Atheism
- Thread starter nursebee
- Start date
Yes, atheist for 35 years or so now. I was raised as a Catholic. The religion asked me to believe in all sorts of invisible things and unprovable dogmas, mostly handed down by old white men. I was questioning this well before there were any child molestation cases being talked about. It just did not make sense to me--still doesn't. Even if I were religious in some way, I could never be a Catholic. As a gynecologist and a woman, I could never accept a religion that, in my estimation, systematizes subjugation of women.
Yet, I have no interest in converting others to my way of thinking. I don't care what other people believe, as long as they don't try to make me believe it. Their beliefs are kind of scary in a few cases, but mostly harmless, and I don't think you can stop people from having them. They want the world to be ordered, and to be fair. It comes from some primitive time when a few days of bad weather could ruin the harvest and beget starvation. If there is "justice" and retribution and reward, then things will be all right in the end. People don't want to believe that there is no inherent fairness and that the only true order of unfortunate things that befall us is something along the lines of "shit happens." If all you believe is that shit happens, then you have to accept that even worse shit can happen next time. People understandably don't want to swallow that. Fantasies are more fun than the truth. Star Wars is outselling documentaries. I'd like to believe those fantasies, just as religious people do. It seems so comforting. But I just can't buy them.
I'm eternally sick of people asking me to explain myself. I simply respond by asking them to first explain their belief in something that no one can see or hear, and for which there is no evidence or proof. These same reasonable-seeming people are not asking me why I do not believe in ghosts, astrology, werewolves, leprechauns, etc., nor do they believe in those things themselves. What's the difference between those things and religion?
I was so charmed by Chris Matthews' short editorial a couple of years ago. He basically stated that based on history, over time, liberalism always wins. I believe he meant liberalism not as "the left" but in a figurative sense; that is, freedom of thought, belief, and action, increasing recognition of human rights, and so forth. At least people are talking about atheism now. It used to be people would think you were a monster if you said you were atheist.
Thank you for starting this thread.
Yet, I have no interest in converting others to my way of thinking. I don't care what other people believe, as long as they don't try to make me believe it. Their beliefs are kind of scary in a few cases, but mostly harmless, and I don't think you can stop people from having them. They want the world to be ordered, and to be fair. It comes from some primitive time when a few days of bad weather could ruin the harvest and beget starvation. If there is "justice" and retribution and reward, then things will be all right in the end. People don't want to believe that there is no inherent fairness and that the only true order of unfortunate things that befall us is something along the lines of "shit happens." If all you believe is that shit happens, then you have to accept that even worse shit can happen next time. People understandably don't want to swallow that. Fantasies are more fun than the truth. Star Wars is outselling documentaries. I'd like to believe those fantasies, just as religious people do. It seems so comforting. But I just can't buy them.
I'm eternally sick of people asking me to explain myself. I simply respond by asking them to first explain their belief in something that no one can see or hear, and for which there is no evidence or proof. These same reasonable-seeming people are not asking me why I do not believe in ghosts, astrology, werewolves, leprechauns, etc., nor do they believe in those things themselves. What's the difference between those things and religion?
I was so charmed by Chris Matthews' short editorial a couple of years ago. He basically stated that based on history, over time, liberalism always wins. I believe he meant liberalism not as "the left" but in a figurative sense; that is, freedom of thought, belief, and action, increasing recognition of human rights, and so forth. At least people are talking about atheism now. It used to be people would think you were a monster if you said you were atheist.
Thank you for starting this thread.
imo, a serious and scientific way to reject rationally all forms of God concept/ perception/ existence would most often go through a reasonably longtime searching, especially for the ones with strong religious background previously.
http://www.elitetrader.com/et/index...idence-the-universe-was-created.300707/page-5
The Dark Ages weren’t as dark as most people assume, so to speak…in fact, the darkest of all ages was the 20th century, when governments murdered more people than in all of the rest of history combined – all for the “greater good”!
As an aside to this, what ended the brief period of economic liberty that followed on the heels of the Western Roman Empire’s collapse? Charlemagne – the first medieval central planner, who at the synod of Aachen in AD 789 and at the Council of Nijmegen in AD 806 introduced a “usury ban”, price controls, and a “ban on speculation”. In short, as soon as a new central power arose in Europe, it was all over with leaving people alone to do their thing in peace.
Medieval central planner Charlemagne. As soon as the first emperor after the fall of West Rome was firmly ensconced in power, he significantly curtailed the economic freedom people had enjoyed over the previous three centuries (erroneously dubbed the “Dark Ages”). A prime example for why big centralized states are really bad for the common man.
As an aside to this, what ended the brief period of economic liberty that followed on the heels of the Western Roman Empire’s collapse? Charlemagne – the first medieval central planner, who at the synod of Aachen in AD 789 and at the Council of Nijmegen in AD 806 introduced a “usury ban”, price controls, and a “ban on speculation”. In short, as soon as a new central power arose in Europe, it was all over with leaving people alone to do their thing in peace.