 |
Tumsup; Then I'm misinformed. I didn't realise there were such degrees of unbelief, certainly around here I thought that all the atheists were in the same boat, I must be getting sidetracked by antitheists in atheist clothing. 
<aside>Cant you lot wear differently coloured shirts or carry a leek or something? </aside>
Hayafi; I dont know how I came to this conclusion except that I question anything I find too easy or convenient, and anything that doesn't sit right for any reason, I was brought up and educated to understand all religious stories and works as the morally guiding stories and origin tales that they are, but also to respect that some people do feel emotionally attached to these stories for whatever reason and have a lot of their identity tied up in them.
I also personally feel there's more to life, the universe and everything than purely what we can see, hear, taste, touch, measure and quantify at the moment. There are forces we cannot pin down and test but that I have seen to work etc. I've questioned but I cannot close my mind unless I have absolute proof that something is wrong.
I cant understand how different factions that deify the same archetype disagree so fundamentally, but they do. I also wonder where the archetypal stories came from, because diverse peoples from around the world have stories, from deities to demons, that match up so closely you can barely see the seams. It seems ridiculous to me that a) people will argue the difference to the point of violence/genocide and the b) people will allow themselves to be ruled by people who claim these fundamental cultural stories to be real and true literal representations of what, how, where and why.
Curiosity about the past is one thing. Spending your entire life worrying about what might happen in any other state, time or dimension is a pointless waste of the life you have here and now, why not make the best of it and enjoy it as much as you can without harming others into the process? Why should the herebefore or the hereafter matter so much? None of us will ever know for sure till we get there (or dont) and I'm quite happy becoming an part of this planet again when I die. If that's the bare minimum, then that's fine by me. If there's a spiritual or 'other' existence as well, so be it.
If I find myself being judged in the afterlife, then firstly, I'll be having words about a few things and secondly, if I have lived the sort of life I like to think I have, why would I worry?
imo religion itself is something that those who feel something is missing in themselves turn to. Little realising that self-awareness, working with yourself, self-assessing and being honest with yourself is the only way to feel better about yourself. God cant give you something you cant give yourself (i.e. forgiveness, love, strength...) which is why god's existence is, to me, irrelevant.
">>is a certainty that god cannot exist<<
Robyn, this is just wrong. If someone says this, he is an antitheist."
No. You're both in error.
An antitheist is someone that believes that religion is actively a force ill in the world and actively believes that world is better of without it altogether and quite possible is active in promting this idea.
An atheist as I've said at least twice in this thread alone already is a person of no belief in gods.
There are two kinds of atheist the strong or gnostic atheist who thinks that they know that there are no gods. There a few of these.
And the weak or agnostic atheist, those that do not believe in gods, but are happy to be proved wrong. Such as myself, and I expect most if not all the atheists you'll find on hootoo.
 |  |
>>imo religion itself is something that those who feel something is missing in themselves turn to.<<
That's a very good point. I think lots of people come closer to God when they're in need or suffering due to a loss of someone they love, or a serious accident perhaps. 
Some become bitter, but those who turn to God are more likely to find peace in their hearts, and revive. 
I dont trust anything that invloves passing any amount of responsibility onto something else in that way, Warner, that's my feeling. If something should happen to shake a person's faith, thyey will have to deal with the original prob;em *plus* feeling betrayed by a god (they dont see it as their belief that's at fault) that doesn't exist or doesn't do what they expected it to do.
I'm all for encouraging people to find reasons and healing and so on inside themselves. I've seen religion help people on this path, but it's not a satisfactory end in itself for me.
Please note that Not Panicking Ltd is not responsible for the content of any external sites listed. The content on h2g2 is created by h2g2's Researchers, who are members of the public. Unlike Edited Guide Entries, the content on this page has not necessarily been checked by a h2g2 editor. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please
click here
.
|
