Belief in God (page 3)

Unstuck

I second the girl next door. (Thanks for sharing the Bart Ehrman quote - that was fantastic! My reading hasn't got around to him yet....)

jdash - I congratulate you on asking these questions, at the tender age of 17! You rock! It took me to the age of 41 to grapple with this question, to even recognise that it was a legitimate question! One that I had just dismissed as foolish, selfish thinking before. For me, it was intertwined with waking up from my indoctrination. Realising that WT was just so wrong (and yet I had believed that it was the one true religion for most of my life) was such a betrayal and it made me examine why a god, if there was one, would allow sincere-hearted people to be deliberately misled. Why was it so difficult to get to know him? I started asking all the same questions that so many people I had knocked on the doors of had also asked me. And I realised that the answers I thought I was providing were incredibly hollow, deeply unsatisfying and lacked any real substance. At the same time, I began to delve into why I had a belief in a god, just what was my "evidence"? I realised that my "evidence" was all based on feeling, personal experience, nothing that was tangible at all.

From there I read, and read, and read and I will keep reading. Taking into account Bart Ehrman's comments, I shy away from saying I am a definite atheist. After being so confident that I KNEW the "truth" I don't want to be so arrogant again. I would say I'm agnostic atheist (and I will think more about Bart's comments because I do like his distinguishing between faith and knowledge) but I will say I'm definitely anti-theist. If there was some higher being it is definitely NOT the god described in the bible. Reading the bible now without the apologetics (yo dubstepped!) I could not admire or respect such a despicable character as YHWH.

Hope my thoughts add a little to your research and ponderings and again, well done you for asking the questions - keep asking, there is so much to learn about and never be afraid to continue adjusting and reshaping your conclusions. The world is your oyster!

Love Sherrie

smiddy3

A situation came up in my life where I manipulated a body of Elders in making a judicial decision against a brother who I believed was being treated unfairly .

So then I started to really examine what the Bible actually said and it eventually became obvious that it was no more the word of God than the book of Mormon or the Koran or the Talmud.

I`m now an Atheist

Ireneus

in my school days, I was an atheist. But everything changed when I read the works of great scientists such as Francis S Collins, Sir Fred Hoyale, Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck, Wernher von Braun ....etc

Half banana

I think a problem arises from those individuals who wear the badge of "Believer" and imagine that those who differ must also wear a badge such as "Atheist" or "Agnostic" and similarly fraternise at their own meetings. Of course it's nothing like this. Personally I am without the knowledge of or need for a god, so I think of my self as simply being atheist, as opposed to being an atheist. (Is this too subtle?)

Anyway as for giving up belief in the God of the Bible, I first gave up a belief in the devil because he is a ridiculous characterisation of all that is bad. In fact I pioneered not believing in the devil alias Satan and told other JWs I thought he was just a personification --and nobody complained! So I started doubting all spirit creatures.

Reading philosophy gave me an insight into spotting logical errors and made me realise that truth has to be consistent with evidence and reason-- and there is no concrete evidence for spirits. Then again the God of the Bible is a perfect tyrant. I remember the very moment I became atheist. I was standing, so I sat down and considered the consequences; it meant no more religion let alone no longer remaining a JW.

The relief was enormous, no longer imagining some unknowable and fiendishly powerful busybody permanently breathing down my neck-- and that joy continues!

ttdtt

FYI - on my long comment on page 2 there are a few SPELL CHECK errors (I hate when it changes words on me and I don't notice).

Please forgive that, and I think you can probably figure out what the words should have been.

Freedom rocks

According to Dawkins book 'The God Delusion' I'm a defacto atheist because although I don't dismiss that there could be a higher power I think its highly improbable.

Onager

The Creation book raised serious doubts. Then looking into the flood myth and the epic of Gilgamesh. After that I was agnostic. Then I found the James Randi Education forum and argued religion on there, then I read books like Combating Cult Mind Control by Steve Hassan and God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens and finally ended up at Atheism.

One of the main factors was you're not born knowing that God exists, someone tells you that he exists. How do they know? They read it in a book. How did the writers of the book know? They say that God told them. How do we know God told them? The writers say so. This means that to believe in God you actually have to have faith in men. The person that told you that this book's God is the right one, the person who tells you that their interpretation of the book is the only correct interpretation, the people that wrote the book (and the people who translated the book, and the people who printed the book), you have to have faith in all of them first before you can believe in God.

Finkelstein

All god beliefs are born out human ignorance , the reason there hasn't been any new gods imagined by mankind in the last 2000 years.

When did you guys start to doubt your faith in God?

The lying corrupt bullshit from the Watchtower Corporation started my journey of discovery.

Understanding ancient mythology as its expressed in the Bible and studying human history connects things quite nicely.

Giordano

jdash Here is a funky quiz to figure out which religion (or not) you are most compatible with at this time

http://www.findmyreligion.com/

In my case I was 100% Secular......... Normally when I take a quiz like this I come out as a strong secular humanist.

"Secular humanism posits that human beings are capable of being ethical and moral without religion or a god. ... Rather, the humanist life stance emphasizes the unique responsibility facing humanity and the ethical consequences of human decisions."

I have found this is the best way I can explain why I want to be a responsible, kind and ethical person without being a part of any religion.

sparky1

Between 5 and 7 years old. I had my own copy of The PHOTO DRAMA OF CREATION; the rubbish contained in that book did "it" for me.

Belief in God

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