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Believers in the afterlife
July 9, 2010 at 5:59 pm
Hi,
In The God Delusion, Dawklns says (though I can't remember it word-for-word) that a someone who believes in hell can never be fully "deconverted."
Is he saying that people who believe in hell will always believe in it or at least worry that it might exist?
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RE: Believers in the afterlife
July 9, 2010 at 6:02 pm
Until they stop believing in 'Hell', they cannot let go of their belief in 'God', because of the threat of 'Hell'. It is a vicious circle. They must let go of their fear of 'Hell' before they can feel safe admitting they do not believe in 'God'.
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RE: Believers in the afterlife
July 9, 2010 at 7:09 pm
(July 9, 2010 at 5:59 pm)sunflash Wrote: Hi,
In The God Delusion, Dawklns says (though I can't remember it word-for-word) that a someone who believes in hell can never be fully "deconverted."
Is he saying that people who believe in hell will always believe in it or at least worry that it might exist?
I think he's describing that people can only be atheist if they don't believe in divine punishment, because that what religions impress on you
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RE: Believers in the afterlife
July 10, 2010 at 4:33 am
Not all religion. However I believe it was referring to the human ability to break from a cycle of irrational fear physiologicaly and mentally.
"There ought to be a term that would designate those who actually follow the teachings of Jesus, since the word 'Christian' has been largely divorced from those teachings, and so polluted by fundamentalists that it has come to connote their polar opposite: intolerance, vindictive hatred, and bigotry." -- Philip Stater, Huffington Post
always working on cleaning my windows- me regarding Johari
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RE: Believers in the afterlife
July 10, 2010 at 6:44 am
(July 10, 2010 at 4:33 am)tackattack Wrote: Not all religion. However I believe it was referring to the human ability to break from a cycle of irrational fear physiologicaly and mentally.
That's a much better description than mine
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RE: Believers in the afterlife
July 10, 2010 at 6:47 am
(July 9, 2010 at 5:59 pm)sunflash Wrote: Hi,
In The God Delusion, Dawklns says (though I can't remember it word-for-word) that a someone who believes in hell can never be fully "deconverted."
Is he saying that people who believe in hell will always believe in it or at least worry that it might exist?
That's the gist of it, yes. After years of constant indoctrination and affirmation in a young and impressionable mind, it's a fear that'd be very hard to dispel. Much religious practice, I suspect, is motivated by a sort of subconscious Pascal's Wager consideration in the mind of the believer. Even I, as an atheist raised in a pretty secular household, sometimes worry what would happen if it turned out there was a hell. According to Dante, I'd be in the sixth circle, as a 'heretic'. Unless, that is, atheism counts as a betrayal of God, in which case it's the lowest circle of hell, where I'll be chewed up by one of Lucifer's three mouths, while having my body constantly torn apart and mangled. My one consolation would be that fortune tellers were in the eighth circle.
'We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.' H.L. Mencken
'False religion' is the ultimate tautology.
'It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions.' Mark Twain
'I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.' Abraham Lincoln
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RE: Believers in the afterlife
July 16, 2010 at 9:34 am
If you believe in Hell, you would always have some nagging doubt in your mind if you converted to Atheism, because "I'm going to Hell if I don't BELIEEEEVE!!!" I used to believe in it, however, but look at me now. There is no Heaven. There is no Hell. I'm fine with it.
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RE: Believers in the afterlife
July 17, 2010 at 9:15 am
This statement expresses my feelings exactly. I still have a niggling fear of hell, which stems from my religious past. I joined these forums to try to destroy these fears and I would appreciate it if you good people would read my struggle and offer any support or advice you can. Here is a link to my story.
http://atheistforums.org/thread-4171.html
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RE: Believers in the afterlife
July 17, 2010 at 9:59 am
Fear is the mind killer.
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RE: Believers in the afterlife
July 17, 2010 at 1:12 pm
(July 17, 2010 at 9:59 am)Synackaon Wrote: Fear is the mind killer.
Ah the bene gesserit creed.
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain
I have all the Frank Herbert Dune books but only one of the new lot.
You can fix ignorance, you can't fix stupid.
Tinkety Tonk and down with the Nazis.
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