This is not for those who are just starting to question their faith in their religion, but for those who already made the switch. I really am trying to convert to aetheism but I cannot help the fact that there is someone up there who is always looking down on me. I am not switching because I think my old religion (christianity) is fake, but because I question the divider between what is morally right and morally wrong. The hardest part right now is who to blame and who to praise on mere coincidences that happen in my life (no more "Thank God", or "Damn it to hell"). If there was a religion that could focus more on fairness and (non-american) justice rather than good vs. evil then I would definitly walk right up that alley. I believe that everyone is born with a clean slate and the only reason a person is good or bad is because of their surroundings. Without evil there can be no good, why is that? It is because good and bad is but a mere illusion of majority favor versus minority favor.
2006-08-23 22:55:41 · 8 answers · asked by Davidness 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Oh really? All this time I have been thinking it just mean not believing a religion. Haha, better turn this question off, or not. Maybe someone will get past my stupidity and know what I am asking. :D
2006-08-23 23:00:06 · update #1
Thank you Erik, that is what I was envisioning. 15 years....thats an aweful lot of time.
2006-08-23 23:03:03 · update #2
I find it hilarious Jack Baur that you are using Heaven to prove that there can be good without evil. Not just because of the lack of proof that there even is a heaven, but because there is a hell as well. Did you miss that buddy? And yes I haven't converted yet thats why I ask this. Atheism is a religion of sorts that come with principles and stuff you can to live by, go check the dictionary. It is simply believing there is no God.
2006-08-23 23:10:42 · update #3
Thank you Ryan and Casper, extremely useful stuff. AND YESS I HAVEN'T MADE THE TRANSITION YET BUT IM TRYING FOR THE LAST TIME!! Pardon my tone, I love you all for your answers.
2006-08-23 23:15:50 · update #4
First off, I don't know the answer to your question. I was never really a monotheist, and I'm not really an atheist. I consider myself to be agnostic (I find a lack of evidence to prove or disprove any religion), and don't know if there was a change early on. I acknowledge the possibility, but in the case that there was a change, it was unmemorable. /shrug
In response... lets lose the labels. Moving away from christianity doesn't necessarily make you an atheist. Given the way christianity is splintered into a bewildering number of branches, all with varying degrees of difference between and revulsion for each other, moving away from what you follow now to something you're more comfortable with may not even be leaving the umbrella of christianity.
If you honestly believe there is a god up there, then let's be realistic, you aren't an atheist. But you don't have to pick anything. You don't *need* to have a label to claim. If you think religion should be centered more around objective judgment than precanned right or wrong coming out of a book, then maybe you're right... maybe try looking through that lens for a while, see if it is compatible with your other religious beliefs. If you think the bible is really the holy book it claims to be, but the churches aren't interpreting things the right way, then believe your way. You have as much right to claim understanding as they do, and probably less internal and external politics to cloud matters.
Maybe, on the other hand, none of that works for you. So check out the other things that might be able to explain what you believe, or what you think. See if other major religions do it for you. Study the history, find out why the religions you're looking at are like they are today, know where they came from and how they've changed with the times. Ask questions until you can't think of any more, and see what conclusions you draw. In the end, knowing, really knowing, what you believe might be more satisfying than being able to point at a church and say "I'm one of those!"
Good luck.
2006-08-23 23:12:09 · answer #1 · answered by Ryan 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's some serious questionning my friend. I am from a muslim family and I am aetheist. I came down to the same reflection some years from now. Now I know where I stand. Religion my friend was written by the hand of a man no matter if its Christianity or islam. How can you bet your whole life based on the writting of A or some men?!! All of these religions preaches equallity in man. You may be black white yellow or brown. But there is always someone to come and tell you that he knows better than you and that you must follow what he is saying. Bull ****. If he can think and use his intelligence to know that this is right and that the other is wrong then so can I. I am not more stupid than he is. We are all shaped up by our environment. Some good happens to all people and some bad happens to all people. That's life!! Not some bullshit talked about in some old books written by man!! Cheers Mate. Need any help on that feel free to contact me.
2006-08-23 23:05:26 · answer #2 · answered by Casper 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can't "convert" to atheism since it's not a religion or a belief, it's just the absence of belief in god. You clearly still believe in some type of god though so I don't understand why you want to be an atheist. It looks like to me like you're looking for a new religion that would better suite your views of the world. Or if you're unhappy with your current religion you could just leave it and just consider yourself a spiritual person without being part of any religion.
"Without evil there can be no good, why is that?"
I disagree, there can be good without there being evil, isn't that what heaven is supposed to be? If we never experienced evil then we might not know what "good" is, but things would still be good. If we lived a life without experiencing or seeing any physical or emotional pain then we wouldn't know what pain or harm was. If that's how life was from beginning to end, with no pain or harm ever, then things would be "good", we just wouldn't know it.
"Atheism is a religion of sorts that come with principles and stuff you can to live by" It is simply believing there is no God."
What? Atheism comes with "principles and stuff"? What does it come with?
"go check the dictionary. It is simply believing there is no God."
From the American Heritage dictionary:
Atheist: One who disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods.
I still don't see what it has to do with any "principles" and your definition is incorrect. Atheism is not a belief, it's a disbelief or absence of belief as I originally mentioned.
2006-08-23 23:04:39 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes, the world and my life started to make sense as the Christian conditioning gradually faded away...but it took years to go completely...there was a moment when I realised I was actually free of it some years ago now and it was so uplifting, I still feel the same.
2006-08-23 23:00:46 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
it feels liberating, freeing, and relieving.. I still can rememver the moment I decided to switch to atheism even though almost 15 years have passed.
2006-08-23 22:59:48 · answer #5 · answered by =_= 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
mY Friend, everything in life is fake. Learn to enjoy what little you can, for one day it will all be gone and a little too late.
2006-08-23 22:58:35 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
2006-08-23 22:58:16 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'd imagine it feels like a SIN...
2006-08-23 23:01:56 · answer #8 · answered by Ladeebug71 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋