Why I am an athiest

[ccinamon]

This is a quasi-rant and a brief explanation of why I don't believe in a "god".


As a young girl I was raised Lutheran....I went to sunday school and church fairly regularly for many years. When I was about 10 I got the "honor" of attending catechism classes instead of regular "sunday school"...there was even a hard-bound book to study from.

It was always stressed to me that God knew everything you did and everything you thought, and he had the power to let you live or not...because he was all powerful. You would be forgiven if asked, but it was also drilled into me that you were NOT supposed to repeat the same "sin" once you have asked for, and supposedly received, forgiveness. You were supposed to "learn" from your mistakes and constantly strive to be a better person.

About half-way thru the catechism study book, I realized that there was a huge disconnect between what was "taught" and "preached" to us on Sunday, and how the adults acted and treated other people when they were not in the weekly 1-hour church sermon.

The lies, the fakeness, the hypocrisy...was all very blatent. I couldn't understand how God could let people get away with this kind of behaviour and he didn't "do" anything to those people who were obviously not following the "teachings of Christ".

My dad being a military man, we ended up moving to another base -- there wasn't a Lutheran church nearby, so we didn't do weekly services any more. I went to church with a few different friends out of curiosity as to how their version of Christianity was taught and believed. While there were differences, the similarities were very obvious....and so was the lies, the fakeness and the hypocrisy.

What I finally realized about 30 years ago was that so many people needed to "blame" some one or some thing for the good and bad things that happened to them during their lifetime. They did not want to accept responsibility for their decisions and actions and the consequences of those decisions and actions. It was so much easier to say "god wanted me to experience this", or "god moves in mysterious ways", and other variations of these themes. I also realized that there was another group of people that needed to believe in a higher power because the thought that we are born, we live, we die and turn back into "dust" was just too hard to live with. Some people need to know that there is a "reason or a purpose" for being here.

During the past 25 years, the "born-agains" started being more vocal, and getting into politics, and started spouting lies and mistruths; all while going to church and supposedly believing in the 10 commandments. The 10 commandments I was raised with included the "do not bear false witness"....I don't believe that this one is being taught anymore based on what I see, hear, and read from so many of the "christian" faith.

And where is this "all powerful God"? Why is he letting these liars, thieves, and hypocrites use "his" name to be forgiven, yet they turnaround and blatantly "sin" again? Does he not care what they are doing in "his" name?

I know many who will say, "God gave us free will"; ok, but if I was "all powerful, and knew everything you said and did" I wouldn't let liars and hypocrites abuse my name like so many christians seem to be doing and not showing them the "error" of their behavior. And what kind of "god" allows religious leaders (priests, ministers, etc) to sexually abuse children? More silence from the "all-knowing, all-powerful god".

With more and more people believing that there is no god, wouldn't you think this would be a perfect time for one of those "miracles" to prove that "he" really does exist....and still, silence from the "all-knowing, all-powerful god"....which just confirms to me, there is no god, no higher being, no all powerful and all knowing being....it's just US!

We are here, we need to make the most of it that we can, realizing that not everyone is "playing" by the same set of rules.

There will always be people who lie, cheat, steal and hurt others; being that there is no god, there is no hell and no place for "bad" people to spend eternity. I wish there was, but there isn't.

[deepthought42]

1. Well said!

and I have to agree with you. I just don't understand why people are so unwilling to accept responsibility for their lives. I answer to myself; maybe that's too hard for some people to do.

:hi:

[ccinamon]

2. thanks...

I've been wanting to write my thought down for a few years now, and finally decided to take the time and do it....it seems the older I get, the more the religious hypocrisy bothers me...and this last election pretty much drove me thru the wall!

[goddess40]

3. I am because nothing else makes sense

I too figured this out at a young age, except I was raised in a Catholic church and I figured out early on that they didn't like women or children very much.

[Joe the Liberal]

4. How I came to be an atheist is similar.....

I was raised to believe in God and Jesus and I did for the longest time, I did not question anything. I just blindly believed everything but I was very young so you really cant think for yourself at that age. Eventually as I got older I started to question things about religion. I didn't find any answers, in fact only stumbled upon more questions. On top of that a lot of things about the bible or religion in general just didn't make sense.

So with all the hypocrisy, nonsense, and lies I just gave up on religion and realized that there is no god and never has been. Religion just seems like a form of control, with it you will never be truly free, they will tell you how to think, what to wear, what to eat and how to act, you will never be able to be yourself. It just eliminates critical thinking and you will never be able to think freely.

[TBF]

5. I had largely the same experience growing up as a methodist...

I lived in a very small town with 3 churches, and about double the amount of taverns. As I got to be a little older (maybe 7 or 8) I remember thinking about how everyone would go straight from the churches to the taverns. It made little sense to me after everything I had been taught in Sunday School, and that was the start of questioning all of it.

Of course after I discovered hidden presents and realized there was no Santa at age 4, the religion thing was a no-brainer. I was much more disappointed about no Santa!

[awoke_in_2003]

6. You remember that little hand game we had

as a child? You know "here is a church, here is the steeple, look inside and where are the people? Across the street is a bar, look inside and there they are" :)

[awoke_in_2003]

7. I was raised Methodist

and used to think I was a republican. My life changed with run-up to the Iraq war. It caused me to question everything I once believed (hence my screen name). Found out I am a latte drinking liberal atheist. But that is good, we have better cookies :)

[stpalmer]

9. Ha ha

I suppose you have the bumper sticker that says "Come to the Darkside--We Have Cookies!" :) Yeah, I was a Republican up until the Republican Party was so anal they decided to go after Clinton with taxpayer money for cheating on his wife. I was absolutely enraged that someone would make a private matter a political issue, and spend my money doing it! It was only a matter of time after I gave up respect for the Republican party that I started to question all the BS passed down in my family about religion and morality. Everytime one of my relatives expressed shock and upset that our president had--gasp--lied about a bj, I got more disgusted. So George Bush can kill thousands, lie to all of us, cause great distruction---and not one of those "moral" relatives is shocked or upset. What kind of morality is that? Republican morality.

[stpalmer]

8. I Understand the "Clinging to Religion" folks

I was a young married woman, abandoned by my husband the day I found out I was pregnant. I ended up alone, having a baby, and putting myself through college with no family support (other than the occasional--"Don't quit school!") So, having been raised in a crazy fundamentalist religion (Seventh day Adventist) and joining an Evangelical Free/Holy Roller church, I clung to God and Jesus and the angels and my religious music for safety. I was so lonely and scared, and they were my imaginary friends.

I came to my atheist identification slowly over many year--with lots of the same reasons you did, and I really believe that it only happened for me because I made great choices, and had a mind increasingly opened by the lack of fear of tomorrow, lack of lonliness, lack of need for my safety net imaginary friends.

I try not to judge people who aren't here...they may never be here...I like to think that there are no absolutes, and leave my mind open to possibilities, while still demanding proof. They aren't searching for answers, they like imaginary magical buddies.

BUT I feel stupid when I think back now to times I really believed God was guiding my life and providing "breaks" for me, like a secret spy or superhero who loved me and was working magic for me. God got all the credit! It was really my own hard work and strong will and determination. And those many hours of prayer were calming and soothing, and helped ease my anxiety--like meditating is likely to achieve for any brain, even an atheist one.