Non believers

[oldnitro]

Those people on here who are non believers, if you were true believers previously, what caused you to reject the notion of God and religion

[ummmm]

No God would judge a baby....

[rowanwitch]

feather waistcoat polyvore.com don't know if ts just an image company or if they sell them

[Old_Geezer]

In any case, whether Darwin did or didn't recant anything is totally irrelevant. An understanding of what does or does not occur doesn't depend on what any individual says at any particular time. It is either a fact or it is not. And I find the evidence for it to be overwhelming.

[rowanwitch]

ooops wrong thread sorry

[jackthehat]

Although in my younger years, I sincerely wanted to believe,the notion that I would be refused entry through the pearly gates no matter how many good works I carry out during my time on earth disinclined me to expend any time considering it as a goal.....

I have seen many good people tied up in knots because they cannot satisfy the demands their 'religion' places upon them.

[rowanwitch]

having been told I will burn in hell for my lesbian past.... I'll bring marshmallows for toasting and some skewers save me a seat JTH

[keyplus90]

How many times I have seen this same question? Let me think.

[emmie]

i got a life.

[mibn2cweus]

I have a confession to make . . .

I couldn't for the life of me figure out why 'God' would insist on me believing in 'Him' when everything I was told about 'Him' gave me every reason not to believe 'He' exists? Nevertheless, as a naive young child at one point I did cave to the pressure after about an hour and professed to believe simply because I felt bad for the preacher and couldn't see my way clear of the imagined consequences I faced after all that time saying "No I don't believe" to all the people waiting outside for me to make up my mind. Do to the lack of courage to stand by my convictions in that moment, I still, to this very day feel like I'm smothering in the sea of irrationality I resigned myself to the moment I said, "I do". Is it any wonder I've never married?

My ability to trust in the good judgment of those around me and to tell the truth in all situations where I foresee possible negative repercussions persists to this day. If I were ever to be put on trial for murder, I feel certain I would be convicted in spite of my innocence simply because of my obvious mistrust of those around me. My fear of standing up against the religious and unfounded philosophical beliefs of others has made my day to day existence a living hell and I remain a victim of my own insecurity in spite of my best efforts to battle an injustice I should never have sanctioned by my childhood refusal to admit my unbelief.

[rowanwitch]

That child was unable to withstand pressure because they were a child... let it go... but before you do imagine what your older self would tell that child and imagine the scenario as it would then have played out...and imagine your whole timeline healing and adjusting....sounds crazy but it works

[mibn2cweus]

rowanwitch, I still don't know what to tell that mentally abused child amerced by his own guilt at seeing no alternative but to lie his way out of the situation of seeking to resolve his own uncertainty with no where to turn but to those who sponsored it. I know of no other reconciliation but to fight the ideology which placed him in that situation. But the child remains here with me as I refuse to abandon him. So if you have any other advice, I'll be happy to pass it on. :o)

[RATTER15]

Ann>>>I can't imagine what life would be like without God and my faith and going to church each Sunday (just a little free church like a chapel) but its not my place to judge, its Gods......<<<

I think it is great that your life is sorted.

However this is the problem, people feel the need for this false belief, they feel they would be lost without it, unfortunately the opposite is true, they are within it! but they will never see it!

[RATTER15]

I was a Christian with a Christian upbringing, I became an atheist after going to one on one Bible classes at about 12 years of age.

[keyplus90]

Oldnitro – Your question to that priest was a very common one and so was the response from the priest. Unfortunately this is a typical mistake that Christian priests (and Christianity) make and push people away from believing in God. The core mistake in that scenario is that Jesus=God. So if we believe that Jesus was God (which being a Muslim I don’t) then of course what about the people before Jesus as they never knew nor did they believed in him? However If you believe that Jesus was not God but just another prophet like many others before him who delivered the message of God then very simply it means that anyone who believed in their message in fact believed in God.

That is the reason as a Muslim I am supposed to believe in all of the messengers due to the same message they delivered, “worship only one God”.

[mibn2cweus]

I'd like to think someone among those subjecting the child to this kind of abuse would have the decency to come into the church and tell the preacher to, "Leave that poor child alone. Can't you see it is not salvation he is seeking but rather the truth?" Therein lies the nightmare to which this child had awakened, that he was alone with only his tormentors to lend him 'encouragement'.

[starone]

I don't believe myself, but if it helps you to get through life then I would not take that belief away from you. I was sent to Sunday School every week when I was a child and it was hammered into me at school - somehow I never questioned the fact that my parents never went to Church. I made up my own mind as I got older and now agree with RATTER that there is nothing but this life so make the most of it. I always remember my friend who was afraid that if she told a lie a bolt would come from the sky and strike her dead. She spent her childhood in terror - what good is that?

[birdie1971]

Keyplus -

If Mohammed was 'only' a prophet then according to Islam, he was equal to Jesus who was also 'only' a prophet. According to your above statement, they were no better and no worse than each other – they were exactly the same.

If prophets are simply conduits for God's teachings (as you suggest), why do you personally place Mohammed above Jesus in the pecking order? If they have both delivered God's message, what makes you favour Islam over Christianity?

[naomi24]

I used to believe - but then I recovered my brain.

Keyplus, // That is the reason as a Muslim I am supposed to believe//

Your admission that you are 'supposed to believe' says it all.

[sandyRoe]

I believe pride leads many a poor soul down the primrose path to perdition. It must have been the original sin. Lucifer was too proud to serve God and look at the woes of the world that have come about as a result of that arrogance.

[naomi24]

Sandy, yes, just look at the woes of the world - and the almighty God (who can do anything he wants to do) can't do a thing about it. Wouldn't you think he'd just zap that old devil out of existence? I suspect he enjoys watching all the misery he created. Weirdo!