what happened in your life to make you not belive in god? I really can,t understand this ,I as a young person Along time ago) never met anyone that would say that they were athiests, if you do not belive in God and the here after what do you belive in? who do you turn to in when life gets to hard sometimes? I turn to jesus christ for understanding and help, I don,t know what I would do if I was not able to do that because I was a athiests. I am not trying to be a mean or anything like that, I really want to understand why some people have turned there backs on god.
2006-09-01 09:12:20 · 26 answers · asked by sandyjean 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I'm agnostic, so not exactly the type of person that you're talking about. Born and raised a catholic in Ireland. I stopped in my early teens because of my belief in science, and because I cant get into my head the idea of people rising from the grave, turning water into wine, the entire human race beginning with just two people . I'm sorry but I find all these ideas patently ridculous.
Where do I turn to when life gets hard?
I just deal with it. You'd be amazed how strong a person can actually be without some supernatural being to look after you.
If I really need someone, I have a family to fall back on.
I don't believe in any organised religion but I do believe in a design to life. I studied science in college (biology) and I've seen the wonderful diversity in this great old world of ours. I'd consider myself very arrogant if I thought there was nothing more.
I have a very big problem with all of the organised religions. I prefer the idea of something completely beyond our understanding. That, in itself is VERY easy to understand. A famous scientist I deeply admire called Carl Sagan once said "The universe is not only stranger than than we imagine, but stranger than we CAN imagine" I hang around here alot but rarely answer unless its grossly innaccurate comments about dinosaurs walking around with humans or men gathering entire species of animals in advance of a huge flood into a boat and then redistributing them etc.
There are no shortage of questions here. Just a real lack of answers that do anything for me
I also make the habit of checking a posters previous questions. You seem genuine. Some people here are quiet mean and rude judging by some of the vulgar posters above me.
I try not to be.
You don't seem mean
I hope your kids and grand kids are doing ok.
Take care of yourself.
Colm.
2006-09-01 09:51:07 · answer #1 · answered by Melok 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They don't turn their backs on God they just don't believe that the God of the Bible exists.
Have you ever studied anything about religion, God, the Bible and church other than things written by Christians?
You should and then maybe you would understand why so many intelligent people ask questions instead of just "Believing" what some men and a book tell them to believe. You do have a free thinking mind you know and it's up to you to do the research.
Nothing major happened in most of the lives of Atheists to make them "believe in no God". Most of the Atheists I know actually researched the material for themselves.
Do you know why there are so many churches in the world?
Because there are more Believers than there are Thinkers.
2006-09-01 16:20:25 · answer #2 · answered by melrae1116 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I am not an atheist, however, I am no longer Christian and I am sorting out what I believe (which at this point seems to be a mixture of Neopagan and humanist ideas).
I will try to answer your question in a civil manner as you seem genuinely puzzled (but if you ARE out trying to "convert" non-Christians, I will be very disappointed, because this seems like one of the more genuine questions.)
As to the title of your question- why are there so many mean atheists?- well, many atheists would reply: "Why are there so many mean Christians? They trash my views on reason and science, when those views have improved lives everywhere! Besides, Christian beliefs, since they are false and cause untold harm, should be vigorously opposed whenever they are aired." (Notice how similar these viewpoints are to Christian views on atheism!)
What happened in their lives to make them (and me) not believe in your God? Well, this has a variety of responses- some were raised in non-Christian households, some had very negative experiences with Christianity (such as being the victim of abuse perpetrated by a priest/minister/nun etc.), some started to view what they considered as errors or inconsistencies become so numerous in their eyes that they lost all faith in the Christan God, some felt excluded by the patriarchal, homophobic, racist etc. theology.... the list goes on and on.
Regarding the point that when you were younger, no one you met would say they were atheists- you probably were living in a time and place where extreme discrimination and even persecution would be the result of declaring one's atheism to the world.
So, what do atheists believe in, if not the Christian version of God and Heaven? To whom do they turn when life gets difficult? They believe that life was created through evolution and that when we physically die, our conciousnesses are forever extinguished. When life becomes trying, they turn to other human beings as well as within themselves for the strength and courage to honestly confront their issue(s).
I hope this clears up some of the confusion on your part!
2006-09-01 16:45:58 · answer #3 · answered by dragonheartsong 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'd like to know why you associate not believing in god to be "mean." Why don't I believe in god? There's no proof and no rational explanation for a supreme being to exist. Period.
Who do I turn to? My fellow human beings, who realize that this earth and this reality is all we can know, and that it is up to us to make it the best place we can, now, rather than waiting for an imaginary reward after death.
Do I believe that the Universe was started by forces we cannot understand? Yes. Do I believe in an afterlife that is far more complex and different than anything we can comprehend? Yes. Do I believe that that super-reality is devised, run, and controlled by "God" -- especially the one described in the Christian Bible, Quran, or Hebrew Bible? No. There is no empirical proof for such a creature, and creating one out of whole cloth stirkes me as a waste of time when there is so much work to be done in the here and now.
2006-09-01 16:22:19 · answer #4 · answered by frozengrocer 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If you want to know why people become atheists, then study, with an objective mind, the history of your religion, and critically analyze the things that you've been told to believe.
Atheists do not "turn their backs on god".
We realize that god, and the religion that created him, is false. He never existed. He never will. This is easy to understand, if you do the research.
But it has nothing to do with us WANTING to get away from god, or live sinful lives, or any other myth you've been told. It's simply a matter of rational thinking. If you're interested, here's a link to get you started.
http://www.godisimaginary.com
Edit: Yes, Daniel S... you sound like a true scholar... :)
Edit: Hand of Justice, you're a prime example of someone that was never an atheist to begin with. You said yourself you knew little of religion. That's called ignorance... not atheism. To this day, obviously, you still don't know much about it. I'd ask you to view the link above for starters... You really do need to educate yourself on your beliefs.
2006-09-01 16:18:24 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
I've met some mighty mean 'Christians' in my life. I once got beat to within an inch of my life by a guy who was shouting that I needed Jesus.
I didn't say anything to him, but he didn't like the way I just walked on by.
Christ was a wonderful man, I'm sure. His followers need a little help understanding him sometimes. I think if he came back, it would be the TV Christians that nailed him up again.
Just my opinion of course. You will now condemn me to hell to show how loving you are.
2006-09-01 16:35:43 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Atheist and Satanist here.
I believe in myself. Everyone is their own god, they are free to accept it or not. Simple.
I happened to think. At age seven, I got informed, and realised deities were just about as real as Santa Claus. Of course, I was not raised in a religious context, my mother being non spiritual, and my father an atheist.
I don't turn my back on a nonexistent concept. The deity, to me, just doesn't even exist.
I am not less happy because of this, I actually think I am way better off without this imperialistic and totalitarian dogma hanging over my head.
I am more of the science type, anyway.
P.S. If Jesus existed, he is now dead and the maggots have eaten him. He has rotten, and, since there is no afterlife, nothing happened. I am glad to think I will one day be food for other life forms, even though they're just maggots.
2006-09-01 16:19:53 · answer #7 · answered by bloody_gothbob 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
God/Jesus/Religion is just plain silly! Try reading the magical fairy tales in the bible some time! Hillarious children's tales to be sure, but nothing that makes me want to actually believe any of that crap! I guess knowledge and logic are more important to me than make-believe. And I dont need to turn to an imaginary friend or magic wizard rainbow man in the sky when things get rough...its called life, its hard sometimes, and I enjoy living it myself, not under the thumb of the God of Wishful-Thinking Land. If I really need help, that is what friends and family are for...hell, maybe even the kindness of strangers...but real people, not ghosts.
I am not trying to be a mean or anything like that, I really can't understand why someone would believe in a mythological "god"...and even more confusing is this faith in "Bible" and the conspiracy known as "Christianity"! Truly confusing near the level of insanity.
2006-09-01 16:17:51 · answer #8 · answered by Ann_Tykreist 4 · 4⤊ 2⤋
It's hard to have faith when you've read too many books. So much of the christian religion is either self-contradictory or borrowed from other, earlier religions that I can no longer view it as divine inspiration.
I believe in humanity. We're a messy, beautiful, fragile, fleeting species, but that only makes life more poignant. Laying our accomplishments at the feet of an invisible super-being cheapens them.
2006-09-01 16:22:54 · answer #9 · answered by lcraesharbor 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I never had my chest facing him to be able to turn my back. I was brought up to believe in FACT, and that the way I live my life should be what I think is right, not what some book says.
thats why. And Im not mean. I just dont beleive in a god.
2006-09-01 16:16:08 · answer #10 · answered by psychstudent 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋