Athiests: What do you believe?

[Full Steam]

Not really. My best mate is Buddhist. My Daughter is Christian. I have a few Muslim mates. Used to be next door neighbours with a Wiccan. I do not find religion unto itself a bad thing nor something to rail against.

I think Jesus was a very interesting character in history and certainly there are a lot worse people to role model behaviour from. Being generous with your nature and helping those in need and such are noble values and worth promoting in society generally and individually.

I think that Atheists can get branded very badly and not without good reason. Many of the louder voices are as zealous as any Fire, Brimstone and Damnation Fundamentalist Christian Preacher. As I say though, mostly in Australia, I would say that maybe 20% of Australia is Christian with maybe another 20% Believing in a God or some such force (and perhaps nominally Christian identifying), 15% Believing in other religions and 45% Atheist. The Atheists here are not in the minority and not zealous. It is hardly really discussed and there is not really any societal pressure or want for conformity.

It hurts me in no way if someone gets joy or pleasure or insight or well-being in believing in something that I do not necessarily believe in and I do not think I am a better or worse person than they for not believing in that thing.

I would guess that most aussies who are not religious would be agnostic not atheist.

Atheism means a belief in the non existence of spiritual realms and entities. Most people in my experience have a feeling that there is or may be something "else". They just don't know or spend time thinking what it may be.

 

[Lookinator]

hi, i'm an atheist too. As a kid i used to go to church with parents untill 23 when their control got less over me. Religion is exactly a waste of time, but also it's a business which people do for living, so called pastors. This is horrible because my parents are victims of this cruel business, I really worry about them

 

[Bro'Freak]

I'm beginning to lean to the idea that this is actually all a simulation test... . One that I hope isn't trying to create an Mark.XXIII model of a home help android OS Ai/Mi.

 

[isthisreallife]

I'm an atheist. I need science, numbers, data. My brain has never been able to grasp the concept of a god.

 

[apt-get]

I'm an atheist.

 

[Lookinator]

By business - i mean - earning unfair money on people's stupidity, that's what churches do. Some so called pastors are fake, i think oftenly they may appear an actors who work in the circus. Churches must be taxed.

Ye, please, use the quote

 

[Soona45]

Atheist here.
I did have a special interest in pagan mythology! And dabbled in wicca a little bit. I just liked its openness and connection to nature.
I don't like the hierarchy, patriarchy or institution of organised religions.

As Karl Marks said 'religion is the opiate of the masses'

 

[Clueless in Canada]

I'm suspect the universe is alive, but don't believe in a god as a personality, or as described in the bible.

However, I do have question for the atheists.

Is not the most logic nonbeliveing stand point agnosticism not atheism?

Why take a position against a god when there is no hard evidence one way or the other?

After all who really knows?

Atheism means without theism or without belief in a god. It does not mean 'there is not god'. I could say I am an agnostic atheist in that while I don't believe in a god I will assert that it is unlikely anyone can ever prove one way or the other. I will also state that the burden of proof is on the people asserting the existence of something.

 

[Oldlady]

Hell ya!

But, not as a religion on its own. In other words, I am old school atheist ... I just don't believe that there is a god. I am not bothered by other people believing that there is a god or adhering to a religion. In fact, there is evidence to suggest that the belief in god(s) and religious convictions have evolved with humans.

 

[Progster]

I'm an Atheist too... most of the time, at least. Perhaps agnostic, because sometimes I do wonder if there might be a God, and if there is such a thing, then he/she/it is most certainly extraterrestial in origin... highly unlikely IMO, and no direct evidence for such a thing. I don't believe in miracles, angels, life after death, Heaven, Hell, devils, that Jesus died and was then resurrected - people just don't do this and there's no way for it to happen. I don't believe that things that are scientifically impossible can somehow be made possible by some supernatural power/means. You aren't, your atoms come together and you are and then you aren't again, and that's all there is to it, IMO.

 

[Dias]

This is a tuff one.
I could talk about it for hours, but never did, maybe I do it here and now as an exercise to see where I stand.
I was Catholic by birth and as I grew up I became Atheist, without really knowing in depth what that means and what are the implications; I just thought that if God existed the terrible things we see in the world would not happen therefore God stoped existing to me.
The problem was: removing God from the equation did not give any answer really, it just created more void and the problems were still there without solution, and questions without answers.

I continued looking for answers and came across several teachings that teach about karma, reencarnation(which I always believed existed)and other things that give a completly different perspective of God and how and why He acts in the world in this way.
I realised that I had become Atheist not because of God but because of the doubts, that my own ignorance and the misinterpretations caused by religions (who are made by man), had created. In this moment I feel like I can be divorced from religions but never from God. Anyway religions are just the preliminary step, at a certain point we need to let go of all the dogmas if we trully want to attain God, that is what true Spirituality means. But Religions do serve their purpose in my opinion, but like everything that is created in this world of duality, it has a positive side and a negative side and at a certain point we have to transcend it.

Hinduism is being a great school for me: It can be completly messy if we look at it superficially, but when we go deep in to it supported by the teachings of the real scholars (and not just these modern new age kind of thing) then a new world is open for us, and it is an amazing journey to make.

I completly desagree that a scientific mind can not believe in God. Many great things were discovered because the scientist believed it was there he just had to find a way to build the technology to prove it.
For example, I do not like the word miracle, why? Because they are absolutly normal things for God, just not for us, because we do not have yet the technology to prove it the way our Modern Science wants. But they were proved by the eye witnesses that testify to them; why don`t we believe in them and only in scientific proffs? It is actually silly and naive to put our trust only on science when we know that what was true twenty years ago is no longer true today because they discovered something else...I love science but I understand it`s limitations, that`s all.

This being said and sorry for the length of the text I admit that I do not have answers to everything and that is the beauty of it, because God is infinite and we will never know Him entirelly no matter how hard we try. And we just hate what we don`t understand.

So I guess I am not Atheist

 

[Clueless in Canada]

This is

I would guess that most aussies who are not religious would be agnostic not atheist.

Atheism means a belief in the non existence of spiritual realms and entities. Most people in my experience have a feeling that there is or may be something "else". They just don't know or spend time thinking what it may be.

Atheism is not a belief in something it is a lack of belief. There is a subtle and yet significant difference. Being an atheist means not having a belief in a god. It might be true that an atheist also believes there is no god but that is not the actual meaning of atheism. I do not bother to believe there is no Loch Ness monster or that there is no man in the moon. I simply do not hold a belief that they exist.

 

[china autie]

I am an atheist.
And, in the sense of being indifferent to any gods if there are any, I am an agnostic-atheist.

 

[dhl02]

I look at it from the Richard Dawkins point of view.I am an agnostic that strongly leans toward atheism. I actually agree with him that there is pretty much no way to prove or disprove the existence of a god, but the evidence points strongly in the direction of nonexistence. Because there is no absolute proof that there is no god, you can't say for certain that it doesn't exist, and to rule it out completely is intellectually dishonest. But, since the evidence points to nonexistence, it's a pretty healthy assumption to live your life as if there was no god.

I also consider myself a secular humanist.

 

[Nauti]

I guess you could call me a mystic. I believe in unified existance. I believe in a benevolent universe. I believe in multidimentionality. I have experienced plenty of paranormal things. I am open minded, have an easternised and western mystical bent and while I don't prescribe to organized religion, I'm not so arrogant that I think everything they are based on is baseless.

I know life doesn't end with death.

I am grounded in both research and experiential faith.

Life is much, much more than we understand and I'm fine with that.

I believe not believing in something you can't possibly understand is folly.

Be open, critical and inquiring and you will develop wisdom, wisdom won't come to those who are already full of belief.

I am not an agnostic, but I am certainly not an athiest, nor an I an adherent to any prescribed political organization that calls itself a religion.

Faith is a personal matter, politics is everyone's business, but don't be coerced into taking sides, that is a manipulative ploy, unless it is the side of having integrity.

I have experienced Christ, it feels divine, but it's internal, not a virtue-signalling group think thing.

Love and truth are essential for any sense of genuine wellbeing and development.

Life is sacred.

If anything, learning and kindness are my religion and being truthful and loving truthfulness.

"Good" science is great but most mainstream "science" is untrustworthy, too many blinkered minds and vested interests run the corporate empire that "science" and "academia" adheres to.


Free will means we get to choose, so we can't blame anyone else.

Love can't exist without freedom to choose and "God is a Spirit and God is Love" and "The truth will set you free".

 

[Shiblom]

Born & raised into Mormonism. In my early 40's realized I couldn't keep up the charade, had my name removed & became a 'Freethinker'. All because I refused to give up coffee. This after many months of research, never looked back.

 

[Monachopia]

I suppose I am an atheist in a way. In some sense I am agnostic too - but not in the sense that I think there might be a "higher power" or a "God" and we just can't prove it... rather I believe in the power of nature and physics, it will keep going far beyond our own existence until everything dissolves into nothing, trillions upon trillions of years into the future. But that is not a deity, it is just a container for our own moment of existence in the vast span of time. It is far bigger than any of us would ever hope to be. We are meaningless specs in an ocean greater than anything we can ever comprehend.

It was quite a few years ago now, close to 10, that I had this deep and painful realisation of what a 'true nothing' after death really means. It left me paralysed with fear for years. I had anxiety panic attacks over it. I couldn't sleep without it creeping into my thoughts. It was terrifying. ... But, I think I've come to terms with it now. In a way, I wish I could believe in God and an Afterlife, but, I just can't. If I did, it would make that fear lessen and it wouldn't be such a big deal... but it is. The pain of not knowing what happens to the world after I'm gone, not being able to see, think, breathe anymore. The loss of consciousness into an eternal nothing.

Very recently I came across an Alan Watts lecture on the theme of nature and death. It was comforting. It aligned to what I believed in, but explained it in a beautiful way - that we are a wave, and this conscious state is just a phase that we are in. Even when our body dies, the wave will keep going. There is no use fighting it as it is inevitable and instead try to enjoy the fleeting moment we have for what it is.

"...your disappearance as the form in which you think “You are You…” your disappearance as this particular organism… is simply… seasonal. That… you… are just as much the dark space beyond death, as you are… the light interval called life. These are just two sides of you.

[...]

Memento Mori... be mindful of death.

The most important thing for anyone to realize… is that you, and every person you see, will soon be dead. In other words, from the first standpoint, the worst is going to happen… you're all going to die. And don't just put it off in the back of your mind and say “I'll consider that later.”

It's the most important thing to consider NOW... Because it enables you… it is the mercy of nature... Because it's going to enable you to let go... and not defend yourself all the time... waste all the energies in self-defense."

 

[Progster]

It was quite a few years ago now, close to 10, that I had this deep and painful realisation of what a 'true nothing' after death really means. It left me paralysed with fear for years. I had anxiety panic attacks over it. I couldn't sleep without it creeping into my thoughts. It was terrifying. ... But, I think I've come to terms with it now

I'm struggling with this. How did you come to terms with it?

 

[sidd851]

I'm struggling with this. How did you come to terms with it?

Hey, Progster!

I know that question wasn't directed at me, but I'd like to share my perspective with you.

I had this same horrifying moment, actually several times.
The first around age 4-ish.

I was lucky to have been an avid reader.
Somewhere around the age of 8, I ran into a quote that, as I've gotten older, has slowly become more and more explanatory and...
comforting, I guess I would say.

Carl Sagan, among others, have iterated various versions, so, I'll paraphrase:

"There was a vast abysm of time, before I was. I was not suffering, then.
When I die, I simply face an equal abysm of time not suffering, when I return to the state of dissolution from whence I came.
In many ways, it will be a return to the ultimate tranquility that this insignificant slip of time has interrupted."

I realize that this... explanation is not as...
palatable, to some, as it is to me, but, now, when I contemplate this, it fills me with a sort of contentedness, knowing that I will follow the self-same path that all living things follow.
I will not, nor will anyone else, ever alter that natural conclusion to the series of events and processes that is life.

This is the course of my thoughts.

Edit--- @Monachopia, sorry, had to tag you, too.
That was wonderfully eloquent, what you said above.
What I've said is a reiteration of your lovely words.
Thank you

 

[Monachopia]

I'm struggling with this. How did you come to terms with it?

As @sidd851 said in the wonderful quote above, it is just that. The realisation that the abyss before I was born will be the same state as I will enter after I die. I did not mind... not existing before. Therefore as a consequence, I will not mind after either. It will just be a quiet nothing, with no thought or feeling. It is almost impossible to imagine or think about, but I think we all can... and even though it is terrifying, it is peaceful at the same time.

While I am not completely fine with the non-existence part, I know that it is something that will come regardless of anything I think or try to do. Like a wave, it will sweep us all away into a dark and restful undertow.