non-believers - have you studied all religions thoroughly before you made the decision to become atheist?

Question

or agnostic?

swamp thing
can you share what your "personna" of God is?

yes Gazoo - I have studied a few

Answer 1

Not all, however I have studied christianity, wicca, islam, and buddhism.. Buddhism was the only religion that ever gave me pause, but I remain a steadfast atheist. My choice to be an atheist was well informed.

Answer 2

I have looked at different religions in general, But I say I can not see there being a higher power that is supposed to be benevolant when things so horrible happen to children and the poor. My little brother suffered for 21 years with seisures before finally passing away alone in the middle of the night while having a severe one. Now tell me how ANY god could make a child go through that??? I RESPECT religion and I know that there are people who believe in these things. They need to know that there is more to the picture. But it is not for me...
I think of the movie Dogma when they say, We are listening to some intangible father figure from thousands of years ago saying do it, do it and I'll effin spank you. It puts my veiws of religion in some great words.
I was raised in the church but when it came to being out on my own I made my decision to be agnostic. I believe in the big bang, I believe in the once celled organism that over the course of millions of years grew to be the dinosaurs, or **** erectus. I believe that, but I know people do not, so I do not push my beliefs on them and my friends likewise do not do the same for me.
I hope that answered your question

Answer 3

My dad and mom are Greek Orthodox born in the Greek Orthodox portion of Jerusalem, and that i became an atheist in 1982 after taking a classification called the historic previous of the Bible on the school I went to in Boston, MA. Up until eventually then i actually idea god wrote the Bible. i have always had this photograph in my head the position this huge hand got here down from the heavens scribbling the Bible on paper in the technique the barren area someplace in Palestine. Boy, did i think like a fool by ability of the accurate of my college direction. yet at the same time I had a feeling of alleviation that I nevertheless experience to at present: the international, in spite of everything, would not revolve round me. For the first time in my existence I felt loose to be myself. Now, what were given my interest in the course of that faculty classification is how faith is a man made issue. A psychological ailment that got here about because we basically did not know how the universe and the human options works and got here to be. 2, the archeolgical information for many of the Bible is basically no longer there or it would not correspond with what the Bible says. 3, the finished issue basically would not make experience. God drowning the finished international in the course of Noah's time because of each body's sins at the same time as letting devil free understanding finished nicely that each one devil had to do replaced into to watch for the international to populate itself back so he might want to bypass back to artwork tempting human beings to do more beneficial sins. i am hoping that some day quickly the international will come to its senses and a minimum of concede that per chance, basically possibly, there replaced into not in any respect a god and that the human options is the outcome of a freak coincidence of nature that replaced into not in any respect meant to be. basically possibly, ok? in spite of the undeniable fact that way you look at this difficulty we favor to loosen up and settle for another as we are.

Answer 4

No, not all. I pretty much gave up at 'M'. Though Mithraism was interesting.

Mithras was said to be the intermediate between the creator and humankind. He was born of a virgin on 25th December. Mithraic rites are poorly recorded, though there appears to have been a rite of baptism, and participation in a ceremony involving bread and wine.

Around this point I started to realise that many religions contain similar themes. It also dawned on me that every religion has had it's adherents who no doubt felt that their particular view of 'life, the universe and everything' was the 'Truth'. So how, I asked myself, is any one more valid than another?

Maybe they're all 'right'. Maybe none. Personally I think religious or spiritual 'truth' is personal not absolute.

Hope that helps and thank you for asking.
.

Answer 5

I studied Theology since I learned to read, and majored it in college - extremely interesting. Although there are major differences in beliefs, many "holes" in the theories, many different opinions, the FACT that a BELIEF in a Higher Power is world wide and has existed zillions of years, I cannot dismiss the probability that SOMETHING, at some point, planted this in our heads. I am not a non-believer, BUT I cannot with any conscience be convinced that any one religion is totally accurate. People interpret things from their own viewpoints - not necessarily from the RIGHT viewpoint...

Answer 6

I was a Christian for fifty years. I was raised Methodist but went to a Catholic High School. As an adult I studied the Old Testament with a Rabbi. In college I studied Buddhism and Hinduism while in college. I study textural criticism now, which is the scholarly examination of the Bible, and frankly, it only reinforces my belief that gods and goddess are the invention of humankind.

Answer 7

I'm sure not all- I bet there's some that we don't even know about but yeah I did study lots of religions. I took classes at the synagogue, I spoke to a local Imam many many times, I looked into several different sects of christianity, I looked at buddhism, taoism, Hare kirshna I mean seriously I looked a LOT. I didn't believe them I didn't feel them I didn't get anything from them. I'm good enough without someone above me



I'm even better with someone above me but that's a whole different topic *wink*

Answer 8

One doesn't have to study cancer to see the results and know that it is a very bad thing.
One doesn't have to have a degree in aeronautics to appreciate what keeps an aircraft in the sky
A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing when the user doesn't have the intelligence to apply that limited knowledge but a little knowledge is often sufficient to form an accurate judgement if the basic intelligence is there to begin with.

I do hope that you have the intelligence to get my point.

Answer 9

I went thru an agonizing, depressing period of major upheaval (2 decades of searching) and not wanting to be an atheist before i realized I was. I've since had some spiritual experiences and realized that atheism rightfully rejects the images that people have called 'god' -- the 'real God' is 100% not the christian, jewish, islamic gods ...

Answer 10

I haven't studied all the religions but I've studied a lot of them.

And I have no objection to believing in God, it's the worshipping that I don't want to do.