• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Any Downside to Atheism?

Storm

Storm

ThrUU the Looking Glass
Cobblestones said:
For my part, the answer to that one is simple. When I was a Christian, I did find such experiences to be beautiful but also out of sync with reality. That was OK though. What killed it for me was that we were manipulated (in multiple churches so it was not an isolated incident) by the priest or pastor via our open emotions. The last time this happened was so very painful that it would be unreasonable to submit ourselves to any such potential in the future. It is difficult to get that level of communion on one's own and after a while I realized that I could do without entirely. That is when I began to question the Christian faith as a whole which led to the reality that all that "communion" stuff was purely emotion without substance. Having strengthened my intellect since that time, it is really impossible for me to abdicate my intellect and return to the emotional "spiritual" realm.

Do I miss it? To be honest, sometimes I do. The music and the socializing at church were huge in my former life. I miss them both a great deal, actually. But I can't bring myself to show up when I know in my heart of hearts that to do so would be a form of lying since I don't believe all the stuff that is preached from the pulpit. So, what's a boy to do?
Click to expand...
:hug:

I wish I had an answer.
 
Storm

Storm

ThrUU the Looking Glass
Cobblestones said:
I recently watched a programme about Stone Henge in which the researchers took interest in the acoustics of the place. They took ancient drums and started beating them at different locations on the site and found that the stones had been modified especially to produce a kind or resonance.

There's a reconstructed site in America where they conducted a full scale test and learned that drum beats at a certain pitch and interval cause the alpha waves in humans to increase, thus causing a kind of trance.

The point of this is that I think that rituals fulfill more than just a "spiritual" need. This all goes along with meditation and whatnot but it seems that humans are wired to respond to rituals in certain ways and that their value (and certainly their potential for misuse) stems from biological needs and reactions. In essence, going into a trance feels good and perhaps has other body-healthy attributes just like sleep does. Perhaps rituals are simply a natural result of trying to fill a biological need.
Click to expand...
My father could bend your ear for hours about the neurological effects and benefits of drumming. Fascinating stuff.
 
Storm

Storm

ThrUU the Looking Glass
Cobblestones said:
I'd be interested to hear what he has to say. Has he written anything or could he recommend some reading?
Click to expand...
He had a paper on the topic, I don't know if he could forward it to me. I'll ask.

From (very unreliable) memory, it stimulates dendrite growth, leading to practical theraputic application. He used to have a weekly drum circle with mentally handicapped adults, which led to some lovely anecdotal evidence.

There's other stuff, too, but I can't recall the details.
 
Jeremiah

Jeremiah

Well-Known Member
Cobblestones said:
I've read this carefully and it is clear that you are the one picking a fight. Storm has merely posited her positions and willingly admitted when she is wrong. THAT is what she commonly does, not pick fights.

You would do well to read your avatar a little more closely.
Click to expand...

Though I may be less then cordial, I certainly was not seeking a fight; to prove that I'll let Storm have the last word.

"You would do well to read your avatar a little more closely."

My AV is not there for me.
 
F

footprints

Well-Known Member
mr.guy said:
Ahh....so it's 'cuz you say so?

To imply that china's primary national characteristic as atheistic is foolish and incorrect.

That you can make a label roughly describing a common element among folk is pretty friggin' different from a organization formed to express/practice/promote an ideology.
Click to expand...

Ah cuz you say so? is that better for your mentality?

Sorry for implying an atheist country is an atheist country.

It is due to the fact that humans are human why nothing would change and the world would not be better off if everybody were an atheist. The same downsides are in atheism as in any other sect of life.

Some atheists just like to think they are better, perhaps they think they are the only ones going to heaven and everybody else is going to hell, from an atheist perspective of course.
 
F

footprints

Well-Known Member
MSizer said:
Your belief is wrong. It's my opinion that there is no god, but my atheism is a lack of belief. It is not, can not be, nor will ever be a belief pattern. You're an atheist to speghetti monsters, right? Do you have a hobby of not collecting stamps? Do you consider bald a hair colour?

Not.
Click to expand...

If you have an opinion you have a belief. It doesn't get any more simple than that. It is impossible to express something you don't have, psych 101 will tell you that.

Aren't you an atheist to spaghetti monsters too? Or are you a believer?
 
Storm

Storm

ThrUU the Looking Glass
Jeremiah said:
Though I may be less then cordial, I certainly was not seeking a fight; to prove that I'll let Storm have the last word.
Click to expand...
These posts always strike me a passive aggressive attempt to shut up the other party.

"You would do well to read your avatar a little more closely."

My AV is not there for me.
Click to expand...
You could at least take less pride in your hypocrisy.
 
Jeremiah

Jeremiah

Well-Known Member
Storm said:
These posts always strike me a passive aggressive attempt to shut up the other party.


You could at least take less pride in your hypocrisy.
Click to expand...

Storm, I am getting pretty tired of your malarkey. Cobblestone has not been here very long so his assessment is less then accurate. But this is becoming a standard way in which you reply to me. Now, I was not that rude, you both are blowing it out of proportion and I certainly was not alone in that department. Sure I contributed and I could have been politer, but same goes for you, Storm; take some responsibility. And now here you are continuing to stir the pot with nothing but pure personal attacks.

I never put any words in your mouth, I never tried to pick a fight, and I never claimed to know your motives, these are all things you fabricated then tried to blame on me. But this has gone on long enough, Storm, I am just going to have to put you on ignore.
 
Storm

Storm

ThrUU the Looking Glass
Oh, you make me weep.

I treat others as they treat me. You want better, give better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top