First of all, if you're christian, muslim, jewish, or whatever, and you believe in god(s) or godess(es), please use all your restraint from answering this question.
For those who converted Atheism, do you ever miss that feeling that someone is watching over you and taking care of you?
I know that feeling was never real, or at least I don't think it was. But I was watching Dogma the other day (good movie for those who haven't seen it) and there was just one moment when a woman named Bethany had lost her faith or whatever and she just missed the whole feeling of "knowing" someone watched over her. Sometimes I wish god was true, but I know he isn't.
IF YOU BELIEVE IN GOD, I SPECIFICALLY ASKED YOU NOT TO ANSWER. IF I GET ONE ANSWER TELLING ME TO READ THE BIBLE OR SOMETHING OF THAT SORTS, I WILL MOCK EVERY QUESTION YOU EVER POST.
2006-09-02 14:17:31 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
ahh I can see your point. . . yes it would be nice to have an easy answer for everything. sometimes it is disheartening to think that the only thing you can prove is your own personal existance. (descartes, I think, therefore I am)
but I can't go back. . .
I guess in all acuality I am not a true atheiest (dont know if I even spelled that right) I just can't prove that god does or does not exist. most christians say that they just "know in their heart" well last time I checked my heart has been wrong before.
well thanks for the refreshing well thought out question. I dont know if I specifically answered your question but I think you were looking for peoples personal feelings more or less. (you know it really pisses me off when people try to pass off their feelings on religion as fact.)
e-mail me if you feel like discussing this further.
Taco.
PS Good luck in your search for knowledge.
2006-09-02 14:33:35 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I stopped believing at about ten or eleven. All that I heard in church just didn't make sense to me. The more the priest explained the trinity, the more senseless it sounded. Virgin births, angels, devils were everywhere. Many of the people were scared out of their skins, but to me, even at an early age, it sounded like a very poorly written fairy tale.
Is simply dropping out of church converting ? I have nothing against people going to church if they get some kind of satisfaction out of it. The thing that amuses ( and sometimes annoys ) me is that my friends know that I'm a non-believer, so they e-mail me a lot of Jesus junk thinking that I'm going to see the light,
No, I never had the feeling that anyone was watching over me. I would like to ask those who do get the feel - - - what goes wrong ? Very religious people have exactly the same number of mishaps as atheists. Where's the guy who's supposed to be watching over them ?
2006-09-02 21:45:58 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Atheism is not a religion, so it is impossible to convert to it.
There is a certain amount of regret, in knowing that you have only one life - and that if you screw this one up - there are no second chances. There are also people I love, who are dead and gone. And there is a certain finality in knowing this is forever.
But at the same time? There is a sense of freedom and release. Religion is like slavery. For those who believe, they are expected to serve some supernatural master for all eternity. There is no question about it - it's a master / slave relationship.
It's probably what started all of the other "master / slave" relationships. It probably started the first kings and queens.And religion is probably responsible for REAL SLAVERY. If it wasn't directly responsible for it, then it can certainly be said to have inspired it.
Ever notice how the religions of this world still talk about kingdoms? Long after kingdoms themselves have become obsolete? Here we are in a DEMOCRACY. It might not be perfect, but it's the best form of government ever invented. And religion still talks about kingdoms? Just how archaic and obsolete can you get?
Among other things that are liberating:
I don't need to worry about the concept of sin. If I want to go to a topless bar, associate with "morally depraved" people, or drink beer on a Sunday - I can do it.
I ALSO find it liberating that I can think for myself; make my own decisions about what;s right and wrong; and gain my own viewpoints of what the world is like: where we have been, where we are, and where we are headed.
I don't need some ignorant bible thumping preacher to do my thinking for me - to tell me what to think, how to think, or what not to think. I have a mind of my own, and feel like I should use it; always have - always will.
Thinking like religious nuts do - acting like they do - that would be HELL for me.
I suppose that's all for now.
Going to rush out and buy a beer before it turns midnight; so I can drink one on Sunday morning, just as the churches open up. :)))) LOL
2006-09-02 21:56:37 · answer #3 · answered by Techguy2396 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I liken it to Santa. I used to think he came and gave me presents, I even sat on his knee a few times. But after I realized it was all just a little tradition for children I accepted it. It is all part of growing up. I do not sit here sad that there is no Santa. And although I never truly believed in God, I don't really have a problem with not believing in a fairy tale. What disturbs me is how many people do with a ridiculous fanaticism around the world, and how many people have died or suffered because of these fundamentalists.
2006-09-02 21:26:16 · answer #4 · answered by ZCT 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
i don't believe in god either but i do believe in a higher power. i know that its definitely not what most people think of as god but there is something. i don't know what and i don't know why but i do know that if there wasn't i would probably be either dead or in a nut house by now. you see I've had allot of unfortunate things happen in my life time and as we speak my life really sucks but as bad as it is and as bad as it has gotten something has always made it so i could go on. yeah i too have prayed to god and my prayers went unanswered. But something keeps pushing me to go on. not "god" or what the bible says. that stuff is all just propaganda to have control over people. But something is there. far too many strange coincidences have happened and the way things truly do turn out for the best no matter how bad it gets, to me is proof of a higher power. the god that we read about in the many different versions of the bible is all bullshit but i have faith in something. i don't know what it is but i hope you find it in your life or better yet i hope you don't because i only felt it at very bad points in my life. i don't have to miss god because the higher power in my life is all i need. i guess if you wanna call it god to give it a name go ahead but please don't get it confused with the god in the bible because that was something written down long ago by people who wanted to put fear in there people and make them behave in a certain way according to there standards and beliefs. maybe these people felt the same presence i feel and decided to take it a step further but there off. way off
2006-09-02 22:05:34 · answer #5 · answered by hardcore_psycho69 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Converted" is not exactly what I would call it. Simply an inability to swallow the fairy tale, no matter how hard it was jammed down my throat. Sure, it would be nice to feel like I had a Big Daddy watching over me, one who has made me the pinnacle of all creation, the most important creature in the universe, etc. It would be great if it were all about me, me, ME. Unfortunately, I'm far more convinced it's Big Brother who's watching and I do not matter one bit.
2006-09-02 21:28:58 · answer #6 · answered by Wren )O( 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, I don't miss this feeling that you describe. I am a Secular Humanist. I am guided by my own conscience, morality and ethics. I do good works for their innate goodness; not for future promises of rewards in heaven or in the next life.
Humanity offers an enormous arena for caring and to be cared for. I hope that this is the kind of answer you were looking for, and wonder about your feelings in response to this. Good luck.
2006-09-02 21:28:59 · answer #7 · answered by ElOsoBravo 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I guess I never really believed god was watching over me anyway, so I don't miss it. In my believer days, I tended to think that god watched out for us spiritually, but not in any other way.
Heh, I guess I was wrong about that too, since I ended up deconverting.
2006-09-02 21:24:52 · answer #8 · answered by lenny 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First, I think its odd to say that atheists "converted" to Atheism. I think its more like "waking up" from a bad dream.
It is hard to be fully atheist without being fully and adult. You have to be able to accept full responsibility for your actions and for managing your welfare. Of course, atheists want to be part of families and communities, and we get love and support from our familes and communities. I know that my wife looks out for my welfare, as I do for hers.
Anyway, I was raised as a christian and I know I was raised to believe that God was watching and taking care of me. But I've long since missed having that feeling.
2006-09-02 21:28:26 · answer #9 · answered by Jim L 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure I ever really had that feeling when I was a christian...I kept looking for it, and people at church kept telling me about the "still small voice"...but I recognized that as my own thoughts.
I'm not sure people "convert" to atheism....for me it was not a "road to Damascus, scales falling from my eyes thing"...just a gradual process the more I read, and learned and talked to others.
2006-09-02 21:22:07 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋