing catholic umm preaches. They sit there walking back and forth quoting the bible for 60 minutes. Saying "Halleluha" 50,000 times good for laughs yah...
Good thing iv finished those boring religion classes, never going to church ever again. Life for me is 10,000x better without religion. I'll make my own sandwitch if ya get my talk.
But then its also fun argueing with the people in the yahoo chats. Funny how they determine if you dont believe in God your so going to hell. I just laugh at them.
Agreed 99% (I still wonder if I might come back as a ghost taking revange on the people that made parts of my life feel like hell...)
I watched a lot of gundam wing when i was younger <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
Been using the name for 2 yrs I guess. So lets say the name has to do with something like Bringer Of Death not some fantasy God :/
And my Dad, who passed away when I was eight years old, had nothing to do with religion as far as I could tell. He got mad when I used God's name in vain, but he also had books by famous existentialist authors like Albert Camus, who are atheists.
I guess instead of saying I was born in a Christian family, I should say I was born in an open-minded and/or indifferent family.
I think you should know, I used to be an atheist.
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Nothing like some sibling rivalry to brighten up your day.
Actually, this reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask for some time:
If you've managed to get into Heaven, is it OK for you to laugh at or mock the people in Hell? (assuming they can hear you)
Or would that sort of behavior get you expelled from Heaven?
And by the way, it's "you're going", not "your going".
If your <a href='http://www.english-zone.com/verbs/your1.html' target='_blank'>grammar doesn't improve</a>, I'm afraid you'll go to Hell.
That is, if I weren't an atheist.
<span style='color:green'><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><span style='font-family:Optima'>You have no idea how much I want to <u>flame</u> you for that.</span></span></span>
When you look at the Qu'ran and the Bible they are really not that different morally.
(please excuse me if this doesn't make any sense, it's very late in the night/morning here(Denmark))
The Tao is like an empty container:
it can never be emptied and can never be filled.
Infinitely deep, it is the source of all things.
It dulls the sharp, unties the knotted,
shades the lighted, and unites all of creation with dust.
It is hidden but always present.
I don't know who gave birth to it .
It is older than the concept of God.
FYI, Euoplocephalus is studying the Qur'an right now (and arabic for that matter). From whats he told me he seems to rather like it.
That just made my night right there, I'm laughing my butt off. Kind of reminds me of this: <a href='http://www.bash.org/?128114' target='_blank'>http://www.bash.org/?128114</a>
In any case, my old signature line used to be a quote from Billy Grahm. I don't remember the exact wording, but:
The biggest cause of atheism in the United States is Christians. Christians who aknowledge Him with their lips and then deny Him by their lifestyle. THAT is what an unbelieving world finds so unbelieveable.
If you want my advice, if going to church is something that you do just because you have to, or because it's tradition, then don't go. If you don't have friends there, if you can't get into fellowship wtih your brothers and sisters in Christ, then don't go. You can praise God at home. Find another church, one where you actually study the bible, where you actually talk with people about what's happening in your life, and where you can hear what God has to say about it. Start looking around, would be my advice. If you were in the central Ohio area, I'd invite you out to mine in a heartbeat, because whenever I go, it is really like I feel whole, if not because of the message being taught, but because of the people there that have become so big a part of my life.
At that, I'll retire for the night. I hope you can find somewhere where you can worship and be edified at the same time.
I'm not converting to Buddhism, I just want to prove to myself that all religions are not the same.
From one thing I've noticed in Buddhism, (correct me if I'm wrong), is the emphasis of removing yourself away from suffering. It kind of implies that suffering is bad, and you should sever your self away from suffering. I much rather prefer Dak'kon's philosophy:
<i>"Endure. In enduring grow strong."</i>
Of course, there have also been Christians who try to shun the average life, and thus suffering filled one, for a solitary one (hermit). Personally, I think those people have it all wrong; stop trying to escape suffering, suffering (if they learn how to properly deal with it), is what will bring them closer to God.
While I won't take Buddhism as a religion, I'm pretty sure there's some philosophy I can find there to enhance my life.
Indirectly, I think I might be drawn to Taoism as well. I'm trying to study a book on Tai Chi, and a lot of the Tai Chi philosophy seems founded on Taoist principles. Again, I'm only interested in following as a philosophy, not as a religion.
...this relates to this topic somehow. ^^; I'm sure that I'll find a way to justify it eventually.
<i>The cause of human suffering is undoubtedly found in the thirsts of the physical body and in the illusions of worldly passion. If these thirsts and illusions are traced to their source, they are found to be rooted in the intense desires of physical instincts. Thus, desire, having a strong will-to-live as its basis, seeks that which it feels desireable, even if it sometimes death. This is called the <b>Truth of the Cause of Suffering.</b>
If desire, which lies at the root of all human passion can be removed, then passion will die out and all humansuffering will be ended. <b>This is called the Truth of the Dessation of Suffering</b></i>
Reinterpretation, (again, correct me if I'm wrong): Say, you're an caffeine addict. It's not asking you to remove yourself from the situation that causes you to crave for caffeine. Just learn not to crave caffeine in the first place.
Self-willingness is a very hard thing to achieve, and in that sense, I <b>think</b> that's one thing that separates Christianity from Buddhism. Buddhism believes people can achieve self-perfection. With Christianity, no one can ever be perfect.
Then again... there are different interpretations of perfection... *sigh*
[edit]I just noticed that the Buddhist attitude towards suffering seems stoic. They aren't weakened by suffering, nor are they strengthened. It simply passes through like air[/edit]
While I agree with you that religion is an important, personal issue, that is not strictly true. Christianity caught on in a large part because the Roman Empire adopted it as an official religion, and for several hunderd years to be a Roman ment becoming Christian. People did this in droves so as to enjoy the benfits of being a Roman. Granted that was a while ago, and the place of religon has changed a bit, but religous affliation (at least externaly) is something that some people are willing to change for political reasons.
There are also people whom change their belifs partway thru life, not becasue of a catastrophy, but simply becasue some other religion speaks to them more than the one they were raised in. Missionaries often convert people.
And I am studing the Qu'an right now, and Arabic. Both are, in my opinion, really cool. And I am deeply offened at anyone who makes any statement that insinuates that all Muslims are terrorists, or even that Islam encourages terrorism. The Qu'an builds off both the Hebrew Bible, and Christianity, and as such does have simliar moral codes, slightly modified to fit in better with the Arab lifestyle (for example there is an anthropological theroy that the reason pigs are "unclean" is that they pollute water supplies more than otehr livestock. Given the lack of water in the desert, having a pig would be bad.). It does have some passages in it that do support the concept of killing those of other faiths, but then so does the Old testament.......Deuteronomy comes to mind, ".....and you defeat them, then you must utterly destroy them"
But, so far in my readings of it anyways, the Qu'an also has many passages preaching acceptance, and respect. "Belivers[meaning Muslims], Jews, Christians and Sabeans, who ever belives in God and the Last Day, and does what is right, shall be rewarded by their Lord; they have nothing to fear or regret." -al-Baqarah 62 .
It is not Islam that causes terrorism, it is the poor economic conditions in the Middle East, the number of people living in poverty that causes extremism to rise (like the rise of Nazism in Germany during a major depression. I remember reading that at one point it would have cost a wheelbarrow full of thousand mark notes to buy a loaf of bread.)
People who don't believe in God are welcome too, I get along with nearly anyone of any religion because I've simply learnt to be rather tolerant.
One of the main components of a successful church is the sense of community. It really should feel as close as the friends that you have at school/work, if not, than closer. I have to say that if no one seems interested in connecting you with part of the community, (let them know first; we're not all mind readers), then I guess you might as well look for a different church.
Brian Hugh Warner, (aka Marilyn Manson), was a pastor's son. His peers didn't bother to include him. The last straw came at a fair where everyone was put into pairs except for him; the unfortunate judgement of the youth leader believed that Brian would be fine on his own, after all, he's a pastor's son.
Shortly after, Brian ditched his church, and now we know him as he is today.