I think I am now an atheist

[Link]

@firedragon is this forum's Socrates.

Keep up the good work.

 

[Eddi]

They are all just belief statements. Faith statements.

Yes

Correct

Bang on

 

[Subduction Zone]

Faith based belief is not the opposite to a justified belief. Many people believe things that have not been proven. They probably have not left their reasoning behind in doing that, they just go beyond what has been proven to an opinion either way on a subject. This holds for atheists also of course.

Another "So what" argument. Sorry, but that does not justify beliefs. Someone did something and there was a positive outcome. For that to justify a belief then by the same reasoning a bad outcome would refute that belief.

 

[Eddi]

None of this is evidence to the lack of God. Or are they reasoning to eliminate God.

I know they aren't

But it means that the only reason I came to God was invalid

And without that reason there is no reason

 

[Tinker Grey]

How could atheism be a belief system? I've never done anything ever because I didn't believe X. Everything I do has a positive (active) reason. I chose ice cream because I felt that I preferred it in the moment. I went in the store because I have time to kill AND I think I might like to see what they have.

Non-belief might remove an inhibition, but it doesn't cause anything.

 

[Link]

I know they aren't

But it means that the only reason I came to God was invalid

And without that reason there is no reason

I may wish for unicorns to exist in Australia, I do not think my mere wish can make me convince myself they do.

While I acknowledge fear of annihilation might have been a motive, what reasons did this fuel to "make up" about why you believed God exists?

Maybe those reasons are still valid, but you are running away?

 

[Link]

How could atheism be a belief system? I've never done anything ever because I didn't believe X. Everything I do has a positive (active) reason. I chose ice cream because I felt that I preferred it in the moment. I went in the store because I have time to kill AND I think I might like to see what they have.

Same way baldness can be seen as a hairstyle.

 

[Eddi]

Maybe those reasons are still valid, but you are running away?

Maybe

I'm hoping that if God is real he would inspire me or send me a sign.........

But right now I lack reasons to believe

 

[Link]

Maybe

I'm hoping that if God is real he would inspire me or send me a sign.........

But right now I lack reasons to believe

What were your initial reasons? We can reinvestigate them if you like.

 

[Eddi]

What were your initial reasons? We can reinvestigate them if you like.

I believed that I felt love from God and was willing to make a big leap of faith based on this

But I no longer feel this love I now think this was religious hysteria - and that it invalidates the leap of faith I made

 

[Willamena]

I (and certainly many others) am self-consciously practicing Atheism as a belief system

Or should I say a disbelief system????

Or at least have a belief system which is strongly Atheistic to the extent that it may be defined by its Atheism

Therefore: Atheism is a belief system - because people (like me) make it a part of their belief system and may even call their belief system "Atheism" (although I don't do this)

Regardless of what others say it is clearly practiced by many as a belief system therefore it is reasonable to classify it as a belief system....

or disbelief system

Believing that God exists and believing that it doesn't are similarly beliefs, yes.

Calling it a "system" is a stretch.

Edit: To explain, a system of belief is based around a central belief, for instance, the belief that there is a God. A person may never have reason to question this belief, so when they go out to the garden to pick vegetables, they spare a secondary belief that God's bounty is beautiful and precious; when they argue with a friend and it doesn't turn into a fight, they spare a belief that God brought sense and reason to the situation; when they get fired from a job, they spare a belief that it is God's plan.

Not so for the atheist. When they pick vegetables, they don't waste a belief thinking, "Thank no God for this vegetable." That's not going to happen unless they're being sarcastic.

 

[Link]

I believed that I felt love from God and was willing to make a big leap of faith based on this

But I no longer feel this love I now think this was religious hysteria - and that it invalidates the leap of faith I made

What made your love believe you see God? What was the big leap of faith and what did you believe about it?

God is in the clear horizon. You and I are looking at the same being. You believe now it's a concept after believing it was living.

What makes you think it's not alive after believing it is?

 

[firedragon]

I know they aren't

But it means that the only reason I came to God was invalid

And without that reason there is no reason

So without the fear of death and what ever you call "annihilation due to death" is the only reason to believe in God?

Well. That's anecdotal. I can tell you with a lot of confidence that that's not THE reason to believe in God or not at all. I have never heard that being the reason from any philosopher, natural theology or theism as a whole. Maybe that's one of the reasons some people may have posed.

The only valid reason for the belief in God is the existence of God. What you should as a person with reason think about is if God exists. Not be obsessed with death and this so called annihilation and based your whole belief system on it.

Take a look at natural theology and reason yourself out of it. That would be a better approach. That is probably the most prominent reasoning one finds in theology or philosophy that exists. Even in Christianity for that matter.

Cheers.

 

[John53]

I enjoy not collecting stamps almost as much as I enjoy baiting Atheists.

So you're a troll?

 

[Eddi]

So without the fear of death and what ever you call "annihilation due to death" is the only reason to believe in God?

I never said that

So no

But it was for me

It was the reason I believed in God in the first place

 

[muhammad_isa]

But it was for me

It was the reason I believed in God in the first place

That's very telling. It is only half of faith.

You do not seem to have considered the point of existence, and the origin of souls etc. .. other than wondering where we all end up.
Every one of us will find out eventually .. and all of our individual secrets will then no longer remain hidden.

 

[Truth in love]

I now realise that the only reason I ever made myself believe in God was out of fear of death and annihilation

Wishful thinking basically

I now see no compelling reason to believe in God

Therefore I think I'm going to have to come out as an atheist

Which is what I was for many years

Although I hope there is a God and recognise there is a slim chance of one existing

I still believe reality is a computer simulation though

I think be authentic is great. That said it sounds like you may be more agnostic.

 

[LuisDantas]

When I was a teenager I described myself as an "Atheist" and advocated a position I called "Atheism"

This was an instance of Atheism being someone's belief system

And hardly an isolated instance either...

Therefore Atheism can be a person's belief system

Whether you like it or not

Sorry, but I am not seeing it.

Atheism exists, no doubt. Raising it to a belief system does not work, though. You need some substance for that.

 

[LuisDantas]

I know they aren't

But it means that the only reason I came to God was invalid

And without that reason there is no reason

Sounds like you were never a believer proper, but tried hard to be one anyway.

I congratulate you for accepting things for what they are.

 

[Brickjectivity]

I now realise that the only reason I ever made myself believe in God was out of fear of death and annihilation

Wishful thinking basically

I now see no compelling reason to believe in God

Therefore I think I'm going to have to come out as an atheist

Which is what I was for many years

Although I hope there is a God and recognise there is a slim chance of one existing

I still believe reality is a computer simulation though

Better to have no compelling reason then for it to be fear of death and annihilation, so bravo.