Hello strangers, my name is David. I am 21 years of age and I have recently changed my religious view from agnostic to atheist.
I am of Chinese descent but have spent the majority of my life in Canada, and thus I am familiar with how atheism is viewed in western (American specifically) culture. My parents are religious people, not associated with any particular religion but they believe in general that god(s) or higher power does exist. If I had to say, their lifestyle and traditions can be attributed to that of Buddhist influence. They believe in karma and the soul and resurrection.
I should add my grandfather was a Taoist priest who would perform rituals and ceremonies at funerals for a living. He passed away about two years ago at which time our family participated in his own funeral rituals. Out of respect I too took part in this event, I expected it to have some effect on me and my beliefs but to be quite frank, it made no difference in how I viewed the world.
I do have a concern regarding my stance on religion. I want to voice my opinion about it but I don't want to hurt anyone in the process. I realize that this, while a nice gesture, is extremely naive.
I want to be able to talk to my parents, or just people in general about religion without taking from them a pillar of their existence. I can be quite adamant about my beliefs at times , although I can't hope to change everyone's view I can at least encourage those that are dearest to me to gain new perspectives. I'm not sure how to go about this, if anyone has had similar experience please feel free to share!
Currently I am reading "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins, a fascinating book in which many compelling arguments against religion can be found (though I assure you this is not the reason I'm reading it for). I recommend it to anyone else that consider themselves agnostic or atheist, I quite enjoyed the literature even though it is a non-fiction book.
That is all for my first post! Thank you for reading
.
I am of Chinese descent but have spent the majority of my life in Canada, and thus I am familiar with how atheism is viewed in western (American specifically) culture. My parents are religious people, not associated with any particular religion but they believe in general that god(s) or higher power does exist. If I had to say, their lifestyle and traditions can be attributed to that of Buddhist influence. They believe in karma and the soul and resurrection.
I should add my grandfather was a Taoist priest who would perform rituals and ceremonies at funerals for a living. He passed away about two years ago at which time our family participated in his own funeral rituals. Out of respect I too took part in this event, I expected it to have some effect on me and my beliefs but to be quite frank, it made no difference in how I viewed the world.
I do have a concern regarding my stance on religion. I want to voice my opinion about it but I don't want to hurt anyone in the process. I realize that this, while a nice gesture, is extremely naive.
I want to be able to talk to my parents, or just people in general about religion without taking from them a pillar of their existence. I can be quite adamant about my beliefs at times , although I can't hope to change everyone's view I can at least encourage those that are dearest to me to gain new perspectives. I'm not sure how to go about this, if anyone has had similar experience please feel free to share!
Currently I am reading "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins, a fascinating book in which many compelling arguments against religion can be found (though I assure you this is not the reason I'm reading it for). I recommend it to anyone else that consider themselves agnostic or atheist, I quite enjoyed the literature even though it is a non-fiction book.
That is all for my first post! Thank you for reading
.
