(December 10, 2019 at 11:16 am)Atomic Lava Wrote: I don't consider myself an atheist, however more of an agnostic. I can't say that God exists, but I also can't deny it. Because I really don't know. I'm not all knowing. But I'm curious to hear why you became an atheist, or even why you are an agnostic like myself.
I may be splitting hairs here, as I understand how words operate in common usage... but strictly speaking, you qualify as an atheist if you do not hold a belief in god.
Personally, I don't know that I ever "became" an atheist, but I realized that I was an atheist in my early teens. As cliche as it is, I started smoking pot and questioning things with my friends, and eventually it led me to realize that I do not believe in god. So, to be fair, I'm not sure if I ever really was a Christian; I think that I was always an atheist and simply convinced myself otherwise for a large part of my life. Among other things, I started to read a LOT. I skimmed through the Bible quite a lot, but I really started reading different authors that were skeptical of religion... among the books I read were:
God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens
A Universe of Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imagination by Gerald Edelman and Giulio Tononi
Lord, Save Us From Your Followers: Why is the Gospel of Love Dividing America? by Dan Merchant (this is actually a pro-Christian book, for lack of a better term, but it actually skewed me away from Christianity)
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche (this is a collection of writings on Buddhism, but it strayed me away from Christian thought and was my first introduction to a non-Abrahamic religion)
The Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey (an interesting take on the so-called 'carnal religion' created by LaVey)
The Satanic Scriptures by Peter H. Gilmore (a more focused interpretation of LaVey's philosophy)
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
An Intelligent Person's Guide to Philosophy by Roger Scruton
...and these are just to name a few. All of these books, in some way shape or form, helped me shape my current views on religion and god.
So, a lot of reading, some free-thinking and a copious amount of cannabis led me to realize that I never really believed in god.
If you're frightened of dying, and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the Earth.
