atheist

hi guys i was just wondering what do you thing about religions...and whats your religion?

not racist or something...just curious.

I'm a christian, but it's not about religion it's about my relationship with Christ.

I was raised in the church, not strict, but I was there every time the doors were opened.

During college, I gave up on religion. I still believed in a higher power but didn't attend organized churches. I didn't attend for about 12 years.

Within the past year though, I have started going again. Mostly, because I like being around the people with the same beliefs for the most part. I was in a relationship where my girlfriend was pretty much an athiest and that did cause some issues. If a person and a dog were crossing the street and she was in a car and had to choose which one to run over, she would run over the person and save the dog She had no faith in people and to me, that was NOT a good thing. So I started attending services again, have made some really great friends, good people, good contacts for jobs, etc.

Religion is a very personal choice and each person has to decide what they want to pursue. Just keep an open mind is all I can say.

I personally, dont believe in organized religion. But I do not deny the fact that there might be a higher power we cannot yet understand.

I don't have any religion. I am a minimal atheist. As far as relationships go, this has caused me a lot of trouble. I have always kept my atheism to myself and I have been non-confrontational about it. It is a subject I will never raise myself, since religious differences are quite likely to cause heated arguments and you are exceptionally unlikely to get anywhere during these arguments as well. In any case, I respect other people's rights to whatever religion they want - but for my own part as an atheist, a couple of Christians I have known have shown no respect for my point of view whatsoever. I was recently very close friends with a couple of Christians. I never went on about atheism at all, but one of the friends particularly just went on and on and on and on about Christianity. In the end I confronted that friend and told them I had had enough and how would they feel if I continually "preached" atheism to them? Anyway, that friendship ended mainly as a result of that. The second friend followed in defence of the first friend!

I think in future I'll have to take other people's religion into consideration even when I try to make friends, let alone try to embark on a relationship.

PS: I was a Christian until I was 16. Like anyone else of my generation I went to Sunday School for quite a few years and got confirmed, etc. Went to church every week and school chaple services every week, Divinity classes each week, etc. I started questioning it all in my late teens but it took me many years to finally answer the question in my own mind.

I guess I should clarify reading one of the posts above that true atheists such as myself have no beliefs or faith at all. So in the example of the person wanting to run over the person instead of the dog...well to me that just sounds like the way that particular person saw that particular case. It's not an atheism thing as such. In my own case I judge all life situations on their own merits and I make decisions about them accordingly.

I definetly agree with the fact that you have to keep an open mind with religion. Personaly, I am more focused spiritually than religiously, although I do believe in Christ. I don't attend a church regularly, due to the fact that the churches in my area tend to be too black and white, very closed-minded, and push their beleifs onto others. A friend's church had even once told me that I will go to hell if I don't believe in some of the things they believed in, which in my mind was not very Christian-like. I like to interpret things my own way. I've been thinking about this a lot lately and I think that we were created to evolve. I believe in both evolution (although, I disagree that we evolved from monkeys) and in Christ. So in other words, just because the Bible is a very good guide in how we should live our life, there are some things I disagree with. Times have changed so much, to where I rarely cite the Bible. (I also believe that some parts of the Bible were misenterpreted or are hyporcritical towards other parts of the Bible). For instances, I don't think that a woman should submit to their husband just because they're married (she should want to, but she doesn't HAVE to) or that slaves should accept the fact that they're slaves and do whatever their "owners" say for them to do. I love learning about other religions and taking bits and pieces from there (not in believe in their God's, but in some of their ideals and morals). I shape my beleifs around what I truly agree with, rather than having a specific religion shape my beleifs. And I think finding a morale and happy way of life while appreciating what we were given is truly what God had intended.

Religion has always been something that I've been deeply interested in, although I've never been very religious. In my family we never really went to to church at all...in fact I went to a friends church a few times just for fun and because I was interested.

I find that I have a hard time believing in an all powerful being watching over us all the time. But it's also hard to discount some of the things that happen in this world (i.e. "miracles"). I suppose one would say I'm agnostic, but as lillady898 mentioned, I too have taken teachings from many different religions to come up with my own viewpoint on things.

One website I regularily visit when I am curious about something is Religious Tolerance (link removed). I find that they are a very good resource to read through if you are interested in a particular religion. For example, after the 9/11 attacks, I was interested to find out more about Islam and Muslims. It's interesting as it is namely a religion of peace and harmony...not warmongering or 'jihad' as the media likes to lead you to believe.

If you are questioning what you believe in or what path you want to follow, you may want to check out that site. I find them extremely unbiased, although some have expressed to me that they (the site) are a little harsh on Christianity. I, myself, find this hard to believe as one of the editors is a Christian, but we are all entitled to our own opinions.

At its core I believe that religions are used to define how a person or a group of people see the world, this is an anthropological perspective but thats how I see religions. I was raised Christian (even though I have issues with the meaning of the word I will use it here). I can say that a persons beliefs are their own. They are free to believe whatever they want to believe. I believe that most people today do not follow the true essense of what the intentions of the religions are instead they tend to focus on personal issues that they deemed to be important.

I like to study religion but I wouldnt consider myself a religious person.

Atheist, and very proud of it.

Was raised Catholic but was smart enough to always question the whole thing.

Started learning Science, Biology especially and Evolution in my early 20's and my questioning became even stronger. It all made sense to me and I saw how much of a brainwash religion is. It started because of ignorance and fear human beings had in those days.

With the advent of the internet I had this wealth of information at my fingertips, incredible websites like link removed and link removed that really opened my eyes.

Religion has nothing to do with morality. Values are based on common sense and caring for others. I see too many hypocritical and mean and greedy "religious people".

My daughters are being raised as atheists and they are excellent girls, respectful and loving and kind.

The older one is an a very intellectual environment in an Ivy League school and she told me everyone there is an atheist. I have found that the really smart people are agnostic or atheist. And very gullible people are deeply religious, like they need to believe in something.

Anyhow, I respect every religion, if it makes you happy. Just don't impose it on others!

agnostic. i believe that there is no way of knowing that any of these existing religions are at all accurate. basically, i'm atheist, but i believe that there is the possiblity that there is a higher being, there's just no way for me to possibly know. if that makes sense. i'm also against the religious moral beliefs of conservative christianity...i am a VERY liberal, democratic person.

i think that a lot of people form their idea of a god/godess around their own personal beliefs, because they would like to believe that whatever/whoever is "in charge" holds their same moral principles.

the tsunami made me even more agnostic/atheist. i don't know how any merciful god could let such a terrible thing happen to so many innocent people, showing that for all we know, this "god" could be a really terrible person, by normal human standards. how do we really know?

being against members of a religion is not racism...i think that it may be called bigotry...but i'm not sure.

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I'm a christian, but it's not about religion it's about my relationship with Christ.

I totally agree with this statement. I don't condone nor agree with Atheism. I pray that anyone who is lost can be delievered from this and come back to Christ and the Heavenly father! My Father is Buddhist and i'm still praying for him to let it go and come back. Atheist in my opinion is the easy way out, its the rebel inside of all of us. Anyone can be atheist but it takes a real strong person with faith to be a believer in God and Christ. I don't know how anyone could condone anything else.

It doesn't matter what religion you have, if any at all. What counts is that you believe in something. What counts is that you are a good person who does what is right and tries to make this world the best place it can be. What counts is that you are respectful, kind, considerate, and willing to help others. Does it matter if I go to a church, temple, or mosque? Does it matter if I pray to Jesus or Mohammad? Names, dates, places, faces may differ, but the message is still the same.

Personally, raised catholic. But I'm more of an eclectic hodgepodge of ideas that tries to find the similarites in all religions and focus on what we all have in common. Cause regardless the race, religion, gender, nationality, or anything else that divides us... we are all human and we are all one.

I am a deist. I believe that there is a God but I dont believe in organized religions. They are the biggest killer of mankind.

Definition of a deist

The belief, based solely on reason, in a God who created the universe and then abandoned it, assuming no control over life, exerting no influence on natural phenomena, and giving no supernatural revelation.

From link removed

ummm here it goes:

since i was young i mean like 6 years old when i was suppose to start to understand things about god and religion...i just i believed in god but not in religions i mean i never believed in humans.

but now that im grown or maybe just a little im clompetely atheist.i dunno why but i think that the things that happen make us change.

My biology teacher says im too young to decide that (she is almost the only good teacher at my school) but ...whatever...

Agnostic, but up until I was about 15-16 I was a Christian. I see nothing wrong with any particular faith actually. I could really care less what someone believes in, as long as he/ she doesn't push their ideologies on me or come at me preaching (tacky and presumptuous). I do however have some Buddhist beliefs though, but not nearly enough information about the faith in general to convert (I hear that you have to swear off mind-altering substances like alcohol and that wouldn't work for me, lol).

I gave Christianity a chance, even read most of the bible. There seem to be too many holes in religion, too many contradictions and bigotry ... I feel that it's absolutely impossible to follow a faith that seems so full of mistakes and confusion.

I gave up faith when I was taken to a church that resembled a Benny Hinn convention. The pastor was one of those mutants who call you up to the front and 'blow' on you, at which point you're expected to fall over/ start crying/ convulse, etc. It was seriously frightening and judging by the designer clothing that he and his wife were sporting, it didn't surprise me that I automatically took him for a fraud.

I pray that anyone who is lost can be delievered from this and come back to Christ and the Heavenly father! My Father is Buddhist and i'm still praying for him to let it go and come back. Atheist in my opinion is the easy way out, its the rebel inside of all of us.

From a standpoint of a good-hearted, honest person who has been "prayed for" because I didn't agree with everything a church was telling me, I think that praying for someone because they don't believe in your religion is wrong. It's like saying that they're bad because they have different beleifs, but if you pray for them they will be "good" since they'd maybe believe what you believe. If you pray for anything, pray for the truly bad things in life. Pray that a child will be rescued from a molestor, a family of a murdered victim will receive justice, or a wife will leave her abusive husband. But don't pray to change good-hearted people as if they are the evil.

Anyone can be atheist but it takes a real strong person with faith to be a believer in God and Christ.

If you didn't read some of the previous posts, many atheists overcame many obstacles that were caused by their beleifs. Regardless of what others tried to convince them of, they stuck by their beleifs. If that's not strength, I don't know what is. I have actually known many Christians who were cowardly.

I don't know how anyone could condone anything else.

Because if we didn't allow people to have their own religions and beleifs, it would be called communism. You do not have to agree with anything, and as long as people aren't hurting others (i.e. sacrafices or running planes into buildings aka terrorism), it shouldn't be looked down upon. As I stated before, a person shouldn't be looked down upon as a lesser human being because they don't believe in Jesus. I do believe in Jesus (lightly, however, not in all of the theories. I do believe he existed and was God's son), yet I love talking to those who have other beleifs. "Winning souls," in my eyes, was created by corrupt churches who were seeking power. They lost sight of the point of Christianity, which is first and foremost the relationship with God. I'm not a fan of evangelism.

Going to churches who told me a few of those things and forced their opinions on me were honestly a few of the things that drove me away from churches.

Keep an open-mind to all religions and never tell someone they are wrong for what they believe.

I pray that anyone who is lost can be delievered from this and come back to Christ and the Heavenly father! My Father is Buddhist and i'm still praying for him to let it go and come back. Atheist in my opinion is the easy way out, its the rebel inside of all of us.

I cannot speak for other atheists, since we are not a community as such and don't necessarily follow the same set of guidelines by which we live our lives. However, for me, personally, I would like to say that I think being an atheist is one of the most difficult things I have to live with and it represents a constant struggle to be accepted as a person. I see it as the antithesis of the easy way out.

As I said in my original post, I have lost two wonderful friends on account of my atheism. One of these two friends would continually pray for me in relation to our friendship. Her references to her religion in direct context with our relationship began to permeate all our correspondence. It got to the point where I simply had to tell her I had had enough. I explained to her that I never mentioned my lack of beliefs constantly to her. I never ever attempted to persuade her to question her beliefs - in fact I only mentioned them once when she asked (early on in the friendship). I also told her I was fully supportive of her beliefs - just that I did not share them. It seems, however, that after my friend became aware that I was not going to convert to Christianity, our friendship cooled and ultimately fell apart. She backed off, became ambivalent, flippant and cold-hearted. Her friend followed in suit, since they shared the same beliefs. I wrote to the friend I lost telling her I would welcome them back at any time with all my love - but I have lost that friend forever now because I am not a Christian. She was the best friend I ever had and all I wanted was for her to stop going on about her religion all the time and to stop praying for me all the time. The reasons for this were very well expressed by lilady898 in her previous post. What made losing that friendship incredibly ironic is that she would always tell me that I was a better, more caring, more selfless and more loving person than any other Christian she knew.

Additionally, I have had difficulty landing some jobs. There are certain Christian organisations around that have subsidiaries in the business world. An example of this was a service provider who helped placed unemployed people into work. I had been unemployed myself, and was offered a position with one of these subsidiaries. I think it is a wonderful thing to be supportive of unemployed people and to help place them into the workforce. But my acceptance of the job was conditional of my being Christian, not atheist. As a result I missed out on the position because I did not have religious beliefs.

The two stories above are practical examples of how being an atheist is an extremely difficult thing in today's society.

Onto some other reasons why I don't think atheism is the easy way out. I was a Christian between the ages of around 8 (when we were first introduced to the subject) until the age of 16. I know what it was like. It was a wonderful life. I felt protected by God, I felt a certain degree of infallability in that when things became difficult, God would always be there for me. It was a very secure feeling knowing that I could always refer to God in bad and good times alike. Additionally, I knew that I would be blessed with eternal life, rather than the alternative. Between the ages of 17 and 35, I questioned this. I guess you could say for that period I was agnostic. And I questioned the subject with a lot of determination. I did not brush it under the carpet - I wanted answers and I spent a good proportion of my free time during those years looking for them. To me, the easy way out would have been to simply dismiss it and forget that the whole question ever existed. But I didn't - I worked hard on the question in my own mind for 18 years until I felt comfortable to declare myself a minimal atheist.

So if anything, I think I have given the subject an incredible amount of attention and thought. To spend all that time on the question was no easy way out for me at all. I tore at myself for years and years trying to come to an answer to the question that I could be comfortable with. And now what do I have? Well, I don't believe in the existence of any God, so for me there is no higher being there to support me, love me and guide me. I am on my own and I have to face everything in life on my own so to speak. And, according to Christian beliefs, I am not going to go to Heaven either. So really, for me, I have had to settle on a pretty poor alternative to Christianity. I have had difficulty getting work, I am often lonely, I have lost friendships and the possibility of a wonderful relationship because of my lack of beliefs.

As far as I am concered, that isn't easy at all - it is very tough. In my country, only 16% of people count themselves as atheist, so I am in a minority group. That makes it even harder again. I don't go preaching atheism (there is nothing to actually preach anyway) - I respect other people's religions except for those "outlaw" extremist groups on the very fringe of religious fanaticism. And they of course are the smallest minority of all. But another thing that makes being an athiest so tough is that Christians are constantly forcing their ideals onto me and they won't accept me, even though I stay neutral on the matter unless put into a corner from which I can't extracate myself.

For all the trails and tribulations of being an atheist, believe me when I say I would much rather be able to believe that there is a God. It really would make my life much easier and happier.

Religion is a very personal thing and the committment to whichever your choice is should be respected--- I think I have a rather unique view of god and one that I don't care to share on here.

I would never tell someone that I would pray for them because "they are lost." I would feel self-righteous and presumptuous. I would pray for others because I care for them and wish them well.

I think Mr. Cactus has the right idea when he says : I don't go preaching atheism (there is nothing to actually preach anyway) - I respect other people's religions. This is the right attitude to have whether you are Christian, Agnostic or Atheist.

Folks we have found in the past that religious debates quickly get out of hand. So we came to the conclusion some time ago that these topics are really off topic for us.

thereforeeee this topic is now closed. Hope you can all understand.