A Atheists Point Of View

Spoiler

There have been a few articles on religion lately, so I thought I might post something from the different side of the faith spectrum. Enjoy and please comment.

Sometimes I really wish I wasn’t an atheist. I really wish I could believe. I wish I could believe in talking snakes and healing the blind and life after death. It all sounds so fantastic; it seems so nice to have complete faith in a mythical being, in a supernatural power. But I guess the cynical side gets the best of me.

I don’t like telling people I’m an atheist. Most people assume I hate all people of faith, but that’s not what it is at all. I’m sure 80 per cent of religious people are genuinely lovely people. It’s a personal preference, just like having faith is. It’s a choice to believe we are here by the laws of nature, not of mythical beings.

I only get annoyed when people of faith act like they are better than me because they have belief in a higher power. Like they have some sort of moral superiority. People also feel like they have a right to comment on my life. I’ve been called a basted, because I was born out of wedlock. I have also been called a whore because I’ve lost my virginity and use birth control. Although I am sure many people of faith don’t think like this, there are also many who do.

People also seem to forget how much great harm religion has cause. It is almost impossible to argue otherwise. People have used god as an excuse to cause great suffering to others. 9/11 and Bloody Sunday are just some examples of this.
It hurts me to see the horrible treatment of homosexuals. It hurts me to see people hide who they are, for them to be told that it is there choice that they go through such enormous amounts of trauma. It hurts me to see a society that raises women to be not seen or heard. Where they are not give access to education or the right to marry who they please.

The bottom line is, I lived in a faith based world. Religion will be around me my entire life. I have many close friends who are strong Christians and Muslims and Buddhists. I also have many close friends who are very outspoken and decided atheists. But do you know what the weird thing is? They are all friends. They all have the same worries and desires. They are all respectful of each other’s beliefs. I hope the world will one day be able to live like they do. Not caring about other people for how they look or what they believe in, but who they are. Charles Darwin and Martin Luther King were both great men who greatly improved the world, yet were on different sides of the faith spectrum. So why can’t people all live their lives worrying about their own beliefs, not anyone else’s?

Er, just a quick comment here... you said that you were called a "basted." However, basted is a verb that you would use to describe juicing up a turkey. The word you want is "bastard." So yeah. Moral of the story is that spell check should not be trusted, lol.

Also, some faiths don't mind other belief systems, so that line doesn't quite make sense. Hinduism and Buddhism are notoriously open in their beliefs... though there are some fundamentalist branches that are not open. And there are other faiths that contradict some of the blanket statements there. I know that I just read a thank you note to women and applauding their greatness and how they have helped changed the world from the pope... and that's Roman Catholicism there! So, it might be good to do a little research here because it doesn't quite mesh with reality very well.

Also a little bit of organization might be good. You start off with:

- talking about how you can't believe in the fantastical.
- not wanting to admit you're an atheist.
- how people have hurt you.

So this is all about you, which is good to group together! But then you shift the tone and you start talking about the harm religion has caused, some general religion intolerance, some blanket statements about religion, and it kind of loses its spark because you've stopped talking about yourself and you start giving into stereotypes and religious cliches. You kind of go back to yourself at the very end, which is good, but it seems poorly wrapped up... when you have to say "the bottom line is" this shows that your transition didn't quite work. So, tighten it up a bit. Do some research and include yourself into the bits which are stereotypical or cliched... you probably know a homosexual, so you can say something like "It hurts me to know that my friend is considered to be bound for hell" or whatever is true... I just made that line up, but I know some people would be upset by that sort of thing.

ANYWAY. Main thing is, I want to hear more about you.

OH. And the typo! Change it, please! <3

EDIT: Forgot to look at the title! It should be "From an Atheist's Point of View"

"A fool says in his heart there is no God." -Psalm 14:3. I was always sketchy on this entire religion thing too. And my parents are HUUUUUGEEEEEE Christians, but what finally got to me was my friend Steph, she "helped me see the light" and well, I know how you feel. If you ever want to talk to someone about it, maybe I could help you with this too, "bring you over to our side", as long as you're open to growth, I'm not about to pressure you and scream at you: "If you don't believe you're going to hell, burn for eternity, you are a satanist." No, that's not what I'm about, that's not what Jesus is about. So, if you need to talk, maybe a friendly ideological debate to try and change your mind/ideas, I'm here.

I agree with everything you said. Being an atheist is not about hating religion and people of faith. Yet, on the other hand there are those people who think they are superior because of their beliefs and try to impose them on others, things like education standards and gay rights. Like you, I wish I could believe because it'd be so comforting to think there was something out there protecting me, but it's not how I was raised.
I appreciate your piece because it was pure truth.

Hey, another atheist in the house here.
Small Typo: An Atheist not a atheist.
Well it's interesting to see someone talk from this point of view. One thing I find people assume when I say I'm an atheist is that I hate god. This is not true. I do not believe in him. There is a difference between detesting someone and ignoring their supposed existence, which a lot of people get confused about. I myself never wish I could believe. To me putting faith in an invisible sky person is silly, and I won't do it. Religion has it's good and bad points but for me the bottom line is that it is like living a lie, despite all the good religious people do in the name of god. I will not force my view on anyone, but Ignatius5453, I would be willing to discuss my point of view with you too, if you like.
"If a big wossname rides down on a chariot of fire and smites me with yonder bolt of lightening, verily, I shall believe," -Pastafarians 7.6

There is an atheist in my class who once said " You're probably a Christian or Catholic, right?"

It obviously made me laugh because I don't understand why he thought he could just assume my faith, rather than ask me. I asked him why he said that, and he said it was because I had good morals. I laughed again because I hardly know him, and questioned why he thought he could openly judge me.

I told him that I'm not a part of anything, no faith or religion. So he called me an atheist. I'm not an atheist. I'm not agnostic. I'm not anything. I look around myself and there are so many different ideas of good morals and ways to live by. Most of them seem reasonable to me. A lot of people, especially Muslims, were born into a specific faith. They don't get to choose whether or not they believe in Christianity or Buddhism or whatever. My parents aren't religious and they gave me a choice. So I chose nothing.

Sometimes it's hard because I want something to pray to when things get rough and I want something to live by. But when I see religion as a whole, I tend to get disgusted sometimes. With every religion theres so many stereotypes attached, and people tend to look down on one another. I think about the Holocaust and about how the Jews had such a bad reputation. Rather than seeing them all as different individuals, they were all greedy and selfish. Just because they were Jewish. And because they practiced that faith, six million of them died. Six million people wiped off of the Earth because they're religion apparently made them unworthy of life.

I don't really know where I'm getting at, I'm just rambling. But I do agree with what you've said here, and I'll make sure that I follow you.

How can you possibly say that you're an Atheist, yet you have no faith? Atheism requires as much faith in scientific method and human endeavour as any religion does in their God/s. The presence of God cannot possibly be totally disproven, just as it cannot be totally proven. Simply put, mere mortals have absolutely no way of knowing if God truly exists or not. The most cynical course would therefore be Agnosticism. Many people confuse Atheism and Agnosticism. Atheists are just as faithful as the religious; they go as far as the legs of reason will carry them, then take a leap of faith. So you cannot deride faith and at the same time promote Atheism.

i agree with you ..............i know a couple atheists overall i liked the concept