Believing as I currently do that there is a God and that I have a soul and that since I know God and am forgiven by Him I will join Him one day in Heaven that gives me hope and an end goal to look forward to. If I abandon my faith in that and decide to believe in nothing how does that benefit me?
How would it make you feel, as an Atheist, to find yourself standing before God at the end of your life and not only having to justify your own lack of faith but your deliberate demise of my faith resulting in my downfall and my eternity spent in hell along with you? Hypothetically speaking, of course.
2006-11-26 14:20:17 · 17 answers · asked by Pamela 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I had to add the hypothetical part so that I could get a response from the Atheists.
2006-11-26 14:28:13 · update #1
I have seen this on my friends to giving up faith, and can only come out with this kind of conclusion : (sorry, I dont meant to attack any person)
1. They CHOOSE to enjoy their fleshy desire more than obeying God's Word. They want to enjoy the world's desire like drugs, sex, & gambling, more than be a 'good' people. Christian like this is already defeated inside. Deep inside they tend to believe there is no God, to legalize them to do all their flesh desire.
2. Lost their loved one in accident, Loose all the money, Loose everything by earthquake, etc. Nothing wrong with their faith. They can be a 'good' people, 'good' Christian, but they failed to see that God always work in everything for the good. Fact is : **** can happen to good people. They pray for the loved one to be healed, but when it doesn't happen and the loved one still gone; they start to think that God doesn't hear the prayer, God isn't real, God doesn't there. Deep inside they still longing for God, but they just see that this God can't help, and look for another spiritual form of believe. OR if the unforgiveness to God is too deep, they choose to simply be an atheist.
Nothing wrong with that, but they just failed to see that living in this world is just temporary. They want to see the miracle right here right now, at this moment by their way. While God usually work in HIS timing, in HIS own way, (which turn out to be the BEST way when we realize it in the end)
God is more interested in our character, than what kind of life we living.
Coz when we got to heaven, it's the character that we bring out to HIm. So it's not how good we live our life, how much money i donate to charity, how sucessfull i'am, etc..
Not giving up faith is the key... even though how hard our circumstances or how hard we tortured by the world. Always remember it's not about HOW you Choose Him, but He Choose you. Once He choose you, you never be able to run from HIS Love :P You always longing to come back to that Love.
2006-11-26 15:11:45 · answer #1 · answered by Yoseph A 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
First of all it seems you are mistaken as to what atheism is. One doesn't "believe in" atheism. Atheism is simply the state of not believing that any gods at all whatsoever exist. Secondly atheists don't "believe in nothing" as you state, we simply don't believe there is a god. That is all that is required to be an atheist.
What would your motivation be? That depends on what kind of person you are. If you value knowledge and rational reasoning that could be one motivation. Another could be escape from a tyrannical system that holds you under a gun with no good evidence for their claims.
If you really believe all of the claims of Christianity are true you probably would have no motivation to become an atheist. If you were to take a good hard look at your religion and start down the rabbit hole of some of it's contradictions and inaccuracies you may become more motivated to do so... but that is your choice.
As an atheist if i found myself before god (who i don't believe exists but for hypothesis sake let's pretend for a moment he does) i believe he would have a lot of 'splainin to do.
2006-11-26 22:30:36 · answer #2 · answered by ChooseRealityPLEASE 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If one is atheist then one does not anticipate standing in front of God in the afterlife. Atheism isn't about abandoning faith, since an atheist by definition doesn't have a "faith" as you understand it. I would read a little Nietzsche for a better understanding of the concept. Atheism is about having an open mind and believing in yourself, the here and now and what you can see and discern in this world.
2006-11-26 22:28:18 · answer #3 · answered by Rachel Green 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Please do not use Pascal's wager. You were making a good argument until that point. Most non-believers will dismiss anything you say after that point. Sorry but it true.
I think you are confusing atheism (god doesn't exist) with nihilism (no beliefs). Here are a few things I believe in: I believe in Love. I believe in my friends, I believe that people want to be good, but there is much disagreement on what good is.
To not believe in god is not to abandon hope, at least for me. What is your definition of hope? If it is intertwined with you belief, yes you would have to give it up. If your faith and hope are separate, giving up one doesn't mean that you lose the other.
I'm not attempting to convert you. I just want to let you know what is on my mind. As long as you are happy and moral, I don't care what you believe in.
2006-11-26 22:35:49 · answer #4 · answered by Just Wondering 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Hypothetically speaking, your faith is so strong that nobody can cause you to question it.
Should there be a god and I'd have to face him, maybe I'd ask why he gave me the ability to think, if he expected me to follow such an outrageously cruel and hypocritical god. And hey, since I'd be going to hell anyways, I'd be sure to ask him how he justifies all the suffering in this world when he claims to be all-powerful. You know, genocide, war, natural disasters....
Hypothetically speaking, of course....
2006-11-26 22:28:45 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
You don't become atheist to be happier. Personally, I've always felt that l'd rather face the music than live a lie. That was my only motivation, and it's not a very fun one. Stay Christian if you don't think your life is empty. Whatever works for you, but I'm not going to hide from pain. Bliss is empty, and I don't think Heaven is worth it if there's still people burning in Hell.
2006-11-26 22:31:46 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
It's not about personal gain. It's about sense and thinking for yourself. You become an Atheist because you can't accept what cannot be proven. Not because you think you're gonna get something good out of it.
But it's interesting to note that, as a christian, your only motivation for believing is that it benefits you. Not love of others. Not love of god, not because you think it's the right thing to do but because you get stuff. You've embodied the spirit of the religion right there! :)
2006-11-26 22:31:51 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Are you speaking of me? :)
My motivation was that the truth is not afraid of scrutiny. Under scrutiny, I found Christianity to not be the truth.
About the rest.... Didn't we just cover Pascal's Wager?
Your worldview is your responsibility, my dear. Anyone who makes a decision to leave the god they have believed in and then god altogether usually does so with intense, and careful thought.
If your faith can be broken, perhaps there's a reason that it needs to be.
What is your hang-up, by the way, in thinking we are hopeless or that we gave up hope? Do you realize what an arrogant attitude that is?
2006-11-26 22:24:06 · answer #8 · answered by Snark 7 · 5⤊ 1⤋
You just don't give up do you. Hope of what? The hope that someday you're going to cease to exist? That if you're a good girl, you get to go to some land in the clouds and live on the heavenly version of easy street? You have so little else in your life to be glad about, to live for, that you have to actually look forward to being dead? That's kind of sad, really. You're living all your life "as if". Is that what your god really wants from you, to live in the hope of death? Wow. Oh, and to the ridiculous hypothetical you posed - you would be the one to have to answer for that, wouldn't you? Not me - if you let me sway you, that's your lookout, not mine.
2006-11-26 22:40:49 · answer #9 · answered by ReeRee 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Atheists for the most part feel the way they do about God because of the nonsense religion promotes about God.
This foolishness drives logical thinking people away and makes them think that God is a lie too.
This happened to me but God thought enough of me to send someone to bring me home. This is what happened.
Several years ago I had an unusual experience concerning an uncle, a distant relative who lived over a thousand miles away.
While driving my car I suddenly felt the unmistakable presence of this relative that I hardly even knew. He was more like someone I had heard about than someone I knew. It was very strange; it felt as though I was momentarily lifted right out of my physical body. I seemed to be suspended somehow beyond space and time, bathed in a love so intense It felt like I could have just disappear into it at any moment if It would have let me. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it seemed to last forever at the same time. I realize how crazy this must sound. The experience was so strong that at first I was afraid I was loosing my grip on reality. I finally managed to chalk it up to an over active imagination.
Three days later I got a call from my aunt telling me that this uncle we are talking about had gone into a coma and died the day I had the experience. It felt like ice water had been poured down my back when she told me this. I had lost any real ideas of God or faith and had become somewhat of an atheist. Needless to say this experience caused me to rethink some of the conclusions I had come to.
I feel blessed to now understand that even in our darkest confusion something loves us so much that it went out of its way to assist me and bring me back to a state of absolute certainty about Gods love for us.
During the experience it seemed like there was a vast amount of information that I was somehow allowed access to. One thing that I came away from this experience understanding beyond any shadow of a doubt was that any Idea that God is unhappy with us or would judge or allow us to be punished for any reason is simply impossible.
I can’t explain the love I felt with words. They simply don’t make words big enough or complete enough to do this. The only way I can begin to convey this love to you is to say that there was simply nothing else there. Nothing but love. No hint of judgment, no displeasure of any sort. It is as though God sees us as being as perfect as we were the day we were created. It is only in our confused idea of ourselves that we seem to have changed.
I hope this is of some help to you. Good luck. Love and blessings.
Your brother don
2006-11-26 22:31:35 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋