NVM

I regret posting this already. It's just something stupid that's been bothering me.

i have found that there are other faiths then the one america I also think if your believe is strong then you have nothing to worry about i think that the things that happen in childhood have an effect on ever decsions

I'm an atheist too.

I won't go into details but I was shocked how I was treated by people of faith when I was bereaved because "I chose to be an atheist".

My view is that faith can be one of the most beautiful things you can have in life. On balance, I wish I had it. But I don't.

The shame is those that take something so beautiful and make it ugly.

I think it's just about being yourself..or finding the sense of self to be comfortable in.
Extremism of all sorts is bad.
Brainwashing is rife. That's one of the reasons people's minds get perturbed when other people think they can talk on behalf of God or Whoever.Power of any sort is what they are after.

I can hear Angela trundling up on her bike

I don't care she can peddle up on her bike if she likes. I like to hear from every one even if we don't agree.

Even if you don't believe in god you can still believe in hell apparently. Probably cause so many of us live in it.

But I have no desire to be superstitious. I'm already mentally ill I don't need fuel on the fire.

I am a Christian and have a lot of Faith... at the same time I respect what others choose to believe in or not believe in...
Even if one believes in God we know that feel will is one of his gifts to us... He didn't want Stepford Wives....xo

Doornob,

I don't feel this is stupid, silly or any other negative adjectives that could be attached to it.

All of my childhood through young adult , I struggled with these very same questions and know a great many others who have done the same.

The search for faith ( something to believe in) has been an on going issue for people since the beginning of time and took me for a 3 year journey until I discovered what has been TRUE to me.

I am not an Atheist, I am an Animist Wiccan( believe that there is life, life-force, energy in all things) but that journey was a long and at times difficult one. I had to over come a lot of things that I had been taught as a child, there was much negativity, dogma and prejudice along the way( still is prejudice and dogma).

I guess the point is of all this is that you have to feel comfortable with your own belief's whether that is in the god of your youth, the belief there are is no god/s or a Deity that you find that you find through your own journey.

I hope you are able to find what works for you and are comfortable with that. Just remember those who tell you, your going to hell and will be eternally punished are not living your life and their belief's are theirs not yours.

i think this is an excellent topic, way to be brave.

Oh, and Pan ROFLMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yeah pan that is hilarious!

The religous zealots are can be so wrong with their conception of god.
If here any of the fear based shit I am out of their.
Had my kids in a private christian school for a while. Till they started up with the original sin crap.. They were saying that when adam ate of the sinfapple from the forbidin tree all of human kind after that were going to go to hell
From there they took the leap and said that my children had sinful flesh and that they were bad unless they beleived that jesus would save them
What the hell was that.. I confronted the pastor and tachers about this method of teachning. I said it is better to lead people to god through promotion rather than fear.. I discused the harm that they had cuased my children by telling then that they were by nature sinful and needed jesus help not to go to hell. They could not see it. So we left that church and started up with science of the mind.
Good bye to the fearful bullshit of organized christian terrorism. and we moved into the all loving and acceptiness of church that really understands the human condition.

Thank you wiccan

I do believe I'm on a journey any how. And that journey doesn't end until life ends.

Well, I am a Christian. i was an atheist for awhile, but I figured there was something else out there. Then when shit got bad enough, I reached out to God and he saved my life. He has given me chance after chance, and yet, He still looks out for me and loves me like his child.

I am a worshipper in the Catholic Church, the Church I grew up in. I find great serenity and peace in that building. That God is truly there. I pray every night for people who need to be prayed for and ask God to keep my Clean everyday, one day at a time. He has kept me clean for almost 2 years. I rely on God to get thru the episodes and depression. God has truly changed my life. I don't judge those who are atheists at all. I have many friends who are atheists. I will just say this, if there is truly an afterlife, where would you go? I believe you can go to heaven by being a good person. So atheists being good people could possibly go to heaven. We shall see.

My father is an atheist and my mother has very strange religious beliefs which I was not exposed to so I was raised as an atheist for which I am thankful. If asked outright I will admit to being an atheist but to avoid issues with the very religious people I work with I mostly just stay silent during religious conversations. I was recently told I was going to hell by an aggressive pastor who was going door to door in my neighborhood though... I just shut the door and left him talking to himself on my front porch.

I read recently that atheism is the fastest growing religious position (don't know if that is accurate or not) so maybe as our numbers grow there will be less intolerance.