I Converted A Catholic To Atheism

reply to post by AfterInfinity

Comforting scenarios that appeal to our darker side make it easier to give in when provided the opportunity to express such sentiments. It's best to make our good will clear instead of broadcasting how much we'd like all the religious people to just crawl in a hole and die. I don't want that. I want them to be free to express their opinions with regard for the feelings and freedoms of others.

Me, too.
And you're spot on - that IS the sort of thinking that continues to plague us as a species.

I was being facetious - and yes, I get angry when I feel powerless. That's how it is for billions of people. Fortunately, those of us who are not starving, enslaved, oppressed, and are educated know better than to act it out that way. I can't tell you how many times I've been so angry at someone, but all I do is stand in the bathroom and scream at my own face in the mirror. Then it passes, and I chill out without having harmed anyone.

Sometimes I let my fingers get the better of me here.
Good afternoon, everyone.
My bad.

reply to post by wildtimes


It's fine. For what it's worth, I'm overjoyed that you finally stopped in to say hello and share your two bent pennies. You've always been a light in these discussions. Anger is nothing to be ashamed of; it's when you let it control you that things start to go sour. Let's practice communication and steer clear of all that condemnation and accusation stuff, yes? Lead by example.

reply to post by wildtimes
Well in that case, might I recommend the Westboro bunch for your island guest list? I'd rather hang out with a whole stadium full of Satanists than ANYONE in their leadership.

reply to post by littled16


*ahem* This is not a "who would I vote on the island of torment" contest. The topic, in case you've forgotten, may be found at the top of the thread below the forum category title. I would hate to see this thread derailed at the expense of religious people in a demonstration of exactly the kind of behavior I have spent so much time decrying.

reply to post by boymonkey74
I'm probably feisty enough to be the last granny standing, but I don't want to find out!

My policy is if you open a discussion that invites my opinion I will give it to you, but as I had a very diverse religious upbringing you would find that my opinions aren't always in step with the main stream and I view religion from a much wider perspective than most. If someone doesn't want my input I can respect that, it is not my way to force my personal beliefs down anyone's throat.

I'm not sure what kind of responses you are wanting here.....well done I guess.

I had a boyfriend back in my early twenties who befriended a Jehovahs Witness who had at that time been very involved in his church. My ex slowly turned him into a stoner and laughed about it, just a little at a time he would say. I thought it was disgusting to take someone who was otherwise doing very well and dramatically change their life, just for fun. I could never stick around to watch it.

I never think it's wrong to have real conversations between people about their faith or lack therof and what stories it entails. It's great to open up a mind to the reality that what might be might not be and vice/versa. But to convert someone just to up your status quo well it just speaks volumes about your character.

reply to post by littled16


......that's not the topic though. While I did ask your opinion in an indirect and broad fashion, it was concerning a subject that may be found IN THE THREAD TITLE. Hint hint nudge nudge poke poke shove shove. Don't make me excommunicate you.

reply to post by brandiwine14

I never think it's wrong to have real conversations between people about their faith or lack therof and what stories it entails. It's great to open up a mind to the reality that what might be might not be and vice/versa. But to convert someone just to up your status quo well it just speaks volumes about your character.

Have you read the entire thread, or just enough to post a comment and not sound silly? It seems to me that you have missed almost every explanation of how this transition occurred. This is not about me, it is about my friend seizing his own ability to determine his fate and his happiness.

I think atheism is a long way off from illegal drugs. I could be wrong, but I don't think I am.

reply to post by AfterInfinity
Come now love, I never claimed to be a perfect person........just an extremely humorous mooded one today. Besides, in reality I would never want to segregate anyone of any belief system to an island to fight to the death. But I would want extremely mean people to be sentenced to a week long non-stop marathon Ni Hao Kai-lan.

reply to post by littled16


behave now. Have you notching more to say on the topic?

Originally posted by AfterInfinity
reply to post by littled16

 

behave now. Have you notching more to say on the topic?

Nah, my oldest daughter is an Atheist and we agree to disagree just as I agree to disagree with you. No point in trying to sway each other's opinions and philosophies as we're both pretty stubborn. Better to live and let live. Too bad everyone can't do that. The world would be a much more pleasant place.

reply to post by AfterInfinity

Four words: faith in the self. Atheism is simply a redirection of faith, faith in that which is known. At least my atheism.

Hog wash! If atheism were known to be true, it wouldn't require a "firm belief in something for which there is no proof"!

See ya,
Milt

Originally posted by AfterInfinity
reply to post by vethumanbeing

 

Four words: faith in the self. Atheism is simply a redirection of faith, faith in that which is known. At least my atheism.

edit on 17-6-2013 by AfterInfinity because: (no reason given)

This your personal viewpoint. Atheism in and of itself doesn't have anything to do with self esteem. There are all kinds of atheists. There is no doctrine of self worth inherently included in non belief of deities.

No I did not read the thread in it's entirety, I read the first two pages and several of your posts in the thread but probably not all. You started off sounding as if you might have had good intentions. I understand wholeheartedly wanting to help a friend feel good about being himself and come to an understanding that his religion might not be everything he was brought up to believe it was.

What I was commenting on was your very last sentence in your beginning post. "You can bow now" Instead of sounding like someone who wanted to help you sounded like the football player who just took the new cheerleaders virginity, expecting a high-five for a job well done. Seems like an awfully funny thing to say if it indeed isn't about you.

Im glad your friend has seemed to find peace in the himself and the world around him. In the end that's all that really matters.

Originally posted by AfterInfinity
reply to post by piequal3because14

 

It takes more than that to be a Christian.

Indeed it takes.

2) my friends computer is malfunctioning, he has tremors, and he has some difficulty expressing himself to strangers especially when he is nervous and on an electronic device. You will have to take my word for it.

I have a feeling Afterinfinity that you are holding a person prisoner against his will,a person with disabilities ,and this as a conclusion of your post.

And I have a feeling that you have violated that person rights,

Each law DOJ enforces is briefly discussed below. In DOJ investigations, whether criminal or civil, the person whose rights have been reportedly violated is referred to as a victim and often is an important witness. DOJ generally will inform the victim of the results of the investigation, but we do not act as the victim's lawyer and cannot give legal advice as a private attorney could.

www.justice.gov...

I guess we have a case here,

It has taken him a while as he wasn't prepared to take such action, and has difficulty typing anything (let alone the arduous process of speech-to-text and using an on-screen keyboard due to technical difficulties

Disability is the consequence of an impairment that may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental, or some combination of these. A disability may be present from birth, or occur during a person's lifetime.

en.wikipedia.org...

In a criminal case, the evidence must establish proof "beyond a reasonable doubt," while in civil cases the proof need only satisfy the lower standard of a "preponderance of the evidence." Finally, in criminal cases, DOJ seeks to punish a wrongdoer for past misconduct through imprisonment or other sanction.

www.justice.gov...

Believe me I know what I am talking about,

hmmm,

My friend is gay.

Don't expect him to practice anything close to the vigilance I have demonstrated regarding this thread, as again, he is having both technical and medical difficulties at this time.

Would it make you guys feel better if I recorded me and my friend together, on video, explaining how this all happened? ETA: Never mind. I proposed the idea to him and he declined.

Of course he declined because he is your prisoner.

It is a crime for one or more persons acting under color of law willfully to deprive or conspire to deprive another person of any right protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States. (18 U.S.C. §§ 241, 242). "Color of law" simply means that the person doing the act is using power given to him or her by a governmental agency (local, State, or Federal). A law enforcement officer acts "under color of law" even if he or she is exceeding his or her rightful power. The types of law enforcement misconduct covered by these laws include excessive force, sexual assault, intentional false arrests, or the intentional fabrication of evidence resulting in a loss of liberty to another. Enforcement of these provisions does not require that any racial, religious, or other discriminatory motive existed. What remedies are available under these laws? Violations of these laws are punishable by fine and/or imprisonment. There is no private right of action under these statutes; in other words, these are not the legal provisions under which you would file a lawsuit on your own.

www.justice.gov...

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability. (42 U.S.C. § 12131, et seq. and 29 U.S.C. § 794). These laws protect all people with disabilities in the United States. An individual is considered to have a "disability" if he or she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment.

Criminal Enforcement If you would like to file a complaint alleging a violation of the criminal laws discussed above, you may contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which is responsible for investigating allegations of criminal deprivations of civil rights. You may also contact the United States Attorney's Office (USAO) in your district. The FBI and USAOs have offices in most major cities and have publicly-listed phone numbers. In addition, you may send a written complaint to:

www.justice.gov...

He suffers from paranoid tendencies,

I wonder who....

I will keep a copy of this post ,just in case...

Oh,and .....I am always right.

reply to post by piequal3because14


Really? the guy in question has posted here on the topic.

Oh my....best you can up with huh? my guess is you are joking? you have to be joking right?

reply to post by anthonycooper

it is not self reliance regardless of god or no god, it is self reliance BECAUSE of no god.

Well... If your "self reliance" IS "BECAUSE of no god", you TRULY don't know what "self reliance" IS.

it is faith in myself, in what i know.

No, it's not!

Your new found "faith" only helps you feel good about yourself. That's why there are so many "flavors" of "Church" in the US. Most people can find one that "suits their needs". Atheism is just another "Theism".

i have always gotten better results that way.

Hell! I thought your "conversion" was recent!

See ya,
Milt

reply to post by BenReclused

Hog wash! If atheism were known to be true

I didn't say atheism was the part known to be true. I have reasons to favor atheism, which are far too numerous and scattered to compile in their entirety right here. Besides, it's not worth the effort - I'm familiar with your strategies, and you'll argue on principle.

Atheism is simply a redirection of faith, faith in that which is known

This is what I said.

When I say redirection of faith, where is that faith being redirected to? The one person who controls each and every life on earth. Ourselves. Atheism is the doctrine that there is no god, and that we must therefore rely upon ourselves to make a difference. I know I exist. You know you exist. My friend knows he exists. And if we don't in fact exist, we are manifest in such a capacity that we clearly affect this reality we are in. We are susceptible to it, and it is susceptible to us. This is something we have experienced, are experiencing, and continue to experience. This clearly denotes a degree of control that we are free to make use of.

As such, atheism is true enough to provide a window of opportunity in which we may take pride in who and what we are, regardless of what any god says, and can therefore utilize our nature to its greatest potential and become the best of what we choose to be. Just as Christianity or Catholicism or Protestantism is true enough to appeal to those who look for such parameters in life, atheism provides a freedom. It is the freedom of choice, of destiny, and of creative potential.

I have reason to suspect that no god exists. There may be a law of nature whose function operates along the same general theme as one god or another, but its exact parameters exceed and transcend the clumsy labels with which we have attempted to define it, because all we know is what our senses can tell us. And since most ideologies originate from before any of these quantum theories were ever invented, they can't really claim to reflect any such facets of reality as we know it. Parallels can be made, but in the act of doing so, concessions must also be made - concessions that the old ideologies were flawed and incomplete, and must therefore be recycled in order to make room for an expanding understanding of the universe as we know it. The only reason I am explaining this is for the participants who are genuinely curious about the approach that has proven so appealing to my friend, AnthonyCooper.

All in all, atheism leaves us with room to grow. If a god does indeed exist, then science will eventually uncover it, and atheism (which leans heavily on science) will be forced to assimilate into whatever religion is born as a result. Otherwise, they will be the new religion because they will believe in something that is clearly not true.

But at this point in time, no such development has occurred. And with the world progressing as it is, I am of the firm belief that we must place more and more responsibility on ourselves and less and less dependence on a deity. Otherwise, there will come a point where the entire difference is made by what we decide, and we must make a choice.

When that time comes, what will we be fighting for? A god? Or mankind? A world that might be coming...or a world that already is?

reply to post by windword

This your personal viewpoint. Atheism in and of itself doesn't have anything to do with self esteem. There are all kinds of atheists. There is no doctrine of self worth inherently included in non belief of deities.

Perhaps not, but I've made my own modifications. Remember the part about creative power? I exercised it. There's no law saying I can't, and it's still technically atheist if there's no god involved.

reply to post by boymonkey74

Really? the guy in question has posted here on the topic.

That remain to be seen.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

my guess is you are joking? you have to be joking right?

I never joke with the truth.