Serious misconception about atheism

[AnAtheist]

TOmNossor:

Many Christians have a good answer to this. We have found the ONE true God. Through communication with Him we know that Odin is not some other God we must find. We know not to search by appealing to a higher authority that we trust.

Very good answer, indeed. We act very similar here, if not the same. See, I have found a satisfactory and convincing worldview, therefore I don’t have to look further either. Anytime I do, I find nothing more, so chances are my worldview is pretty much all there is.
You have found your god, so there is no need to look further. I guess, if you’d do for an interlectual exercise, you won’t find anything more and start to believe in more than one god, right?

 

[AnAtheist]

Delgadoajj:

This very clearly points out that in order to choose between alternatives, those alternatives not all necessarily have to be in existance (naturally speaking), although they do exist in the supernatural.

Good point. Ok, those alternatives have to exist at least in my mind. If an alternative is so absurd, that my mind rejects the pure notion, then it is hardly a considerable alternative. Then it cannot be chosen.

Delgadoajj:

As long as there are witnesses :bowdown: to the Truth (God) around the person who comes to the realization that there is no God, that person is making a clear choice that God does not exist (whether they admit it or not. In this case, there is a problem, because we have had witnesses to the Truth, beginning with Abraham: “By faith he that is called Abraham obeyed to go out into a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went” (HB 11, 8). Also: “Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not” (HB 11, 1).

Or the person regards those witnesses as not reliable. There are so many witnesses around to so many mutual exclusive, absolute truths, it is hard to choose them. And, pardon me, a book that contradicts itself on the very first two pages, is not a reliable source for truth to me.

 

[dredgtone]

I had 2 sleep paralysis episodes where i woke up and had religious hallucinations. They were so intense i felt the “presence” of God while i was laying in bed. I thought it had been my moment of conversion. I went to bed a Christian. The next day i woke up as atheist. I just woke up that way. You call that a choice? I looked back and told myself, I just had proof, but the feeling wasn’t there anymore. It happened a second time with the same thing happening. It’s really not a choice.

 

[_Christopher]

AnAtheist:

During the debates I had so far on this board, I noticed that there is a common misconception about atheism. It seems that most people here believe, that atheists at some point in their life choose to not believe in (a) god.
Becoming an atheist is not a decision, it is a realisation. One day you realise, there is (are) no god(s). Once you’ve come to that conclusion, you do not have a choice anymore, like
Choice A - believing in gods
Choice B - not believing in gods.
In order to choose between alternatives, those alternatives have to exist in the first place.

Therefore the allegation that atheists actively refuse, reject, be angry with, or hate God is not valid from the atheist’s point of view. One cannot refuse a non-existing thing.

Furthermore, the advice to pray to [God|Jesus|Mary|some saint] in order to find God or the circular statement “you have to believe first, before you can believe” won’t convince any atheist for the very same reason.

If someone buys one of the general arguments for god’s existence (intelligent designer, 1st cause, moral, even argumentum ad populum), only then there is a choice to make, i.e. which religion to follow.

I hope, this will help in future discussions.

Warning: Sarcastic rant follows…

Wow, I never knew someone could realize there is no God…I mean, they would have to be omniscient themselves to be able to see to all parts of the Universe. Maybe they realized they are their own God since they rely on their amazing intellects and willfully ignore the grace of God that seeks all men out.

 

[dredgtone]

_Christopher_:

Warning: Sarcastic rant follows…

Wow, I never knew someone could realize there is no God…I mean, they would have to be omniscient themselves to be able to see to all parts of the Universe. Maybe they realized they are their own God since they rely on their amazing intellects and willfully ignore the grace of God that seeks all men out.

could we turn this rant into logic?

 

[Gratias_Grace]

dredgtone:

I had 2 sleep paralysis episodes where i woke up and had religious hallucinations. They were so intense i felt the “presence” of God while i was laying in bed. I thought it had been my moment of conversion. I went to bed a Christian. The next day i woke up as atheist. I just woke up that way. You call that a choice? I looked back and told myself, I just had proof, but the feeling wasn’t there anymore. It happened a second time with the same thing happening. It’s really not a choice.

It **is ** a choice

Your private “sleep paralysis episodes” is your private episodes:** “I went to bed a Christian. The next day i woke up as atheist. I just woke up that way. You call that a choice?” **

I will say that you rationalize your reactions to your “sleep paralysis episodes” . You had other choices than to accsept that unknown forces should deside that you were not to believe in God (it could have been demonic forces. satan is happy for every soul he can lead away form God OR it could have been sign from your psyce that the question of God is very important to you).

As an example you could have choosen to pray: “God please help me to have FAITH.”

To just lean back and say you had no choises is to denie that God gave you a free will to choose if you want him or not.

Jesu’ words: "28Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ 29Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’ (John 20:28-29).

**Faith is to believe without opportunities to do a research to proove it.

Faith in Christ, is to give up yourself and let Jesus fill you**!

You must stop cheating yourself. You HAVE a CHOICE.

Do your prayers and never give up, dredgtone. Then some day you will find TRUST and FAITH in God!



G.G.

 

[Gratias_Grace]

AnAtheist:

See, I have found a satisfactory and convincing worldview, therefore I don’t have to look further either. Anytime I do, I find nothing more, so chances are my worldview is pretty much all there is.
You have found your god, so there is no need to look further. I guess, if you’d do for an interlectual exercise, you won’t find anything more and start to believe in more than one god, right?

I don’t believe the atheists exists as full human beings! They are amputatet in some way or another. I think that when atheists look out christian messageboards to explane their “faith” in atheism, something is wrong.

The atheist is then between to extremes. On the one side he may want to convert his christian brothers to the atheist world. On the other side he may have an uncousious longing to be respekted and loved by God and the christian brothers in the world.

 

[Apologia100]

That atheism is not a religion is a load of bupkiss. Everyone has a religion. We all have our beliefs about the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe. Our religion is simply our paradigm, our roadmap if you will, that answer the difficult existential questions of life, like, how did the universe come into existence? Is the world a safe or hostile place? Why am I here? Is there anything after death? Everyone has thought about these things in one way or another, some have thought about them more than others. Atheists are therfore religious people because they too have their own answers to these perplexing questions. The question is, how do you know that your answers are truth? Does everyone have their own version of the truth, or is there only one version of Ultimate Truth, and everyone has their own perspective on it? So, you answer the questions, develop your paradigm, and that becomes your religion. So when an atheist says “There is no god,” what he is really saying is, “I have come to the conclusion that the existance of God is not possible.”

Coming to a conclusion requires choice. Believing in gravity requires choice. Gravity exists regardless of our opinion about it, but if you choose to live your life in disregard for the laws of gravity, you will probably end up in the grave much earlier than you should. Gravity affects everything that we do on this little rock we live on, and must be taken into account for nearly everything. Imagine a “rocket scientist” who refuses to acknowledge gravity as he designs a manned space vehicle. Do you think he will get the calculations correct on space/weight ratios for fuel? Cargo? Personnel? If he is off on these calculations by even the smallest margin, it means death to the people in that spaceship. IMagine if he made the calculations without regard to the laws of gravity because he doesn’'t believe in it. “I have come to the conclusion that it is not possible for gravity to exist.” He would sound like a moron.

So, you are either an atheist because you have thought through the questions about existence itself, and examined the evidence and do not feel compelled to believe in God, or you were never exposed to the evidence or thought throught the questions. But, if you say that “I have come to the conclusion that there is no God,” well, you have made a choice. And if you are comfortable with your choice, it is your religion.

 

[Sparky]

AnAtheist:

When I first read some posts here, they were filled with misconceptions about atheism, I thought it was time to participate.
.

Here’s another question:

why do you care?

No one is going to come after an atheist for what he doesn’t believe. If anything, you have the most popular belief system in popular culture today, lauded by the majority of the media. what do you care what a few Catholics think of you, since we’re the popular ‘scum of the earth’?
–Ann

 

[Stylteralmaldo]

dredgtone:

I had 2 sleep paralysis episodes where i woke up and had religious hallucinations. They were so intense i felt the “presence” of God while i was laying in bed. I thought it had been my moment of conversion. I went to bed a Christian. The next day i woke up as atheist. I just woke up that way. You call that a choice? I looked back and told myself, I just had proof, but the feeling wasn’t there anymore. It happened a second time with the same thing happening. It’s really not a choice.

Let me interject with a “serious misconception about Christianity” (at least Catholicism anyway):

Christianity is NOT about how or what WE feel about something. Christianity is how WE interact with / love others.

If I never feel anything positive the rest of my earthly life, I’ll know that Jesus Christ is there for me no matter what hardships I may endure.

 

[Flounder]

I really appreciate the cordial discussion and genuine sincerity on such a hot topic by all.

I’m not to up on atheism, but I think the atheists on this thread have a misconception about Catholics.

We believe God offers and provides all men grace, a kinda supernatural help, to allow them to convert and maintain their progress toward a supernatural life joined with Him.

And so we believe the failure to accept this grace requires a choice, for all men, everywhere. That’s why so much discussion with us centers on the choice made – we “have to” see it as a choice.

Now a sincere question out of my ignorance: do atheists have trouble with ancient history? Or maybe better put, do you generally find yourself requiring a higher burden of proof on lots of stuff than most folks around you?

 

[Anne_Carmel]

We’ll leave it at that with Flounder. Thank you for your participation on the many threads on atheism.
God Bless