Not Wanting to be an Atheist

[xingli]

My first thread, I hope it does something more than nothing.

I've been an atheist most of my life, I would say, and only recently have I really thought I was outspoken about it. Of course, I've had my share of religious discourse with my parents or friends, and it's always fun.

But I have to say, the only argument that ever gets to me, honestly, is bloody Pascal. I know it's stupid on it's logical side, and maybe it's just a product of my upbringing, but I get doubts about my atheism (if you will).

Does anyone out there ever really get scared of the thought of hell? A lot of my life I've spent blocking the fear of hell with a solid wall of logic, and it works pretty well most of the time, but every once in a while I feel like I'm having a hyperbolic staring contest with my life on the line. Sorry, not my life, but pain.

Now I'm not saying I don't want to be an atheist. It's not like that matters, logic has pushed me far away from religion. Plus, being an atheist is a bit of a talking point, albeit a tad impractical in a variety of social contexts.

I guess one of my questions have already been stated. Do any of you guys ever "doubt" your atheism? If so, what's the main reason? And, if you could control your beliefs, would you choose to be religious, even just someone who believes and doesn't feel that connected to god?

So yeah, I'm a teenager, and that might have brought this on, but I wanna know if I'm the only one.

[Zen Badger]

A truly thinking person will always( and always should) question what they believe.

Only the religious dogmatists don't think about their belief systems.

And yes, it would be nice to think that there is some paternal/maternal presence up in the sky looking out for us.

But in the absence of any convincing evidence a rational person has to conclude otherwise.

But in the end it is your call.

Because it takes strength of character to look up at the vast unfeeling universe, realise how utterly, utterly insignificant you truly are in comparison and still get out of bed in the morning.

Otherwise you end up seeking warmth and comfort in the flaccid bosom of your chosen deity.

[Skipper]

I guess when I think about dying I do kinda wish I believed in an after life as it would give me some comfort. But I (or you or anyone) can't force themselves to belivev anything. Anyway, if you did just force yourself to believe, which religion do you align yourself with? Which one is right about who gets put into hell and who dosen't? If there is a higher being, and an after life, chances are no religion has got the right idea about it...how could they?! So I'd suggest just getting on with living a good life that you want to live, religious fools can waste their whole lives worshipping a god with no proof that it exists or is the right one and worrying about what comes after their deaths, don't be like that.

[KichigaiNeko]

You are dead...you have NO body...there is NOTHING that any hell, fire or brimstone can do to you.

Why worry?? Enjoy your life, be kind and thoughtful and always call ya mum!!

[Falhalterra]

I've never really spent much time thinking there might be a hell. Otherwise, I have always thought about what could happen after I die. We are not even so sure ourselves of what could happen after and it might never be possible to know. I would need to have convincing evidence to believe in anything I cannot see, and therefore even if I doubt myself, it's really easy to realize without actual observable proof that there may not possibly be anything like a hell at all.

But yes, it is normal to doubt yourself. It would be unwise to not ask questions as well.

[Nitsuj]

The idea of Hell is simply designed to scare people into being good, ust like Santa Claus. You'll have a lot more fun in life if you stop thinking about there being a place called Hell, and just get on with it.

[Strappado]

Do any of you guys ever "doubt" your atheism? If so, what's the main reason? And, if you could control your beliefs, would you choose to be religious, even just someone who believes and doesn't feel that connected to god?

No doubts about atheism here. There are plenty of other things that I'm not so sure about, so being cocksure isn't a general character trait of mine. I think probably a difference is that I grew up as an atheist, and was also in opposition to religion from an early age. I think it's more difficult if you have experienced a lot of religious conditioning to let it go 100%.

And if I could choose I'd still be an atheist.

[Rhizomorph13]

I feel for you xingli,

When I first came here I felt those pangs of religiousness and explored returning to it, but kept reading and thinking and ultimatly solidified my lack of faith in anything resembling a god. It wasn't through an act of will but more just a natural consequence of logic and reason. There are a few here that are theistic that followed much the same process and somehow came to a different conclusion, you might be one of those. I respect them even though I disagree with them. We can't control what we believe; belief is just an artifact of the current knowledge we have.

...flaccid bosom of your chosen deity.

I never realized that deities had erectile tissue in their bosoms, who knew? First thought when I read that.

[Zen Badger]

...flaccid bosom of your chosen deity.

I never realized that deities had erectile tissue in their bosoms, who knew? First thought when I read that.

How do you think erect nipples happen?

[Edwardo Piet]

Pascal's wager is an absolutely terrible argument.( I think it's even worse than the Ontological argument for God's existence. Since, although the Ontological argument makes no sense whatsoever and is a fucking terrible argument, at least it tries to deal with the matter of God's existence rather than making a completely pointless wager).

Why is it so terrible? Well, because you're just as (un)likely to go to hell if you're a theist and just as (un)likely to go to heaven if you're an atheist. Because there's absolutely no reason whatsoever that anything (supernatural) in the Bible has any merit, so there's no reason to believe that being a Christian would make you more likely to go to heaven, or being an atheist would make you more likely to go to hell.