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Your Choice in Religion
Tweet Topic Started: Sep 3 2012, 05:58 AM (180 Views)
Maggot Sep 3 2012, 05:58 AM Post #1
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Do you identify with a certain religion? Are there practices you don't agree with within it? Or do you just not give a rat's ass? Discuss.

I usually associate myself with agnostic atheism, but I love to learn lessons from the Buddhist religion. I believe strongly in the use of empathy, and that greedy people who don't consider what others feel will eventually taste their own karma.

However, I don't neccissarily like being labelled as a athiest alone. I like to keep an open mind about my surroundings.. I also don't like the way some athiests suddenly get the impression that their dis-belief in a higher power gives them the right to act like dicks to other religious people.
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ShooterOneNinety Sep 3 2012, 12:38 PM Post #2
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I'm a committed Gnostic Atheist. I used to be a hardcore Christian until about two years ago, I started having doubts. Hey, I know! I'll ask Google questions and confirm my faith again! Nope. By last year, I came to terms I was an Atheist. Now I have to tell my Mom that I am Atheist. That wasn't very easy.

When I visited my Dad, he let me borrow a Megadeth album (This one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n752h7QvJ3E )

My Mom came across it and said that it was heathen music, so I got into an argument with her, with it ending that I was Atheist. About a day or week later (I don't remember, I'm only human), she said, "I am sick your crap! We are a Christian family. If you don't accept that, move in with your Dad. If he can't take you, we are sending you to a group home." My Dad can't take me, and she knows that. My Dad has been living with my uncle for years with a very low paying job. They don't have any spare rooms or anything.

After that, she stopped with those threats, but now she will talk to me for about three hours everyday about "How good God is," or "How stupid Atheist are." To hear for hours EVERYDAY about something I don't believe in is annoying and useless. But I listen either way. :/

Yeah, I get messed with at school to, but I've already went into that on Vidjah Gams.



If you want to know how I feel about other religions, I feel like it can be corrupting. It can either make you a really good person or a really terrible one. You can use it to make everyone follow you to a suicide cult or you can use it to make everyone feed the hungry. It can turn you bigoted or open minded. Religion can keep people from the things they need, such as medical care when it's really needed (See http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-city/index.ssf/2011/09/another_faith-healing_case_puts_oregon_city_parents_on_trial.html ). Don't use your religion to be a dick, man. Seriously. That happens too often. Use your religion for a greater good rather than being a bastard. Really.

So after becoming an Atheist, I've been really active within it. For example, I am reading The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, I am subscribed to /r/Atheism on reddit.com, I sometimes debate with others (A friendly debate, no hate at all. It's like chit chatting pretty much.), I talk with other Atheist, things like that. It makes me happy, actually. You can say that Atheism made me a better person than I was or would've ever ended up being. To say that I am an Atheist actually makes me pretty joyful. I don't know how to explain.
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Mindet Sep 3 2012, 04:07 PM Post #3
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I, too, fall under the category of "atheist," I suppose. Honestly? I'm not really sure what to think, exactly, but I tend to be more skeptical than anything--especially with the idea that you'd be saved by faith alone. In a world like this? I don't think faith alone could help, really. I also agree with what's already been said here: religion shouldn't be used to cause friction between people--on BOTH sides. And honestly? I don't think I could affiliate myself with a religious group/organization/etc. anyways, even if the beliefs they uphold reflect those of mine.

Why? Exactly because I've seen a lot of hurt between people when religion is put to the test or thrown into the conversation.

So, in conclusion really, I'm just non-religious. Sure, you can call me "atheist." I wouldn't mind, s'long's you don't go around saying "Oh, so you believe in science?" Bullcrap. You don't believe in science, you understand it. And just because a person doesn't believe in a specified religion does not mean he or she automatically believe in science. Even science doesn't have all the answers to the multitude of open-ended questions we have out there.
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Maggot Sep 3 2012, 05:11 PM Post #4
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Mindet
Sep 3 2012, 04:07 PM
I, too, fall under the category of "atheist," I suppose. Honestly? I'm not really sure what to think, exactly, but I tend to be more skeptical than anything--especially with the idea that you'd be saved by faith alone. In a world like this? I don't think faith alone could help, really. I also agree with what's already been said here: religion shouldn't be used to cause friction between people--on BOTH sides. And honestly? I don't think I could affiliate myself with a religious group/organization/etc. anyways, even if the beliefs they uphold reflect those of mine.

Why? Exactly because I've seen a lot of hurt between people when religion is put to the test or thrown into the conversation.

So, in conclusion really, I'm just non-religious. Sure, you can call me "atheist." I wouldn't mind, s'long's you don't go around saying "Oh, so you believe in science?" Bullcrap. You don't believe in science, you understand it. And just because a person doesn't believe in a specified religion does not mean he or she automatically believe in science. Even science doesn't have all the answers to the multitude of open-ended questions we have out there.
That's a good way of putting it. I like the "non-religious" point that's been made there.

I think the name 'atheism' had been coined a long, long time ago for people that didn't believe in a god and stood up for that belief. Now that there's a much bigger movement of atheism, I don't know if they need the term anymore. Non-religious is as good as any. Now, I'm starting to think athieism is starting to become a bit less "I don't believe in a god" to some people, and more like "I don't believe in a god! You shouldn't too!" And that really defames the athiests who take up the title as a representation of their beliefs. Maybe, it even asserts the notion of atheism being a religion itself.

Shoe, don't worry about school. You don't need that crap you're getting. Knuckle down and study. Once you're out of there, you can do whatever the hell you like, within money boundaries. If you're really that upset with your town, gather your funds and move somewhere further north.
I'd also like to suggest being "non religious" to your mom.. The word 'athiest' tends to bring out the worst in bible thumpers. Don't actively associate yourself with athiesm, nor tell anyone you don't believe in a god if you don't have to. It may sound cruel, but it's the best way to get out of high school.
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kman Sep 7 2012, 07:10 PM Post #5

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I'm fine with anything as long as the person isn't trying to shove it down peoples throats... Especially when it comes to atheism. I am an atheist, and I'm not saying I hate all atheist, I'm saying I hate ones like this: http://www.quickmeme.com/Scumbag-Atheist/?upcoming

Something about people like that has honestly just bugged the shit out of me for ages, I think it mainly has to do with my parents being that way I guess. They're both convinced that anyone that's religious is bat-shit insane and needs mental health - I'm serious, and it's so damn annoying. Just for example, my brother went to a party the other week with a few of the other counselors from the camp he worked at over the summer, and the only thing they were worried about was that this one guy who was known for being a hardcore Christian was going to try to convert him to Christianity, I'm serious.

Of course people that act like that but on the opposite side of the argument are still just as annoying, but I've found it doesn't pop up as much when it comes to religious people as it does with atheists. Really the only time I'm annoyed by religion other than in those sort of instances is when people try to control others' lives based on their beliefs. The only big thing that comes to my mind at the moment is gay marriage, the fact that that's still not allowed in a lot of places with the only reason for it being banned being "well god says it's not right" is fucking ridiculous. THAT'S one thing I have a problem with. I'm not going to go out and try to control peoples' lives because of what I believe, and I can't stand it when others try to.
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Mindet Sep 7 2012, 09:54 PM Post #6
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kman
Sep 7 2012, 07:10 PM
The only big thing that comes to my mind at the moment is gay marriage, the fact that that's still not allowed in a lot of places with the only reason for it being banned being "well god says it's not right" is fucking ridiculous. THAT'S one thing I have a problem with. I'm not going to go out and try to control peoples' lives because of what I believe, and I can't stand it when others try to.
I find it especially hilarious (not really) that THAT sorta reasoning is used in America, where one of the founding principals is "freedom of religion." HUM.

Either way, both sides is problematic when it comes to the obnoxious I-believe-this-therefore-you-must attitude, so yes, I agree with what you're saying.
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TheRealJubJub Oct 18 2012, 09:35 PM Post #7
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You know, I don't really like labeling myself as any type of "ism". I choose to avoid religion whenever I can, because I feel it is really unimportant in the public lives of people. It is more like a personal topic that you would only ever hear from someone whom trusts you with their entire soul, since--in some cases of religion--their religion can be their soul. You know, how they dictate their lives.

If you were to ask me, I'd say I was an atheist just so I wouldn't have to say anything else on the matter. But seeing as this is a forum thread, it means that I do not have to literally speak at all and people can get to it on their own time. You see, I do not care for any religion in particular. I like to call myself an "apatheist" (for obvious reasons), the root word being "apathy". Kinda like what this guy said here:
Mindet
 
So, in conclusion really, I'm just non-religious. Sure, you can call me "atheist."
Brilliant. Although religion does not matter to me, I have come to realize that it may mean something more than just identifying the individual with a certain code of conduct.

With religion, you have to ask yourself a question that I feel is vital in wondering why religion has even persisted to exist in this era of technology (not saying I'm a motherfucking scientologist, for fuck's sake excuse my French, it's in my blood). It is true that most religious arguments for the existence of God can be made fallacies by the "tea-cup-floating-in-space" metaphor made by Bertrand Russel, seeing as we can neither prove or disprove the existence of God with current technology. Why has religion even lasted for so long?

I pondered this for many years, ever since I was 10 when I had doubts about what my parents and Christianity were teaching me. I realized the answer literally three weeks ago, at my youngest cousin's baptism ceremony. He's two, with the cutest cheeks that are just so chubby, I could look at this child smile all day and never grow exhausted of it. Once I could take my eyes off of my positively adorable cousin, I looked around at my family--there had been a feud between the parents of my aunt and the parents of my uncle that had been going on for years, and in that moment we were all together, gathered with weapons down and vulnerable to any attack that one side may have had for the other. It was... peace. It was nice. It was then that I realized religion is the glue that keeps families together, and when you align yourself differently by having a different belief system or no religion at all, you remove yourself from that glue. Kinda like Sid in Ice Age.

Still, I do not care if there is one god or many gods or no gods at all. I just won't waste my time identifying myself with one religion or another--I believe in the power of friendship family!

Although it is a completely different story if your family rejects you for choices that they've made rather than the ones that you've made. Because that is just fucked messed up, dude.
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Maggot Oct 21 2012, 11:00 PM Post #8
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Apathiests are awesome man. Bravo. I'd love to label myself as one, but as I'm not sure if there is some sort of higher power or not, I'm happy as-is.
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