Atheists

[Cats_Pajamas]

I just want to ask you guys something. This isn't a big flame fest or anything, so please don't turn it into one, keep in mind everyone has their own beleifs, and please respect that, I just want to ask a question.

Anywayz

How does it benefit you to not beleive in a god?

Why do you not beleive in one, aside from the illogicality and contradictions you claim there is in the Bible.

You have a set of beleifs that are healthy and in no way are hurtful to yourself or well being. The Bible provides a stable frame for society to live by. Without it, there would be no punishment for doing the wrong thing. It instills a set of values in you and your family that leads a good, honest life. Why would you not want that?

Also, the down sides of not beleiving in a higher being, is well, eternal torture!

So, to avoid eternal torture, you atheists will not lead a good well disciplined life?

So my question is, why?

[mc_lite]

I don't believe in GOD.. because you can't give a Higher Being a name. That's what's so divine about a Higher Being.. it's beyond our comprehension. However, I do understand why one would accept religion.. it makes everything easier to understand. It's something to believe in.. but it's all about faith. And when something like Catholicism is forced on me, i'm sorry if I push back a bit.. I just want to gain my own understanding. If after this stint in being a deist (NOT ATHEIST) I become catholic again.. It will be on my own terms, and faith, and belief.

[phatfarm411]

^word up.. dats basically how i am,, almost my whole life my mother tried to force her religion on me.. i wasnt really forced to go to church and shit like that.. cuz i didnt live wit her until i was 12,, but she was always on the phone.. telln me stuff and how it was.. and i jus got fed up wit it

now im not an athiest or deist.. because i do beleive in God or a greater being,, not neccesarilly how the church describes him.. but i take beleifs of my own from wat ive learned over the years.. and i walk with myself.. and as one of my favorite rappers said
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"Only God can judge me"

[makewayforenkay]

i just see religion as a huge scam, they bring in billions of dollars a year using scare tactics whether it's going to hell or being alive for ever always getting reincarnated and never being at peace. i don't need to worship someone that facts strongly insist that there isn't one for a false sense of security i'll be good in the after life.

[Gemcee]

why do we (those who believe in religion) feel they need to convert rather than accept---that has always been my biggest pet peeve.

You can share what you believe in.....but when you start to preech rather than understand is when people shut down. Religion is such a big deal---it causes wars ya know...... :shock:

[KMA]

The Bible provides a stable frame for society to live by. Without it, there would be no punishment for doing the wrong thing. It instills a set of values in you and your family that leads a good, honest life. Why would you not want that?

Say what? The Bible is the only reason there's repercussions to wrong actions? No, I think not. You don't need the Bible to have a good set of values, that's just silliness.


As far as being an Atheist... think about it, you can't just say 'Hmm, I think I'll believe in this religion, it has a good set of values.' You have to be able to believe in it. I just don't believe the Bible or any other religion story, and it's impossible to suddenly start.

Unless of course I was given good solid evidence, act of god/miracle/etc.

You can't really look at Atheism as a choice... I didn't pick Atheism. I just don't believe in anything, so that's the classification I'm given.

[makewayforenkay]

The Bible provides a stable frame for society to live by. Without it, there would be no punishment for doing the wrong thing. It instills a set of values in you and your family that leads a good, honest life. Why would you not want that?

Say what? The Bible is the only reason there's repercussions to wrong actions? No, I think not. You don't need the Bible to have a good set of values, that's just silliness.


As far as being an Atheist... think about it, you can't just say 'Hmm, I think I'll believe in this religion, it has a good set of values.' You have to be able to believe in it. I just don't believe the Bible or any other religion story, and it's impossible to suddenly start.

Unless of course I was given good solid evidence, act of god/miracle/etc.

You can't really look at Atheism as a choice... I didn't pick Atheism. I just don't believe in anything, so that's the classification I'm given.

i agree 100% with you

[aMERiKaZ NiGHTMaRE]

How does it benefit you to not beleive in a god?

How Would It Be Different To Do So? What Would Change? It Would Not Benifit Me To Beleive In One, And Definatley Would Not Benefit My Wallet, So I Seem Better Off Just Doing My Thing...

Why do you not beleive in one, aside from the illogicality and contradictions you claim there is in the Bible.

I Dont So Much Not Believe Because Of My Beliefs Of The Contradictions/Illogical Thinkings Of The Bible, Otherwise I Would Be A Hindu... They Worship A Mans Plight, A Way To Live Life, Not A God That Demands You Live A Certain Way, For Fear Of Eternal Damnation... I Dont Believe In The Idea Of A Singular Entity Being Resposible For All Life And Creation... I Prefer To Trust What I Know... What I Have Seen And Heard For My Own Self, Not What One Would Like Me To Believe...

You have a set of beleifs that are healthy and in no way are hurtful to yourself or well being. The Bible provides a stable frame for society to live by. Without it, there would be no punishment for doing the wrong thing. It instills a set of values in you and your family that leads a good, honest life. Why would you not want that?

I Do Not Care How Good Or Honest That Life Would Be... This Is My Life, These Are My Descisions, I Dont Fear Damnation, I Do Not Fear The Wrong Descision, For I Will Learn From Making The Wrong One... Which Is What Seperates Me From You... I Dont Live In Fear Of Actions... I Am Free To Do As I Please, As I Will, When I Want, Where I Want... Not To Say I Would Do That, But I Have The Chance And The Choice To Do So Without Fear Of Degredation... I Have The Choice To Live By My Own Ideals, Not Ones That I "Agree With"...

[World Eleven]

I Do Not Fear The Wrong Descision, For I Will Learn From Making The Wrong One...

Smart fella. Some kick ass reasoning right there.

[AKA-Ability.]

[quote]The Bible provides a stable frame for society to live by. Without it, there would be no punishment for doing the wrong thing. It instills a set of values in you and your family that leads a good, honest life. Why would you not want that?

That is right think back into the years of time thier was no norms and values of society religion caused a structure and "idealogy" so to speak for everyone to act upon.

Emile Durkheim catergorises religion as Totemism.

Whether god is real or not religion has caused good for society but as we start to see so many different religions causing conflict we start to wonder why if thiers a god is thier so many religions also some religions don't have a god and supporting a football team "going to a place of worship" ectetra has religious qualities so its also very hard to "define" religion to what it actually is.

But all i know is that religion isnt a bad thing and everybody follows a religion, whether its christian muslim or thier "own" yes thier own religion because everyone has thier thouhts of what they should do and shouldnt do a major religion is just an amplification of them values.

Its a very in depth discussional topic which i could debate forever but i hope i have shown you guys a little something about religion.

[surprise]

I don't believe in GOD.. because you can't give a Higher Being a name.

well no, of course not... your not supposed to according to Judeo/Christian beliefs. But you can refer to It as Tetragramatton

[Gen O Side]

K,
Say I wrote a book, like the bible for example. My own relgion, and made up alot of horse shit that doesnt seem believable. Would you believe it? if you use logic as your main thinking source then no you wouldnt. So why should we believe anything somebody else has written?

No proof, bogus stories, absolute shit. Its just invented so their is good left out in the world, otherwise everyone would see the world for what it is. A black hole sucking the life out of every living thing.

[MANE]

K,
Say I wrote a book, like the bible for example. My own relgion, and made up alot of horse shit that doesnt seem believable. Would you believe it? if you use logic as your main thinking source then no you wouldnt. So why should we believe anything somebody else has written?

No proof, bogus stories, absolute shit. Its just invented so their is good left out in the world, otherwise everyone would see the world for what it is. A black hole sucking the life out of every living thing.

It doesn't sound like you've studied the entire Bible. I can't take your arguments seriously unless you show some credibility. From the outside, all of these convictions may seem logical, but that is not the case.

The Bible was not written by one person, it is a compilation of texts of all different styles over thousands of years. The Bible is a source of guidance. Christianity is about a leap of faith within the individual, which no science or philosophical reasoning can justify-in the words of Kierkegaard.

[Dark Half]

I personally don't believe in God or any high being or any religion. I have a few reasons

1. I refuse to believe that anyone other than myself is responsible for my actions, and refuse to believe that my actions on Earth determine what happens after i die.

2. I refuse to believe that everything bad and good in the world is someone else's fault, i understand God promotes free will, but if you believe in him you have to in a certain degree believe he could stop the real horrible things from happening.. and also I'm sure you have to believe he wouldn't want wars being fought over him

3. I also refuse to believe that the world is so easy to divide into good and bad... God and Devil.. life just isn't that easy..so it makes it hard to judge who is allowed in Heaven and Hell.. as well who must repent for sins and who doesn't

4. Again God Promotes free will, but yet a lot of Religious people have they religion pushed onto them, almost forced, and have no choice in the matter.. and as mc lite said, Religion is about faith and belief.. but how can you believe and have faith in something you got pushed into.. i understand that you can, but if you have grown up knowing nothing but that religion, that i don't think you can truely know where you believe in it, because you have no understanding of what its like to live without it

5. People gain and lose faith and religion to easily, If something bad happens, its God's fault, if someone dies of cancer, its God's fault.. a lot of people even stop believing because life doesn't go there way, i see religion as a cop out and an excuse for peoples mistakes or things going wrong.. and the same goes for going right..

6. Altho i hold all these views, i accept people have different views and different beliefs.. i wish religious people would as well.. a lot of them try and force them onto others and say this will happen unless you believe, or you're gonna die in hell because of your sins, unless you do this and follow these rules... i think if your gonna believe in something, it should be your belief and let everyone else make they own minds

[Poemz]

I belive there's a god somewhere in the universe...but I never go to church or put damn money in shit...but I do pray

[Bull-Pup]

I believe in God,for the following reasons:

1.My religion says you are given free will and judged by what you do fairly.The only things you don't choose is when and to whom you are born,and when you die.

2.God rewards your good doings with good(not neccessarily money,maybe a smile from a friend you got is enuff) and your wrong doings with bad.

3.You must pray and do the other stuff,but no prayer is accepted unless you are doing it for faith,and not "cuz God says so".

4.The people who don't believe in God and then find out that he does exist and pick-up the religion are rewarded in their after-life since they chose to turn their brain on and think about something other than daily routine.

I believe those are good enuff for me.

[Sands]

In my view Christianity only requires a leap of faith because it has gotten away from its roots and is now (and has been for a thousand years) a packaged version tainted by Holy Roman politics. (from the council of nicea spellcheck)

It requires you to believe and emphasize the historical significance of stories, but forbids you from researching the mystical metaphorical roots of the religion. Its no different than Surprise's topical, the layered metaphors reveal what is sometimes referred to as "forbidden knowledge" .. you know... stuff like sacred geometry.. and stuff that preachers would call sorcery. Its mostly astronomy enshrouded in metaphor, and it shows how it manifests itself in humanity, and in jesus and everywhere. Is quite magnificent actually, and easy to believe, but the information you can infer from these insights is far too powerful i suppose so it was picked out when they compiled the official bible. although the bible that is left over refers to all this directly in places. The masons teach a lot of this too, and copy the effect with their symbols and other metaphorical hidden stuff.