I have re-read many posts on here and I think maybe some of us are misinterpreting motives. Maybe the discussion has evolved to the point that we are no longer talking about the OP. But if we stay true to that, the OP asked for a description of what we feel at a particular time. Feelings are not up for debate. I think every atheist has said what they feel in those times. I doubt in any of those times, we are thinking about how silly we think theists are. We are most likely thinking about our own death and how to possibly avoid it. If it is unavoidable, probably starting to suffer the pain of believing we will be leaving loved ones behind to carry on without us.
Do you atheists feel safety and happiness when ...
- Thread starter arifulislam
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Losing faith equates to losing faith. Becoming an atheist is a longer process that generally follows from losing faith. The kind of faith that comes and goes according to mood isn't - or shouldn't be - worth much to any self-adoring god. As for blaming, Jehovah, for one, used to smite you down dead for that.
The OP was about feeling inner strength resolve in times of need when alone.
Where does that inner strength come from?
It's not surprising that we often attribute that strength to an external source, because external cues are a good way to inspire ourselves.
Some think of their partners or families.
Some hug their teddy bears.
Some pray to God.
All of these are powerful motivational cues, ways to inspire ourselves to carry on in the face of adversity.
Where does that inner strength come from?
It's not surprising that we often attribute that strength to an external source, because external cues are a good way to inspire ourselves.
Some think of their partners or families.
Some hug their teddy bears.
Some pray to God.
All of these are powerful motivational cues, ways to inspire ourselves to carry on in the face of adversity.
My inner strength comes from my kids. The desire that they not feel pain is the greatest motivator for me.
What kind of danger, my body may go into the fight or flight response before any notion of a false non-existent deity even arises in my brain or sub-conscious. You are just adorable with your god aren't you!
I feel a lot more secure, knowing I have a .45 by my side...
If "God" makes you feel safe, that's fine...
To each their own.
No, just because you claim that number is insignificant does not mean that they are.
You do not know how many are or not.
Physical injury is not valid as evidence about personal beliefs, Syne. How do you verify this?
If a person faces imminent death, are you saying that they MUST have extensive physical injuries, as well? Enough to disable them?
Right, I feel the same way.
But do we mean that in the same sense that we understand a theist to mean when they say "My inner strength comes from God"?
Well I have kids, Their pain are my pain , I work for them for their future > I make my effort and pray to God for their well being .
So the point is . I make my effort and I look beyond my strength,
while you can not look beyond your strength because you don't believe .
While nothing you said here sounds wrong or bad, it begs the question: In looking beyond strength do you actually receive anything?
Is it a psychological effect, like cheering up a sad person?
If an atheist looks beyond strength- what does he find? Which has an interesting answer... Now, I don't drink so I cannot explain this one fully, but Alcoholics Anonymous, which helps many people overcome addictions, relies on a "higher Power." Atheists find a higher power, not God, while going through the 12 steps. How does this happen? I'm not sure of the answer myself, as I haven't confronted that but I do know atheists who are in AA that have no problem doing so.
I couldn't begin to speculate on that. Even when I believed almost strong enough to walk an invisible bridge over lava, I could never honestly say that I felt God gave me any strength. If anything, I felt defeated, because everyone would tell me to calm down, wait, trust God to take care of things, when every bit of my being told me if any change was going to happen it was going to have to be by my own hand.
A foxhole can safely be assumed to imply the totality of a battlefield experience. This includes the possibility of seeing fellow solders gravely injured and killed, and with such definitely includes a probability for personal injury or death.
But I've come to expect you to take everything as naively literal as possible. So of course you'd assume that it implies that even a solder who has been in a foxhole but never seen any combat at all would affirm the meme. Hell, an atheist in the complete safety of a boot camp foxhole would affirm such a naive assumption. But then that rather defeats the purpose of such a statement, as it is designed and employed expressly to refute the notion that those facing life-threatening experiences tend to resort to a belief in a god.
(1) I never said that being in a foxhole was not sufficiently life-threatening, and this is a straw man. What I said was that permanent injury is sufficient proof of immediately life-threatening experience, you know, beyond mere testimony (why would atheists start relying solely on testimony now?).
(2) I haven't insinuated a thing, and yes, I always have a reason for asking a question. I had hoped to get some answer that actually addressed the question. Instead I get empty assertions:
And what I assume is intended as an ad hominem to boot. Piss poor excuses for an argument. Way to cross-post btw, perhaps you'd like to address other threads where the entire context exists, troll.
And where do you come from?
Do you generate that "strength" on your own somehow, without needing anything whatsoever from the environment?
Yes.
No any one thing can be assumed to imply the totality. Most of my own experiences were not in a foxhole.
I've been in combat and earned my cav sandwich. Have you?
That statement from you was sufficient to be a bit insulting to those who've been there.
Since you like pointing out Fallacies, allow me to add Dicto simpliciter to your list, here.
If uncertainty over how your posts are intended bothers you, I'd suggest that you make a clear stand and defend that stance.
Really?
You don't eat, don't breathe air, don't rely on the Government to keep the terrorists out of your country and so on?
Or is it that you produce your own food all by yourself, from nothing, produce the air that you breathe, fend off the terrorists and all that all by yourself?
Or is it that you don't eat, don't breathe, and don't have a body at all?
That's not the kind of strength you were talking about.
You're really going to act like this on your first day back?
Do you? I am the one who originally asked here. Remember this:
Since no one has come forward with anything but anecdotal evidence and unsupported assertion, it is fairly safe to assume the numbers statistically insignificant until someone can produce evidence to the contrary. That is how objectivity works.
Seeing how the majority of the population is theist and that conservatives, which tend to be predominantly religious, are more likely to join the military, the statistics very easily support the notion that there are a majority of theists "in foxholes".
I'm simply waiting for anything other than anecdote or cherry-picking in contrast.
Again with the straw man arguments. I never said, nor implied, that physical injury was in any way evidence for any personal belief. Nor did I say anything even remotely assuming debilitating injury must accompany an experience of imminent death.
Try reading the above bolded portion again. Rinse and repeat until you have some clue.
Not only would I say I can handle providing for myself, I long for the good old days when I was allowed to.
Society: I'm not a fit. More like Lone Wolf on the mountain. A hermit. I'm not anti- social, just anti society. I don't mind talking to people, I just prefer to live my own way, be my own man. If that means taking care of lifes problems on my own, fine. All the better.
If I die in preserving my own, I die. That's the nature of it and I will die anyway. But I'd rather die for myself or others than have someone else die for me. I don't know about you- I'm not very comfortable with that.
If one appeals to a creator to give them strength or protection or what have you- I truly wonder whether they are limiting themselves. Perhaps it varies on an individual basis.
From nothing? Food and air are already there. These days, people go to Wal Mart and buy prepackaged, cleaned and sorted meat.
Air is quite abundant. Unless you are to claim they came from a divine creator, no one needs produce these things, much less from "nothing."
Partaking in life, the existence, does not require anyone to produce anything from "nothing."
It only requires one to make use of what they have.
Some may feel that's not good enough and want to make use of what they do not have or what even does not exist.
If you don't eat and don't breathe, how can you have any strength?
And if you do eat and breathe, how can you not acknowledge where you got your food and air from?
Irrelevant. You asked, presumably, because you do not know. I also do not know.
Just because you asked does not mean that you suddenly know and can make assertions. You are assuming.
Irrelevant.
The issue discussed was not one of statistics. It was not one of how many are there: It was a statement which read, "There are no atheists in foxholes."
Key word: No. The statement means that any one, any person, in that situation, will suddenly believe in something divine.
So statistics are irrelevant.
I have pointed out that anecdotal is about all you're going to get for now.
Deal with it.
Since that's how it is, consider the issue stalemated until evidence is found or provided. Yapping back and forth about it is boring.
Incorrect.
You stated that you would accept a person who did have serious injury or disability as not anecdotal and as solid evidence. It only demonstrates that they have had a harrowing experience and that demonstrates that alone, not whether or not they are honest about personal beliefs.
I did not say not imply that you said or implied at any time that personal injury demonstrates personal beliefs.
I pointed out the fallacy of accepting that as Solid Evidence.
Try to keep up, Syne.