My views on religion

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I tried cannabis, and I didn't like how it affected me. I don't do cannabis. However, I don't have any compunction against associating with those who do as long as there isn't such overindulgence as to make them annoying.

I tried alcohol, and I found it somewhat enjoyable. I certainly wouldn't do it all the time, but it's a pleasant thing to have with a nice meal. I don't have any disrespect for those who do not indulge in it at all just as long as they will not conduct themselves disrespectfully toward me over it, and I don't mind the company of heavier drinkers as long as they can behave courteously and responsibly.

I tried religion. I didn't like what it did to me, and I eventually quit it as I would any unwanted habit. I don't mind religious people as long as they do not become so caught up in it as to disrupt their judgement or negatively affect their behavior toward others. However, I take some offense to those who condemn religious people because, as with any other drug, it's a personal choice as to whether a person uses it. I also take offense to people who attempt to push this habit upon others or inhibit people who are interested in quitting it. As with any other drug, I feel a little sorry for those who feel uncomfortable with religion but seem afflicted with the symptoms of dependency, and I will sometimes take such people under my wing to provide counsel and companionship; sometimes, they ultimately make a personal choice to continue with it, but I will not abide someone's decisions being ruled by a dependency.

I don't like to see anyone a slave to an unwanted habit, but I support the rights of those who like to use substances or religious practices to make their lives more fulfilling. Unfortunately, I find that a lot of atheists in the US come across as moral puritans, and their scalding demands for purity tend to make people very uninterested in being associated with them. Even other people who choose not to indulge in religiosity, these days, prefer to avoid this label because of their behavior. The American Atheist is not a freethinker, as they claim to be. They practice what I like to call "Secular Puritanism," which is really the root cause of people's rejection of them.

I think that an honest religious person accepts that the beliefs of most religions are not supported scientifically. As an honest atheist, likewise, I accept that religious faith is not meant to be compliant with the empiricism of science. Religious faith is a personal, intuitive experience that I, for one, simply choose not to engage in. Unlike many atheists resident in the US, I don't find it alarming that a lot of people hold these beliefs. I merely ask that people act according to common sense and be respectful of my own rights, as I am of theirs.

I wonder how many people have the same set of views. It seems that too many atheists nowadays are frightful of taking a more liberal stand on religion, which is really a little sad.

Religious texts make claims about the nature of the universe and humans.

People who believe in these texts are compelled to take them literally. When these start to contradict scientifically established facts I personally get very upset. Furthermore, I don't have a problem with people having opinions different from mine, but I have a serious problem with the kind of thinking that causes people to arrive at their opinions. Religious people are encouraged to believe things on little or no (unbiased) evidence, which I feel is wrong. Not only that, but there is a consistent distortion of facts contradictory to their opinions which occurs in a lot of their debates. We're all AS here, so I don't see the need to mince words. Religious ideas will often fall into a category that can only be described as bad logic. Bad logic has been responsible for a whole lot of problems in social history, and a huge portion of it was bad logic of the religious variation. Bad logic will continue to be a problem in the future until it is comprehensively addressed. I have personally been a victim of religious indoctrination and religious oppression. I believe it's child abuse to indoctrinate kids into any religion. They have little or no way of objectively assessing the pros and cons and the reasons behind it, and most of them by the time they are adults are not able to leave the religion even when they don't really see why they follow it, because of the intensity of emotional attachment to the religion created through years of indoctrination.

The first few months of becoming an atheist were quite difficult for me because I had to struggle with the remnants of several years of routine on my psyche. I'd often get the urge to pray when things went wrong, just to make me feel better. I gave in the first few times, but afterwards resolved that I was succumbing to an emotional placebo and had to stand up on my own two feet. Now I'm completely self-confident and don't rely on any external help to solve my problems. I still have a whole lot of pain to go through because my parents will not take my atheism lightly; they are the perfect example of bad logic effect. For instance, I won't even bother to tell them about my AS; they'll tell me that god made me perfect and I should pray about it. I know they'll say this because when I was younger I tried to tell them that I may have a learning disability (In my early teens I could tell something was wrong) and they told me the exact same thing, not bothering to check, not bothering to ask more, nothing. And they're otherwise intelligent people, too.

Bad logic is what makes seemingly normal people do blatantly(or not-so-blatantly) illogical things, and religion is one of the greatest social promoters of bad logic, and for that I oppose it.

I'm not really interested in arguing at this time; arguing on religious issues, more often than not, gets nowhere. I feel very passionately about the issue, but I've long given up on debating on it, because bad logic takes prevalence in most of the arguments and creates a monumental communication barrier. Just before anyone responds, I'd like to state that this is far from a black-and-white issue; there is a whole lot to consider from the aspects of science ethics and human rights which is too often overlooked.

This post is far from a comprehensive analysis of the issue, and is only intended to give a brief insight into my opinion.

you're all wrong and going to a very bad place for it!! !

I'm not against religion. People should believe what they believe and I don't have problems with it. A lot of religious people I know are much nicer than most atheists I know, so I'd support religion, if not... we're living in a democracy. Religion and democracy don't fit together imo. Religion should never be in power, because what religious people believe, is thought to be the whole truth by them. Atheists are more pro-freedom (not all, but at least most I know) and if you don't want to join in...okay, do whatever you want.
With a religion in power however, they want all others to join in with their 'forbidden' things. And there's a difference you see: atheists (as long as they are no 'anti-theists') will allow religions to do their thing (except for the really unpleasent things of course ) while religions won't allow atheists to do whatever they want to do, even while not really harming anybody.
I'm not against religion, but putting them in power is nasty. And that's what happened now in some countries: democracy put religion in power. You might say: well, if most people believe them to be right, then why not? Because religious people vote religious parties right because of their religion. And that's true. While atheists might say: 'I support that political party because I think their points of view agree with mine', I hear to many religious persons say 'I vote them because I'm religious'. After asking 'do you know their views?' people I ask frequently say 'well...some' and later becomes apparent they don't know one thing the party stands for, except for the religion. And that's really bad imo. That's just not what democracy exists for.
Bush received power by saying nothing but 'God bless America'. But what did he stand for? By far most American voters didn't have a clue.

And don't say I'm a doomthinker: I know what I'm talking about.

It always amuses me when people say they "tried" religion. Religion isn't something you try on, like the latest fashion. It is a belief system. You either believe it, wholeheartedly, or you don't. Just going through the motions, going to church and saying the prayers, yada yada yada, doesn't mean squat. As the saying goes, just because you sleep in a garage, that doesn't make you a car. Religion and faith aren't something you do, they're something you are. I'd say if you just "tried" it, you never really believed it.

This is the same line of argument popped on me by cannabis fans when I explain that I don't like the effects of Mary Jane. "No, you were just doing it wrong, so you've never really tried it." JonnyB, you don't know what I believed or what I experienced. Besides, I just wanted to hear from a few like minds on the issue, and I'm certainly not interested in the opinions of someone who assumes right off that I'm a liar. "Duh, if you'd ever really tried weed, you never would have quit." You know what, stoner, just piss off.

I never said you were a liar. I believe you tried it.

Yes, and I didn't like how it affected me. That's about the sum of it.

On the Dawkins scale of atheism I'm a six: the agnostic with atheistic leans. (There may be a god of some sort but evidence is againist it)

I'm assuming you're a Christian. So tell me this... if God is all loving, why would they be going to a bad place?

Actually, skafather84 is not a Christian. But, to humour your question for my own pleasure, it's called "Tough Love". You know, the kind where your parents smack you over the head with a dictionary and cart you off to disciplinary school for the summer where you are absolutely miserable. Hey, frying in torment for eternity builds character!

I'd be shocked to find he revered anything.

As I remember, that's a little controversial. There are differing views on it.

I always believed that everything built character, especially suffering. You piqued my interest, care to elaborate with some cutting-edge examples? Though you might need some handpuppets to help garner and transfix my short attention span to the demonstration.

Your making me laugh.

I love seeing the Religious and Non-Religious trying to evangelize each other.


I have my own beliefs(Both sides wouldn't like them, and no, I'm not a pagan or satanist or whatever. You could say that my Faith is Peace.)


Check this out. Evangelism is part of Faith. Sad truth. And it kinda does work. Done right, Christianity does have positive effects. But not in all cases. It doesn't work for everyone because not everyone is built the same. Simple as that.

However... Atheism is kind of taken lightly by many. Some people are Athiests as a form of protest, or for style and acceptance. This isn't True atheism, just as some branches of say, Christendom, aren't really sects of Christianity.


I've also heard the phrase "Freedom of Religion, not Freedom FROM Religion." I find this to be a wholey unfair and UnAmerican statement. Here we are free to believe what we want, and if we want to believe in nothing, why the hell not?!

I can't think of any more to say, and I hope you can make sense of it.