Atheists, do you ever wish you could truly be as brainwashed as religous people?

Question

To be able to believe something so blindly because it was passed down to you or out of fear.They have a protective barrier around them that shield them for seeing what the world really is. My experiences have shaped me and my thirst for knowledge, but I know if I could truly be as brainwashed as religious people are, I might just take that opportunity. If you could change the way you think, would you choose comfort or logic?

Answer 1

I said this too.
I never wanted to be agnostic.
I wanted to know what God wants from us.
But I found out more than what I was looking for.
I don't even consider myself agnostic, but because I'm willing to have an open mind I won't totally dismiss God as a possibility.
But it looks doubtful.

Answer 2

Well, I feel like no matter what I do, I will always be brainwashed. I try to be proactive about the situation and do most of the brainwashing myself, but the problem with that is that I am a pretty negative person and that can't be good for my depressiveness. Logic I can't avoid, except by procrastinating. So I choose logic. But as a simple example of where I would also choose comfort is that of the question of whether or not I am "cute"... my girlfriend would say that I am, but I am not so sure sometimes. Logic only tells me that beauty is "in the eye of the beholder" (or perhaps the brain) and so I'll take both, logic and comfort.

Answer 3

No, since I was a brainwashed religious person once. I'd rather not go back to a world full of trolls, pixies, and fairies... I mean, Jesus, omnisicent god, and the holy spirit...

I guess this relates back to the Matrix analogy - the red pill or the blue pill? The blue pill, you live a life of never knowing what's out there. The red pill, you actually discover what the world is about around you. Atheism is the red pill - and I'd choose it every time.

"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan

Answer 4

Unfortunately we are all brainwashed to a certain extent, not just about religion, it really doesn't take long to weigh up that religion is complete BS. (all of them)
(But what about the political system, the Western world are really convinced that capitalism is the way to go, what do we really base this belief on? Nasty stories we have been told by capitalists about any other system? And which Western news media is ever gong to report their side of the story?
Nasty Russians, nasty Chinese ,how many of us have actually spoken to a 'run of the mill' Russian or Chinese person to ask what they think or have heard about us? How about Vietnamese people, I wonder what they really think about us and our capitalist system?
It's not just religion we have been brainwashed about, (that really is just something that can be just brushed aside) we have all been brainwashed over many things much more important than that.
However I do commend your "Thirst for knowledge" but I hope it extends beyond the field of religion?
No one could be 'comfortable' just sitting back and accepting popular beliefs, or could they?
Maybe you are right, most folk seem to have done just that..

Answer 5

Honestly... yes.

If I could just throw up my hands and be just like everyone else, my life would be a lot easier.

And I used to be a Christian. I didn't leave the faith willingly. I simply learned too much, and I couldn't convince myself to believe something that I knew wasn't true.

You'll find that's the case with most atheists.


Edit - To Dan C - Becoming an atheist does not make you stop trying to be a good person. You've been misinformed about that, as well...

Answer 6

I used to wish I had been born/raised a Catholic because they have such groovy rituals and I think "confession" is the greatest thing ever invented, and if I were a corn-fed Christian, I would expect I would be happy because I would be 'brainwashed"...(if I were a complete psychotic I would probably think I were happy too)...I do admire the ability to believe blindly in anything...but it was not to be...and, I have run across a number of Christians who don't seem all that happy, especially the ones who are self-indulgent and fear their god...

Answer 7

I have been there already, and no, looking at it from the other side of that forest, I don't wish for that to ever take place again.

It's little more than self medication... a drug, a painkiller... existing when you could be living if you had the courage. That's just my own personal thoughts about my past theism.

I don't think that metaphor applies to all, but man is the number it does apply to growing.

Answer 8

I think that the tale of Adam and Eve is completely misunderstood. I looked at it as her having a choice between knowledge and happiness. Even as a child in Catholic schools, I felt that Eve made the right choice.

I choose knowledge over blissful ignorance, and I do it every day.

Answer 9

Up until 10 years ago I was every bit as convinced athiest as you are; but in 1996 I had an out of body experience that gave me two things.

1. Convinced me of the fact of life after death.

2. A spiritual awakening.

I now believe in God; but it is not belief; it is a knowledge that there IS more to life than we think there is.

I hope someday you will find the answers to your spiritual questions.

Answer 10

Everone has the choice..and I don't call it brainwashed...I am free..are you brainwashed when you do things you don't want to do??? Yes well I wanted to come to Jesus so how does that make me brainwashed,,I was 38 years old and noone around,,I was in my house not someone telling me or directing me..I know that God visited me that day and my life has never been there same..