Atheists...?

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 3:28pm

When did you know?
Was it a slow awakening? Or did one major event convince you there is no god?
Did you just wake up one day and say to yourself, "Hey, this makes NO sense?" or "If there was a god, he would never have let this happen?"

Mine was a slow realization over the years. After being raised Catholic...nuff said.

Updated On: 12/26/07 at 03:28 PM

Posted: 12/25/07 at 3:34pm

My childhood friend died in a freak accident when he was 13 and I was 12. If there were a God, how could he have let something like that happen to one so young?


It changed the way I look at everything.

[vmlinnie]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 3:40pm

That's horrible, DGG!

Being still a Catholic, not necessarily drilled into it, I'm still not atheist and doubt I ever will be. I still do think that there has to be something a bit more than science can explain, but I believe there are lots of different ways to represent that, so I'm not saying Catholcism is any better than Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, or whatever. I've been to a Synagogue, Gurdwara, Mosque, never bothered me.


That said, if I experienced that, DGG, I might have changed my mind. But religion is just too ubiquituous in my life for me not to pay some heed to it.

Posted: 12/25/07 at 3:45pm

I've not completely lost faith, and my views are similar to yours, Linnie. There's something out there, but who or whatever it is isn't as amazing as everyone seems to think. I haven't explored other religions, so who knows? Perhaps someday I'll find my own way of worship. I was brought up Catholic, so I know that's not the way I want to go, and I've been "courted" by WAY too many Born Agains. No way, Jose.

I'm just not quite sure of anything at this point in my life. I'm 17. I'll figure it out someday.

[nitsua]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 3:49pm

I lost my mom when I was 14. I don't know what kind of God would do that.

So, I believe in God, but only to believe that he's a huge prick.

[iHeartMyGeek]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 3:59pm

It was slow for me, starting when I was six and a nun told me that dinosaurs had never existed during my first year of CCD classes. Over the years I started to see so many flaws in the religion in which I was raised (strict, really old-school Catholic) that it became intolerable and I just didn't have any faith in it. When I was twelve I learned what the concept behind Atheism was and realized that, really, I had been an atheist all along, simply pressured by my family into believing in God. I still am not adamant about any of it--I'm too young to have experienced enough to block out any possibilities--but if you asked me what my religion was right now I'd say that I was raised Catholic but now I don't really have one.

[vmlinnie]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 4:06pm

There is a difference between Creationism and moderate Catholcism though.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 4:19pm

When did you know?

I woke up under my own TREE OF ENLIGHTENMENT!




Updated On: 12/25/07 at 04:19 PM

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 4:31pm

Somehow people who have horrible things happen to them, like losing a parent or a young friend still manage to believe in God. I mean, look at the Holocaust, it only strengthened many people's faith.

Geek, I find it really hard to believe that any person would try to teach that dinosaurs did not exist. You say you were 6? How old are you now, 17? So 11 years ago someone in a classroom tried to teach that dinosaurs did not exist? I hope she was removed from the class.

[winston89]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 4:31pm

I realized that all religon was just flat out dumb by age 13. Getting ready for my bar mitzvah I had trobuble belieaving some of the things the rabbi was telling me. So I talked to her and was asking her so many qustions that she was starting to give Bull**** answers eventually backing her into a corner.

[iHeartMyGeek]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 4:37pm

Well Sueleen, she definitely said it because I remember it vividly. It was a pivotal turning point in my religious involvement because I LOVED dinosaurs and knew that there was plenty of scientific proof to back up their existence. I was probably about seven at the time. Most of the other kids in my class, including my cousins, actually believed the Sister who was teaching us, I think. I'll have to ask them if they remember it if they ever come to family gatherings again. Those particular cousins have very extremely strict, religious parents who think the rest of our family is a bunch of heathens because, well, our skirts don't always go down to our ankles or something.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 4:38pm

I knew when His check bounced.

[wexy]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 5:05pm

Sueleen, my Dad was a Holocaust survivor and did believe in God.
Saw too much. Some believed the only way that they survived was because of Him. Me, I'm more agnostic.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 5:57pm

To me it was a slow revelation. I was raised Catholic and was very active in the church as a child. Around 13 or 14 I began to step away from the religion after taking issue with their stances on women's rights, abortion, contraception, gay rights, etc. Then throughout high school and especially college as I began to take a greater interest in science I found myself unable to believe in divine creation or intervention in the face of such overwhelming evidence to the contrary. It was during college when I started to meet other like-minded individuals and amazing mentors that I became comfortable accepting and declaring my stance. Oddly enough, as I moved farther from belief I became more and more fascinated by theology.

[vmlinnie]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 6:02pm

What makes me wonder is how a school like mine, which claims loudly to be a multi-denominational school, could be so hardline and preachy. It's just annoying. I have no problem being preached to, but I'd not mind if I were in a Catholic school. I'm not. I am, however, in a Catholic country, so it's pretty much expected.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 6:11pm

For me, I just...never really bought into the idea to begin with. I enjoyed religious practices and stories, but never really had a feeling that there was a higher spiritual power. I was also, from a pretty early age, bothered by the differing accounts of God and the afterlife, and the idea that for anyone to be right, everyone else had to be wrong.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 6:16pm

wexy, I hope you didn't take my comment about the Holocaust the wrong way. I only meant the if people can live throughout that horror and still believe in God, some one who looses a loved one (mother, friend) should be able to maintain faith through that tragedy. Of course it is all a very personal thing so you can't really measure one person's faith against another.

My earliest memory of doubting was when I was getting ready for my first Confession. It just did not make sense to me why I had to tell the Priest instead of just going right to the big guy.

Of course that had more to do with "religion" than belief in god, but that is when I first started going, "Hmmmmmmmm.....?"

[wexy]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 6:21pm

Not at all Sueleen. I knew lots of his friend growing up that were survivors. Some believed. Some didn't.

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 6:24pm

I don't believe there is a god which is a man in heaven, but at times I see evidence of "something" out there in the universe- when something occurs which is unexplainable.

Maybe these incidents could be called coincidences. I probably am agnostic.

I sure would like to know how everything started, though. There is no one answer. It's a mystery which lives in my mind all the time.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 7:35pm

Why so many Catholics (like me) turned agnostics or atheist?

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 7:40pm

I think it has something to do with the unwillingness to change within the establishment of the Catholic church.

While the tradition and ritual can be intoxicating, it can also be extremely alienating and can cause a lot of individuals to question the religion and their participation in the practices. From that point, the progression towards doubt is only a small step.

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 7:50pm

I had a reverse situation in my family. One of my cousins was Jewish, but found it did nothing for him. He was married to a Lutheran, attended church, and found that he liked their message. He became Lutheran, and is quite religious, going to church every week and teaching Sunday school. He strongly believes in Jesus.

I say go with whatever works for you.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 8:57pm

Okay, sorry but I gotta voice my opinion here. I'm not here to denounce all other religious views, because the truth is that I'm pretty tolerant. I'm a practicing Catholic. Go ahead and stone me all ya want. Personally, I believe and always will believe that God exists. Call me young and naive if you want, because the fact of the matter is that I probably am. I know terrible things happen to everyone, and DGG I'm very sorry about your friend, but that doesn't mean that God doesn't exist. And if anyone feels the need to ask me how I should know that, let me tell you that I have a two-year-old cousin who is at this very moment screaming out in excruciating pain and might die. I have not given up on God. And if in fact she does die, I'm going to see it as a sign of God's Mercy that He took pity on her because all her life all she's ever known is pain and sickness. "If God brought you to it, then God will bring you through it." Think about it. Just my two cents, not meant to insult or offend.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 9:15pm

GlindatheGood22 of Wicked-the musical

1. learn how to use SEARCH feature on the Main Board before postings inquiries.
2. learn how to turn on your PM.
3. read the thread from begining to end ..not just post-for the sole purpose of the dramatics.
4. read. observe and learn.
5. and learn how to use your PC's applications more efficiently.

and then post.....


J*



Updated On: 12/26/07 at 09:15 PM

[DMsquared2]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 9:25pm

I think it's unfair to say that highly educated people can't believe in a higher power or practice their faith. Enlightenment is a very broad term.

I do however believe that religion, for the most part, has been corrupted but that's a whole other conversation.