Religion and Aspergers?

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Atheism is not a belief, it is abandoning belief or faith, the complete absence of belief.

I don't think of Atheism as a belief - more like a conclusion.

It's not the rejection of faith in a creator, it's the acceptance of the abundance of proof for a natural word.

I took religion too literally as a child, to a point where I went on a rant about how bad Jews were because they rejected Jesus when I was in first grade. I had it explained to me that good people were Christian, that Jews were people who didn't believe so without anybody saying I just assumed it was a title for the bad people. I also saw stuff about antisemitism on tv and assume people did it because they hated them because they were bad people.

I increasingly questioned religion from about that point onward, running into things where kids would say I was bad because I wasn't Catholic, because I was baptized and so on. I sorta thought church was ok but we grew up Methodist and the church was usually pretty positive with sermons, etc. I didn't even hear the concept of people actually going to h*ll until I ran into some baptists and catholics. But then I went to a few baptist churches and heard the harsher sermons and they basically told me that the positive I heard in my own church was wrong and that made me really question it. Alot of little things too, my dog died and yet wasn't going to heaven. Santa Claus wasn't real even though my parents said he was, yet god and what not is supposed to be.

I found church more and more judgmental, plus the idea that all my suffering from bullying, etc was because I somehow deserved it by being me. I explored tolerance in other religions and then one day I was spouting my new ideas and my mother said "You sound like you're an atheist" and then boom I was. My family wasn't supportive initially of it because they thought it was a defiant act of teenage rebellion versus an intelligent decision. However years later they came to terms with it.

Nowadays I'm an atheist officially but think there is room to be a kind of spiritual atheist too, its very hard to explain. I also accept the infinity of the universe and dimensions so anything can in theory exist but I start by the atheist label since I simply don't believe that human beings can come up with all the answers to the universe for the fact they can only see it through limited senses and understanding. I am tolerant and supportive of religious freedoms, people practicing what they will and I seek to help Christians become better Christians, Muslims become better Muslims, etc and don't believe atheism is a fit for everybody per say, just some people.

I'm surprised people are still posting on this topic.

I myself am protestant. It's the way I was raised.

Interesting, but have you ever read anything more intriguing or are you still expanding your own boundaries searching for something more interesting. Your name suggests otherwise although maybe it is only selective perception that keeps you at bay. For you have accepted the label of those who are not able to be influenced by the Pavlovian way of conditioning. Yet you picked out the two most important aspects so in a way you seem to agree.

Hypocrites understand hypocrites because they have completed the circle and are able to choose that what can be described as free will, uninfluenced by others but influenced as well as any other.

First of all, I am Christian and a member of the United Methodist Church.
Having said that, I do not consider agnostics, atheists, and members of other religions to be enemies nor adversaries. I simply see other beliefs or the lack thereof as a means of keeping me honest. That is not an original thought. I got it from an episode of "Bones". Some of my fellow church members don't share this idea and consistently engage in the "us vs. them" mentality.
I don't see faith as an idea or a concept. It simply is. Perhaps that doesn't make a lot of sense, but there are things in life that simply "are". Because I can't logically conceive of an unseen world, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. As I tell my NT friends, just because I'm very logical and will often come to a different conclusion, does not mean that I'm correct. I have slowly come to see that most people experience the world in a way that I do not. That includes my fellow Christians. I don't believe that God speaks to me in an indiscernable way or that events such as hurricanes are the will of God. Others do. It's only a matter of perception.
I also do not believe in a 6 day creation, a literal global flood, a talking donkey, a talking snake, Satan, and a unseen realm of demons. I reject unneeded powers such as speaking in tongues and miraculous healings. I don't see such things as essential to belief. I discovered, to my relief, that if I didn't have to take every event in the Bible literally, the Bible actually made more sense.
I have liked the Methodist Church because it's generally free of the biases of evangelical churches but not so liberal that it becomes simply a religious club. Faith is considered a journey and the religious life a process. This is helpful to me because I have such difficulty with abstract concepts. I am not required to subscribe blindly to a set of beliefs. Unfortunately, I have experienced huge coercion to conform to these predetermined sets of beliefs. Never underestimate the power of groups of Christians to force other Christians to conform to their particular worldview. I completely reject such tactics and find them deeply offensive.
I don't know if this posting is particularly helpful to anyone, but thank you for letting me express my thoughts.

I've been addicted to religion since I was 7. Been an alter boy, 3 years bible college, pagan last 22 years.

I am agnostic, and until I see some form of proof to cause me to believe otherwise, I always will be.

I have long been interested in Islam, and Islamic society. I'm fascinated by the concept that so many of these people are still ruled by kings (or sultans, or emirs). It is very interesting to see, how the institution of monarchy has adapted to modern society in the Middle East.

Notice how none of the overthrown countries were ruled by monarchies.

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I don't really understand most of your post, but I suppose it's probably because I don't understand this first part; what does my intrigue or my interest in a piece of text have to do with its truth? You also mention my username which has confused me; do you think that believing deuterium exists somehow correlates to a religious dogma? What am I being kept at bay from? When have I accepted a label?


I picked those "two most important aspects" because they were the two most important aspects of a post, flanked by generalizations, assumptions, and religious text.

If you are so uninterested in forming a picture of my beliefs based on what I have actually said then please let me know and expect no response.

Pantheist. I think atheism and theists both believe in the same thing, but they approach it from completely different directions: http://www.answersanswers.com/pantheism.html

Religion is the illusion of strength.
Sorry to be criptic, but I came to this conclusion in rare moment of clarity about 2 years ago, and I wrote it down on the back of a red pencil case.

I believe that organized religion can be helpful to many people who don't really have alot in life and are lacking security and support. But as far as truth goes, it is greatly fiction and certainly should not be taken as seriously as it is... every single religion shares many of the same aspects of a cult, no matter which way you put. It could be a cult full of very nice and loving people... but still a cult. In the end it's not there for your best interest, it's there to keep people in line. That was pretty much the sole function of religion before we had law enforcement and established governments. You won't missbehave and dissobey the rules if you know you're being watched and will be punished in the after-life...

I would say I'm agnostic over atheist though because I do believe that there IS something out there, because our world and especially the universe as a whole is just wayyy to complex and absolutely amazing to come out of nowhere. But any higher power of any kind would not be a mortal or even immortal BEING, I think it would be more like an intelligent energy or invisible entity that is just as apart of the universe as we are. But there certainly isn't any ridiculous rules or guidelines for us to follow, everything is subjective anyway. Humans, for the most part, have an equal understanding and value of what we believe are morals to live by, discovered over time by common sense.

*What I don't understand is how the better part of society that do have a religion, believe in a male figure as their "god" with views and ideas that favour one gender over another. Why would a god favour one gender over another? It seems pretty clear that MAN participated in the creation of the bible based on the favouring views toward them and their life style at the time. Over the years since, there have also been several new additions to the bible (the New Testament and others) clearly during the time of established socities... We noticed some things were out dated, so we re-wrote them. How is this book so widely followed as truth from an immortal being who created the world?

I believe in God and a lot of Christian teachings, but I've had so many negetive expirences with so called "Christians" who aparently are only Christians on Sunday, I am relctant to call myself a Christian and when I find out someone is a Christian, I want to run away screaming. I once saw a stamp on Deviant Art that said something like: "With Christians like you, Hell seems like fun". I told my parents about that because I thought it was funny, they were shocked that I felt that way. I just don't think understand how bad those so called Christians damaged me. I'm always being told I need to forgive them but I wish my own parents would actualy acknoledge my feelings once in a while instead of telling me it wasn't as bad as I remember it or tell me I had it coming.

I REFUSE to step foot in a Church. I'm 24 now so it's not like my parents can force me or make threats like they did when I was a kid. Maybe if they acknoledged my feelings, I might be willing to give it a try.

Damn straight, my friend. That's the main thing that I never understood about all of the religious crap. There's this all powerful all knowing god that creates us and makes us the way we are. He makes people like me who are skeptical and like to question things all the time, then he expects me to take the word of these imperfect beings he created who we(and he) know lie, cheat, steal, and do terrible things to each other all the time, and if I DON'T believe them(why the hell should I, I'm already skeptical, and they don't have a good track record), I'm going to hell to burn and suffer for eternity??? BUT HE LOVES ME??? Someone PLEASE make sense of that. Why, if god exists, can he not just prove his existence, communicate to us directly what he wants from us/how he wants us to behave? And what's so damn hard about "treat others as you want to be treated?"

Here I am trying to imagine the best scenario that puts myself in similar shoes... Let's say I'm a manager in an office, or wherever, it's not important. Okay, so I have a new rule I wish to implement. I no longer want employees to park in a certain section of the parking lot, so I tell Steven about it. Steven goes and tells one section of the office, and those people distribute the information to everybody else. By the end of the day, some people will think they can't drive to work at all, others will think I made up some other random crazy ass rule that has nothing to do with driving or parking. People are dumb and can't remember things, and some of them simply change things on purpose, or they misinterpret what I meant... Why would anyone use this method to spread information? it's stupid and illogical. If this were a real scenario, I would go tell the people myself, either at a meeting of some sort, or by sending out an e-mail to EACH AND EVERY EMPLOYEE PERSONALLY to make sure they know. I would also tell them that any questions are welcome... God doesn't do this. God uses the first method. If God can't see the folly of such a method, then he is in no way perfect or all knowing. Therefore, he is not god. If god can't use logic, then humans are better than god, rendering the term god meaningless. So at the very least, we can conclude that there can't possibly be a god as described by christians in the holy bible.

Also, if you're gonna be a christian, then be a christian. Don't sit there and preach love thy neighbor and then turn around and treat him like s**t. Most christians don't practice what they preach, and I'm more christian(in practice) than most who call themselves christians.

Oh, and one last thing, while we're on the subject of religion... I absolutely HATE when religious people go "lol, evolution is just a THEORY," as though they're suggesting that because it's a theory, it must be bunk... I have a huge problem with this because the very fact that they called it a theory means that they're willing to entertain the idea that they're not right. A theory is tested and tested and tested and tested until it is proven without a doubt, that 100% of the time, what the theory suggests actually happens. Then, and ONLY THEN is it called a FACT.

Religion, on the other hand does not propose theories. It proposes everything as fact with absolutely ZERO evidence, and if I question any of it, I'm told I'm a heathen or whatever, OR I'm told "god works in mysterious ways." No, that's a buncha crap. If god wants us to understand, accept, and follow his rules, then he can't work in "mysterious ways." So as far as I'm concerned, religion has NO credibility about ANYTHING whatsoever. At least the scientific community is willing to admit they don't know every damn thing. But when it comes to religion...

"The earth is only X years old."
"well what about these fossils that are clearly older than that?"
"Oh, those were just put there by god to test your faith."

So now god likes to play childish games... Yeah, whatever. I'll believe it when I see it.

THANK GOD I'M AN ATHEIST

Alright, I'm done. sorry if that offended anybody, as that's not my intention. I just have to call things as I see them.

Not many people will take you seriously when you said someone said they heard the voice of God, but I was a Pentecostal for about 11 years and yeah, I've heard a voice saying things like that. I still hear it sometimes. And it is so direct and clear and so the opposite of my own thoughts (I'm an unashamed critic of certain religious institutions and what they say in the media).

I'm not going to read the rest of this thread because they tend to get heated. If you don't believe, great - just keep your opinion to yourself. And if you do believe, great - just remember that not everyone else does.

But there's one thing science cannot prove: what is speaking in tongues and what happens to Christians when they worship? Because I have had very real experiences in a Pentecostal church which is probably why I haven't stopped believing in God, though I am a critic to the Church.

Yes, all of us who don't believe should just shut up - that would make it awfully convenient for the rest to keep spreading their delusions, wouldn't it?


Speaking in tongues is senseless babbling. Even as an atheist I can do it and look just as mentally handicapped as a professional. I don't understand what you are asking with "what happens to Christians when they worship?" They certainly don't start glowing and rising up to the clouds, or otherwise have any different effect from me sitting and thinking about the 5th generation iPod Touch. That's given me tingly sensations, too.