RE: Atheism. Only for the strong of character?
January 10, 2011 at 4:38 am
(This post was last modified: January 10, 2011 at 4:43 am by KichigaiNeko.)
GANIMEDE Wrote:I have been accused by various "Believers" of being primitive and heathanistic, and subject to being a slave to physical instincts, because I do not live in the fear of their God and refuse to abide by His strict rules and rituals.
Yes...marvellous what "intellectual" rhetoric some people will come up with because you "seem to be different to them" When all is said and done I like to think that these people with all their 'rituals' do not have the makings of a synapse; woe betide if something should happen to put a 'spanner in the works' and they have to think for themselves
GANIMEDE Wrote:I can only speak for myself: My life experiences have proven to me over and over again that decent respectable behavior is it own reward. I feel better doing "what is right" without fearing punishment from a wrathful creator.
Agreed...after all, YOU are the only person in the room and YOU are the only one who will cop the consequences of YOUR actions and NO amount of praying is going to alleviate that.
GANIMEDE Wrote:I am perfectly aware that we humans are susceptible to obsessive and addictive behaviors. Growing up, I became aware of the dangers of excess and was able to make sensible decisions concerning my ultimate behavior. Some of the people I grew up with did not fare so well. I have had friends, as well as family members, who have fallen to various addictive behavior. Some of them went so far down hill that they eventually turned to religion to "set them on the right path" and I am forced to give deference to these "community based" organizations and I must admit they can benefit the weakest among us. Nevertheless, their transformation in the hands of the religious does nothing to cause me to accept the principles of their beliefs.
Yes we are a susceptible species, gullible and have a tendency to obsessive behavioural patterns. We also have a brain and mind that is VERY good at detecting those patterns.
Congrats that you feel that you have negotiated life's' little pitfalls. Many of my friends and family have excessive behavioural patterns and they lived very well so I am of the opinion that this is no hindrance to a successful and fulfilling life. (Many did this sans religion)
GANIMEDE Wrote:I may have been lucky, and my heart goes out to the less fortunate, but I fell quite comfortable being a moral and decent Atheist.
Define "less fortunate"...? IF by this definition you mean those who are unable to embrace the level of 'uncertainty', who are incapable of discerning the patterns of the universe AS IT IS and who wish to impose their own chronological certainty on to a matrix that is as flexible as the universe seems to be then ...YES you are lucky ... as are all of us on this forum who question EVERYTHING and just stand back in awe and wonder that the whole fucking 'world/Universe' functions the way it does.
GANIMEDE Wrote:Perhaps Atheism is only for the naturally strong?
Perhaps a better definition is ...Atheism is for those who question EVERYTHING wonder at EVERYTHING and have the balls to realise that it doesn't mean squat...nada...zip...... but hey it's a damn good light show all the same.
Perhaps Atheism is for those who are comfortable with the 'Uncertainty Principle' happy with 'No guarantees' and are "joyous" in the "revelations of the mind" (to quote one Baptist minister)
No ....we are NOT slaves and we need NO regulation or regulatory body. We know what is and is not and so ....."we are strong??"
But then what is strength??
"The Universe is run by the complex interweaving of three elements: energy, matter, and enlightened self-interest." G'Kar-B5
