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RE: The advantages of being Atheist
March 25, 2014 at 11:21 pm
Don't feel guilty looking at porn anymore.
Sleep in on Sundays.
Feel motivated to actually help people rather than just pray for them.
Not afraid of learning actual science!
I'm a bitch, I'm a lover
I'm a goddess, I'm a mother
I'm a sinner, I'm a saint
I do not feel ashamed
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RE: The advantages of being Atheist
March 25, 2014 at 11:30 pm
(This post was last modified: March 25, 2014 at 11:30 pm by Bob Kelso.)
(March 25, 2014 at 4:45 pm)Thunder Cunt Wrote: Please tell what has improved in your life and how Atheism benefits those who know you and society at large.
My deconversion from Christianity has served me in a number of ways; I'm more thoughtful (both in my thoughts on various subjects and towards others in my life), I'm demonstrably better from a moral standpoint, and I enjoy and cherish my life far more than I ever had when I thought I'd live forever in an afterlife.
I can't speak for society, but I hold to my conviction that it would be far better off with a lack of religion. The evidence that this conviction is based upon is my experiences thus far as an atheist and that of others.
![[Image: bbb59Ce.gif]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=i.imgur.com%2Fbbb59Ce.gif)
(September 17, 2015 at 4:04 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote: I make change in the coin tendered. If you want courteous treatment, behave courteously. Preaching at me and calling me immoral is not courteous behavior.
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RE: The advantages of being Atheist
March 25, 2014 at 11:32 pm
(March 25, 2014 at 11:30 pm)Aral Gamelon Wrote: (March 25, 2014 at 4:45 pm)Thunder Cunt Wrote: Please tell what has improved in your life and how Atheism benefits those who know you and society at large.
My deconversion from Christianity has served me in a number of ways; I'm more thoughtful (both in my thoughts on various subjects and towards others in my life), I'm demonstrably better from a moral standpoint, and I enjoy and cherish my life far more than I ever had when I thought I'd live forever in an afterlife.
I can't speak for society, but I hold to my conviction that it would be far better off with a lack of religion. The evidence that this conviction is based upon is my experiences thus far as an atheist and that of others.
Thank you sir! That was very thoughtfull and edifying! 
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RE: The advantages of being Atheist
March 26, 2014 at 6:47 am
(March 25, 2014 at 7:00 pm)Thunder Cunt Wrote: Wait...you were a drug addict or alcoholic and a Muslim?...interesting
Yep. I was addicted to heroin well before I became a Muslim. I managed to kick the habit before converting or reverting as they like to call it. My drinking I've struggled with my entire life, and still do to this day, but I've got a bit more control on it now that I have something to loose (school, family etc). It was hard to hide the drinking while a Muslim because if anyone found out it would be a horrible experience I'm sure. Muslims are very harsh to other Muslims. :\
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RE: The advantages of being Atheist
March 26, 2014 at 7:03 am
(March 26, 2014 at 6:47 am)OGirly Wrote: Yep. I was addicted to heroin well before I became a Muslim. I managed to kick the habit before converting or reverting as they like to call it. My drinking I've struggled with my entire life, and still do to this day, but I've got a bit more control on it now that I have something to loose (school, family etc). It was hard to hide the drinking while a Muslim because if anyone found out it would be a horrible experience I'm sure. Muslims are very harsh to other Muslims. :\
Chasing the dragon huh? Sometimes I draw an analogy between the feeling addicts (like me) had and religion. The issue is not as much as the physical withdrawal, but more of the psychological one. Like "I can't imagine life without god" so do addicts "Can't imagine life without heroin". I had both of these thoughts removed and I'm doing pretty well for now.
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RE: The advantages of being Atheist
March 26, 2014 at 7:37 am
So far, have experienced minor benefit in the form of less cognitive dissonance. Still experiencing substantial Disillusionment and minor moral anxst.
So far it sucks but since I am still "installing the drivers" , I'm optimistic it will improve.
"Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken."
Sith code
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RE: The advantages of being Atheist
March 26, 2014 at 7:56 am
(This post was last modified: March 26, 2014 at 7:56 am by LastPoet.)
(March 26, 2014 at 7:37 am)Jacob(smooth) Wrote: So far, have experienced minor benefit in the form of less cognitive dissonance. Still experiencing substantial Disillusionment and minor moral anxst.
So far it sucks but since I am still "installing the drivers" , I'm optimistic it will improve.
Well, you don't have to install any drivers, all you have to do is uninstall some viruses. 
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RE: The advantages of being Atheist
March 26, 2014 at 11:54 am
(March 26, 2014 at 6:47 am)OGirly Wrote: (March 25, 2014 at 7:00 pm)Thunder Cunt Wrote: Wait...you were a drug addict or alcoholic and a Muslim?...interesting
Yep. I was addicted to heroin well before I became a Muslim. I managed to kick the habit before converting or reverting as they like to call it. My drinking I've struggled with my entire life, and still do to this day, but I've got a bit more control on it now that I have something to loose (school, family etc). It was hard to hide the drinking while a Muslim because if anyone found out it would be a horrible experience I'm sure. Muslims are very harsh to other Muslims. :\
Going to a mosque, facing mecca, and prostrating with a bunch of Muslims to praise Allah, while on heroine, would be an experience.
I went to a mosque to pray with muslims in New York on benzo's and it was a great experience. Everything about the Arabs and their language and the pillars and arabic all over the walls made for a foretraste of mecca!
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RE: The advantages of being Atheist
March 26, 2014 at 12:51 pm
(March 25, 2014 at 4:45 pm)Thunder Cunt Wrote: I'm hoping this could be an insightfull nonflaming thread where Atheists share the freedom, joy, peace, wisdom, and growth that they received as a result of a conversion to Atheism. The main difference for me was that I got back the time I would normally have spent on religious activities (proselytizing, attending church, bible study, etc). I could say that using that time on more productive pursuits made me feel better, but when I was doing them they felt like productive pursuits, so that's really a wash. As for freedom and joy and the rest, becoming an atheist did not change the person I am. I've always been a happy and carefree person and that did not change when I realized that god wasn't there.
My deconversion was very gradual, so that probably helped. I did not have that sudden moment where everything in my life got thrown into turmoil or anything. One day I admitted to myself what was pretty obvious by that time, and while it did feel good and I did have a sense of more freedom and control of my life, my day-to-day life changed little.
It did take a bit longer to get over the feeling of sadness when realizing that the planet will probably die out at some point in the distant future, and maybe even the universe. But that's from that sense that religion instills, that you are the center of existence and that you'll always be there to see it all happen. Realizing that once I die I am no longer conscious of anything means that I will not be around to worry about it, and therefore it's a waste of time to worry about it now. Problem solved!
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould
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RE: The advantages of being Atheist
March 26, 2014 at 1:29 pm
(This post was last modified: March 26, 2014 at 1:56 pm by Simon Moon.)
(March 25, 2014 at 4:45 pm)Thunder Cunt Wrote: I'm hoping this could be an insightfull nonflaming thread where Atheists share the freedom, joy, peace, wisdom, and growth that they received as a result of a conversion to Atheism.
Please tell what has improved in your life and how Atheism benefits those who know you and society at large.
Thank you!
Intellectual honesty.
Having an internal mental model that most likely maps more accurately to reality.
The fact that an evil god such as Yahweh almost certainly does not exist.
EDIT: atheist does is not written with an upper case 'A'. And there is no such thing as 'conversion to atheism'. It is an incoherent statement.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
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