My disbelief in magic and gods is based on a logical conclusion that there is no evidence of any such phenomemon. The more I learn about the natural world the universe the more it would seem the god is only a construct of the human mind. Give me the evidence and I will follow it.
Did Any Atheist/Agnostic Revert Back to Their Former Beliefs?
by Space Madness 56 Replies latest jw friends
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cantleave
IMO to revert to theism is like returning to your baby's dummy (pacifier) or comfort blanket.
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Phizzy
You were never an atheist if you had not got rid of god, had not consigned him to the same place as Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and things that go bump in the night.
If you decide to lead an evidence based life, and to think rationally, as Cofty says "immerse yourself in the evidence", there is certainly no way you could return to a belief in the God/s of the Bible, including Jesus.
If you decide to lead a delusional life believing myth and nonsense that is your choice, but you never went through the process mentioned above.
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Space Madness
I mentioned on a previous thread how Atheist have higher suicide rates, are more depressed, and less charitable than those who believe in God. I recently learned that faith based alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers have higher success rates than secular rehab facilities. It appears to me that based on the statistics and my own experiences that most people benefit from a belief in a higher power. Every civilization in human history had a belief in God and I'm starting think that it's an essential element to living a meaningful life. I believe life in itself is evidence for the existence of God.
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Phizzy
All previous civilisations perished, their belief in god didn't preserve them. References for the studies you mentioned re-rehablitiation ? or is it mere heresay ?
If you start a sentence with "I believe.." then that is simply your opinion, which without solid proof and testable evidence to back it, is worth no more than anyone else's.
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designs
SM- so you're on board for Shiva eh.
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punkofnice
I cannot build a relationship with anyone that doesn't communicate with me. Relationships are 2 way. If one person refuses to talk then it is a waste of time.
I prayed to god and got no answers. God allegedly spoke to blokes in the past but not now. Why the long silence? I'm not saying there isn't something of a higher intelligence or some such, just that I can see no observable evidence of it.
I could never go back to believing unless something obvious happened.
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OnTheWayOut
You say you became an atheist back in July. For how long? What research did you look at?
Please don't try to convince yourself that you know what you speak of because you considered atheism for a day or a week or even a month but never really let go of God. Please don't decide which is accurate based on your bogus statistics about suicide and depression.
I suppose if visiting psychics makes people less depressed, you are all in.
Does your purely anecdotal evidence tell you that people should accurately believe in God, and how so? Should people become Buddhists or Muslims or Jews, or does your evidence somehow magically lead to Jesus? Or maybe Zeus?
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Frazzled UBM
Space Madness - statistics are what you make of them - haven't you heard the expression 'lies, damned lies and statistics' - the Witnesses are also big on quoting statistics to suit thier purposes. Your generalisation that 'most people benefit from a belief in a higher power' beggars about a million questions. If you feel that belief in a higher being benefits you by making you feel good that's great but don't try and foist him on the rest of us - while there is some suggestions now that being overly materialistic may not be good for you (unhappy rich people being a case in point) because materialists value things over people, not all atheists are materialists (despite what the WBTS propaganda states) and at the end of the day being true to who you are and what your critical faculties tell you is probably the most important thing. Cheers Fraz
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tenyearsafter
I am not personally aware of any atheists that were believers who then returned to theism. As noted earlier, there have been a number of prominent atheists that have become believers in theism, C.S. Lewis and Lee Strobel being notable among them. I think it would be as difficult for a "converted" atheist to return to theism as it is for a JW to leave the Borg...kind of a reverse cognitive dissonance.