by toweragent 40 Replies latest jw friends
I feel the void - the emptiness. But it's because I was filling it with something that didn't exist.
Now that I am an atheist I look back on a waisted life (almost 70 years).
If I could get shock treatments and forget what I have come to know I would probably prefer the delusion of the matrix.
Religion is a powerful drug - the ultimate placebo because it only works if you believe it.
"I would be extraordinarily surprised if virtually all atheists had not asked those "what if" questions dozens or hundreds or thousands of times, before arriving at the conclusion that they are, indeed, atheists." - sir82
Agree I was one of them. I try dozen, perhaps hundreds of times but, the evidence against deities, males or females, god, male or female, gods males or females, demigods males of females is overwhelming.
Ismael
I sometimes wonder whether Harry Potter is real and if Voldermort will return.
Hi Toweragent - good questions.
I can honestly say I never have a moment's doubt about the existence of a god.
Be careful not to think that your beliefs are something you choose or decide on. I suppose I was an atheist for a long time before I realised it.
Keep reading and listening to online debates. Read the best information you can find on topics like natural evil and the hiddenness of god. There are some great old threads in JWN where these things have been deabted thoroughly.
Investigate the history of the bible, evolution and origin of life.
Your beliefs will take care of themsleves.
I know what you mean about the realisation that this life is the only one we will ever have. It is a difficult thing ot come to terms with. It makes life very important. It would be nice if there was more but reality doesn't care for our wishes.
"I'm just curious to see if the things I worry about during MY transition are normal or not." - toweragent
Far be it from me to say what is normal, but I think your questions and thoughts are common for anyone transitioning from Wally World. I know I had similar thoughts. I recommend you do your due diligence regarding research on your own. Likely you will come to similar conclusions already written in this thread. One conclusion I reached was that if there is a god after all, even the god of the bible, how could he/she blame me for not believing. When I was first exiting I still firmly believed in a creator and thought those who are atheist chose to be atheist so they could relieve their consciences and not have to be accountable to anyone. Well as time went by I learned that simply is not true. Many hoped to find evidence of a god and as they researched, evidence went the other way. The time will come after you have looked at this from every angle and direction you will be at peace with your findings and can move on.
The bible says we were made in gods image.
If I was god and made the universe, I wouldn't demand everyone worship me. Hell, life would be a lot better for everyone and a lot more fun...but I digress.
I wouldn't have given humans some nebulous book that can be interpreted a billion different ways.
I wouldn't put a bunch of dorks with pinky rings in charge of my "chosen ones".
If there does happen to be a god and when I die I go before him, I'm good. The last thing I'm going to think is, "Oh no! I didn't sit in a church and read some old book enough!"
toweragent:
But then I hear comments like: "Ignore the bible, only listen to the words of Jesus." And I think that is awesome. There's not too much of what Jesus said that makes me uncomfortable.
The only problem with that is that the Jesus we know from the NT, reflects the Jesus that the NT writers themselves understood, and they wrote it down some two decades after he lived. And, we do not know for sure that the actual Gospel writers themselves had actually met Jesus.
As an aside: Nearly everyone here has been in your situation, so you'll work it all out in the end.
I love this guys response because it challenges what people 'believe' god to be against what they have made him.
Well I think no one really 100% knows for sure and that's a fact. I believe there is something out there but don't believe it's one almighty God. After watching the history channel a lot, I am more and more convinced that there are higher beings-- you can call them aliens, angels whatever, have influenced things on earth over the years-- such as unexplainable things like the pyramids being built, stonehenge, etc. I believe that it could be aliens that humans have had contact with over the years, but humans explained it as God, angels etc.
Do you ever look back and wonder "what if"? What if the god of the bible is real?
You really need to research the bible , how it came to be in its present form , why other books were ommitted , who decided their inclusion or ommission God or man ? Why are books that are named in the bible not included ?Why did it take 300 years after Jesus to decide the bible cannon.
Why all the contradictions , discrepancys exist in the bible ? How does a GOD of the bible allow thousands of different" christian" religions to spring up based on their interpretations of one book ?.........we could go on and on with this line of thought.
What if there is a creator who is not the god of the bible?
Then live your life using your brain to think and reason for yourself using whatever abilities you posess to live a happy and fulfilling life that benefits you ,your loved ones and freinds , and if their turns out that their is a higher power that has not revealed itself to us , he or she cant find fault with the way we have lived our life.
smiddy
