I think I'm offically an atheist now..

[Horta]

1 minute ago, Habitat said:

More assumptions. The dead may simply be, "outside time".

You might have missed the bolded underlined part...

Quote

I don't feel sad that the end, it could really literally be the end. 

 

[Astra.]

I think for many - death itself is only a fear while we are alive. I feel that we live on in other peoples minds and thoughts for those whom we have touched in many different and special ways.

However if it helps to give one comfort that there is a heaven of sorts where there may be beautiful - pleasant and ideal surroundings awaiting once the flame fades - then one has a right to embrace that belief before their time arrives. 

 

 

[Habitat]

18 minutes ago, Astra. said:

I think for many - death itself is only a fear while we are alive.

 

Hmmm......unless old beelzebub is waiting !

[psyche101]

4 hours ago, spartan max2 said:

I was agnostic for a long time. I really felt there was some kind of afterlife. 

I just can't resonably believe that anymore. A creator seems to be not compatible with evolution. I went with the idea of intellgence design for a while but looking around it seems a lot of things were unintelligently designed. Like why design smallpox? Or schizophrenia?

It just makes me sad to finally say and come to the realization I won't see my freind again and when people die they are compeltly gone.

I'm sorry to be a downer today, I'm normally not but this sucks 

Welcome to reason. It might be daunting at first, but that is just because you are shrugging of all that indoctrination, It creates that happy place.

What you need now is a new happy place. It will be honest, and you can rely on what you see. No Pie in the sky, not promises that are impossible to fulfil, I predict your mood will swing 180 degrees and you will find an honest happiness. 

Because we have the expectations of relgious based ideals, you were already given a purpose in life. Now you are free to find your own. 

I applaud your reasoning, and being honest with yourself. It might seem daunting, but quite often, that first step into new country is. Those people you have lost can take on all new meanings in your life, and rather than consider their bodies a shell to be forgotten for their soul in heaven, you can find ways to better identify, and honour the lives of those who went before you, truly giving a real sense of that famed mortality that all humans have chased for a very long time. It is true, we tell ourselves there is an afterlife to soften that blow, and I cannot agree with the people saying you can still believe in one to maintain that happiness. You Manned Up. You took control. That is honourable, hiding under the sheets I really do not feel is. Embrace that new world you have just stepped into. It holds many wonders for you. Stand tall, stand proud. I admire your fortitude. 

[psyche101]

2 hours ago, XenoFish said:

Think of religion as a filter which allows you to have a finite perception of life. By removing that filter you can see more with an open mind.

That is quoteworthy that is.

 

Nicely said!!!

[MWoo7]

YEah that Xeno kid comes up with a few now and again, some mindbogglingly thought provocatives and some superlatively if that's a word?whew! thanks UM spellcheck oh broke the flow, super deep quotes and should be in tomes ,,,, rather digital tomes if there are such things.

[MWoo7]

... unless something is waiting ... EXCELLENT !

 

31 minutes ago, Habitat said:

Hmmm......unless old beelzebub is waiting !

[Astra.]

4 hours ago, glorybebe said:

I see where you are coming from.  I am Pagan.  I worship nature.  But, IMO our energy goes on.  Where it goes we do not know.  

I would also like to believe that our essence / energy may continue on as well in some spiritual way. But without any evidence....all we can do is speculate.

 

[Astra.]

53 minutes ago, Habitat said:

Hmmm......unless old beelzebub is waiting !

Hmmm!....so you believe that ? 

[Tatetopa]

4 hours ago, Thorvir Hrothgaard said:

Be what you have to be. For me, I see absolutely no evidence of a creator god type thing.  But the mortal and concerned part of me hopes that if I die someday, my consciousness will somehow, someway carry on in some reasonably acceptable fashion.  Maybe I'll get to Valhalla, that would be great--drinking and eating and slaying giants and having a merry old time.  Maybe I'll sneak into that member's only club called heaven.  Meh, I just don't want all this to end until I want it to end.

I think I have been around computers too long.  When the hard drive crashes, the software goes away.  I suppose there is a small chance a backup is stored in the cloud.  I am not counting on it very much.  Although Thorvir, for what its worth, I will put in a request in to the Help Desk to get your backup moved to the Valhalla server. 

[Habitat]

6 minutes ago, Astra. said:

Hmmm!....so you believe that ? 

It never made any sense to me, at any stage, ever ! Other than as a man-made device to instill fear and compliance into the parishioners.

Edited October 26, 2016 by Habitat

[Astra.]

1 minute ago, Habitat said:

It never made any sense to me, at any stage, ever ! Other than as a man-made device to instill fear into the parishioners.

I agree....

[Habitat]

6 minutes ago, Astra. said:

I agree....

It (hell-fire preaching) was a form of terrorism, really. Especially if children were exposed to it. And I guess it still happens.

[Astra.]

2 minutes ago, Habitat said:

It (hell-fire preaching) was a form of terrorism, really. Especially if children were exposed to it. And I guess it still happens.

I was raised Catholic - so I know all about the hell-fire preaching and brain washing. Luckily I woke up one day and started to question things for myself. Long story short - I was glad to have turned my back on the traditional controlling mindset that the church tried to enforce.

It's all about control....and yes...unfortunately young people are exposed to this type of indoctrination everyday.

[psyche101]

1 hour ago, Astra. said:

I would also like to believe that our essence / energy may continue on as well in some spiritual way. But without any evidence....all we can do is speculate.

 

I have looked into this more so immediately after I lost my father, I can only conclude it makes the grim reality of death easier to deal with. But we do know that tiny little ion pump's sitting on our nervous system are how we generate energy. That gets converted to heat. When we stop, those little pumps stop, and we create no more energy, what we did have dissipates as heat. 

We do have quite some evidence and knowledge in this area these days, from body farms where people study stages and effects of decomposition, to doctors watching memories being chemically formed in MRI's to the effects of Lobotomy and brain damage to physicists poking minute natural forces that few even realise exist. Many examples that all support each other to a final conclusion. There is no way for what is "you" to continue after death. Speculation is what creates the idea that such a "something" exists. 

Of course all in the vein of the OP and realisation. A decent top level physicist no longer will say, we cannot know for sure. The best of the best do say, "We know enough to know we do not continue after death, sorry guys, but there is no afterlife". It seems this aspect possibly had something to do with the OP's epiphany. Which I hope this information supports and helps. 

People are more than welcome to their opinions, but if anyone wants to "know" we do have some insight here. Put simply, the mind is the brain, the brain is made of atoms, we know how atoms work. It is not guesswork, but the notion of an afterlife is.

This guy puts it in more detail with intimidating equations and everything. He has a pretty good sense of humour too. Worth watching if one has the time to spare. 

 

Edited October 26, 2016 by psyche101

[Habitat]

5 minutes ago, Astra. said:

I was raised Catholic - so I know all about the hell-fire preaching and brain washing. Luckily I woke up one day and started to question things for myself. Long story short - I was glad to have turned my back on the traditional controlling mindset that the church tried to enforce.

It's all about control....and yes...unfortunately young people are exposed to this type of indoctrination everyday.

My mother was raised a Catholic, and told how she was kept awake at night as a young child by terrifying thoughts of hellfire, and decided the only way to avoid it would be to be eaten by a lion ! Laughable, but still a monstrous imposition on young impressionable minds.

[psyche101]

10 minutes ago, Astra. said:

I was raised Catholic - so I know all about the hell-fire preaching and brain washing. Luckily I woke up one day and started to question things for myself. Long story short - I was glad to have turned my back on the traditional controlling mindset that the church tried to enforce.

It's all about control....and yes...unfortunately young people are exposed to this type of indoctrination everyday.

Have you heard about those evangelist hell houses? I do not think we have any here, lets hope not, but they are horrid places where fundamental christians do their level best to scare children into nightmares about the devil and hell. They are often played down as attractions, but the footage I have seen does not look like an attraction to me at all. 

Atrocious! 

[Astra.]

6 minutes ago, Habitat said:

My mother was raised a Catholic, and told how she was kept awake at night as a young child by terrifying thoughts of hellfire, and decided the only way to avoid it would be to be eaten by a lion ! Laughable, but still a monstrous imposition on young impressionable minds.

Your poor mum....it's actually a form of child abuse IMO... it's so very, very wrong to put those type of thoughts into a young persons mind by using such fear tactics.

[Habitat]

7 minutes ago, psyche101 said:

Have you heard about those evangelist hell houses? I do not think we have any here, lets hope not, but they are horrid places where fundamental christians do their level best to scare children into nightmares about the devil and hell. They are often played down as attractions, but the footage I have seen does not look like an attraction to me at all. 

Atrocious! 

I thought her parents remiss for exposing the youngsters to it, but, being the person she was, didn't have a bad word to say about it. 

[Astra.]

12 minutes ago, psyche101 said:

Have you heard about those evangelist hell houses? I do not think we have any here, lets hope not, but they are horrid places where fundamental christians do their level best to scare children into nightmares about the devil and hell. They are often played down as attractions, but the footage I have seen does not look like an attraction to me at all. 

Atrocious! 

No Psyche - I haven't heard of those terrible places. To think that this type of child abuse is still continuing in this day and age is absolutely disgraceful. Why on earth can't Governments or somebody monitor this type of thing and get more involved by showing it up as it truly is ??

Was this aired on 60 minutes or something ?

Edited October 26, 2016 by Astra.

[psyche101]

15 minutes ago, Astra. said:

No Psyche - I haven't heard of those terrible places. To think that this type of child abuse is still continuing in this day and age is absolutely disgraceful. Why on earth can't Governments or somebody monitor this type of thing and get more involved by showing it up as it truly is ??

Was this aired on 60 minutes or something ?

I saw it in a documentary, The God Delusion, (not quite the same as the book, a conglomeration of the TV series The Root of Evil) then I googled it and had another look to make sure they really do exist. 

It is amazing, I consider it child abuse to, the fellow who was interviewed said that around 12 is the best time to get at them for maximum effect. 

[XenoFish]

7 hours ago, Thorvir Hrothgaard said:

You know me, blowhard and loudmouthed AND honest to the very end.

You? Nooooo......really. I would have never thought such a thing.

[XenoFish]

5 hours ago, psyche101 said:

That is quoteworthy that is.

Use it if you'd like. 

The reason I dislike religious so much is that it was psychologically beaten into my head that I was scum. That I was God's mistake and I wouldn't go to heaven because of it. And someone had to die just to let me be considered in going to heaven. Everything was a sin. Your actions, your thoughts, and your feelings. And all this was before I was in second grade. Thank you grandma, you immortal hag.

I think what she 'taught' me was what fueled my interest in the occult. It was blasphemy and I like the feeling of spiritual rebellion. But after a few years I realized it's all psychological. Magick, prayer, all of it. 

If you want to have a little mind boggling fun. Read any line of scripture that has God in it. Replace God with any deity you'd like. 

 

[ChewiesArmy]

12 hours ago, spartan max2 said:

I was agnostic for a long time. I really felt there was some kind of afterlife. 

I just can't resonably believe that anymore. A creator seems to be not compatible with evolution. I went with the idea of intellgence design for a while but looking around it seems a lot of things were unintelligently designed. Like why design smallpox? Or schizophrenia?

It just makes me sad to finally say and come to the realization I won't see my freind again and when people die they are compeltly gone.

I'm sorry to be a downer today, I'm normally not but this sucks 

Recently, I have been giving this a lot of thought. I was raised Lutheran. I had to go to church until I was confirmed, then the decision was up to me. At that point, I believed in God, I just wasn't into the whole church aspect, so I stopped going.  Now, I attend a Methodist church because of my wife, and her family. My wife and mother are firm believers in Jesus and God, as was her father when he was alive. I have always had doubts about God, and I have written off organized religion a long time ago. I never understood why I had to go to a church to worship God...God created me so why do I need to support an organization? I do enjoy attending church because I do enjoy the atmosphere and many of the sermons. It is important to my wife that the kids do attend, and I do think there is value in church, I just make sure that the kids understand that they are not puppets of the church, and that God does have a direct connection to them. I also make sure that they understand that the bible has it's understanding of the creation of life and science has it's way. As they get older, I push science more and more.

I feel like such a hypocrite because I am supporting their belief in God, even though I am very doubtful one exists, or, at least as described in the Bible. I feel fake, but if I told my wife the truth, she would not understand at all, and I would feel horrible telling my kids that there isn't a God or Heaven. I hope that as they grow, they will make their decision on their own.

As for God existing, I think there are 2 possibilities...
 

[Astra.]

5 hours ago, psyche101 said:

I saw it in a documentary, The God Delusion, (not quite the same as the book, a conglomeration of the TV series The Root of Evil) then I googled it and had another look to make sure they really do exist. 

It is amazing, I consider it child abuse to, the fellow who was interviewed said that around 12 is the best time to get at them for maximum effect. 

Thanks Psyche - I found it.

What a brilliant documentary. A 'must see' for those who are ready to question their belief system and religion as a whole.