What was it like being an atheist?

[Something completely different]

So it seems like every single theist who walks the earth, or at least was or is on this forum, use to be an atheist.

Personaly, since being religious often involves being a bullshiter, I guess most of the theists who claim to have been such are simply bullshiting.

But then again, this is simply an assumtion which I cannot prove to be right.


So I will simply ask every single theist here who claims to have once been an atheist.

What was it like?

Why did you become religious?

What didnt you like about it?

What defined your atheism?

What was the reasoning behind your atheism?

What motivated you to be atheist?



And I might aswell bet, that not single damn theist will convince anyone on this forum: that they use to be atheist.

[jstrodel]

I used to be an atheist, I was pretty miserable. I thought that there was no free will. Life was totally meaningless. I didn't see any values or reason to live. I didn't have anything to constrain my actions. I was miserable and depressed all the time.

I became a theist through being involved in the occult. At first, I didn't even believe what I was getting into. I didn't believe that it was real. As I got deeper and deeper into it, I realized that it was real.

I became a Christian after realizing that the spiritual world was real and needing refuge from it. It turned my life around. It has been pretty rocky, had a lot of tough times, but my life has more meaning and joy than it has had. Even when things are hard, I never lose hope. I feel like my life is grounded in wisdom. I am sober and I think clearly about things.

Best thing I ever did in my whole life, without question was become a Christian. It has been very hard, I have basically given up everything that I used to love, and that has been very painful. I understand why people don't want to become Christian or take seriously whether it may be true, because you must give up so much. The pain is real, from leaving all those things. It is like being ripped open. But the joy of having hope and being grounded in the world as it exists is really a joyous thing, so wonderful and so freeing is the light that can only come from the giver of light.

[Angrboda]

So, you don't think I could convince anyone on this forum that I was once an atheist?


Okay. If you say so.

[Tonus]

I used to be an atheist, I was pretty miserable.

One of these things hasn't changed.

[frz]

TGAC I had the same idea in mind for a thread. I new it was a topic waiting to happen. These guys are bs'ing as usually claiming they used to be an atheist. Truth is, they are running out of arguments.

[Joel]

I think it was Matt Slick (Banana-man's sidekick) that said he was a "devout atheist"
You know, because of all the things we have to be 'devout' about.

All the dogma, propaganda, doctrine...
That stuff we don't actually have.

[frz]

I used to be an atheist, I was pretty miserable. I thought that there was no free will. Life was totally meaningless. I didn't see any values or reason to live. I didn't have anything to constrain my actions. I was miserable and depressed all the time.

Being depressed, doing drugs, alcohol and not going to church, or being mad at a god that's not there does not make you an atheist.

[Joel]

I used to be an atheist, I was pretty miserable. I thought that there was no free will. Life was totally meaningless. I didn't see any values or reason to live. I didn't have anything to constrain my actions. I was miserable and depressed all the time.

Being depressed, doing drugs, alcohol and not going to church, or being mad at a god that's not there does not make you an atheist.

Didn't Jesus drink wine on multiple occasions? Even if he didn't, he encouraged the drinking of it.
There was no mention of him regularly attending church, either, in the bible...
When prescribed medication, you're taking drugs. What separates those from other drugs? And why are some okay and others not?
There are many depressed Christians.

[jstrodel]

I used to be an atheist, I was pretty miserable.

One of these things hasn't changed.

I am not miserable now. I spend several hours a day meditating on the Christian faith and sharing with others. I promise you that I get great joy from it, I never feel frustrated, I feel a deep sense of groundedness and peace in my soul, my doubts are gone, the problems I used to see in religion I have overcome.

I am happy whenever I think about God, because I feel such a sense of freedom inside of me to challenge ideas and the more I challenge them, the more I learn.

Atheism is so dreary intellectually, there is no beauty or joy, you have to make everything up. Atheism is so painful.

Materialism is so painful.

I used to listen to music 20 or 30 hours a week. It felt like everything was so meaningless, so empty. Everything seems like a joke, everything is absurd. I think that is what hell is like, feeling like that, everything is a joke, there is no sense of respect attached to anything, there is no sense of love, everything is like a joke.

Everything is like a joke, because philosophically that is the condition of a world where nothing is intrinsically valuable, everything is hollow. That is the post modern condition, a sort of hallow materialism, a reflection on a reflection of nothing.

---

I used to be an atheist, I was pretty miserable. I thought that there was no free will. Life was totally meaningless. I didn't see any values or reason to live. I didn't have anything to constrain my actions. I was miserable and depressed all the time.

Being depressed, doing drugs, alcohol and not going to church, or being mad at a god that's not there does not make you an atheist.

I used to take the ideas fairly seriously that God does not exist. I had some lingering doubts about maybe God exists, because I had had thing happen to me where I felt that God could be responsible. But I didn't pursue it because I wanted to keep sinning.

[Nine]

Atheism is so dreary intellectually, there is no beauty or joy, you have to make everything up. Atheism is so painful.

Materialism is so painful.

I think its fantastic. Beauty everywhere. I wander round with a grin just because its so awesome.