of Satan? Or just no belief at all in anything? Also Have any of you ever believed in God before but changed for some reason? This question is being asked in respect not to down anyone. I want to honestly know why you believe what you believe. Listening to some of your comments some of you have a guenuine heart for people, you are the ones I really would love to hear from.
2006-10-12 05:11:13 · 13 answers · asked by ckrug 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
To think that atheism has anything to do with the worship of Satan tends to indicate that you have been lied to.
An atheist is someone who doesn't believe in a God. It doesn't mean someone who has no moral standards.
I have always been an atheist, because it has always been apparent to me that the worship of any God is an act of superstition. There is no evidence for the existence of a deity, and no reason to suppose that one exists.
I like to live my life on the basis of rationality. I believe that once we open ourselves to an acceptance of irrationality and superstition, it makes us more open to malign influence. This, I believe, can be seen in present-day America, where a fundamentalist view of Christianity goes along with intolerance, bigotry and, in some cases, violence.
I think we are alone on this earth without an afterlife or a Daddy-figure looking after us. This might be a less comforting view than a religious one, but I at least I know that I have to take responsibility for my own wrongdoings, that there is no one there to forgive me and make it all better, and also I can take credit for the things I manage to accomplish.
This doesn't mean that I do not feel awe when I contemplate the universe and our place in it. I couldn't even convey what I feel when I look at the latest Hubble picture, and contemplate the cold vastness of space. But to me, those feelings have nothing to do with an old, white-bearded man sitting on a cloud. :)
2006-10-12 05:27:48 · answer #1 · answered by langdonrjones 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Atheists are not all stamped out with the same cookie cutter. Just as not all believers of one denomination think, act, have the same personality as all the others.
I don't call myself an Atheist because I've always thought that word meant against God. I am not against God. It's impossible to be against something you don't believe even exists. Also, I am not against others believing in whatever sort of God or Gods they care to worship.
What makes me different from my parents, or other believers is that I have no superstitions at all. My defination of superstition is a belief in any supernatural. Some supernaturals to me are ghosts, zombies, Gods, fairies, angels, devils, Santa Claus, Mother Goose, and a lot more. I believe you'll get the idea.
In the service my chaplain friends would ask me why I don't come to their church services. They would say that I'm the most honest, most truthful, most even tempered person they ever knew, and that I'm the kind of person who'd be just right as an example. My answer always was that it doesn't take religion to make a person do right, it's something within.
Yes, I believed in God for a few years in my early life. When I was about twelve I told my mother that I just can't believe what's being preached. I never went to church again.
2006-10-12 05:40:40 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
What throws me is why you ask if it means the worship of Satan. Why would it mean that? (Your question is otherwise sensitive and open-minded, so it stands out). Some Christians say Atheists hate God (which is nonsense), so I guess that implies we worship his opposite.
But Atheists simply think there is no God of any sort. It's not Ba'al instead of Zeus or Satan instead of God, or whatever. To an Atheist, religion is bunk. You use the phrase "believing in the absence...", which implies that we actually believe in something. I think that's weird; I simply don't believe.
I believed in God until I was like twelve or something. I started to think seriously about the whole thing during confirmation (in the Church of Sweden; a Lutheran church). I wrestled with the whole idea for a while and eventually felt comfortable with accepting that there is no God. It just made no sense to me, and I had realized that lots of people can believe in something that actually is completely wrong.
I have several Christian friends, including some co-workers who are Jehova's Witnesses, and religion is not an issue between us.
2006-10-12 05:52:52 · answer #3 · answered by ThePeter 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hello. I see people have been feeding you propaganda about us Atheists...
No, we do not worship Satan. We do not beleive in mythical sky creatures (or mythical underground ones for that matter). We BELEIVE nothing - everything we "believe" is what we KNOW to be facts of science, etc.
I was born and raised a Christian while living in SE Asia. I had a rather hard time beleiving the doctrine that all those that do not beleive are destined for Hell....seems there are millions of Chinese people burning in hell for no other reason than not following the Christain God. That just didnt seem right....so I kept looking into it, kept finding more and more contradictions, things that make no sense. So I stopped beleiving it. After all, the only reason I beleived it in the first place was because I was told to by family, then teachers and priests. Why believe everything we are told?
Now, I live by the Golden Rule - to treat others how I expect myself to be treated. Pretty simple...and it works!
2006-10-12 05:21:34 · answer #4 · answered by YDoncha_Blowme 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Ok, I used to beleive in God. I went through a bad period when a member in my family who is highly religious made a plot to disturb me & my husband. The person was so fake and always used to talk about God BUT do NONSENSE. I just felt it was not necessary to use a cover like that and it is important to be a good person and do no harm anybody even if you can't do good to people. This is exactly what I have been teaching my child too... Be honest, don't harm anybody, be good and do good. I think a good conscience is enough to lead good lives. Many many that go to worship and spend a day or more at places of worship come out and keep talking ill of others. Oh !! many many are so false. Yes, I beleive in Spirituality but not religion !!
2006-10-12 05:40:36 · answer #5 · answered by cheerfulwife 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was born and raised a Roman Catholic. I had devoted myself by my choice to that faith as I grew older, giving my whole life to God.
I am now an atheist. That means I believe in nothing supernatural at all -- gods, ghosts, devils, demons, angels, etc. I changed because even as a catholic, I did everything I could to learn more and learn more, and the more I learned, the more I realized there was no way any of it was true.
2006-10-12 05:19:51 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
No God. No Satan. No heaven or hell. No fairies, witches, demons, angels, or ghosts. Atheism is about the recognition of superstition as a denial of truth and inquiry. Atheists, in general, believe that the universe is ultimately understandable within itself, without any supernatural interventions.
Therefore, atheists do not worship anything, although awe at the grandeur of the universe is certainly an option that I exercise with abandon.
2006-10-12 05:14:29 · answer #7 · answered by NHBaritone 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
It means to to have no belief in deity, and that's including the Devil. I don't believe in any Gods, angels, or demons.
And even true Satanists don't worship Satan. Satan is just a symbol. They worship themselves, the human body, indulgence, and the true form of human nature, which includes "unpure thoughts".
2006-10-12 05:20:29 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
First off athesists are not satanists. We do not believe in any god...good/evil or indifferent. I have never personally believed in god but have studied the subject extensively. I have read the bible, koran, book of mormon. I have spoken with many many christians and other religious people. I am more convinced than ever that there is no god. I could elaborate on my reasoning but there isn't enough room here.
2006-10-12 05:16:26 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
If there is no god, there can be no satan. Atheists believe that all metaphysical characters are mythical. I believed in the xian god when I was a child, then I put childish things behind me.
2006-10-12 05:19:25 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋