Religious Background

[brewer]

Kind of lowered the bar for what is considered an rational answer there SII.

[viocjit]

I'm a French in France.
The majority of people in my family are cafeteria Catholic like the majority of people in France.

[TheBeardedDude]

Grew up in the Bible Belt of the southern US. Wasn't raised in an overly religious household but eventually I started wanting to attend church with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. We went to a southern baptist church. Got pretty serious with it by middle school but then stopped going to church by high school. Senior year of high school I start going to youth services at a different southern baptist church. Realize while there that I don't buy the youth ministers literal interpretation of the Bible. Then realize that I don't trust other people's interpretations either. This leads me to conclude that I have no objective standard to compare my interpretation to, which is a big deal if you're dealing with something that is supposed to be an objective truth about the universe. Once I realize this, I decide to start figuring out what I believe and why as well as what other people believe and why. The error I made here is that I still assumed that belief in a god was a more rational starting point, so I didn't question whether or not I actually believed in a god. Eventually I realize my error (after a few years) and ask myself if I believe in a god and I realize the answer was no. That's when the real fun began because that meant I had to start from square 1 to figure out what beliefs actually where since I was an atheist now


Cheers
TheBeardedDude

[Der/die AtheistIn]

I'm a French in France.
The majority of people in my family are cafeteria Catholic like the majority of people in France.

Oooh lala! And how did you become an atheist?

[SteveII]

Grew up in the Bible Belt of the southern US. Wasn't raised in an overly religious household but eventually I started wanting to attend church with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. We went to a southern baptist church. Got pretty serious with it by middle school but then stopped going to church by high school. Senior year of high school I start going to youth services at a different southern baptist church. Realize while there that I don't buy the youth ministers literal interpretation of the Bible. Then realize that I don't trust other people's interpretations either. This leads me to conclude that I have no objective standard to compare my interpretation to, which is a big deal if you're dealing with something that is supposed to be an objective truth about the universe. Once I realize this, I decide to start figuring out what I believe and why as well as what other people believe and why. The error I made here is that I still assumed that belief in a god was a more rational starting point, so I didn't question whether or not I actually believed in a god. Eventually I realize my error (after a few years) and ask myself if I believe in a god and I realize the answer was no. That's when the real fun began because that meant I had to start from square 1 to figure out what beliefs actually where since I was an atheist now


Cheers
TheBeardedDude

Just wondering why you 'don't buy the youth ministers literal interpretation of the Bible'? Did you seek out other more authoritative sources of information? What do you think is the biggest problem with Christianity being true?

[Der/die AtheistIn]

Grew up in the Bible Belt of the southern US. Wasn't raised in an overly religious household but eventually I started wanting to attend church with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. We went to a southern baptist church. Got pretty serious with it by middle school but then stopped going to church by high school. Senior year of high school I start going to youth services at a different southern baptist church. Realize while there that I don't buy the youth ministers literal interpretation of the Bible. Then realize that I don't trust other people's interpretations either. This leads me to conclude that I have no objective standard to compare my interpretation to, which is a big deal if you're dealing with something that is supposed to be an objective truth about the universe. Once I realize this, I decide to start figuring out what I believe and why as well as what other people believe and why. The error I made here is that I still assumed that belief in a god was a more rational starting point, so I didn't question whether or not I actually believed in a god. Eventually I realize my error (after a few years) and ask myself if I believe in a god and I realize the answer was no. That's when the real fun began because that meant I had to start from square 1 to figure out what beliefs actually where since I was an atheist now


Cheers
TheBeardedDude

There was a time when I also thought that believing that a God exists was more rational. At first I thought that God controlls almost everything, than that He controlls just some things. I started to look at the world around me and saw that everything had a cause and an effect, and a God that controlls that was improbable. So I became a deist. Then I've put myself the question, if God created the Universe, why would He not interfere in it? And why would He create such a big Universe? Why so many humans? Why so many planets whithout life? Why some creatures have rationality while others don't? And so on. I then become an agnostic atheist, and I'm proud to be one!

[TheBeardedDude]

Grew up in the Bible Belt of the southern US. Wasn't raised in an overly religious household but eventually I started wanting to attend church with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. We went to a southern baptist church. Got pretty serious with it by middle school but then stopped going to church by high school. Senior year of high school I start going to youth services at a different southern baptist church. Realize while there that I don't buy the youth ministers literal interpretation of the Bible. Then realize that I don't trust other people's interpretations either. This leads me to conclude that I have no objective standard to compare my interpretation to, which is a big deal if you're dealing with something that is supposed to be an objective truth about the universe. Once I realize this, I decide to start figuring out what I believe and why as well as what other people believe and why. The error I made here is that I still assumed that belief in a god was a more rational starting point, so I didn't question whether or not I actually believed in a god. Eventually I realize my error (after a few years) and ask myself if I believe in a god and I realize the answer was no. That's when the real fun began because that meant I had to start from square 1 to figure out what beliefs actually where since I was an atheist now


Cheers
TheBeardedDude

Just wondering why you 'don't buy the youth ministers literal interpretation of the Bible'? Did you seek out other more authoritative sources of information? What do you think is the biggest problem with Christianity being true?

A literal reading of the Bible left me with a callous, flawed, vengeful, and mean-spirited god. This didn't mesh with my views of a loving God (my views at the time). So I looked for a way of finding what I meant by god and what that god's qualities were. Started off within Christianity (basically I just left southern baptism first) in order to find a more interpretative view of the Bible, only to realize that if the Bible required interpretation then there was no way of discerning objective truth from it since anyone can interpret the Bible differently (including literally), regardless of their status (considered an authority or not). With no objective standard to compare my interpretation to (since even a cursory glance at the facts refute a literal interpretation), I realized the Bible was indistinguishable from fiction. Then I realized that's what it effectively is (mythology).


Cheers
TheBeardedDude

[Succubus]

SteveII

Just wondering why you 'don't buy the youth ministers literal interpretation of the Bible'?

Perhaps he was smart enough to know snakes don't have vocal cords?

Did you seek out other more authoritative sources of information? What do you think is the biggest problem with Christianity being true?

The fact that it's all made up bollocks?

[SteveII]

Just wondering why you 'don't buy the youth ministers literal interpretation of the Bible'? Did you seek out other more authoritative sources of information? What do you think is the biggest problem with Christianity being true?

A literal reading of the Bible left me with a callous, flawed, vengeful, and mean-spirited god. This didn't mesh with my views of a loving God (my views at the time). So I looked for a way of finding what I meant by god and what that god's qualities were. Started off within Christianity (basically I just left southern baptism first) in order to find a more interpretative view of the Bible, only to realize that if the Bible required interpretation then there was no way of discerning objective truth from it since anyone can interpret the Bible differently (including literally), regardless of their status (considered an authority or not). With no objective standard to compare my interpretation to (since even a cursory glance at the facts refute a literal interpretation), I realized the Bible was indistinguishable from fiction. Then I realized that's what it effectively is (mythology).

Cheers
TheBeardedDude

If everything you read requires interpretation and therefore can't be trusted, your reasoning would be an infinite regress, and nothing could ever be known.

Regardless, what do you mean by interpretation? Do you think that the plan of salvation outlined in the NT and the subsequent instructions for Christian living is open to different meanings?  This is the definition of being a Christian and is pretty easy to find in the NT. It seems you have extrapolated your feeling on certain passages in the OT to the NT. What justified that conclusion?

[JackRussell]

I was born into a secular Jewish household, although my Dad had to convert, his family were Welsh Methodists. Converted to keep grandparents happily despite my Mum and Dad being lifelong atheists.

I have never been religious remotely, and wasn't particularly interested in religion growing up in London. But I then lived for a long time in Alberta Canada and Texas, USA. In both these places I was amazed by the sniffling nature of the surrounding religious groups and the power and wealth that they were able to wield. I got particularly annoyed when I started meeting creationists and could not believe the level of BS they were spouting and the corruption of the scientific education they want to foist on the young.

In Texas, I had to help protect women from abuse when they were going to one of the very few places for the abortion of an unwanted foetus. The vitriol hurled at these poor women, or the cloying and tawdry faux humility made me want to puke.

Anywho, always been an atheist, enjoy chatting with people. And you would never believe I am of Jewish ancestry cos' I look like a poster child for the third reich, blonde haired, blue-eyed and tall. So I guess somewhere in my past something interesting happened.

Hey-ho!