Are you an atheist?

[iwanttodie019]

.

 

[dragonofenvy]

Agnostic would be more accurate for me. I view Atheism as just as much of a religion as Christianity, Islam, etc. I still have enormous respect for many religious teachings and philosophy though as I do believe following many of those tenants even without following the religion itself would improve yourself, and society. I simply just don't want to engage with the theology aspect of it. Atheists nor theists can concretely prove they're correct, so it's just easier for me to shrug and say "Guess we'll never know."

An example of this would be "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" -1 Timothy 6:10. Many people are so addicted to the accumulation of wealth that they do not care who they hurt in the process and the result is that they're constantly miserable unless they make their wealth increase by any means. These are the business leaders high on the APD scale who consciously make the world worse to make themselves feel better about themselves.
On the other hand there are also many people who do good with their wealth, or even if they aren't wealthy, are content with what they have and lead rich and happy lives, and can use what they have to improve the lives of others, especially with certain private charities (which I will note I have benefited from Christian charities before so maybe I have a bit of a bias).

You do not need to view religion with disdain to see that some lessons are important, though I understand why many on this site do.

 

[LastNite]

Yeh

 

[iwanttodie019]

Yeh

what do you believe happens after death?

 

[LastNite]

what do you believe happens after death?

Nothing, I dont see why anything would happen to us. We're like the rest of the animals. The only difference is that we have higher intelligence.

 

[InversedShadow]

No

 

[ireallywasnttogopls]

i'm something in between

i just like to cope

but i feel like spiritual things do exist and things go a bit deeper than the surface

 

[The Eternal One]

Grew up as an atheist in a family of atheists.
Had a sudden unexpected change in consciousness in my mid-twenties, which was prompted from inside, and became spiritual. "Awakening", as cliche as this word is, would be an accurate description. I suddenly remembered what I truly was, as if waking up from deep sleep or, to describe it more precisely, as if I became lucid in a dream.
My views and experiences can be mostly described through lens of Buddhist non-dualism and Dharma.
In retrospect, I had a lot of signs and nudges pointing me towards my (and everyone's) spiritual nature since very early chilshood. I just used to dismiss it due to my atheist upbringing.

 

[starboy2k]

absolutely.
shame I was able to let go religion but not all the bullshit it caused me.

 

[bellaisdonewithlife]

No, but I have gone back and forth between atheist and spiritual (non-religious). Currently I lean towards spiritual ideas, although I still view nothingness as a possibility. I'm kind of torn between new age spirituality ideas and consciousness ideas.

 

[ZwartHartje]

I hate the ugly, tyrannical bible-god. But I do believe that Consciousness is fundamental to all existence, and that my deceased loved ones are out there on the Other Side. I've always felt trapped in this human body and experienced this life as quite prisonlike, and to imagine a prison that has no outside to it, a prison which is basically all you are, seems illogical to me. I believe all that exists is part of the All, which is eternal existence. For those of us who truly desire to be nonexistent, that's probably also a possibility that can be chosen. Myself I choose freedom though.

 

[EternalShore]

no~ I could never believe that~ The world is more interesting with something divine~

 

[TransientEternal]

Yes. Religion just feels like gambling to choose the right one to go to heaven. Most people are born and raised in their religion and stay that way. Plenty of sophistry with unverifiable claims. Some places like China have a lot less religious people.

From wikipedia: More recently, a 2015 Gallup poll found the number of convinced atheists in China to be 61%, with a further 29% saying that they are not religious compared to just 7% who are religious.

Does this mean that around a billion people will go to hell because of where they were born?

People will believe what they want to believe. If you find the idea of God comforting you will be more likely to be a theist. If you don't find the idea of God comforting you are more likely to be an atheist.

 

[Pluto]

 

[FuneralCry]

Yes, religion is fictional, there is no point to this terrible, torturous existence, I'll always see existence as the most terrible, dreadful mistake that only ever harms and tortures existing beings with no limit as to how much agony one can feel, I'll just always see existence as an abomination and it's so horrible how this existence was imposed at all causing all this pain, suffering and torture that there was never a need for as a result.

All that existence ever does is just cause all this suffering all for the sake of it and for me only non-existence could ever be positive, there's just so much evil in existing, I'll always see it as such a terrible tragedy how existing beings are tortured all for the sake of it as a result of existence being imposed, all I want is to erase this existence so it's like I never suffered at all, all I want is to be permanently unconscious and free from all suffering.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I'd like to be. I'm not entirely sure either way.

 

[qetyioxz]

Not really, it's not as ironclad as I once thought and lots of things unaccounted for but. lost hope in religion anyway

 

[bakenohana]

without a doubt yes lol. i was raised in a muslim family but i never really gave a shit or believed in anything they told me in the first place, never even read the qur'an simply because i wasn't interested . tbh i just see religion as a coping mechanism, but coping mechanisms are valid

 

[ZwartHartje]

Yes, religion is fictional, there is no point to this terrible, torturous existence, I'll always see existence as the most terrible, dreadful mistake that only ever harms and tortures existing beings with no limit as to how much agony one can feel, I'll just always see existence as an abomination and it's so horrible how this existence was imposed at all causing all this pain, suffering and torture that there was never a need for as a result.

All that existence ever does is just cause all this suffering all for the sake of it and for me only non-existence could ever be positive, there's just so much evil in existing, I'll always see it as such a terrible tragedy how existing beings are tortured all for the sake of it as a result of existence being imposed, all I want is to erase this existence so it's like I never suffered at all, all I want is to be permanently unconscious and free from all suffering.

If it's a mistake, who made the mistake though? And when you speak of existence "being imposed," imposed by whom?
Not saying you're wrong, but I've been wondering about these same things. All this extreme suffering, pain and terror can't have arisen by random chance, instead it does seem intentional. I'm still hoping it may have a purpose, as in some sort of trial, although by now it would seem that I can't pass it. Or otherwise if it truly is just the cruelty of a sadistic and tyrannical creator.

 

[Lost in a Dream]

I picked no because I genuinely believe that an evil creator designed our world.

 

[coolcow1289]

Atheism is so silly. It's okay to be uncertain of our meaning and purpose. But to concretely say there's NO higher power is just so arrogant. How would you know? Being agnostic is the way. If you don't want to be religious.

 

[ZwartHartje]

Atheism is so silly. It's okay to be uncertain of our meaning and purpose. But to concretely say there's NO higher power is just so arrogant. How would you know? Being agnostic is the way. If you don't want to be religious.

I think in particular it's silly not to admit that it's a belief too. Being absolutely convinced that no deities or higher powers exist is no less a belief than being convinced tey do exist. Being agnostic is indeed the only "neutral" position..

 

[yotaka]

If I had to put a name on it, I'd say I'm agnostic atheist. Of course I don't know there are no gods. It's also not like I've chosen to believe in a reality devoid of divinity or higher purpose. Theism just doesn't make sense to me. I can't find any arguments for the existence of a god or gods that stand up to scrutiny.

It's hard enough to live in an absurd existence, but it's made even harder because I'm surrounded by people who are religious. We live in different universes. And, as far as they're concerned, I've deliberately chosen to reject God, so of course I deserve to suffer.

 

[Aflame5926]

yep. pretty sure about that one