Why I left Atheism?

[Solin]

Christian atheists are those atheists who follow the word of Christ but they do not see anything supernatural involved with the New Testament

[Hevneren]

Interesting argument.

What I meant was that many atheists quite obviously develop and identity around it the concept. They identify with not believing. They have their own learned men, their own "theological" arguments, its all very organized for it to just be disbelief.

I think this may be (although I might be mistaken) more common in very religious countries (like the United States) than it is in heavily secular countries (like Norway and Finland). It might be because they're a much smaller group and religion is more pervasive there. It could be a way to find like-minded people, to feel connected rather than alone. Religious people do this too through church meeting and the like. A lot of religion today is about community and socialising with like-minded people.

I've talked to you young American Atheists online, and generally they seem to feel isolated and alone, and they see religion as much more pervasive than we would here.

Its not like anyone forces them to do that. Its not like religion is very intrusive in our lives these days. More often than not, I read of atheists wanting to take down this or that cross or stop this or that school song from being sung. Its rarely the religious who try to impose their will on
others these days.

Well, that may usually be the case here in Nordic countries (that religion isn't very pervasive), but as I mentioned there are other stories to tell in other countries.

Now, if all you had to do to be an atheist was not to believe in God, why do so many take it that much further? They make into a cause.

Atheism isn't really a philosophy in itself, it's merely a lack of a belie in a deity or deities, as you mentioned, but at the same time I think that something should accompany this lack of belief: skepticism and critical thinking. I think we should apply this to all things.

Anyway, you asked why some Atheists turn their non-belief into a cause. Again, it probably has something to do with either a real or perceived pervasiveness of religion. People generally don't become defencive unless they feel threatened or besieged in some way.

Most atheists simply think its fun / cool to bash "religious retards". The sentiment is common enough and I've witnessed among my friends and acquaintances. Just like some people might choose become neopagans because its rad and rebellious.

Some Atheists do like to make fun of religious people just for the sake of making fun of them, I'm sure, but I don't think most do this. Even in cases where an Atheist appears to simply be making fun of someone's religious beliefs, it might be because they're trying to make a point and trying to explain their views and how a religious point of view looks to them.

To be frank, it's kind of hard to debate with a religious person without "making fun" of their beliefs, because it seems to be a trend where any criticism of religion and religious views is disrespectful and hurtful. Just look at how many Muslims react to cartoons of the prophet Mohammed. Believe it or not, but a lot of Christians have an over-sensitive reaction to criticism of their religion too.

[Hevneren]

You did not answer my question
Are you a christian atheist?

I didn't quite understand the question, which is why I couldn't answer it. You however wrote that you define a "Christian Atheist" as someone who agrees with the philosophical teachings of Jesus Christ, but don't believe he was supernatural.

I don't think I'd identify myself as a "Christian Atheist", no. I might respect Jesus Christ as a human being, and maybe I agree with some of his philosophy, but I don't identify with any philosophical movement related to Jesus Christ.

Anyway I realized that atheists do not believe in God because they think its rational thing to do they do not believe because they WANT to believe that God does not exist for their own reasons just as I WANT to
believe that God exists for my own reasons.

Well, not all Atheists are the same, as I've mentioned. Some wouldn't want there to be a god and some do want there to be a god, but they just can't believe in one.

I enc
I have never encountered an atheist who think its a truly rational thing to believe in God.
Some want to be different than the majority, some want others to consider them intelligent...

Again, Atheists are individuals and can have individual opinions.

[Alberta1]

There are many events in the world that defy logic and indeed hint to the divine and the world of spirits. Sigur Ros that's a pretty horrofic experience but I am glad you became more open minded. Nice for sharing this experience and hope all the best to you.

[RagnarLodbrok666]

We heathens like to get to know our household spirits and leave some mead for them now and again.

For me its been Lugh and Freyr but yes. When I was a teen I actually was anti-theistic and thought the same conclusions she did in that first month, then well...I sort of drifted and now here I am.

[European Loyalist]

There are many events in the world that defy logic and indeed hint to the divine and the world of spirits. Sigur Ros that's a pretty horrofic experience but I am glad you became more open minded. Nice for sharing this experience and hope all the best to you.

But how would you know? If you think rationally about it any answer is just as plausible as the next. For all we know we could be brains in vats. There is nothing that disproves this. Humans should accept that we don't and probably will never understand the universe and should only live our lives according to what we know to be the truth through science.

[kabeiros]

Why is it that spirits mostly present themselves to people who have an ancestry in places where belief in spirits and more archaic types of religion are dominant? (You said that you are partly Dominican, that's why I mention this). Maybe because our subconscious mind which is influenced by our culture can create images that appear to be real, although they are not... or because pure logic drives the rest of us away from the emotional-psychological state of consciousness that allow the believers to ''see'' what we boring realists can not understand. Sometimes I don't know what I really believe, so I must call myself an Agnostic...

[Panzerfaust]

Human beings are fragile and quirky beings. We don't perceive one absolute reality, but rather experience a brain-generated model of what is around us. We can also end up perceiving things that just aren't there at all..

I started out Lutheran but eventually abandoned it.. And all other religion along with it. Just gone. The evidence isn't there to support religious claims. Plus, Christianity and many other religions stem from long before science was developed into the marvellous art that it is today. The Bible was written by flat-earthers... Gods as we know them evolved from older ideas that ultimately originated from our natural superstition and our tendency to perceive agents in the natural world. We are natural dualists, automatically thinking of the mind as something separate from the body, yet such thinking is clearly flawed and unsupported by evidence.

Religion embodies stubborn ignorance and wishful thinking. The thought of people seriously entertaining religious ideas in this day and age makes me want to

[Sol Invictus]

Even odder to me as I have no problem at all mixing faith with science. I am a big time science,physics and engineering nut and think they all fit in a logical way with my faith.

The thing is, science is the realm which deals with matter in a material or materialistic sense. The spirtual realm is beyond this. To mix the two up is symptomatic of new age spirituality. But then it appears that this pantheism is something that the even the Dalai Lama embraces, in contravention of the very Buddhist doctrine he purports to uphold! He is very much part of the international pantheistic/new-age movement, which is heavily promoted by various counter-initiatory occult circles amongst the "elite."


(I do hate calling current world leaders elite. We have no elites, only the counter-elite, chosen by the mob and of the mob. Alas, I digress.)

[Sol Invictus]

The issue I have first and foremost with modern Christianity of nearly every stripe is that they all condemn racial preservation. So many of these Christian churches have conformed to the modern liberal zeitgeist that I feel these institutions are merely an amen chorus for social conformists.

Racial preservation a condemned ideology? I am very familiar with Catholic teachings and I've not ever heard of that..

They scarcely stand for anything anymore. One thing I do NOT want is political liberalism wrapped as theology.

http://www.liberalismisasin.com/

Most within the Hierarchy nowadays are the most spineless, wretched and dishonest scum imaginable. There is just no way to sugarcoat this problem. There are very few noble clergy left.