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Why do you not believe in the concept of a God?
#31
RE: Why do you not believe in the concept of a God?
(June 1, 2021 at 9:10 am)johndoe122931 Wrote: I made an earlier post called “Why do you hate God”, and needless to say I was quickly and rightfully corrected as to how I structured the question and the incoherent post that followed. For all that responded I thank you for your positive criticism of it and how I can better word my comments.

Now my intent in all this is that I really want to hear from you all as individuals as to why you do not believe in a God or more accurately the concept of a God. I would like to hear what we as Christians call your “testimony” or story as to why you came to the conclusion that you have.

I know there is a list a mile long as to reasons why people do not believe and that’s great, but I am more interested in hearing from the individual as to why they personally do not. What lead you to become an atheist? Were you a believer before you became an atheist? What happened to cause you to turn away from your faith? What religion or God did you follow before you became an atheist if any at all? When you turned away from God what did your friends and family say or do?

I am interested to hear the impact it had on your life. Was it a positive one or a negative one? Are you still struggling with the outcome of your choice? How does it feel to be free from such ideologies and beliefs?

I know there are multiple questions involved with this, but they all together form the story of your personal choice and I think it to be better framed in this way instead of making multiple threads to get the same answer.

I thank you all for your patience and understanding and please feel free to correct me when necessary, on how I can better understand and communicate more efficiently. Thank you for your time!

Welcome to the forum, brother. I was an evangelical Christian and was very serious about my religion. I prayed multiple times a day, all throughout the day. Sometimes my parents would take my brothers and I to church 3 or 4 days a week. My acne got so bad as a teenager, and I didn't think it was fair that Yahweh was putting this on me, the good little Christian who was doing things right. One day I cursed out God and told him in a prayer that it seemed to me like he wasn't listening, so I stopped praying that day. It sort of built up over the course of a few months where my prayers to God started getting less and less respectful on my part. My parents had always told me that satan would give you the world if you traded your soul, and I was so distraught about my bad skin that I tried that out. I prayed to satan just once, but nothing happened. I'm in my 30s now and I still have the acne. It's here for life.

After my Christian de-conversion, I looked into Buddhism a bit and tried to hold onto the idea of an afterlife. That didn't last long. I started watching some atheist stuff like Dawkins and soon enough I was convinced that there was probably no afterlife. It stung to come to this realization, and it was scary, but I couldn't help but accept the logic behind it.

My parents didn't like it at all, but they pretty much accepted it. They tried to talk me out of the atheism for a number of years, which is fine with me. I don't mind those kind of discussions or get bothered by them.

Did it have a positive or negative impact on my life? Sometimes I think ignorance is bliss and it would be nice to think that you're going to paradise after you die, but I am happy I de-converted because then I was free to explore and discover without the chains.

Why do I reject the concept of a god? If god didn't need to be designed or created, then neither does our universe or any other universe, as far as I'm concerned. I don't necessarily reject the concept of a designer. We could be living in a computer game made in someone's basement. In that case, I guess you could call the designer God if you really wanted to. The idea of a supernatural god is just not an idea that adds up in my head though.
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#32
RE: Why do you not believe in the concept of a God?
(June 1, 2021 at 12:50 pm)zebo-the-fat Wrote: Atheism is a conclusion not a belief

A conclusion is a belief.

You believe that your conclusion is true.
Reply
#33
RE: Why do you not believe in the concept of a God?
I gave a bit of my story if the "why do you hate god" thread.

Becoming atheist has been extremely positive. The cognitive dissonance required to believe both science and the Christian story (fall of man, redemption by blood by a god-man, judgment and world destruction) causes a stress that I didn't realize until I was unburdened by it.

I also find that I am free to ask my own questions about the meaning of life, and to find tentative answers that do conform to everything I think I know.

It may be hard for some theists to hear, but God really isn't important to an atheist. There isn't some "THERE ARE NO GODS" belief that all other beliefs are attached to. There are beliefs about science, cosmology, ethics, and my own personal values. They change every so often as I learn new things or have new life experiences. If convincing evidence of a god were to surface, I would be fine with that -- no big deal (I just find the concept unlikely and unreasonable)
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#34
RE: Why do you not believe in the concept of a God?
(June 1, 2021 at 9:10 am)johndoe122931 Wrote: I made an earlier post called “Why do you hate God”, and needless to say I was quickly and rightfully corrected as to how I structured the question and the incoherent post that followed. For all that responded I thank you for your positive criticism of it and how I can better word my comments.

Now my intent in all this is that I really want to hear from you all as individuals as to why you do not believe in a God or more accurately the concept of a God. I would like to hear what we as Christians call your “testimony” or story as to why you came to the conclusion that you have.

I know there is a list a mile long as to reasons why people do not believe and that’s great, but I am more interested in hearing from the individual as to why they personally do not. What lead you to become an atheist? Were you a believer before you became an atheist? What happened to cause you to turn away from your faith? What religion or God did you follow before you became an atheist if any at all? When you turned away from God what did your friends and family say or do?

I am interested to hear the impact it had on your life. Was it a positive one or a negative one? Are you still struggling with the outcome of your choice? How does it feel to be free from such ideologies and beliefs?

I know there are multiple questions involved with this, but they all together form the story of your personal choice and I think it to be better framed in this way instead of making multiple threads to get the same answer.

I thank you all for your patience and understanding and please feel free to correct me when necessary, on how I can better understand and communicate more efficiently. Thank you for your time!

Hello johndoe122931. Smile

1) "Why you do not believe in a God or more accurately the concept of a God?"

I see no coherant concepts (So far) of or as to any dietys. Hence I 'Lack a belief in any diety.' Great 

2) "What lead you to become an atheist?"

Socially and personally organized religion was never a huge 'Thing' in my life. The ideas and concepts introduced to me simply did not seem to match the reality I excisted in or was learning about. So I've always been (To different degrees of 'Hard' and 'Soft') a 'Non-theist'.   Great 


3) "What religion or God did you follow before you became an atheist?"

Roman Catholicism.



(4) "What did your friends and family say or do?"

Nothing?  


(5) "What impact it had on your life. Was it a positive one or a negative one?"

No impact and a neutral impact.

(6) (a) "Are you still struggling with the outcome of your choice? (b) How does it feel to be free from such ideologies and beliefs?"

(a) No.
(b) I was never 'Beholden' or 'Wrapped up' in my religious ideas/beliefs hence... I suppose I've always been 'Free'?

(7) "Thank you for your time!"

You're most welcome.

Cheers.
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#35
RE: Why do you not believe in the concept of a God?
(June 1, 2021 at 12:36 pm)johndoe122931 Wrote:
(June 1, 2021 at 12:06 pm)Brian37 Wrote: Ok, if you want people to speak for themselves as individuals, AWESOME. Then you should also then understand why you can't call "atheist" a "worldview."
Yes, I understand that. That is why I asked for clarification before when another individual objected to my use of that term, but I received no input as to how one would like for me to describe the said view. My reasoning is that it is how one views the world or their reality. If you want to get picky with words that's fine, but please instead of just telling me not to use it give me another way to refer to it. Thank you!

(June 1, 2021 at 12:21 pm)Mister Agenda Wrote: I'm a guess that it's because the question of why you hate God was a different thread.

To be pedantic I believe in the concept of God, I just don't believe the concept is correct or refers to anything outside of the human mind. I suppose a major turning point was taking classes on world religions and logical fallacies in the same semester (in my mid thirties). Hilarity ensued.
Good morning Mister Agenda,

I do apologize I am just trying my best to stay within the guidelines, rules, and regulations on how we must conduct ourselves within these threads. I don't mean to be difficult I'm just trying to do what is right and respect the forums and everybody in them. Thank you for your post!

(June 1, 2021 at 12:35 pm)purplepurpose Wrote: God has His plan, His will. Those who want to follow Him, must abandon their plans and will. And thats isn't something I'm willing to do.
Why?

(June 1, 2021 at 6:36 pm)Belacqua Wrote:
(June 1, 2021 at 12:50 pm)zebo-the-fat Wrote: Atheism is a conclusion not a belief

A conclusion is a belief.

You believe that your conclusion is true.
no.
"For the only way to eternal glory is a life lived in service of our Lord, FSM; Verily it is FSM who is the perfect being the name higher than all names, king of all kings and will bestow upon us all, one day, The great reclaiming"  -The Prophet Boiardi-

      Conservative trigger warning.
[Image: s-l640.jpg]
                                                                                         
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#36
RE: Why do you not believe in the concept of a God?
(June 1, 2021 at 9:10 am)johndoe122931 Wrote: Why do you not believe in the concept of a God?

Because the concept of a God is not a defined thing, so it is impossible to believe in something that is not defined. Like what is God? What are Gods? The question could hardly be any simpler, but the answer is strangely elusive. Do you know? I’m not sure I do.
That this question ought to be considered among the most important of all, yet most people sail right by it.

Let’s consider what makes a god. Are they all supernatural? Are they all immortal? Can all of them fly, or only some? Can they walk through walls? Can they read our thoughts? Do they know the future? Can a god have mental and physical frailties? Can a human become a god? Can a god become a human? What is it that makes someone or something a god in our eyes? What is a god?

And it seems that all Gods of today are debunked, including one of Christianity. When natural selection and evolution of man were discovered, it turned out that Adam didn't exist, and if he didn't exist there was no original sin and no need for Jesus.

So to be honest, today that question "Why do you not believe in the concept of a God?" seems on the same level as "Why do you not believe that Earth is flat?" -- there is too much evidence pointing the other way.
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
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#37
RE: Why do you not believe in the concept of a God?
(June 1, 2021 at 6:29 pm)Irreligious Atheist Wrote:
(June 1, 2021 at 9:10 am)johndoe122931 Wrote: I made an earlier post called “Why do you hate God”, and needless to say I was quickly and rightfully corrected as to how I structured the question and the incoherent post that followed. For all that responded I thank you for your positive criticism of it and how I can better word my comments.

Now my intent in all this is that I really want to hear from you all as individuals as to why you do not believe in a God or more accurately the concept of a God. I would like to hear what we as Christians call your “testimony” or story as to why you came to the conclusion that you have.

I know there is a list a mile long as to reasons why people do not believe and that’s great, but I am more interested in hearing from the individual as to why they personally do not. What lead you to become an atheist? Were you a believer before you became an atheist? What happened to cause you to turn away from your faith? What religion or God did you follow before you became an atheist if any at all? When you turned away from God what did your friends and family say or do?

I am interested to hear the impact it had on your life. Was it a positive one or a negative one? Are you still struggling with the outcome of your choice? How does it feel to be free from such ideologies and beliefs?

I know there are multiple questions involved with this, but they all together form the story of your personal choice and I think it to be better framed in this way instead of making multiple threads to get the same answer.

I thank you all for your patience and understanding and please feel free to correct me when necessary, on how I can better understand and communicate more efficiently. Thank you for your time!

Welcome to the forum, brother. I was an evangelical Christian and was very serious about my religion. I prayed multiple times a day, all throughout the day. Sometimes my parents would take my brothers and I to church 3 or 4 days a week. My acne got so bad as a teenager, and I didn't think it was fair that Yahweh was putting this on me, the good little Christian who was doing things right. One day I cursed out God and told him in a prayer that it seemed to me like he wasn't listening, so I stopped praying that day. It sort of built up over the course of a few months where my prayers to God started getting less and less respectful on my part. My parents had always told me that satan would give you the world if you traded your soul, and I was so distraught about my bad skin that I tried that out. I prayed to satan just once, but nothing happened. I'm in my 30s now and I still have the acne. It's here for life.

After my Christian de-conversion, I looked into Buddhism a bit and tried to hold onto the idea of an afterlife. That didn't last long. I started watching some atheist stuff like Dawkins and soon enough I was convinced that there was probably no afterlife. It stung to come to this realization, and it was scary, but I couldn't help but accept the logic behind it.

My parents didn't like it at all, but they pretty much accepted it. They tried to talk me out of the atheism for a number of years, which is fine with me. I don't mind those kind of discussions or get bothered by them.

Did it have a positive or negative impact on my life? Sometimes I think ignorance is bliss and it would be nice to think that you're going to paradise after you die, but I am happy I de-converted because then I was free to explore and discover without the chains.

Why do I reject the concept of a god? If god didn't need to be designed or created, then neither does our universe or any other universe, as far as I'm concerned. I don't necessarily reject the concept of a designer. We could be living in a computer game made in someone's basement. In that case, I guess you could call the designer God if you really wanted to. The idea of a supernatural god is just not an idea that adds up in my head though.
Good evening Irreligious Atheist,

Thank you for sharing your story I really appreciate it. I was curious if you still spoke with your family? Do you still have a positive relationship with them? Also, I was wondering you said that you were free to explore and discover without the chains. I can assume the chains are in reference to your belief in God, so what were you free to explore and discover now that you were not able to do while being a Christian. Thank you again for your time!

(June 2, 2021 at 1:39 am)Fake Messiah Wrote:
(June 1, 2021 at 9:10 am)johndoe122931 Wrote: Why do you not believe in the concept of a God?

Because the concept of a God is not a defined thing, so it is impossible to believe in something that is not defined. Like what is God? What are Gods? The question could hardly be any simpler, but the answer is strangely elusive. Do you know? I’m not sure I do.
That this question ought to be considered among the most important of all, yet most people sail right by it.

Let’s consider what makes a god. Are they all supernatural? Are they all immortal? Can all of them fly, or only some? Can they walk through walls? Can they read our thoughts? Do they know the future? Can a god have mental and physical frailties? Can a human become a god? Can a god become a human? What is it that makes someone or something a god in our eyes? What is a god?

And it seems that all Gods of today are debunked, including one of Christianity. When natural selection and evolution of man were discovered, it turned out that Adam didn't exist, and if he didn't exist there was no original sin and no need for Jesus.

So to be honest, today that question "Why do you not believe in the concept of a God?" seems on the same level as "Why do you not believe that Earth is flat?" -- there is too much evidence pointing the other way.
Good Evening Fake Messiah,

Very good questions. I really enjoy seeing these types of questions because even as a Christain these are things we must consider and ponder, or more accurately meditate on. I have with much reading and studying found the answers to the questions you seek, they are out there. Yet, as yourself being an atheist and most atheist that I have seen here I think studying scripture for you is more akin to studying the lore of your favorite book or television show, such as Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. This is an assumption of course, yet from what I have gathered most see the Bible and God as fictional characters much like the aforementioned novels, please correct me if I am wrong in this. There is background info out there on these subjects if you are interested. Thank you for your post it is much appreciated!
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#38
RE: Why do you not believe in the concept of a God?
(June 1, 2021 at 11:49 am)Angrboda Wrote: I lost my belief in the Christian god before my teen years.  I don't know why, I just no longer believed.  In my middle years I became a follower of the Hindu god Kali.  Something about her resonated with me.  A few years ago, I decided that I wanted to become more serious about my Shaktism.  But in considering what to take and what to leave in the vast collection of Hindu god stories, I realized that none of the ways of choosing what to incorporate into my belief were reliable ways of arriving at the truth.  And the reliable ways of knowing the truth, were silent in the face of the question.  I had no reliable way to decide what to believe.  Many unreliable paths led to the goddess.  None of the reliable ones did.  Nothing that I believed had a reliable foundation, and so I lost interest in those beliefs.
Good evening Angrboda,

Thank you for sharing your story with us! I was wondering, What is it that you found positive in your worship to Kali? Did you ritually practice or just in the name so to say. Are you fully atheist now or have you found another form of belief since? Thanks for your time!
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#39
RE: Why do you not believe in the concept of a God?
(June 2, 2021 at 1:43 am)johndoe122931 Wrote: fictional characters

Just out of curiosity, do read every page of the Bible as literal reportage? Are you OK with taking it as symbolic? 

That is, does your Christianity require that Adam and Eve are historical figures rather than myth?

Pardon me if this is nosey.
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#40
RE: Why do you not believe in the concept of a God?
(June 2, 2021 at 3:25 am)Belacqua Wrote:
(June 2, 2021 at 1:43 am)johndoe122931 Wrote: fictional characters

Just out of curiosity, do read every page of the Bible as literal reportage? Are you OK with taking it as symbolic? 

That is, does your Christianity require that Adam and Eve are historical figures rather than myth?

Pardon me if this is nosey.

I will give a short answer to keep within the guidelines.

No, nobody can take the entire Bible literally, it is not meant to be taken completely literally. For example, when Jesus refers to Himself as the door, He doesn't literally mean that He is a door with a knob and 3 hinges.
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