RE: A fear of relapse
April 22, 2015 at 5:24 pm
(This post was last modified: April 22, 2015 at 5:28 pm by Brian37.)
Nobody "finds out" they are an atheist, they end up an atheist. It isnt like your keys you lost under your couch. You simply hit a point where you realized what your prior position ceased to make sense. Yea a bit pedantic on my part, it just stuck me as funny putting it like that.
Your "fear" is quite normal, but think about all the other god claims and versions of hell of other religions that you don't feel threatened by, why should the one you just left cause you any fear either.
I actually was an atheist a few years before seeking other atheists out online for the first time back in 01. Even with years of being one, I still was fearful about finding others because of the social stigma I grew up with indoctrinated in me. When I did my very first "atheist" search online it was shortly after 9/11 after an AP opinion went to papers nation wide from a Nurse from Chicago who was concerned about atheists not being part of the mourning process of the victims. Reading that motivated me to seek out other atheists online.
But, because of that social stigma, while typing the word "atheist" I was thinking in the back of my mind "what if someone finds out I am doing this? What if I am joining some sort of cult? But less than a few days later reading all the responses, I realized I had nothing to fear, and I have not looked back since.
Do you fear the punishment of Zues or Wodan? Do you fear Thor striking you down with lightening? So why would the old bronze age books written by scientifically ignorant humans scare you either?
Your "fear" is quite normal, but think about all the other god claims and versions of hell of other religions that you don't feel threatened by, why should the one you just left cause you any fear either.
I actually was an atheist a few years before seeking other atheists out online for the first time back in 01. Even with years of being one, I still was fearful about finding others because of the social stigma I grew up with indoctrinated in me. When I did my very first "atheist" search online it was shortly after 9/11 after an AP opinion went to papers nation wide from a Nurse from Chicago who was concerned about atheists not being part of the mourning process of the victims. Reading that motivated me to seek out other atheists online.
But, because of that social stigma, while typing the word "atheist" I was thinking in the back of my mind "what if someone finds out I am doing this? What if I am joining some sort of cult? But less than a few days later reading all the responses, I realized I had nothing to fear, and I have not looked back since.
Do you fear the punishment of Zues or Wodan? Do you fear Thor striking you down with lightening? So why would the old bronze age books written by scientifically ignorant humans scare you either?
