DoogieTalons said:
Now I don't want to sound like a millitant Atheist but if you really in your heart believed God existed then you were'nt one.
If you had to fight him then you believed in him.
I think our Atheism has different roots.
You deep down believed, but didn't want to... (at that time, for what ever reason)
As you may know, Knight is my brother. We grew up together and had similar experiences. We were "sometime" Catholics. The kind that went to an occasional wedding or funeral, but felt completely out of place in church. When I learned about evolution, I thought, "Ah ha! If evolution is true, then it only makes sense that when we die, we return to the elements we crawled out of." It was a true epiphany! "God" was just a crutch and an excuse for weak people. I, of course, passed my beliefs on to my younger siblings.
I fought against Christianity because I wanted people to use their heads and not fall for all those "televangelist charlatans" (...actually, I still feel that way.) I was frustrated that people refused to face the scientific facts! Does that sound so different from what you believe?
DoogieTalons said:
I have always wondered and sought but deep down didn't believe, nor could take a leap of faith as ANVerb said.. and I will get round to addressing his post. You can't just believe on the out come of one post.
Even as atheists, there are still unanswered questions that make you "wonder." Where did the universe really come from, why are we here, etc., etc. I went looking for answers in science in philosophy. Still sound familiar?
DoogieTalons said:
If what you believe is truth it has so far alluded me. Do you ever doubt ? do you ever just look at it all, what with the conflicting theologies, the mirrored theologies from before Christ, and the new discoveries every day that perhaps there was something in your past Atheism. That you know deep down inside, this religion lark is all bull...if you have your faith and say "No I believe now and I could believe no other with the knowledge I have, regarless of new input" that's how my Atheism feels.
When I became a Christian, my understanding of the universe was flipped on it's proverbial "ear." I rethought everything I'd ever believed was true. I began examining existence, life, love, philosophy, science, and history from a completely different perspective. The closest thing I can equate it with is parenthood.
As a non-parent you have a lot of
ideas about what parenthood is like. But until you have your own child, you really know very little. Once you become a parent, everything is different. From that point on you will
always know what it is to be a parent. Just as with being a parent, I learn and grow as a Christian. I realize I've made mistakes or that I've been mislead, but I will always be a Christian.
DoogieTalons said:
I have doubts but overcoming them leads to even more doubts. I ponder the improbability of abiogenesis but couldn't just believe Bible Genesis instead and relax, never to question it again.
So far, your questions have not been satisfied. Have you ever read the Bible for yourself? I mean really picked it up and said, "Ok, it's about time I investigated this for myself!" And I don't mean the kind of reading where you pick out contentious verses. I mean a real reading for information.
That was my first step, (although it still took me several years to become a Christian.) I finally decided that, as a student of literature, I owed it to myself to read the book that had so influenced history. I learned that Christianity has nothing to do with sitting in a church or watching preachers on TV. The Bible contains a plot that runs beneath the surface. One that you won't see unless you look for it. That plot has forever changed me and I know that there is no going back.
