What is your religion?

[+ MrDawn]

What is your religion? 

I am an Atheist. I've been an atheist since I was a child. I had a somewhat strict Christian upbringing. Read the bible and went to church for many years (as a closet atheist). Was preached at by my parents and several pastors growing up. Did the Youth Group. Dated Christians. Pretended I was a Christian because I knew that my family would punish me for it if I came out and they did. I tried to believe in it for a time but like with all Theist religions, I am unconvinced by all of it and gave up a long time ago.   I don't make it my mission to promote Atheism or tell people what they should or should not believe in. 

Edited January 25 by Wessel

[Prometheus]

Thanks for sharing @Wessel,

I'm agnostic. I was raised by Southern Baptists and have been exposed to Catholicism and various other denominations of Christianity. My mind is just too analytical to have blind faith. So, I eventually discovered that believing in the possibility of a higher power but not completely convinced is called agnosticism.

 

[+ MrDawn]

5 minutes ago, Prometheus said:

So, I eventually discovered that believing in the possibility of a higher power but not completely convinced is called agnosticism.

You are correct. Agnostic comes from the Greek word, Knowledge and therefor is not the Christian slang definition that is passed around in churches.  While not set on a specific theist religion but believing that deities could possibly be real is called Agnostic Theism. Any Theist or Atheist can be Agnostic or Gnostic.  I'm more of an Agnostic Atheist, which means I keep an open mind and am open to being proven wrong. If deities can be proven with science then I'll believe. But if not I continue to maintain being an Atheist. 

[Prometheus]

The problem is getting other people, primarily devout believers, to respect that is hard. My family, specifically my mom, was very upset when I told her what my beliefs were. I tried to make her understand that they are my beliefs and have no impact on her.

[+ MrDawn]

56 minutes ago, Prometheus said:

The problem is getting other people, primarily devout believers, to respect that is hard. My family, specifically my mom, was very upset when I told her what my beliefs were. I tried to make her understand that they are my beliefs and have no impact on her.

I can empathize. You are not alone. Christians apply their beliefs to everyone, even if we tell them that their religion does not apply to us. So it won't just be your mom, it'll be people you know in life that will do the same. 

 

To me, Deities are fictional and imaginary. Heaven and Hell are fictional and imaginary to me. It is a fact that the Romans wrote the New Testament using anonymous authors. It is a fact that Emperor Constantine took pagan holidays like Easter and Christmas and mandated that they be Christian holidays as well to make it easier for Pagans to convert over. It is a fact that Christians adopted marriage much later on. It is a fact that Rome created the church system. It is a fact that the first 50 bibles Constantine had authored were written the Greek language. Jesus didn't exist until 325 AD and was brought into existence by the First Council of Nicaea. Jesus was a very common name in ancient times. Christians state Jesus is a historical figure, which one? 

 

For atheists, We are considered apostates, heathens, and blasphemers because we do not believe in the existence of deities and that we challenge, criticize, and sometimes ridicule Theist belief. You have to understand that the biggest rule with Christians, is that it's a major offense to not believe in their god. Second, they believe you will be miserable for the rest of your life because you don't believe in their god and will never be happy. Third, sooner or later they start in with religious insults like "Jesus loves you", "I'll pray for you", " What will you tell God before he sends you to Hell? Ooops?". Worse, they treat you like you have no morals and that only applies to Christians. I'm sorry, morality has been around much longer than Christianity has been around. Therefor it is not exclusive. Religion does not help children learn morals. If that were the case, there would be less people in the prison system finding god in the showers while they're getting flogged over candy bars or having said the wrong thing to the pod boss. 

 

My mother didn't take well to me coming out. I came out as an Atheist when I was 18. I literally had to wait until I was moving out to say "Oh, by the way I don't believe your imaginary friend is real."  My mom threw a fit. Hit me with her purse multiple times. Called me the devil and kicked me out of her car. Her pastor lied and told her that Atheists are Satanists. No. Atheists are people who simply don't believe in the existence of Sky Fathers and the majority also do not believe in religious events such as  Creationism or Annihilationism. It's taken me almost two decades to fix things with my mother. She now respects that I am an Atheist and doesn't try to push her religion on to me. 

Edited January 25 by Wessel

[Prometheus]

19 hours ago, Wessel said:

I can empathize. You are not alone. Christians apply their beliefs to everyone, even if we tell them that their religion does not apply to us. So it won't just be your mom, it'll be people you know in life that will do the same. 

Oh, I know. I've had many people try to explain to me that I'll have a hard time finding a partner in life because I don't openly believe. I've tried explaining to them that pushing me to convert or become a devout believer is only going to make me more firmly resistant to the notion. The old adage was that you had to leave a person to discover God on their own, that it was their journey to wander.

19 hours ago, Wessel said:

To me, Deities are fictional and imaginary. Heaven and Hell are fictional and imaginary to me. It is a fact that the Romans wrote the New Testament using anonymous authors. It is a fact that Emperor Constantine took pagan holidays like Easter and Christmas and mandated that they be Christian holidays as well to make it easier for Pagans to convert over. It is a fact that Christians adopted marriage much later on. It is a fact that Rome created the church system. It is a fact that the first 50 bibles Constantine had authored were written the Greek language. Jesus didn't exist until 325 AD and was brought into existence by the First Council of Nicaea. Jesus was a very common name in ancient times. Christians state Jesus is a historical figure, which one? 

I know that people would argue that Native Americans had it wrong. They believed in spirits and their ancestors. They respected nature, thanked the souls of the animals they killed for food and tried to avoid wasting anything.

I just want people to respect my right to belief what I want to and know that I shall extend the same courtesy to them.

[+ MrDawn]

On 1/26/2024 at 9:12 AM, Prometheus said:

I know that people would argue that Native Americans had it wrong. They believed in spirits and their ancestors.

The Native Americans were animists aka neo pagans.  Most Theistic religions, polytheism and monotheism together, all claim they found the one true god or gods and that the other religions are wrong. So here we have theists of different religions pointing the finger. This has been demonstrated by Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Hindus and I would point that out pretty strongly. 

 

On 1/26/2024 at 9:12 AM, Prometheus said:

I just want people to respect my right to belief what I want to and know that I shall extend the same courtesy to them.

Freedom of Religion is being targeted by the Christian Conservatives. A majority of Christians will not respect your beliefs.

The only belief they respect are their own. A majority of churches sell that if you're not with them, then you're against them. They even preach about it out of their holy book. Atheists,  Pagans,  Agnostic Theists, and Muslims  are labeled as Apostates or Heathens because they don't believe in the Christian deity. So they're all going to "hell" and deserve to be treated like shit. 

These Christians don't even respect Separation of Church and State when it comes to the public school system. They want public schools to teach about their god and their god only, which is very hypocritical.  Christians conservatives today want America to be a theocracy. No freedom of religion. It's pretty ironic because when anyone who is not a Christian defends our position to not believe in their sky father, a majority of them dishonestly play the victim and claim they're being persecuted for their beliefs which is a lie. They're going around trying to force their beliefs or shame others into believing. 

I do not have a problem with them believing in their god, but they have no right to tell me to shut up or closet my views as an Atheist. Their Freedom of Speech Rights are also my Freedom of Speech Rights. If they're going to preach at me about not being Christian, then I'm going to share Atheism with them. Obviously, this has become a serious toxic problem in the US.