Is being an atheist important to you?

[EgoDeath]

I don't think faries exist either, is that also an important part of my life. To me they are equivalent.

Yet, we don’t see you on an “afariest” forum, gathering together in groups of “afariest”, or even feeling compelled to use any such label to identify who you are..

Because enough time has passed for people to realize that there's no reason to actually believe that fairies exist. Just as enough time has passed for people to realize that Zeus is just a myth. A little more time will pass and eventually Christianity will enter into the "Religious Mythology" category.

Also, how is it so hard for you to believe that some people simply don't think about the fact that they're atheists? I mean, they're right here telling you, "It's not important to me" and instead of simply taking their word for it, you ramble on about brain scans which you've yet to cite your source for. Are you just disingenuous on purpose or are you really that stupid? I honestly don't believe you're that dumb, do let's see some sources that you feel back your claims, or you can kindly take your nonsense elsewhere.

[Acrobat]

It doesn’t matter why it’s important to you, or why you feel compelled to identify as atheists, even if it’s because religious people have pushed you to form an identity around atheism, the fact remains it’s a part of your identity, even if formed as reactionary.

Perhaps in the future this would be different for other unbelievers, but currently this is not the case.

So, as usual, you have no point and only want to deflect.

I wasn’t deflecting, all I stated was that atheism is important to people’s identities as atheism. I didn’t say there’s anything wrong with it, or that it isn’t justified.

Nor do I deny that much of it, is formed as a reaction or opposition to theism and religious views, which it is.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I thank god I've always been an atheist.

[Acrobat]

Yet, we don’t see you on an “afariest” forum, gathering together in groups of “afariest”, or even feeling compelled to use any such label to identify who you are..

Because enough time has passed for people to realize that there's no reason to actually believe that fairies exist. Just as enough time has passed for people to realize that Zeus is just a myth. A little more time will pass and eventually Christianity will enter into the "Religious Mythology" category.

Also, how is it so hard for you to believe that some people simply don't think about the fact that they're atheists? I mean, they're right here telling you, "It's not important to me" and instead of simply taking their word for it, you ramble on about brain scans which you've yet to cite your source for. Are you just disingenuous on purpose or are you really that stupid? I honestly don't believe you're that dumb, do let's see some sources that you feel back your claims, or you can kindly take your nonsense elsewhere.

People have been saying that for a very long time, yet religions as a global phenomenon has been going strong, while it might be on the decline in the west, it’s growing in places like China, Africa, etc...

Secondly even in the west were the trend is a rejection of traditional religions, this generally doesn’t correspond to atheism, but a sort benign new age woo, of folks like Opera, and Gwenyth Paltrow, and Deepak Chopra, Jordan Peterson, etc...

In fact it seems that while the four horsemen and stuff were prominent figures a decade ago, they’ve all pretty much faded away, or been plagued by some sex scandal. They” same demographic that was once the heart of atheism, white males, have shifted to new arenas, such as anti-feminism, and anti-pc culture, often aligning themselves with conservatives.

---

Yet, we don’t see you on an “afariest” forum, gathering together in groups of “afariest”, or even feeling compelled to use any such label to identify who you are..

Because enough time has passed for people to realize that there's no reason to actually believe that fairies exist. Just as enough time has passed for people to realize that Zeus is just a myth. A little more time will pass and eventually Christianity will enter into the "Religious Mythology" category.

Also, how is it so hard for you to believe that some people simply don't think about the fact that they're atheists? I mean, they're right here telling you, "It's not important to me" and instead of simply taking their word for it, you ramble on about brain scans which you've yet to cite your source for. Are you just disingenuous on purpose or are you really that stupid? I honestly don't believe you're that dumb, do let's see some sources that you feel back your claims, or you can kindly take your nonsense elsewhere.

People are horrible at self reporting. But brain scans suggest otherwise, similiar regions of the brain light up when confirming one’s theistic or atheistic beliefs, areas corresponding to our sense of self. Our rewards center also light up when doing so.

It also doesn’t take a genius, to realize that atheists often see themselves as very different than their religious counterparts,as clear, rational thinkers, compared to the rest of humanity whose deluded, and believes in fairy tales and myths, they alone possess the truth. That’s a pretty distinct sense of self.

[EgoDeath]

Because enough time has passed for people to realize that there's no reason to actually believe that fairies exist. Just as enough time has passed for people to realize that Zeus is just a myth. A little more time will pass and eventually Christianity will enter into the "Religious Mythology" category.

Also, how is it so hard for you to believe that some people simply don't think about the fact that they're atheists? I mean, they're right here telling you, "It's not important to me" and instead of simply taking their word for it, you ramble on about brain scans which you've yet to cite your source for. Are you just disingenuous on purpose or are you really that stupid? I honestly don't believe you're that dumb, do let's see some sources that you feel back your claims, or you can kindly take your nonsense elsewhere.

People have been saying that for a very long time, yet religions as a global phenomenon has been going strong, while it might be on the decline in the west, it’s growing in places like China, Africa, etc...

Secondly even in the west were the trend is a rejection of traditional religions, this generally doesn’t correspond to atheism, but a sort benign new age woo, of folks like Opera, and Gwenyth Paltrow, and Deepak Chopra, Jordan Peterson, etc...

In fact it seems that while the four horsemen and stuff were prominent figures a decade ago, they’ve all pretty much faded away, or been plagued by some sex scandal. They” same demographic that was once the heart of atheism, white males, have shifted to new arenas, such as anti-feminism, and anti-pc culture, often aligning themselves with conservatives.

---

Because enough time has passed for people to realize that there's no reason to actually believe that fairies exist. Just as enough time has passed for people to realize that Zeus is just a myth. A little more time will pass and eventually Christianity will enter into the "Religious Mythology" category.

Also, how is it so hard for you to believe that some people simply don't think about the fact that they're atheists? I mean, they're right here telling you, "It's not important to me" and instead of simply taking their word for it, you ramble on about brain scans which you've yet to cite your source for. Are you just disingenuous on purpose or are you really that stupid? I honestly don't believe you're that dumb, do let's see some sources that you feel back your claims, or you can kindly take your nonsense elsewhere.

People are horrible at self reporting. But brain scans suggest otherwise, similiar regions of the brain light up when confirming one’s theistic or atheistic beliefs, areas corresponding to our sense of self. Our rewards center also light up when doing so.

It also doesn’t take a genius, to realize that atheists often see themselves as very different than their religious counterparts,as clear, rational thinkers, compared to the rest of humanity whose deluded, and believes in fairy tales and myths, they alone possess the truth. That’s a pretty distinct sense of self.

You ramble on and on without providing any sources to back your claims. You have been disingenuous in this thread and in many others... When will it stop?

Today's Christians would've been considered heretics and burned at the stake in Europe or hanged here in the US just a couple of hundred years ago. As churches grow more and more desperate to fill their pews, they resort to doing things that would be considered sinful and blasphemous in past times. People are less religious in America today and that's a fact. This is even something often discussed in Christian churches today, as many Christians complain about the world around them becoming less and less about Jesus and more about themselves. The more time that passes, the more people that will stop identifying as religious, and the more Christians that will become less and less to devoted to the very book they claim to believe in. Rational, logical thought cannot be escaped. 

Also, I'm not claiming that atheists are all that different from theists. We're not. We simply don't believe in bronze age fairy tales that have little to no basis in reality concerning an imaginary deity that does not exist.

What the fuck are you babbling about?

Show sources to back up your claims about brain scans or please shut up. Even IF what you are saying is true, and you DO have sources to back your claims, that's not saying anything about the importance of atheism to that person, simply that the same part of the brain is used to think about the subject as in a theist's brain. Are you deluded? What are you talking about?

Also, the fact that places like Africa, where there are countries where vast amounts of people don't even have clean drinking water, are becoming more religious, does not concern me in the least bit.

[no one]

No. Not at all. Labels do not define me.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

No. Not at all. Labels do not define me.

For non-casual conversation I say "I am atheistic", not "I am an atheist". By the same token I say "I am diabetic", not "I am a diabetic". Phrasing!

[viocjit]

Become an Atheist changed my life because I stopped to believe in wrong beliefs.

My name is Anthony and I'm a Frenchman who lives in the region called  "Île-de-France" in French.
I'm in my twenties.


When I was four years old I became Christian , to be more accurate I can say that at this period of my lifetime I didn't know that I was a "cafeteria catholic".
I became Christian because I believed that God was talking to me (emotionally and not with words) and that he had given me a mission that I'd discover later.
At the end of 90's I wanted to be baptised to be a better Catholic (I was never baptised thanks to my mother and father leaving the choice to me).

Between my conversion and my deconversion I felt guilty because I was an "agnostic theist".
I fear hell nearly my whole life because one day I understood that Catholicism isn't the right denomination.
Therefore I looked for the right denomination and now I know that all of them are false because Christianity isn't the right religion like all religions from our world.
Also I fear hell because I thought that I was a sinner. I'm happy to say that sin doesn't exist.

At the age of eight I discovered the theory of evolution therefore I thought that Genesis is only an allegory.
I became a conspiracy theorist because since the age of four , I had the sensation that I was chosen by the creator to do and make something  really important for the future of humanity (I was probably trapped by my ego).
These videos and texts about conspiracy theories seemed logic to me.

I believed I had received a kind of revelation like "here is your mission".
I discovered conspiracy theories when I began to view pro-psy (astral projection, telekinesis, telepathy, etc...) and esoteric websites because I wanted to improve my spirituality when I was between 10-11 years old.

I really became really a conspiracy theorist when I was between 12-14 years old.
I stopped looking into psy and esoterism between 14-15 years old because I thought that it was a sin.

At the age of 16 years old I read the whole Bible and I understood that Christians don't practice all the laws of the eternal. I felt guilty.
Also I was shocked by the content of the OT.
The Bible seemed to me a book of non-sense because the organisation of each of these texts are not really understandable.
I saw contradictions in the synoptic Gospels but I still continue to believe for emotional reasons.

Some years later I discovered that texts from biblical corpus contain interpolation like John 7:53-8:11. I still continued to believe because I feared hell and I thought that god let the forgers act because of the existence of "free will" (Now I know that neurology say that free will is rather an illusion).
Some years before discovered this fact I discovered that Jesus has similarities with others mythological characters but I thought that Satan inspired the writers of pagan myths.
In 2013 at the age of 19 years old I discovered that many biblical events like Exodus never happened.

Keys to better understand my story :
1.In my family people are not really religious (cafeteria catholicism).
2.I tried to be a better Christian because in my family people are cafeteria catholics and I was very interested in religion. Also I can cite the fear of hell.
3.I was between 14 and 15 years old the last time I went in a church.
4.I was never baptised because I doubted my whole life and I desired being honest with the master of the universe. Before being an Agnostic and now an Atheist . I was an Agnostic theist.
5.I looked for the right Christian denomination nearly my whole life. All of them appeared to me disconnect to the reality.
6.I went to church approximately between 7 and 15 time in my life.

Before my deconversion in 2013 my goal was to be a good Christian to avoid the Hell.
Now I know that I lived in a delusion nearby my whole life.

Viocjit , Atheist , ex-conspiracy theorist and ex-Christian.

[Alan V]

My atheism is important to me because it was so hard-won. And I find I have much more of interest to talk about with atheists than I have found with any other groups I've been involved with.

So for me, being an "atheist" is a social identity now -- though I suppose I could call myself a "skeptic" instead, with the same results.

[EgoDeath]

My atheism is important to me because it was so hard-won.  And I find I have much more of interest to talk about with atheists than I have found with any other groups I've been involved with.  

So for me, being an "atheist" is a social identity now -- though I suppose I could call myself a "skeptic" instead, with the same results.

I feel the same; that I tend to click much better with atheists than with any other group. Even with my friends who are atheists, the subject of god almost never comes up. It's a non-issue for the most part, so maybe a better question would be, "Is being a skeptic important to you?"