RE: I don't hate God
June 19, 2012 at 3:29 pm
(This post was last modified: June 19, 2012 at 3:34 pm by Gambit.)
Actually, let's you and I start again. I'll tell you a little bit about me, and then you can take it from there.
First of all, I would like to apologize for my attitude. This is an Atheist forum and I have no right to come here and attack Cinjin or your opinions. I have a long story but here is the highlight reel:
When I was a child I was very religious; in fact, at one time I wanted to be a priest when I grew up. The reason that I was so religious was due to a culmination of events. I was diagnosed with Arthritis when I was three; my father was a protestant in a republican area of Belfast; and my disabled sister, who I related to because of my own disability, died when I was six. I was bullied a lot and was a weird child. Weird in the sense that I always stood up for people who were outcasts or considered ugly in some sense. As I got older, I started questioning the existence of God. It came to a head when I was around 14/15, when I finally decided that the whole concept of God was man's way of reconciling our mortality etc.
Since then I have undergone a number of transitions in what I do and do not belief. For the most part I considered myself agnostic; reason being, I just couldn't discount the possibility of God, and didn't feel I was qualified to know. Then, as I began coming into contact with more educated theists, I started asking questions again. I still wasn't happy with the answers, so I became almost a mirror reflection of your good self - I raged against theists; called them stupid; laughed at them etc etc. Then a friend suggested that many of the questions I asked would suggest I was a deist. I had never actually heard of the term, at that time. I looked into it and it was something that felt right to me.
Fast forward to present day. I met some good people, during those days where I came head to head with theists. We still debate religion, belief and all things relating to God. I found that although I do not believe in their doctrine, there was no reason that we couldn't find common ground. Now, it should be noted that these people are not weekend Christians, they are borderline fundies. They do try to convert me, and make no secret of their efforts. However, they do not shy away when I destroy an argument that they present. In fact, they often state that they do not know the answer.
When I joined this forum, I did so under the flag of deism. I had a conversation with a member called Napoleon, who basically deconstructed my belief system in a way that made sense. So, I declared that I was now an atheist. The consequence of which was my pregnant girlfriend telling me that I would never see our child. Anyway, that is not important; we've reconciled since then. Now, to be honest, I am back to a place where I don't know what to believe. I'm trying to be the type of person I was as a child, though. I'm trying to let go of anger and treat people how I would like to be treated. This all sounds flowery and nice, I know. However, I have found that I can reach people and change how they think by showing respect, even where it seems it is not due. With those who are truly unable to open their mind to what I have to say, I simply walk away. Drich was right about the use of the word 'agape'. My blog post was simply pointing out how millions of people follow a religion, yet they don't even know how to read the context in their own holy books. If you look at the first posts in my blog you will see they are all challenging religious perceptions and claims. Then my friend posts a counter argument to one of my posts. There is no smoking gun here; I hope you can see that now.
God bless... shit, I mean Darwin!
First of all, I would like to apologize for my attitude. This is an Atheist forum and I have no right to come here and attack Cinjin or your opinions. I have a long story but here is the highlight reel:
When I was a child I was very religious; in fact, at one time I wanted to be a priest when I grew up. The reason that I was so religious was due to a culmination of events. I was diagnosed with Arthritis when I was three; my father was a protestant in a republican area of Belfast; and my disabled sister, who I related to because of my own disability, died when I was six. I was bullied a lot and was a weird child. Weird in the sense that I always stood up for people who were outcasts or considered ugly in some sense. As I got older, I started questioning the existence of God. It came to a head when I was around 14/15, when I finally decided that the whole concept of God was man's way of reconciling our mortality etc.
Since then I have undergone a number of transitions in what I do and do not belief. For the most part I considered myself agnostic; reason being, I just couldn't discount the possibility of God, and didn't feel I was qualified to know. Then, as I began coming into contact with more educated theists, I started asking questions again. I still wasn't happy with the answers, so I became almost a mirror reflection of your good self - I raged against theists; called them stupid; laughed at them etc etc. Then a friend suggested that many of the questions I asked would suggest I was a deist. I had never actually heard of the term, at that time. I looked into it and it was something that felt right to me.
Fast forward to present day. I met some good people, during those days where I came head to head with theists. We still debate religion, belief and all things relating to God. I found that although I do not believe in their doctrine, there was no reason that we couldn't find common ground. Now, it should be noted that these people are not weekend Christians, they are borderline fundies. They do try to convert me, and make no secret of their efforts. However, they do not shy away when I destroy an argument that they present. In fact, they often state that they do not know the answer.
When I joined this forum, I did so under the flag of deism. I had a conversation with a member called Napoleon, who basically deconstructed my belief system in a way that made sense. So, I declared that I was now an atheist. The consequence of which was my pregnant girlfriend telling me that I would never see our child. Anyway, that is not important; we've reconciled since then. Now, to be honest, I am back to a place where I don't know what to believe. I'm trying to be the type of person I was as a child, though. I'm trying to let go of anger and treat people how I would like to be treated. This all sounds flowery and nice, I know. However, I have found that I can reach people and change how they think by showing respect, even where it seems it is not due. With those who are truly unable to open their mind to what I have to say, I simply walk away. Drich was right about the use of the word 'agape'. My blog post was simply pointing out how millions of people follow a religion, yet they don't even know how to read the context in their own holy books. If you look at the first posts in my blog you will see they are all challenging religious perceptions and claims. Then my friend posts a counter argument to one of my posts. There is no smoking gun here; I hope you can see that now.
God bless... shit, I mean Darwin!
