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Post by QuickSilver on Mar 8, 2018 18:02:05 GMT -5
I am new to Atheism... well.. not really.. I am an Atheist... and just new to saying it out loud.. For years I have tried to fit into an organized religion.. I've tried quite a few of them.. and never quite fit in.. THEN.. I spent years claiming to be Agnostic.. it felt safer than embracing Atheism.. it was kind of like a safety net.. Ok.. I'm just not sure.. maybe I believe.. maybe I don't... just in case..
Then recently I had the experience of joining an Al-Anon group for help dealing with the drinking of a close relative. In case you are not familiar with Al-Anon. it is based on the 12 step recovery program of AA.. deeply steeped in God and a Higher Power.. They attempt to make concessions to us non-believers by saying "Higher power...as I understand it"... BUT try as I may... I cannot pray to a tree.. or nature.. or a "Life Force"... it simply is NOT possible to turn all these concerns over to something I do not believe in.. AND.. this finally made me come to face the fact that I am NOT agnostic.. I am an Atheist.. There IS no "Higher Power"... No Fairy in the Sky that knows all and controls all... No omnipotent Father that is going to fix one single thing for me. It's scary, but freeing at the same time.. NO more pretending... and I'm not at all afraid of Burning in Hell... because it simply does not exist.
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Post by formerlyme on Mar 8, 2018 21:43:58 GMT -5
I tend to lean the same way, QuickSilver! It is possible to live a sensible, ethical, and fulfilling life without the guidance or control of organized religions, or a belief in a higher power. We can choose to take responsibility for our own lives without the hope of divine intervention or reaching 'heaven' after death, or the fear of eternal damnation or 'hell'. I don't believe these things exist except in peoples' imaginations.
I respect (and sometimes envy) all who find security and peace in such beliefs, but I've never been able to fully accept any of them, try as I might. The beauty of nature, life in its endless variety, and the grandeur of the universe are things that awe and inspire me, without the need to explain them or fit them into the limited confines of human understanding. |
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Post by nkat on Mar 9, 2018 0:02:32 GMT -5
Since energy can not be destroyed what happens to your energies when you die?
I for one believe in reincarnation. My 2 yr old gd convinced me of that.
NKat
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Post by highlandannie on Mar 9, 2018 3:40:34 GMT -5
I was raised a strict catholic but of course as a teen decided it was all BS. As any 'recovering' catholic can tell you it's hard to shake off that childhood programming. I do go to mass with my husband while in Thailand, but that's because I enjoy the casual atmosphere, the singing, the people we meet there and the priest. I don't get communion because that would be hypocritical but I do go up during communion and cross my arms over my chest so the priest can touch my forehead and bless me. I get good vibes from it.
I don't believe in hell nor in the christian idea of heaven.
Of the 4 kids in my family one is still strict catholic, one goes to mass with my sister at christmas but I suspect it's the only time he goes, one is atheist and it boggles his mind that so many can believe in the supernatural. And me. I've been a Pagan (many Gods/esses) and a wannabee Buddhist (not a religion-no deity). I believe there is some kind of spirit in every living thing.
I can't call myself atheist because I am open minded about what happens when we die. Reincarnation, maybe. A heaven, maybe. Turn into dust, maybe. There are too many unexplained things that happen in the world that I can't just dismiss the idea of anything 'supernatural'.
Religion comes in handy when one needs comfort. For example, I love to think of my mother as an angel looking down on us all. It's comforting. But the rational part of me thinks it's impossible.
In talking to other ex/recovered/recovering catholics most of us seem to agree that if we were in a plane which was about to crash, we'd be frantically saying Hail Mary's.
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Post by QuickSilver on Mar 9, 2018 7:25:27 GMT -5
Since energy can not be destroyed what happens to your energies when you die? I for one believe in reincarnation. My 2 yr old gd convinced me of that. NKat |
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Post by QuickSilver on Mar 9, 2018 7:38:52 GMT -5
I was given.. or rather forced..into religion from the age of four.. when I went to Sunday school for an hour every Sunday morning. My parents didn't go to church all that often, but I was sent to Sunday school and then later to Confirmation classes on Saturday for a year and then THREE times a week for another year before being Confirmed Missouri Synod Lutheran and being allowed to take Communion.
I can remember being as young as 8 or 9 and deciding this was all BS.. and wondering how in the world the adults around me actually could really believe that nonsense. I made the mistake of bringing that up to my very judgmental mother and was made to regret it. So I kept it deep inside and went through all the motions along with my other little Lutheran friends. All the while feeling horrible and guilty and like a fraud.
But the indoctrination runs deep... therefore the I had both my babies baptized and even sent them to Sunday school.. I did however not force them to be confirmed or continue attending when they were older. I was even recruited at one point to teach Sunday School.. and Vacation Bible school when my kids were little and attending. It was a complete charade.. Done more for the church social life than actual belief. I'm done with charades... I'm too old to care any more.
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Post by nkat on Mar 9, 2018 11:35:16 GMT -5
My gd at 2 years old told me she did not want to die at 3. She told me that she lived out West and her name was Kevin. She had a sister Malice and a brother Joey. She was from a multiple birth and was baby boy B. She died because she was to weak. She told me how she still missed her old parents.
My gd would always make these funeral piles out of my garden flowers. When they died, I shoveled them away and she made more.
I never ever believed in reincarnation since I was raised Catholic. Remember this was a 2 year old talking about death.
NKat
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