Personal Opinion on Religion (Atheist View)
- Thread starter NubletInc
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I think it all comes down to the question of what makes you happy. Does believing that there's no higher power and no greater meaning in the world or in your life bring you peace? If so, great! If not, maybe that's something to consider.
But as it stands, people with some form of religion are generally happier with their lives than those without; at which I would ask why you feel the need to cut those people down?
So even if religion was a big fat pack of lies we tell ourselves--if it makes us happy to tell ourselves these lies, why does it suddenly become the job of atheists to try their damned hardest to make us as miserably lacking in hope as they tend to be?
I say, if you believe its all a bunch of bullshit, then believe what you want to believe, but don't insist that everyone else needs to believe it too.
But as it stands, people with some form of religion are generally happier with their lives than those without; at which I would ask why you feel the need to cut those people down?
So even if religion was a big fat pack of lies we tell ourselves--if it makes us happy to tell ourselves these lies, why does it suddenly become the job of atheists to try their damned hardest to make us as miserably lacking in hope as they tend to be?
I say, if you believe its all a bunch of bullshit, then believe what you want to believe, but don't insist that everyone else needs to believe it too.
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
Epicurus
I understand why people look to religion, it can be a lot easier to cope when you believe in some omnipotent being having some kind of master plan when the shit in your life hits the fan and I can get down with that idea. However it's when you see people sticking to archaic and outdated ideas and pass them down to there children that a problem arises. For example a couple weeks ago I was driving around and I say a couple of anti-gay signs, so I sigh and shake my head and take solace in the fact that there a minority. However it's when I took a second look that I died a little inside, the 2 adults had what I assumed to be there kids holding signs too (the kids looked to be 5-8). Anyway that's just part of my opinion and I don't want to type shit loads tonight.
Epicurus
I understand why people look to religion, it can be a lot easier to cope when you believe in some omnipotent being having some kind of master plan when the shit in your life hits the fan and I can get down with that idea. However it's when you see people sticking to archaic and outdated ideas and pass them down to there children that a problem arises. For example a couple weeks ago I was driving around and I say a couple of anti-gay signs, so I sigh and shake my head and take solace in the fact that there a minority. However it's when I took a second look that I died a little inside, the 2 adults had what I assumed to be there kids holding signs too (the kids looked to be 5-8). Anyway that's just part of my opinion and I don't want to type shit loads tonight.
Or there's the view that God COULD help, but he gave us free will, and if he babied us all the time we wouldn't appreciate him, or be able to ever do anything for ourselves. There's no such thing as FAITH if he made himself painfully obvious to everyone in the world.teutonicman said:
The notion that he loves EVERYONE is actually crap. God doesn't love a pedophile rapist, I can tell you that...that's why the guy (pedo) has a miserable fucking life and will end up in a jail cell for the rest of his life, or DEAD.
Hardships are trials, and if you fail miserably, then that's your own fault; and God's not gonna back you up when you're too pathetic to even try to help yourself.
It never says anywhere in the Bible that God loves everyone. In fact it says he's a vengeful and jealous God, so what do you expect?? Its only the wishy-washy factions of Christianity that believe God is "all-loving" and completely benevolent.
I fall into the live let live category. I mean, if someone wants to accept Jesus and what not, fine, it really doesn't bug me. But it's when they start invading the sanctity of my little world is when I get pissed. Go Flying Spaghetti Monster!
Here's my take:
Do you believe in that which is absolutely perfect in all aspects? Then essentially you believe in God. I find what is known as "God" is also interchangeable with "Ideal". Within my perspective, an ideal is but an image, a mere snapshot in a single moment in time where everything is frozen into place. What ideals we can come up with are unchangeable and inanimate, yet we are always in motion. Look at us, our image is one that is always changing whether the scenario is leaving the womb or decomposing. Even the things we call "objects" are prone to change, a rock gets chipped, a sword rusts. To be "perfect" and to be "God", an ideal must withstand the test of time--forever. That which is "perfect" is also something everyone can agree upon. However, I haven't discovered any evidence for that certain something we can all agree upon, so I do feel inclined to say that I do not believe in God, but I don't know everything yet, now do I? Subjectivity can be a blessing and a curse.
Do you believe in that which is absolutely perfect in all aspects? Then essentially you believe in God. I find what is known as "God" is also interchangeable with "Ideal". Within my perspective, an ideal is but an image, a mere snapshot in a single moment in time where everything is frozen into place. What ideals we can come up with are unchangeable and inanimate, yet we are always in motion. Look at us, our image is one that is always changing whether the scenario is leaving the womb or decomposing. Even the things we call "objects" are prone to change, a rock gets chipped, a sword rusts. To be "perfect" and to be "God", an ideal must withstand the test of time--forever. That which is "perfect" is also something everyone can agree upon. However, I haven't discovered any evidence for that certain something we can all agree upon, so I do feel inclined to say that I do not believe in God, but I don't know everything yet, now do I? Subjectivity can be a blessing and a curse.
Religions must die. They're a plague that corrupts people's moral thinking and causes nothing but problems, wars, capitalism and the destruction of friendships.
(Inbe4 I'm suspended/banned for this post, I hate religions because they've ruined many friendships for me.)
(Inbe4 I'm suspended/banned for this post, I hate religions because they've ruined many friendships for me.)
Although I have no belief system of any form I don't have that big of a problem with the religion/athiest faith
To me religion has caused NO harm, no deaths, no problems, people HAVE, if religion did not exist our history would still be filled with death and destruction, religion was/is simply a tool people used to gain power , a tool that would exist but in another form if religion never existed. In one way I am glad religion is the main 'tool' since it puts the fear of god in people making some who'd do great harm fear that they would be forever punished
To me religion has caused NO harm, no deaths, no problems, people HAVE, if religion did not exist our history would still be filled with death and destruction, religion was/is simply a tool people used to gain power , a tool that would exist but in another form if religion never existed. In one way I am glad religion is the main 'tool' since it puts the fear of god in people making some who'd do great harm fear that they would be forever punished
Ok I shared my opinion on religions with my friends and they started saying I was atheist, that I was wrong (or something like that). So I'm only posting this becauese I'm wondering is an atheist a non-believer (again, or something like that) or they are diffrent.
It feels like I'm the only Christian on this forum
Would you rather be forced into doing something or would you want to have a choice? IF He didn't love us, I'm sure He wouldn't of sent His Son to die for everyone's sin. And I'm sure you're going to say "He sent His Son to death? That makes Him more of a jerk" so I will answer that. Jesus was sent to be the ultimate sacrifice (so people don't have to sacrifice a lamb everytime they sin). Also, this way mankind can talk directly to God without priests. It can be a personal relationship with Him because of Jesus's death and reserection.Booze Zombie said:
Intor to Soc was a long time ago so bear with me. I THINK it was Durkhiem who posited that the concept of god/s went back to the earliest days of primitive man. There was much in the world that early man had no understanding of and could have no understanding of as he was not yet developed enough. So, in order to explain all of these inexplicable phenomenon, the concept of god was created. The trouble being that as mankind progressed in knowing and understanding, along the way it was forgotten that god/s was an artificial construct and was now considered as a concrete concept. Whether or not thats all true I have no idea, just throwing it out there for consideration.
I never said it was bad, I said it was ridiculous. And as I pointed out in that post, ridiculous doesn't mean bad or stupid. In fact ridiculous can be good and clever.Booze Zombie said:
Careful... intelligent posts like this on the subject of theology draw the theophobic too it like wasps to beer.Shik said:
So you sweep away allllll the good religious people of history as if they were never there? Wilberforce? Mendel? Giovanni Bernardone? They didn't exist... ostensibly because religions have "ruined friendships" for you. How were those friendships ruined? I manage to get on with religious people just fine - I manage this by not preaching too them that their religion "needs to die". Maybe you should re-examine your own behaviour?Cid SilverWing said:
We have been through this, many times before. Epicurus made a stupid statement, tarted it up in philosophical lingo, and then people took it seriously. "Evil" is a point of view. If the first line actually said:-teutonicman said:
"Is God willing to make the world all nice and flowery according to my particular expectations, but not able?"
...the obvious response is "erm,
Not only that, but what are the consequences if preventing evil? What happened in Gulivers travels when Guliver aided the little people? What did God say to Bender in the Futurama episode "Godfellas"? I personally do not believe in god, but this is a very bad reason not too.
And like wasps the more you swat at them the more there seem to turn up.cuddly_tomato said:
By the way I thank you for pointing that out, Religion is used as a tool, but unfortunatly it is an unbelievably powerfull that can be used to make a rational person act totally irrationally.
I would argue that (in the words of Batman) it isn't what we think that matters, it is what we do that defines us. A rational person does not act irrationally, an irrational person does. There are 4,500,000,000 religious people on earth right now. How many are truly irrational? ...All of them, now I think about it, along with all of the atheists. But how many are dangerously irrational? Stand in any street in the world, look to your left, and to your right. Both of those people are religious. Have they blown up yet? Have they tried to indoctrinate you?lazy_bum said:
Irrationality is normal, excessively irrational and dangerous behaviour isn't. Such things are not caused by religion. There is always an underlying circumstance that drives it, be it poverty, oppression, over-bearing family, drugs, school bullying, bad day at work, toothache, etc.
I'm 17 in year 12 at a Catholic School in Adelaide Australia. Athiest4Life. Now I'm accepting of other peoples beliefs, but give me the opportunity and I'll rip into religion (Christianity in particular) like there is no tomorrow. The Catholic Church and the Bible are about as relevant and useful as a sliding door on a submarine. All that religion has ever managed to do in the last 2000 years is create Wars and prejudices (about homosexuals, women and other religions) and in general Fuck over the entire world.