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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2023 17:53:37 GMT
Compared to the scope of the Universe our planet – our lives and our deaths - even our galaxy are tiny to the point of meaningless. That's definitely something I struggle with. Even if you posit that there are intelligent aliens that God also cares about, the fact remains that there's so much universe for a very small amount of intelligent life. I can't fathom why it would be like that.
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Post by PaulsLaugh on Sept 20, 2023 1:58:50 GMT
Compared to the scope of the Universe our planet – our lives and our deaths - even our galaxy are tiny to the point of meaningless. That's definitely something I struggle with. Even if you posit that there are intelligent aliens that God also cares about, the fact remains that there's so much universe for a very small amount of intelligent life. I can't fathom why it would be like that. I think like Tom Joad says, “a fellow ain't got a soul of his own, just little piece of a big soul, the one big soul that belongs to everybody, then…I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look - wherever there's a fight, so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be there in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be there in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they built - I'll be there, too.”
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Post by James on Sept 20, 2023 2:19:36 GMT
I guess in my late teen years when I started learning about other religions, I started questioning about the validity of God and the Bible in general and wondered if Christianity wasn't the right faith so to speak, but it was the outdated homophobic rhetoric that made me detach myself.
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Post by SixOfTheRichest on Sept 20, 2023 5:02:19 GMT
That fairy tales aren't real and are just parables for messages and many of them archaic based on historical society.
If people want to believe a sky fairy is going to save them, then they will learn the hard way.
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Post by yggdrasil on Sept 20, 2023 8:10:47 GMT
"unbelief" is the natural logical position, I was never indoctrinated into a religion although Schools in the 60's and 70's started the day with the Lord's prayer which I thought of as frankly extremely silly. There can only be a "journey" TO belief, given that it is a non logical position to hold and is one that others put into you. You can grow to a wonder and awe of nature, but any "myth" has to be instigated and installed by doctrine.
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Post by scream on Nov 21, 2023 23:14:15 GMT
"unbelief" is the natural logical position, I was never indoctrinated into a religion although Schools in the 60's and 70's started the day with the Lord's prayer which I thought of as frankly extremely silly. There can only be a "journey" TO belief, given that it is a non logical position to hold and is one that others put into you. You can grow to a wonder and awe of nature, but any "myth" has to be instigated and installed by doctrine. Lucky you that you were never indoctrinated. I was brainwashed, indoctrinated, and in general kept away from the real world, which did not serve me well as I got older. Having read through this thread, I am encouraged to see the number of atheists and agnostics here. I live in the buckle of the Bible Belt, and am surrounded by believers who consider it their mission to force you into their belief system, and I am tired of it. I need to talk to some like-minded realists, secular humanists, critical thinkers and others. Can we start a conversation here? There are no atheist groups anywhere close to me, no secular humanist groups, and I just need to talk to those who understand. I've had a recent run in with a proselytizer and it's really upset me. I feel like I am the only one who dares to think for herself. ant-mac and at anyone else who wants to join in.
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Post by general313 on Nov 22, 2023 2:01:09 GMT
"unbelief" is the natural logical position, I was never indoctrinated into a religion although Schools in the 60's and 70's started the day with the Lord's prayer which I thought of as frankly extremely silly. There can only be a "journey" TO belief, given that it is a non logical position to hold and is one that others put into you. You can grow to a wonder and awe of nature, but any "myth" has to be instigated and installed by doctrine. Lucky you that you were never indoctrinated. I was brainwashed, indoctrinated, and in general kept away from the real world, which did not serve me well as I got older. Having read through this thread, I am encouraged to see the number of atheists and agnostics here. I live in the buckle of the Bible Belt, and am surrounded by believers who consider it their mission to force you into their belief system, and I am tired of it. I need to talk to some like-minded realists, secular humanists, critical thinkers and others. Can we start a conversation here? There are no atheist groups anywhere close to me, no secular humanist groups, and I just need to talk to those who understand. I've had a recent run in with a proselytizer and it's really upset me. I feel like I am the only one who dares to think for herself. ant-mac and at anyone else who wants to join in. Congratulations on the progress you've made without any local support. Except for me, all of my siblings are still in the thick of Christianity, and I doubt they'll ever back out of it. That's what I grew up with. My wife is a member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and gets a newsletter from them with lots of good information. Worth checking out.
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Post by SixOfTheRichest on Nov 22, 2023 11:14:00 GMT
It never clicked with me as a kid, but I still wanted to believe in something. it perhaps wasn't until I turned 30, that I started to redefine my life and connection to my being.
If one is rational in thought, then belief in religion and its fairy stories, was no different to any fairy tale - all fable and parables. Messages can be found, but when it gets into separate God realm as superior being, religion loses me
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Post by SixOfTheRichest on Nov 22, 2023 11:18:57 GMT
"unbelief" is the natural logical position, I was never indoctrinated into a religion although Schools in the 60's and 70's started the day with the Lord's prayer which I thought of as frankly extremely silly. There can only be a "journey" TO belief, given that it is a non logical position to hold and is one that others put into you. You can grow to a wonder and awe of nature, but any "myth" has to be instigated and installed by doctrine. Lucky you that you were never indoctrinated. I was brainwashed, indoctrinated, and in general kept away from the real world, which did not serve me well as I got older. Having read through this thread, I am encouraged to see the number of atheists and agnostics here. I live in the buckle of the Bible Belt, and am surrounded by believers who consider it their mission to force you into their belief system, and I am tired of it. I need to talk to some like-minded realists, secular humanists, critical thinkers and others. Can we start a conversation here? There are no atheist groups anywhere close to me, no secular humanist groups, and I just need to talk to those who understand. I've had a recent run in with a proselytizer and it's really upset me. I feel like I am the only one who dares to think for herself. ant-mac and at anyone else who wants to join in. Don't let them. They have every right to their beliefs, just as you do yours, but walk away if it gets too heavy. No one has any business forcing something onto you that holds no basis in logic or rationality. We are all part of the universe as I see it and any separate notion of God as supreme being is wrongheaded and misguided to how we all fit into our being.
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Post by scream on Nov 22, 2023 18:01:44 GMT
Lucky you that you were never indoctrinated. I was brainwashed, indoctrinated, and in general kept away from the real world, which did not serve me well as I got older. Having read through this thread, I am encouraged to see the number of atheists and agnostics here. I live in the buckle of the Bible Belt, and am surrounded by believers who consider it their mission to force you into their belief system, and I am tired of it. I need to talk to some like-minded realists, secular humanists, critical thinkers and others. Can we start a conversation here? There are no atheist groups anywhere close to me, no secular humanist groups, and I just need to talk to those who understand. I've had a recent run in with a proselytizer and it's really upset me. I feel like I am the only one who dares to think for herself. ant-mac and at anyone else who wants to join in. Congratulations on the progress you've made without any local support. Except for me, all of my siblings are still in the thick of Christianity, and I doubt they'll ever back out of it. That's what I grew up with. My wife is a member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and gets a newsletter from them with lots of good information. Worth checking out. Awesome, I will check it out!!!
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Post by ant-mac on Nov 24, 2023 18:55:04 GMT
I wanted to believe, I wanted to fit in with the rest, but I just never could, because it simply never made any sense to me on an intellectual level. I lost count of the number of times I would lay in bed at night, reasoning with myself as to why God must exist, only to wake in the morning to find all my hard work had been in vain. I started on my journey of doubt at around the age of 6 and by the time I was 9, the journey was well and truly over.
My first year of primary school was spent at a Catholic School, which was run by nuns. My parents were never particularly religious, but I think they felt that a private school was a better choice than a public school, as it would give me certain advantages in my life. The teaching staff were a mix of religious and secular teachers, with a Mother Superior in overall charge. Thankfully, I spent the rest of my educational career in state run public schools.
However, even though I attended various state run public schools around Australia after my first year, I still occasionally attended Religious Instruction wherever it was offered. However, I gradually found myself coming into conflict with the religious teachers more and more. In the last school were I attended RI, I was constantly getting into arguments with the nuns, because I kept asking awkward questions, instead of simply accepting their word for the way that things were.
I once got home from school to find to giant penguins sitting in my loungeroom. After they left, Mum told me that they thought I was a bright boy, but that I was a disruptive influence in class. Apparently, when they told my mother that I kept asking awkward or inappropriate questions, she replied that unless they were prepared to answer them, they shouldn't expect me to stop. By then, I'd already made up my mind on the matter.
And now for a musical interlude...
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Post by PaulsLaugh on Nov 25, 2023 4:38:29 GMT
"unbelief" is the natural logical position, I was never indoctrinated into a religion although Schools in the 60's and 70's started the day with the Lord's prayer which I thought of as frankly extremely silly. There can only be a "journey" TO belief, given that it is a non logical position to hold and is one that others put into you. You can grow to a wonder and awe of nature, but any "myth" has to be instigated and installed by doctrine. Lucky you that you were never indoctrinated. I was brainwashed, indoctrinated, and in general kept away from the real world, which did not serve me well as I got older. Having read through this thread, I am encouraged to see the number of atheists and agnostics here. I live in the buckle of the Bible Belt, and am surrounded by believers who consider it their mission to force you into their belief system, and I am tired of it. I need to talk to some like-minded realists, secular humanists, critical thinkers and others. Can we start a conversation here? There are no atheist groups anywhere close to me, no secular humanist groups, and I just need to talk to those who understand. I've had a recent run in with a proselytizer and it's really upset me. I feel like I am the only one who dares to think for herself. ant-mac and at anyone else who wants to join in. Have you checked Meet-up. They may have a group in your area.
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Post by PaulsLaugh on Nov 25, 2023 4:41:39 GMT
"unbelief" is the natural logical position, I was never indoctrinated into a religion although Schools in the 60's and 70's started the day with the Lord's prayer which I thought of as frankly extremely silly. There can only be a "journey" TO belief, given that it is a non logical position to hold and is one that others put into you. You can grow to a wonder and awe of nature, but any "myth" has to be instigated and installed by doctrine. Lucky you that you were never indoctrinated. I was brainwashed, indoctrinated, and in general kept away from the real world, which did not serve me well as I got older. Having read through this thread, I am encouraged to see the number of atheists and agnostics here. I live in the buckle of the Bible Belt, and am surrounded by believers who consider it their mission to force you into their belief system, and I am tired of it. I need to talk to some like-minded realists, secular humanists, critical thinkers and others. Can we start a conversation here? There are no atheist groups anywhere close to me, no secular humanist groups, and I just need to talk to those who understand. I've had a recent run in with a proselytizer and it's really upset me. I feel like I am the only one who dares to think for herself. ant-mac and at anyone else who wants to join in. Anytime you want to start a topic, there is plenty to talk about.
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Post by scream on Nov 25, 2023 18:49:27 GMT
Lucky you that you were never indoctrinated. I was brainwashed, indoctrinated, and in general kept away from the real world, which did not serve me well as I got older. Having read through this thread, I am encouraged to see the number of atheists and agnostics here. I live in the buckle of the Bible Belt, and am surrounded by believers who consider it their mission to force you into their belief system, and I am tired of it. I need to talk to some like-minded realists, secular humanists, critical thinkers and others. Can we start a conversation here? There are no atheist groups anywhere close to me, no secular humanist groups, and I just need to talk to those who understand. I've had a recent run in with a proselytizer and it's really upset me. I feel like I am the only one who dares to think for herself. ant-mac and at anyone else who wants to join in. Have you checked Meet-up. They may have a group in your area. No, but I will! Thanks for the suggestion!
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Post by scream on Nov 25, 2023 18:51:26 GMT
Lucky you that you were never indoctrinated. I was brainwashed, indoctrinated, and in general kept away from the real world, which did not serve me well as I got older. Having read through this thread, I am encouraged to see the number of atheists and agnostics here. I live in the buckle of the Bible Belt, and am surrounded by believers who consider it their mission to force you into their belief system, and I am tired of it. I need to talk to some like-minded realists, secular humanists, critical thinkers and others. Can we start a conversation here? There are no atheist groups anywhere close to me, no secular humanist groups, and I just need to talk to those who understand. I've had a recent run in with a proselytizer and it's really upset me. I feel like I am the only one who dares to think for herself. ant-mac and at anyone else who wants to join in. Anytime you want to start a topic, there is plenty to talk about. Alrighty, then, I will... my latest bad experience involved someone who said they would pray for me.
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