Athiests : How did you loose you're faith?

Xhristy

This post has been deleted.

pH

Sticky!

CerebralCortex

I never had one!

Stephen

Was raised a Catholic with communion, confirmation, confession and all that (my mother is a real believer) but when I got old enough to think for myself I just realised i didn't believe in any of it. It makes no sense to me.
The whole string of Catholic child abuse scandals and the existence of lots of other religions didn't help either!

lostexpectation

never had it in the first place, social conditioning only.

Bduffman

Xhristy wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

By thinking.

Dades

* ahem *

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055115951

Fun and all as the new spelling is, this is the same thread!

An Fear Aniar

Sometimes I think religions were the work of an deamhain to keep people away from God.

Maybe think perhaps that even though every man-made earthbound religion is a complete and utter failure, that this does not necessarily lead to the conclusion that there is not a divine principle (a summum bonum) at work in the universe.

When betimes people are asked if they believe in God and immediately starting ranting about the failures of earthbound man-made religions, it's not addressing the question.

If a could draw a Venn diagram I would have God in one circle and religion in another another maybe a tiny sliver joining the two sets - to represent the tiny number of truly spiritual people (mystics) to be found in each.

So leave out religion and think about whether there's an unfulfilled need or yearning in your life and consider whether perhaps it's a God-shaped hole in your soul.



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armour87

Science

pH

Obviously people are post-ironic or past-caring.

MarkMI6

I realised there must be no god when people began to can type out sentences like "Athiests : How did you loose you're faith?" and not get struck down by a literate passerby.

humanji

I thought it was the hip way to ask the question. You know, like:

"How did you loose you're faith, man?"

"Well daddio, I be jivin' with this Dawkins cat and, man, he like totally blew my mind. Ya dig?"

"Word!"

OK-Cancel-Apply

I grew up.

LaVidaLoca

Ws lucky enough to be brought up a non-beleiver, with the occassional sham confirmation/communion to keep the grandparents happy.

I remember my poor old granny trying to slip me prayer books and stuff behind by mothers back to save my soul. I pretended I'd read them to keep her happy.

Even at 7 or 8 I could plainly see it was nonsense. At 10 I remember testing this by spitting on a statue of the big C and telling him to go **** himself, to see if anything bad would happen to me as a result. Of course it didnt.

Tim Robbins

Xhristy wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I hit my early teenage years, and heard this tune
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H13tgpcfaTw&feature=related
Then I found out there was more to life!

Dave!

Copy and paste from other thread........


I never really had any faith to begin with... I was of course baptised, took communion, and was confirmed, and attended mass most Sundays with my parents. Nothing ever struck a cord with me when I was in church, and I demanded that when I turn 16 I wouldnt go anymore. I think I was actually 15 when I stopped going though... It wasnt a big deal anyway.

It was around when I was 15 or 16 that I started asking questions (internally) about religion, the universe, existance, all that sorta sh*te... I think what made me start to explore the arguments for atheism was the way that the idea of religion fits so neatly in with human psychology.

We don´t know where the universe etc. came from, so god must have done it. I also started thinking about all the different religions, and how they cant all be right. And then I started thinking about ancient civilisations like the Greeks, and how they had a god of the sun, moon and stars, and that these kind of gods arent even considered nowadays by most of us, because we understand these things. Put 2 and 2 together and it becomes apparant that humans feel the need to project divine characteristics onto things which they dont understand.

The other thing that got me thinking was the notion of an afterlife. Death is the ultimate human fear, because of the idea that we just cease to exist. We lose our consciousness and then just like that, we´re gone. Makes you feel a bit uneasy about getting old, doesn´t it? BAM! Let´s throw an afterlife in there. Now when you die you continue to live, just not on earth. You go up to your deceased relatives and pets, and everyone else will meet you up in heaven in due course. Sounds great.

Those were the main things that got me thinking about religion, and made me start to explore the options.

Also, Just to clarify because I know some people like to simplify things by saying that most atheists are just that way because of a bad experience with a church, the priest touched them once too often, etc.
I have had no strong contact with any church. I was baptised and confirmed like most people, and I went to a catholic primary and secondary school, and thats about where my religious contact ends. I went to mass on Sundays and didnt like it, also like most children. Religion had a rather benign influence on my life.

I simply do not believe because I do not think it makes any sense. I talk about it and argue about it because I do not think it makes any sense, yet it continues to be believed by millions. If millions believed that the earth was flat, then I would argue about that.

stereoroid

At the risk of being pedantic, the word is lose, not loose. Unless you see Faith as a wild animal that I might have left off the leash... :cool:

My mother dragged me to Catholic church as a kid, but that's not necessarily faith, is it? I was an altar boy, which was a bit like being on the stage. I stopped going after she died, just before I turned 13, because she was no longer there to push me in that direction. Faith? I honestly can't remember Believing, with a capital B, at any time - in other words, I doubt that I ever had genuine Faith in the sense you mean.

Dades

stereoroid wrote: »

At the risk of being pedantic, the word is lose, not loose. Unless you see Faith as a wild animal that I might have left off the leash... :cool:

Indeed, and "you're" should be "your", however the (pointless) thread title was a jibe at those who are grammatically bereft, but opinion rich.

Spawned from this thread I believe.

AngryHippie

Praying related knee injury

Lost the power to kneel without asking myself why:D

Akrasia

LaVidaLoca wrote: »

Ws lucky enough to be brought up a non-beleiver, with the occassional sham confirmation/communion to keep the grandparents happy.

I remember my poor old granny trying to slip me prayer books and stuff behind by mothers back to save my soul. I pretended I'd read them to keep her happy.

Even at 7 or 8 I could plainly see it was nonsense. At 10 I remember testing this by spitting on a statue of the big C and telling him to go **** himself, to see if anything bad would happen to me as a result. Of course it didnt.

oh you think you got away with it, but after you die, you're gonna BURN FOR ALL ETERNITY IN HELL!!!

stereoroid

Dades wrote: »

Indeed, and "you're" should be "your", however the (pointless) thread title was a jibe at those who are grammatically bereft, but opinion rich.

Yeah, I got that, just didn't read the threads in that order. The other errors are so common now, that if i was to point them out every time I'd go mad.

Words aren't just sounds, people, they have meanings - and the meanings of "here" and "hear" are almost completely unrelated to each other. I have no idea how people can make these mistakes: my guess is that they use words based on the sounds, and not on what they mean. :rolleyes:

Dave!

Get over it and move on with your life

Wreck

Dave!

Lol

c0rk3r

armour87 wrote: »

Science

thats funny. Science is pushing me in the other direction. Things are too perfect to have formed by chance especially when you look at things on a sub atomic level. Maybe in a few years we'll catch god in a test tube. heh

OK-Cancel-Apply

c0rk3r wrote: »

thats funny. Science is pushing me in the other direction. Things are too perfect to have formed by chance especially when you look at things on a sub atomic level. Maybe in a few years we'll catch god in a test tube. heh

Well then what created the creator? See we can go round in circles all day long on these boards.

LaVidaLoca

" Things are too perfect to have formed by chance "

They didnt form by "chance", they formed by the process of evolution, which is anything but mere chance.

Read some books about it and you'll see what I mean.

Dades

c0rk3r, there's a big thread here which includes much talk about how "chance" is not a factor in evolution.

That notion is a pre-conception that has somehow got stuck in peoples' heads, and invariably finds it's way to the fore when a creator is touted.

Pompey Magnus

I was a pretty strong Christian up until I was about 20, I was doing a science course and I never felt it and religion were mutually exclusive. One day a friend recommended for me to read The Selfish Gene and when I finished I realised that this was a book that came far closer to giving a meaning behind life than the Bible.

c0rk3r

Ive no interest in biology (well except metabolism,thats awesome) or evolution. Ive studied the process and know the theory and wasnt talking about it above. Im talking of course about the mecca of science that is chemistry. Chemical structure, atomic orbitals, crystal/ligand field theory as regards bonding, mechanisms and chemically reaction,s organometalic compounds and the precision, complexity and beauty involved in it, Quantum mechanics, electrons as waves and mass. schrodingers cat.

Slightly change anything and life wouldnt exist on earth. Too many variables

"Science is pushing me in the other direction".

OK-Cancel-Apply

c0rk3r wrote: »

Ive no interest in biology (well except metabolism,thats awesome) or evolution. Ive studied the process and know the theory and wasnt talking about it above. Im talking of course about the mecca of science that is chemistry. Chemical structure, atomic orbitals, crystal/ligand field theory as regards bonding, mechanisms and chemically reaction,s organometalic compounds and the precision, complexity and beauty involved in it, Quantum mechanics, electrons as waves and mass. schrodingers cat.

Slightly change anything and life wouldnt exist on earth. Too many variables

"Science is pushing me in the other direction".

Complex things typically come from simple things. To say that a divine creator made everything is to say that something complex made something else complex - you still have to explain how the creator came to be.

c0rk3r

OK-Cancel-Apply wrote: »

you still have to explain how the creator came to be.

Do I ? I dont have the answers neither does anyone else. I look at whats infront of me and come to my own conclusions.

DublinWriter

It's a flawed question - how did we lose our faith in what exactly?

I never lost my faith in the essential goodness of mankind.

However, I did lose my faith in the Roman-Death-Cult myth I was brainwashed into believing as a child, both at home and at school, when I realised that I'd maxed out money-wise on Confirmation Day and serious questions would need to be asked in the future.

To be an atheist does not necessarily mean that you have no spiritual beliefs; I'm both a Buddhist and an atheist.

OK-Cancel-Apply

c0rk3r wrote: »

Do I ? I dont have the answers neither does anyone else. I look at whats infront of me and come to my own conclusions.

Ok, but I could look at a rock in my garden and come to the conclusion that a man must have made it in a lab, but it wouldn't necessarily be the correct conclusion.

An Fear Aniar

DublinWriter wrote: »

It's a flawed question - how did we lose our faith in what exactly?

I never lost my faith in the essential goodness of mankind.

However, I did lose my faith in the Roman-Death-Cult myth I was brainwashed into believing as a child, both at home and at school, when I realised that I'd maxed out money-wise on Confirmation Day and serious questions would need to be asked in the future.

To be an atheist does not necessarily mean that you have no spiritual beliefs; I'm both a Buddhist and an atheist.

Yes, I think of Irish Catholicism as spiritual poisoning.:)



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c0rk3r

OK-Cancel-Apply wrote: »

Ok, but I could look at a rock in my garden and come to the conclusion that a man must have made it in a lab.correct conclusion.

Thats a piss poor analogy that just doesnt compare to what im saying at all. Through the knowledge that we have i dont see how you could come to that conclusion. What im saying is that ive looked at the scientific thoeries and find it incredibly difficult to believe it was spontaneous. Again im not talking about biology or evolution

monkeyfudge

AngryHippie wrote: »

Praying related knee injury

Lost the power to kneel without asking myself why:D

Haha... just when you were about to go pro too.

LaVidaLoca

Spontaneous.

But you find it easy to beleive that a book written in 1st Century Judea by hundreds of different authors is the Word of God.

That a Virgin gave birth to the main character in this book.

That he turned water into wine among other things.

That he likes to tranform himself into a peice of bread every Sunday.

That he has a list of ten things he would like you not to do, and if you do any of them he will send you to Hell for all eternity. But he loves you.

Well if your powers of skeptical enquiry can let those zingers slip by it, I'd say it's capable of beleiving pretty much anything.

c0rk3r

Lol LaVidaLoca i suggest you delete that post and save yourself from embarrassment. Who said anything about the bible?

Dades

I can delete it for you, VidaLoca.
Of course then I'd have to delete c0rk3rs post... and mine... dammit

Would you consider yourself some form of deist maybe, c0rk3r?

905

LaVidaLoca wrote: »

Even at 7 or 8 I could plainly see it was nonsense. At 10 I remember testing this by spitting on a statue of the big C and telling him to go **** himself, to see if anything bad would happen to me as a result. Of course it didnt.

Ah, it's good to see rigourous scientific experimentation in one so young.

marco_polo

c0rk3r wrote: »

thats funny. Science is pushing me in the other direction. Things are too perfect to have formed by chance especially when you look at things on a sub atomic level. Maybe in a few years we'll catch god in a test tube. heh

What exactly is so "perfect" about Quantum Physics?

Doctor DooM

marco_polo wrote: »

What exactly is so "perfect" about Quantum Physics?

Indeed, science never assumes to know everything, it reassesesesesesesesess itself every time a theory is disproved, unlike religion which asks you to believe, with no wiggle room. A good example of this is papal fallicy- This was voted for by bishops who were fallible. So what if they made the wrong choice?

905

SDooM wrote: »

Indeed, science never assumes to know everything, it reassesesesesesesesess itself every time a theory is disproved, unlike religion which asks you to believe, with no wiggle room. A good example of this is papal fallicy- This was voted for by bishops who were fallible. So what if they made the wrong choice?

Unfortunately scientists, being only human, often assume themselves to know everything. Science's ability to disprove itself and thus endlessly remake itself is its best characteristic. People saying that it can do no wrong and is infallible itself are doing it a disservice.

Quantum mechanics sounds like complete make-believe, in no way connected to reality. I read somewhere that scientists came up with some completely mad notions in quantum mechanics that could well have been a joke. The experts couldn't dismiss them though, as they couldn't tell serious science and hoax apart!

Andy-Pandy

Im God and so is my wife.

c0rk3r

Dades wrote: »

Would you consider yourself some form of deist maybe, c0rk3r?

Cheers dades, wasnt aware there was a label or even movement for it. I guess if you were to categorize it that would be the pigeon hole id be churping from.

Doctor DooM

905 wrote: »

Unfortunately scientists, being only human, often assume themselves to know everything. Science's ability to disprove itself and thus endlessly remake itself is its best characteristic. People saying that it can do no wrong and is infallible itself are doing it a disservice.

Quantum mechanics sounds like complete make-believe, in no way connected to reality. I read somewhere that scientists came up with some completely mad notions in quantum mechanics that could well have been a joke. The experts couldn't dismiss them though, as they couldn't tell serious science and hoax apart!

Well I am not a physicist, so I will not comment on that either way, as I simply don't know.

I'm not going to argue that some silly- billys don't end up as scientists. That still doesn't make the absolutist religions any better.

Dades

c0rk3r wrote:

I guess if you were to categorize it that would be the pigeon hole id be churping from.

We're all put in a pigeon hole...

Better to choose your own than be told which one you're in, I say!

OK-Cancel-Apply

c0rk3r wrote: »

Thats a piss poor analogy that just doesnt compare to what im saying at all. Through the knowledge that we have i dont see how you could come to that conclusion. What im saying is that ive looked at the scientific thoeries and find it incredibly difficult to believe it was spontaneous. Again im not talking about biology or evolution

My rock in garden analogy was intended to illustrate a potential obstacle in finding the truth - coming to one's own conclusions, and basing those conclusions on nothing but how one feels.

But if you say that the scientific theories don't add up, maybe you can tell us in what way...? The aim of science is to best make sense of and understand the world around us. We don't have all the explanations yet (perhaps we never will), but we are always on the road to discovering new things. It would be unscientific to jump to conclusions and say that a divine creator started it all, because there's no evidence to support that. Also, that idea would also raise new questions (e.g. Where did the creator come from?).

I think it all comes down to the simple fact that it is hard for humans to use the words "I don't know" - we're too eager to jump ahead and say, "I don't know, so that MUST mean X". That's not to say you are jumping to a conclusion - you said that science is pushing towards the 'divine creator' side... I'm just wondering how science could lead somebody down that path.

OK-Cancel-Apply

905 wrote: »

Unfortunately scientists, being only human, often assume themselves to know everything. Science's ability to disprove itself and thus endlessly remake itself is its best characteristic. People saying that it can do no wrong and is infallible itself are doing it a disservice.

Even when scientists are wrong, science is still right!

c0rk3r

Jaysus this is getting annoying with people constantly misquoting and misintrepreting or even just not reading my post correctly. Or maybe just cant comprehend or accept what im saying. I dunno

OK-Cancel-Apply wrote: »

and basing those conclusions on nothing but how one feels.

I never put it to down to feelings. If you read were you quoted me i said after that sentence "through the knowledge we have"

OK-Cancel-Apply wrote: »

But if you say that the scientific theories don't add up.

I didnt say they dont add up. I said the complete opposite! My belief is an application of our reason on the designs/laws found throughout Nature.The designs presuppose a Designer. It not that hard a concept

OK-Cancel-Apply wrote: »

you said that science is pushing towards the 'divine creator' side... I'm just wondering how science could lead somebody down that path.

Again no i didnt! I said science is pushing me in that direction