A Question to Atheistic People

I'm not an atheist, so sorry if you're not looking for my response in particular ... but I can't help myself! I find topics like this one very interesting. They're right up my alley.

I think "agnostic" is a fair title for me. I was raised Jewish and I also went to Church occasionally with my grandparents. I used to pray to God multiple times every day, before every meal and before I went to sleep, and sometimes the prayers would just run through my head and I would recite them multiple times over. I don't think I ever had knowledge of God really existing, though. I guess I believed to some extent, but by the time I was seriously thinking about God and religion, I wasn't reciting prayers anymore, stopped going to religious services at temple or church and was generally uninterested in keeping up any other religious traditions. It was just easier to let it slide.

I think part of it was that at temple the message we were told a lot of the time is that Israel was "our homeland" that we had to support. But to me, it was never my home. It was some foreign country and I had a connection to it only in name. Yet they were telling us to give donations to the IDF (Israeli Defense Force.) Around age 14 or 15 I remember going out of one of those temple services thinking that it was absolutely rotten that people living comfortable suburban lives here in the U.S. could be spending their money to defend some country overseas because they somehow valued one side more than another, like they were rooting for a football team. I can't think that way. Maybe there were people who had family in Israel or felt a real connection to the country, but I didn't. So I left that temple behind.

I'm not sure whose side I'm on, or what I believe in. I don't think I have a solid set of beliefs. I'm not proud—I'm jealous of people who have more concrete convictions. However, I like to think that I have a bit of wisdom for being able to think critically by listening and forming my own judgments. I don't want to be led to commit actions that I would regret by kowtowing to a set of religious tenants that I cannot accept.

I crave discussing topics like this because I feel I have more to learn about my own thoughts and feelings on religion and I don't give myself enough chances to examine them or have others respond to what I've gathered. So things like this are valuable to me regardless of where I stand ideologically.

 

Ok so I'm not exactly an atheist but I don't believe in the 'man with big white beard watching over everything we do' kinda god. I believe in spirits and things like that. See I went to catholic school and that stuff was shoved down my throat, no pun intended. Sorry I had to. Anyways yeah I like the general 'be nice to everyone' philosophy. The rest is interesting but the more you think about it, the less sense it makes. I'm rambling. I guess to answer the questions, I'm not really proud of being an atheist. I'm more proud of being able to think for myself I guess.

As for why we discuss religious topics, I don't really get to discuss stuff like this in real life. I guess online I'm a little more anonymous and able to say things that people who know me might not like me saying. But anyways, just because I'm not a fan of religion, it's an interesting topic so why not discuss it? Plus like others have said, we wouldn't get a lot of art if it weren't for religion. So I guess to sum it up, I'm not proud to be an atheist, I'm proud to be a free thinker I guess. And just because I don't believe in your particular religion doesn't mean it's not an interesting topic of discussion.

 

Well first I'd have to define atheism, in my view this is the rejection of the claim that there is a god. I reject the claim, therefore I am an atheist.

I was raised somewhat religiously, but I never really took it too serious. At around 10 years of age, I prayed and asked god if he(/she/it) existed. No reply. Haven't looked back since.

Now I have a bit more firm stance (conviction, in your phrasing) about religion. There are multiple religions out there, and many have incompatible claims. They simply can't all be true. And then whenever it comes down to how they "prove" there is a god, in the end it comes down to "faith" (believe without evidence). Sorry, but that's not good enough for me. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence (as Carl Sagan said). Without the evidence... I won't believe it.

When the evidence is presented, and proved to be true (which will likely be combined with a few Nobel prizes), I'll be a theist.

 

I'm not proud to be an atheist. It wasn't even a conscious choice really - I wasn't brought up in a religious family.

 

I wouldn't say I'm "proud" to be an atheist. I just dont believe in any deities, simple as that. I do enjoy discussing religion with people who are willing to have a civilized discussion, because it can be a good way to challenge my own beliefs and to learn new things. But if someone is going to get all up in arms and pissed the moment I say something that goes against their beliefs I'll just drop the conversation. There's no point in arguing with them.

I have a lot of interest in ancient religions, such as the Greek and Roman myths. I find the stories very interesting and I also appreciate renaissance art depicting biblical scenes, because it's where a lot of our modern depictions of these stories come from.

Religion in general is an interesting subject.

 

I think for some atheists, they have this smug, self-aware realization that they are "more evolved" (pun intended) than their Bible-thumpin' friends who believe in a burning bush and a flood and a guy who turned water into wine. For them, being a "proud atheist" is a badge to the world; a beacon to their brethren that they, too, are evolved and to the naysayers as a natural repellent.

Personally, I am a proud agnostic that proclaims that I don't believe God/god/gods exist, but am painfully aware of our limitations as a species to understand that a definitive answer isn't possible. Now, I am aware that by that line of reasoning I'm basically saying that the Flying Spaghetti Monster could exist :lol:.

I also feel that we as a culture (Western, at least) have a connection with certain Abrahamic religion(s) that span millennia and if a God were to exist, I personally feel it would be the god of Abraham. But, I'm not holding my breath. My beliefs in God and the afterlife can be summed by the fake quote attributed to Marcus Aurelius (while the quote is fake, I still agree very much with it):

 

I'm a Christian, so I do believe in God, but I don't see God in this way either.

 

I was raised extremely religiously, but quickly grew out of it once I listened to "the other side of the story" since I had only been fed one my whole life up until that point.

Here in the US, and much more so in the "Bible Belt" atheists are literally and statistically less trusted than rapists, they hate us with a passion. The amount of hostility I've received has led me to keep all independent thought to myself, and express it exclusively online.

People here teach religion over science from a very young age, but science always made much more sense to me, I could actually see it in the world around me. I eventually read the Bible thoroughly hoping to go back to simplicity and instead it finalized the conversion due to things I deem "less than acceptable" scattered throughout and a lack of evidence.

My family members are either in complete denial or reject me entirely, merely for my rejection of those ideals... Shockingly, they apparently haven't read it to thoroughly themselves. They always ask how I could possibly be atheist if I read more than them... if only they knew. I'm not necessarily proud to be an atheist, I know I grew up in the same situation they did and made the same mistakes, I simply feel as if I analyzed the situation more critically.

It has made me a better person in terms of how I treat others, but also a major pessimist for realizing what a messed up world we live in. Due to my current living conditions I actually rather dislike speaking about it, but it's nice to vent every now and then since I have to hold it in. I'd say if you don't believe Jesus will descend from the sky, hand out assault weapons to the crazies, imprison us all for "sodomy", and place a golden crown upon Trump's head... it's best to avoid this section of the country.

I wish to see Sweden someday, it'd be neat to not be the "hated minority" for a change.
Anyway... yeah, got a bit carried away. It's that time when I rant I guess.

 

Personally, I'm an atheist and pretty anti-religion. It's brought nothing but trouble and people just use it as a weapon or an excuse for their shitty behaviour. The only way I would accept religion was if people only used it to give them hope or guidance or whatever.

As Marx said, "religion is the opium of the people". No, I am not a communist. My point is, isn't it better to think for yourself and not blindly follow whatever some dude wrote in a book thousands of years ago?

That said, I don't really care if other people are religious, as long as they're not hurting anybody (if they are, that's another issue). A good friend of mine is a Christian who ignores all of the horrible stuff about women being lesser than men and homosexuality being bad. People can believe whatever they want, however, my issue is with people who use religion as a weapon. And I'd still much rather see an end to all religion. Do you know how many social injustices are the cause of religious beliefs?

 

I mean I can still find beauty within religion as far as it inspiring people to help others or beat drug addiction/alcoholism. Its difficult to talk to older people about atheism because it was so taboo for them and now it is more accepted in 'Murica. I mean if you live in places like Mississipi or Texas don't know how you can manage.

My mom & sister are religious and my best friends still believe in God but they had no problem when I said I'm bisexual. Not to say other atheists are all good & tolerant but its a shame when people use religion to hide their bigotry. Luckily my loved ones aren't like that.

Im all for people being religious to help others just keep it out of laws and understand there's good people that don't agree with it is all I ask for religious people. Some get it.

 

I wouldn't really call myself a proud atheist. I'm not really a proud kind of person. I don't know how to answer this question. >.<

I don't really talk about religion very much. Maybe sometimes if I think of something interesting. Nowadays, I mainly talk about religion to fellow atheists. I've only become one recently and it helps a little. I do enjoy that a lot. I don't really talk to religious people about it much because I don't feel like debating. Some people would get like that. Some are nice, though. I like them. ^^ I am not anti-theist so I do enjoy asking people about their religious beliefs and learning more about them. Personally, religion isn't a big part of my life.

 

I just find religion interesting.
I'm not really proud to be an atheist. I view it as the same way I view being right handed, its just something I am.

I view religion the same as I do mythology, and believe that eventually most religions become mythology after a while.
But, of course, it's no longer fun to talk about when people get angry or overly defensive and start yelling at you for asking a simple question like "Why do you believe in god?..and don't say because the bible told you too."

I am a strong believer that people can believe whatever religion brings then them the most comfort so long as they do not push their religion onto others and they do not harm others in the name of their religion.

 

I don't think I'm necessarily "proud" to be one, I just am I guess.

Well a few reasons I guess, one being that I am occasionally asked why I celebrate Christmas when I'm an atheist- so in those instances I have to explain.

Spoiler

I mean, I went to a religious primary school, so when people ask about my education I often have to go into that. Unfortunately, having been to this school has meant I know quite a few religious songs, prayers, phrases and other religious things pretty much off by heart. This can get confusing when a) I start singing them, and then I'm like "wait, but I'm an atheist now, why am I thinking/saying this?", and b) when people say certain words that remind me of prayers, and it comes back into my mind and I start thinking about them and have the same reaction as A. Even if someone just says/ I read the word "Dear" I feel compelled to say "God". So these days I try and say "Dear darling, please excuse my writing" instead. (from an Olly Murs song). It's less conflicting for me.

:bang:

But I guess that's what being a Christian for eight years and then becoming an atheist (currently for five years, almost six years) does to you.

From the age of four I was taught about Christianity, and I became an atheist when I was twelve years old. We didn't do much about other religions at primary, except something about a light festival and someone called Blush or something? I don't remember very well, sorry if you know what I'm on about and I'm completely wrong on this. I think we may have done about Greek mythology as well. Or perhaps Blush was part of the Greek mythology? I really can't remember now, I don't mean to offend anyone here by any of this. There was something about a maze and a lake and river, and two men going after this woman named blush and one of them was selfish and got cursed or something? Ugh, what was that from? That's going to annoy me now until I can find it.

My parents are atheists, and only sent me to a religious school because it had a good reputation (except when I went there it was complete sh:***:t, but I digress), so I was always conflicted as to what to believe back then.

There was one kid who went there who "came out" as an atheist in the older years. We had a lesson on it, and they were really condescending to him. The school had a very traditional take on religion- they didn't believe in evolution and told us that Darwin was "an evil man who liked to spread rumours" who was "great mates with the devil". This gave me some rather negative views on evolution, and my conflicted state was made worse when my parents would try and teach me about it. I was really confused, and I didn't know how to view my parents. They also didn't seem to like Jewish people much either (the school), but they had worse views on people who were atheists.

They were also fined for being racist (the school administration system was biased against people of colour generally, asking for more documentation to "prove" religiousness from POC than white people) and many of the teachers I had were fired afterwards. Also they would often leave to get drunk in the middle of the day, and leave the older years to look after the younger ones. Told you it was sh:***:t. It's a wonder how that place is still going, but they all have new staff now so it's probably fine these days.

It was only really when I got to secondary school where I learnt properly about different belief systems and scientific theories. There was a lot less pressure there to conform as well, and people were a lot less prejudiced in general. I felt a lot more free to ask questions and not just accept what I was being told. In primary we used to get told off for saying the "wrong" answer to certain questions like "You're stuck on a hill/mountain, who comes to save you?" and they got pissed at me once for not responding with "God".

So I spent some time researching into it all, and I came to the conclusion that personally I don't think God exists. I have nothing against religious people, but I do hate it when religion is forced upon others at a young age and people are told off for trying to come to their own conclusions. People should be free to make up their own mind as to what they believe, that's what I think.

I hate the fact that people tell me off for putting that I'm an atheist on my "religious views" section on Facebook, and won't let me change my personal information sheet to say "Atheist" instead of "Christian". I mean, I was Christened and all, (despite having atheistic parents, this was only so I could get into the primary school, they also spent two weeks going to church just so I could qualify. To bad it went terrible during the time I was there) but I don't believe in it. People say I can't change it because employers may think of me as "argumentative" if I put atheist down, despite the fact that I live in a pretty secular country overall and I don't think anyone would care all that much. And if you don't want to hire me because of that, well I mean, would I really want to work for such a person?

These days my family are less bothered on who I share my views with. I mean it's not like I go around bashing religion or anything, I just don't want to go around pretending I'm religious when I'm not. My sister likes to tease me and call me a "devil worshipper", but I don't care. I think she's a Jedi or something.

...I should probably end this post here, sorry for going off on a rant. :icon_redf

---------- Post added 26th May 2016 at 02:03 PM ----------

And yes, before anyone asks, I am aware the whole "Jedi" thing is a joke.

---------- Post added 26th May 2016 at 02:05 PM ----------

[/COLOR]

And yes, before anyone asks, I am aware the whole "Jedi" thing is a joke.[/QUOTE]

I mean, identifying as a Jedi is.

---------- Post added 26th May 2016 at 02:13 PM ----------

Also, slightly off topic, but can we talk about the fact that if you type into Google "atheistic" the first thing it comes up with is this;

"Atheist, agnostic, infidel, skeptic refer to persons not inclined toward religious belief or a particular form of religious belief. An atheist is one who denies the existence of a deity or of divine beings."

and if you Google "denies" the first thing it comes up with;

"verb

3rd person present: denies

1.
state that one refuses to admit the truth or existence of.
"both firms deny any responsibility for the tragedy"
synonyms: contradict, repudiate, gainsay, declare untrue, dissent from, disagree with, challenge, contest, oppose; More

2.
refuse to give (something requested or desired) to (someone).
"the inquiry was denied access to intelligence sources"
synonyms: refuse, turn down, reject, rebuff, repulse, decline, veto, dismiss; More

"Refuses to admit?". Bitch please.

In conclusion, Google seems biased. :dry:

 

And yes, I am aware "admit" can be "to accept as valid" and "An Atheist refuses to accept the idea of a deity or God(s) as valid" is certainly better than "refuses to confess the truth", but the most common definition of admit is "confess to be true or to be the case".

The way the previous definitions are worded make it sound like Atheists are objectively "wrong" and, quite fittingly enough, "in denial of the truth".

---------- Post added 26th May 2016 at 02:31 PM ----------

Interestingly enough, if you type in "atheist" instead of "atheistic" it comes up with;

"Atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods; it is a lack of belief in gods. Older dictionaries define atheism as "a belief that there is no God."

Interesting that the two would come back with such different results, and yes I am aware of how views and search engine optimisation work, but I just find it interesting how the two came up with rather different results.

Well, enough hijacking and misdirecting this thread now from me. Sorry I got so carried away. :icon_redf

 

I consider myself "proud" to be an atheist because it came out of shrugging off the psychotic beliefs I was raised with (JW) and figuring out for myself what I believe.

And I talk about religion because it's something that I see doing a great amount of harm around the world and I disagree with it. Personally, I won't bring up the topic of religion to others, but if they try to get into a heated debate with me then I won't hold back. And since I'm not looking to start an argument, I'm not going to go much farther into that discussion.

 

Although religion is a scourge on our species, spreading devisiness, suffering and hatred all over history, which is a good enough reason to oppose and discredit it, I have another reason.

Human beings are the most intelligent species on this planet. Our intelligence is one of our key defining attributes. I'm a strong believer in education and the honest pursuit of knowledge through scientific and rational means. The ability for the human mind to engage in rational discourse in nothing less than amazing. Religion however stunts that process. Through authoritarian dictates, distorted versions of history and reality and appeals to people's fears of their own mortality (that which is part of the truth and nature of our existence as mortal beings), religion gives false promises of an afterlife, devaluing the life we know we have. Furthermore, and more importantly, religion teaches, nay brainwashes, people into believing that faith is somehow a pathway to truth and this stunts ones critical facilities and replaces it with nothing less than guilibility and wishful thinking.

Now, if this way of thinking was little more than a private matter for people, I'd still disagree with it, but could live and let live. However, this way of thinking is coercively spread through the population with baseless threats of eternal torture and most despicable of all is indoctrinated into small children before they have a chance to develop their own rational thought processes, thus robbing them of free and independent thought.

It is for that reason as well and the theists endless pursuit to encroach on my and others rights based on their nonsensical beliefs that I argue and oppose it at every turn. If humanity is ever going to rise to the fullest heights of it potential, we must shed off our ridiculous Bronze Age superstions and embrace the rational intelligence which makes our species so unique. And when I see those, who have done this, landing rockets on comets, solving complex math theorems and developing medicines to cure the diseases that take our loved ones from us, it makes me proud to be a human being as I can see what the unstinted human mind is really capable of.

Happy days

 

Firstly "atheistic" is a very weird term xD!! I've never heard any of my atheist friends use that to describe themselves, like literally never, nor have I lol.
"Proud"...meh, there's nothing to be particularly proud of. I suppose I enjoy the feeling of looking into the night sky and knowing that it wasn't a simple flick of the wrist that created it all, letting myself get swallowed by the absolute vastness of the universe, recognizing just how tiny I am in it, and comforted that I can recognize this, that I don't have to be a special god-child to feel awe or happiness