And one last thing…don’t ever let life’s hardships or bad experiences hold you back from true happiness. Everyone has had some kind of bad experience with a church. There will always be those people that leave a bad taste in our mouth but they have nothing to do with God. Afterall, the last time your rotator cuff was a little sore, did you say to yourself, “that’s it, I’m never going to the gym again!”. Don’t let the small things stand in the way of the much bigger things that matter most. Aight, my rant is all over 
The tunnel of light thing that many people associate with life after death can be recreated in a laboratory setting. It’s a normal reaction to a loss of blood flow and oxygen to the brain. If you can recreate it simply enough in a lab how is that proof of an all powerful being?
I could see how near death experiences may cause you to review your life strategy and maybe get more out of it. For some that means turning to an increased religious belief I guess.
I’ve been in a few incidents where I actually thought death was nigh. Once I was able to reflect on that I decided that I was quite happy with the way I’ve lived and if it ended at any time the only thing I’d wish was different is that I get to keep doing it for longer.
Agnostic here. I was raised catholic, went to catholic school through 8th grade and was even an alter boy until I was 15.
A few things happened around that time, though. I started reading a lot more about other religions and history, and realized that the catholic church had been lying to me on many levels. If you begin to doubt even a little, the whole house of cards that the church is built on comes tumbling down. I’m also cynical enough to believe that the primary reason the church remains opposed to contraception is to ensure the supply of poor, under-educated catholics flowing. It’s a Catch-22 for the church: more affluent followers who can contribute more are also better educated and more likely to doubt, poor uneducated masses can’t pitch in as much but are more likely to remain devout. Strength is in the numbers.
I also took a science fiction class in high school that exposed me to a wide variety of subjects and authors, including Kurt Vonnegut. After reading “The Sirens of Titan” I converted from catholicism to The Church of God the Utterly Indifferent, and have never looked back. Since I don’t actually know of anyone else who claims to belong to this faith, I don’t have to waste time on Sunday going to church. God doesn’t really give a shit if I do anyway.
Because so many “good christians” like the rev Phelps of godhatesfags.com and the rev Jerry Falwell, among others, exibit such downright hateful and un-“christian” behaviour, I choose not to associate. So call me anything you want, just don’t call me a christian.
little out of the ordinary, but what the hell I’ll throw a hindu in the mix
I see alot of misdirected people on this thread.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[1] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
THEMANZ: That guilt and fear ploy? Once again? It gets tiresome after a while. You`ll have to do better than that. ;p
Ever considered that animals dont need religion and theyve been here for quite a while before us? Gives you an idea that religion is most probably not a necessity to live…at all…
Personally, I’m agnostic. I definetly believe in God, just not in any organized religion.
I think the majority of people believe in the religion they are in because they were BORN into them. They did not CHOOSE a religion that makes sense to them. The majority of people are sheep.
I respect those who were raised into a certain religion but they later adopted another or disbelieved altogether.
I studies Christinaity HARD for a good many months but in the end, I just couldn’t believe it. Even Christians couldn’t agree amoungst themselves.
But one thought from one of the brothers who studied with me that I still don’t know how to dispell:
Jesus was a real person historically. So, there are only three possibilities -either he was a liar, madman or the son of God.
What do you say to that?
One thing I don’t understand is why they try so hard to get other people to believe in Christianity or THEIR VERSION of Christianity.
Most people will say it’s so that the church will get more money but how does that benefit them personally?
TheManz,
There also seems to be one arrogant one that felt the need to state his superiority, too…
Neil
And now, back to more talk about Iraq…
I’m atheistic.
TheManz, you just don’t get it. To some of us those words printed on that paper in what ever version book you have ring no more true and any other printed word.
You either believe and so think that book is special, or you don’t and it’s just another fancy book.
After I’m dead I’ll be the first to admit I was wrong if I am. Like I may have mentioned before, I’ve said my goodbyes to my wife prior to being loaded on a LifeFlight and trust me I was more worried about my wife and kids than if I’d be seeing God if I croaked. I’m glad your religion gives you comfort and direction. It just doesn’t do it for me. I’m sure your God has plenty of room for where ever guys like me go so I won’t be lonely even if I am wrong.
THEMANZ: I prefer something I found out of a webpage regarding Ingersoll. I find it far more true (in the sense that it would not surprise me if it was indeed true and, knowing humans, it would not surprise me at all). Here we go:
What is religion?
Is religion anything but profit?
If not, how come that you read almost daily in the newspapers of priests and rabbis and clergymen who die leaving estates aggregating hundreds of thousands of dollars?
How did they acquire their money? I will tell you.
Religion is all profit. They have no merchandise to buy, no commissions to pay, and no refunds to make for unsatisfactory service and results.
And what about the vast wealth owned by the religious organizations whose assets total billions of dollars. What did they do for this money? They did not save a single soul, because man has no soul to save. It was all profit – 100% profit.
Their commodity is fear. They blackmail their parishioners with threats of hell and damnation. These poor deluded people give them their hard earned money to save them from a hell that does not exist, and from eternal torment that was invented by the perverted minds of priests to rob the living and in addition, the church and the clergy are exempt from taxation! Insult to injury!
Let me tell you that religion is the cruelest fraud ever perpetrated upon the human race. It is the last of the great scheme of thievery that man must legally prohibit so as to protect himself from the charlatans who prey upon the ignorance and fears of the people.
http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/lewis/lewing01.htm
Clever.
Jewish mother
Catholic father
Atheist me…
I’m not a Christian. I don’t have anything against Christians, I count many among my friends, but as a belief system I just find it incompatible with the advancement of the human race.
Tried to post this earlier but it did’nt come up. Like Patricia, I find Zen philosophy and the teachings of Buddha speak more to me than christianity. I like the idea of looking iside for answers to life’s difficult questions as oppossed to looking externally for guidance. It’s not that I have an issue with christianity per se, it’s just the majority of christians I have met throughout my life did not seem to have a sense of self-awareness and were not particularily spiritual. I have met many however who simply confuse faith with spirituality. Having said that, I do know some extraordinarily insightful and open minded christian friends, but they are few and far between.
“Think of all the great word and great teachings as your deadly enemy. Avoid them, because you have to to find your own source. You have not to be a follower, an imitater. You have to be an original individual; you have to find your innermost core on your own, with no guide,and no guiding scriptures. It is a dark night, but with the intense fire of inquiry you are bound to come to sunrise. everybody who has burned with intense inquiry has found the sunrise, others only believe. Those who believe are not religious, they are simply avoiding the great adventure of religion by believing”.
Buddha
Is it even worth debating the merits of religious belief? Religious people won’t change their mind and religion will maintain a dominant influence (in the U.S. at least) during our collective lifetimes. All the non-religious can do is feebly protest religious encroachment into policy.
The original poster just was curious as to how many people here weren’t religious.
Taoist here. It’s a balance/ acceptance thing.
Walked away from the church [as opposed to christianity] when:
[1] they started telling me what music I could listen too - seriously.
[2] When they came out against the law change making homosexuality legal.
All the great religions say basically the same thing - it’s the interpretation that gets things fucked up. Even the commandments from the Church of Satan have a lot to recommend them.
The funny thing about christianity is that all the stuff with Moses can be scientifically proven, 1000’s of years later. The Bible was written AFTER the fact, in whoever’s thoughts about what they thought they saw. It’s really hard for me to believe a book. My mom was just talking about Revelations today, saying that “everyone will be marked” and guess what we were talking about? Tattoos. Geez man, you can twist and turn every single passage from the bible any which way that suits the topic of conversation. It’s ridiculous.
As I say this, I’m converting to Catholicism. How nice
An interesting quote I read yesterday:
Truth does not demand belief. Scientists do not join hands every Sunday, singing, “Yes, gravity is real! I will have faith! I will be strong! I believe in my heart that what goes up, up, up must come down, down, down. Amen!” If they did, we would think they were pretty insecure about it.
– Dan Barker, Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist
I am an atheist, but I find religion fascinating.
My favorite is one in Japan where people worship the penis. Any religion where women are required to get on their knees when I drop my pants gets my vote.
My only complaint is the people who believe they can force their beliefs on others. This is not just one religion that I am talking about here. Actually it is not the religion at all, but the people who use their religion as an excuse for their actions.
Interestingly enough I find many atheists to be the most annoying in this area. The urge to block or destroy any from of faith, or to spit on any faith is just rude. Or blaming religion for the actions of people is wrong. I really don’t understand this myself, because if you don’t believe, why should you care?
I usually keep my mouth shut unless somebody asks, or states their beliefs. Then if they try to tell me my beliefs are wrong, I take advantage of my compulsive reading ability, and my skill at knowing a lot of useless shit to argue and, too often, annoy them. But more often then not I have intelligent conversations.