Athiests

[Angelus]

What environment were you raised in? Were your parents theists, if yes of what denomination if any? Did you accept God blindly as a child, if yes when did you begin to question His existance.
I'll start this off by saying that for the first few years of my life my parents never went to church and only spoke now and then of God. Then they started dragging me and my siblings to church, Roman Catholic to be exact, and starting trying to make us pray before dinner/meals/etc. I accepted at first with a child's ignorance but began to question when I started learning more about science in school. My father later explained that he's a general theist and only chose to make us attend a Roman Catholic church because of it's strong hierarchy, though my mother was always Roman Catholic and I think he was raised one as well. I've caught him in many contradictions where he'll say we should base our life on the bible but then says he only believes in a global "spirit" that is "God" and that created everything but isn't neccesarily the God of Judeo-Christian belief. IDK, I think he's just a little f*cked up. I'm now rather firm in my theories of the universe though I'm always open to learning new concepts and theories on existance if they have support from facts and whatnot. Your turns.

 

[Xev]

I was not raised. If my mother had any religious convictions, she did not share them with me. She believed in God, but I doubt she cared enough to explain these things to me.

I played with religions. A bit of Egyptian paganism to amuse myself, then Deism when I was 14. Never believed in an afterlife, which has come in very handy. Agnosticism most of the time, then logical athiesm.

Now I don't really care. God is dead, and no-one cares, although religion interests me very much. Most things interest me, though.

Basically, I have been an athiest always.

 

[Adam]

My parents would not call themselves atheists or anything else related to religion. They never gave a damn about it either way. I was not taught any particular religion or philosophy. My parents instead gave me a library card when I was about four years old.

 

[Angelus]

I played around with paganism as well. Wicca and spellcraft. For a long time I wanted to believe in something greater than myself. Some power that would give my suffering reason. But in the end I couldn't logically support those ideas. I still like to study religions, now more from a sociological perspective. The occult religions interest me the most, but maybe that's because I'm a scorpio.(j/k I don't believe in that junk either ) I'm a scholar of the occult, rather than a student of it. I think my interest in paganism grew out of my earlier interest in mythology and legend. Oh well, don't want to hijack my own thread, more replies?

 

[Xev]

Well, I still play around with paganism and suchlike. My joke religion, Cthulhu cultism, is a sign here.

Mayhaps we're both athiests with interests in the occult because we're scorpios.

 

[Angelus]

So your a scorpio too? You know if I believed in astrology that could explain alot...

 

[Joeman]

My mother is a Buhddist. My father used to be a Christian, but he got converted to Buhddist by my mom.

Strangely I grew up going to a Baptist church every sunday, and bible study group every Wednesday. My parents didn't care. Buhddism considers other religions as "legit". Unlike Islam or Christianity, it doesn't say it's way is the right way or the only way.

I went to churches and bible study groups mainly to socialize. When I was 11th grade, I no longer felt like I fit in the group. Studying a fantasy(bible) that is made up by some dude was becoming a ridiculous concept for me. A lot people in that bible study group eventually declare themselves atheists and left the group shortly after I left.

 

[Increan]

Originally posted by Xev
I was not raised. If my mother had any religious convictions, she did not share them with me. She believed in God, but I doubt she cared enough to explain these things to me.

I played with religions. A bit of Egyptian paganism to amuse myself, then Deism when I was 14. Never believed in an afterlife, which has come in very handy. Agnosticism most of the time, then logical athiesm.

Now I don't really care. God is dead, and no-one cares, although religion interests me very much. Most things interest me, though.

Basically, I have been an athiest always.

I was pretty much the same also, my parents believed in god, but didn't go to church and I tried different religions and found them to be irrelivent. I don't think I ever believed in god. The religion I spent the most time on was Wicca (post-modern peganism) and have many books on the subject, but oh well.

 

[Cris]

My parents had no real religious beliefs. They also came from hard times and poor families and had next to little education but they recognized that the state education I received was far above anything they had ever experienced. They provided me a home and a stable, albeit poor environment, apart from that I was on my own; they were never able to teach me anything of an intellectual or academic nature, and religion was simple never discussed.

My parents accepted the state religion because it was a tradition and they did not know any better. This meant religion was fine for weddings and funerals but was otherwise irrelevant to normal daily life.

Being British I was expected to take part in daily Xtian worship and receive regular religious instruction throughout my entire school life. It was a chore and I never gave it much thought.

At the age of 17 I did choose to think more about Xtian teachings and became deeply involved to the point that one can say I had become a devout Xtian. I was heavily involved in Church activities, including weekend conferences, bible study sessions, and local youth groups.

At around 20, having found that Xtianity had answered none of my deeper probing questions, I simply rejected the entire religion as being very shallow.

There was enormous emotion involved in Xtianity but all meaningful searching questions were evaded, much like Tony1 and Ekimlaw have demonstrated here recently, e.g. a true Xtian can only understand through spiritual revelation. Having totally immersed myself in Xtianity and was still faced with evasion and clearly no spiritual revelations appeared then really my only meaningful choice was to reject the entire religion as a fraud.

That was 30 years ago and I have retained an interest in Xtianity ever since in the hope that perhaps there is something to it. But I quickly lost patience with the same stale rhetoric of the need for faith and believing first, and that God will reveal himself in his own time, i.e. zero answers, a dream world of self-delusion.

Today, having spent more time looking at the origins of religions especially Xtianity, I have no doubt that all religions I have examined, and probably all religions, are based on human imaginative concepts and fictional mythologies.

There appears no factual basis to the claims for any gods or any supernatural phenomena that might lead to anything one might call an afterlife. These seem to be no more than dreams created by people who lived in far less enlightened times, and believed today by largely ignorant masses.

For the most part religions are irrelevant, unfortunately there are those in power in some countries who foster these outdated ideas and whose actions do present a danger to human progress and potentially world destruction. The actions of fundamentalist Moslems who when able to activate nuclear and biological weapons clearly present immense danger, and aggressive extremists like George Bush who are ready to invade other countries on suspicions only, plus the suppression of scientific research once again, e.g. stem cell research, all form the danger of following religious doctrines.

From my perspective life is invaluable, it is the most precious thing there can be, it is all I have. To the religionist, life is but temporary and true rewards come after life. It is this fatalist attitude IMHO that permit wars to continue and life to be treated without the respect it deserves.

As for atheism: I really don’t like the label since those who do not properly understand what it means largely hold inaccurate perceptions. In live debates I no longer accept the label of atheism unless the participants are appropriately responsible people.

I’d like to be able to simply dismiss religion and get on with more relevant matters but the subject is too often pushed in my face and I have to deal with it, much to my regret. Especially here in the USA.

Religion does seem to have spread much like a parasitic virus or cancer. The cure that has been discussed here many times is knowledge and superior education, and for now that simply means being patient. The world is moving in that direction, albeit extremely slowly.

Secularism is now quite widespread and very few governments allow themselves to be ruled by religion, and those that do, also seem to have an undercurrent of practically that resembles secularism, even Iran has demonstrated such attitudes recently.

Sorry, I rambled.

Cris

 

[Avatar]

well, my parents believe in christian god, but they never went to church or anything. smtimes when I say that god is dead or that I don't care or smth simmilar they say not to blasphem lol

anyways I was sent to a christin school, but that ws more like a gratitude , because the director of that school saved my life once. anyways I quit after 4 years (4th grade) one day just said that I" m not going to that school again.

I was pagan till some 10 years, then 2 years christian (due to the influence of that school), but as more as I learned about christianity from inside, the more I saw it as a fraud and took great fun in finding contradictions.
After I quit the school I was latvian pagan again.
Now I'm an atheistical latvian pagan (meaning- don't believe in gods, but accept the ancient laws, honour codex and such)

 

[overdoze]

My parents are agnostics bordering on atheism. Though they tend to be very private with their views, as they don't want to antagonize anyone in this overwhelmingly religious country (USA.)

I think that's wise. The only place I trot out my atheism uninvited is the Internet. In interpersonal relationships I keep it to myself, unless specifically asked. Though I tend to be quite publically vocal on political issues as well as church/state separation.

I was never religious. As early as preschool, I have memories of thinking about life and death, and how pathetic and desperate the religious people were about it all.

 

[Ekimklaw]

==============================================
Cris wrote:
At the age of 17 I did choose to think more about Xtian teachings and became deeply involved to the point that one can say I had become a devout Xtian. I was heavily involved in Church activities, including weekend conferences, bible study sessions, and local youth groups.

At around 20, having found that Xtianity had answered none of my deeper probing questions, I simply rejected the entire religion as being very shallow.

There was enormous emotion involved in Xtianity but all meaningful searching questions were evaded, much like Tony1 and Ekimlaw have demonstrated here recently, e.g. a true Xtian can only understand through spiritual revelation. Having totally immersed myself in Xtianity and was still faced with evasion and clearly no spiritual revelations appeared then really my only meaningful choice was to reject the entire religion as a fraud.

That was 30 years ago and I have retained an interest in Xtianity ever since in the hope that perhaps there is something to it. But I quickly lost patience with the same stale rhetoric of the need for faith and believing first, and that God will reveal himself in his own time, i.e. zero answers, a dream world of self-delusion.
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"[The seeds that fell] on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away."
--- Luke 8:13


I hope you enjoy your life down here in this vale of tears, Cris. Because for you, sadly, it doesn't get any better. Whether you're right... or wrong. A pretty uplifting thought, hey?

-Mike

 

[Avatar]

tears can be beautiful and besides- our world is wonderful

-------
strange- I have witnessed most christians to regard ou world as the valley of tears or world of pain or smthing simmilar. It seems that christians can not even wait to die and get into their heaven.

What disgusts me is that they don't appriciate the world they live in. This amazing universe, this beauty- they don't deserve it , if talk like that about it.
-------
well - die then, get into your eaven by your all loving deity. worship him and sing happy songs.:bugeye:

----
our paradise is here- on earth, milky way galaxy, our universe

 

[Nova1021]

My parents are agnostics/atheists, and so am i. Both my parents are in careers that involve science and i was brought up being tought that science was right. As i learned about the religions other people follow, i found that science seemed to be much more accurate about things. I have been to church a total of maybe five times in my life, and always felt out of place there.

I am a firm agnostic though, not an atheist. I won't go into details unless you want me too, but i've had experiences that make me almost believe that there is some higher power, and then i've had experiences that make me more inclined not to believe. The world as i see it is not in black and white, but shades of grey, and i'm happy with that.

 

[Ekimklaw]

==============================================
Avatar wrote:
tears can be beautiful and besides- our world is wonderful
==============================================


"Tears can be beautiful." Yeah, but not tears of pain and anguish. Yes, The physical world (waterfalls, oceans, beaches, canyons, tropical paradises, etc.) is indeed "wonderful".


==============================================
Avatar wrote:
What disgusts me is that [Christians] don't appriciate the world they live in. This amazing universe, this beauty- they don't deserve it , if [they] talk like that about it.
==============================================



When I'm talking about the evils of this world, I'm talking about:
rush hour traffic
cancer
heart attacks
pestilence
depressions
drugs
drive by shootings
crack babies
anthrax
homeless children
serial killers
terrorism
World Wars
attrocities
the welfare state
rampant poverty
famine
prostitution
AIDS
preying on innocence
jihads
evictions
alzheimers
murders
robberies
divorce
drunkenness
hate
lewdness
the loss of innocence
motor vehicle accidents
plane crashes
suffering
kidnappings
rape
death
among many other things.

I obviously wasn't speaking about astronomy and nature Einstein.



==============================================
Avatar wrote:
well - die then, get into your eaven by your all loving deity. worship him and sing happy songs.
==============================================


Real cute.


==============================================
Avatar wrote:
our paradise is here- on earth, milky way galaxy, our universe
==============================================


Wrong. YOUR paradise is here. So go out and enjoy it!


-Mike

 

[Avatar]

Yeah, but not tears of pain and anguish.

tears of happiness can be beautiful

When I'm talking about the evils of this world, I'm talking about :

that's exactly what I was talking about- I could make a twice as long list with the good things. Christians see only misery. pathetic

Wrong. YOUR paradise is here. So go out and enjoy it!

thanx- I'm already doing that
how do you like your miserable valley of pain to live in?

 

[Ekimklaw]

==============================================
"My mother... believed in god..." - Xev

"Strangely I grew up going to a Baptist church every sunday, and bible study group every Wednesday." - Joeman

"...my parents believed in god..." - Increan

"...my parents believe in christian god..." - Avatar
==============================================


So being raised by theists doesn't automatically mean you will be a theist. Yet that is what many atheists claim. Hmmm... very interesting.


Conversely...
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"My parents would not call themselves atheists or anything else related to religion. They never gave a damn about it either way." - Adam

"My parents had no real religious beliefs." - Cris

"My parents are agnostics bordering on atheism." - Overdoze

"My parents are agnostics/atheists, and so am i." - Nova1021
==============================================


So many atheists ridicule Christians about being "brought up in Christian homes", yet many of you were brought up in atheist/agnostic homes.

Question: If you were raised in atheistic or agnostic homes, and believe like your parents, how is that different than the Christian equivalent?


Maybe now we can finally dispense with the old "product of one's environment" argument.


-Mike

 

[Tyler]

"Yet that is what many atheists claim. Hmmm... very interesting."

Many people become theists because their parents were theists. This does not mean ALL theists....


"Question: If you were raised in atheistic or agnostic homes, and believe like your parents, how is that different than the Christian equivalent?"

It's not. Becoming atheistic because your parents were is no different than being theistic because your parents were.

 

[Avatar]

Maybe now we can finally dispense with the old "product of one's environment" argument.

you didn't take notice the specific type of people visiting sciforums mostly

if the results vere taken from 10 different forums- then it might be that, but you've got only SCIforums members response

 

[overdoze]

Originally posted by Ekimklaw
So many atheists ridicule Christians about being "brought up in Christian homes", yet many of you were brought up in atheist/agnostic homes.

Question: If you were raised in atheistic or agnostic homes, and believe like your parents, how is that different than the Christian equivalent?

It's so ironic how you completely miss the irony! If it's indeed true that you believe what you were raised with, then -- oops -- there goes the "absolute Truth" of any particular religion. Your beliefs are the products of your culture. Surprise!

Maybe now we can finally dispense with the old "product of one's environment" argument.

And perhaps we should. If you were raised in a Hindu family, would you more likely be a Muslim, a Buddhist, or a Hindu?

At least we atheists have the minimalist and the sanest of all positions: we reject any and all religious belief. That's the same thing as not having been socially conditioned at all -- having been born with no religious predisposition (as is the case universally) and having grown up with no religion being forced down our throats (which is rather a rare exception to the rule.) At least those of us to whom it applies. The ones that came from religious backgrounds had it tougher, of course. They had to de-condition themselves.