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Your conversion to atheism

Started by xXxWashburnxXx, January 26, 2012, 11:58:22 PM

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Siz

Quote from: Jimmy on April 11, 2012, 05:03:12 AM
*This is in response to the last few post about how can anyone lose faith if they don't have it to begin with*

Unfortunately, there ISN'T a word for making or convincing another human being to believe in a deity.

Theised? (or Theized (US))
Theistified?
Theistificationalized?
Theistificationalisatified? (dictionary of George Bush)

religiously converted?

When one sleeps on the floor one need not worry about falling out of bed - Anton LaVey

The universe is a cold, uncaring void. The key to happiness isn't a search for meaning, it's to just keep yourself busy with unimportant nonsense, and eventually you'll be dead!

Sweetdeath

Quote from: Amicale on April 11, 2012, 06:54:28 AM
Quote from: Sweetdeath on April 11, 2012, 06:50:06 AM
Quote from: Jimmy on April 11, 2012, 05:03:12 AM
*This is in response to the last few post about how can anyone lose faith if they don't have it to begin with*

Unfortunately, there ISN'T a word for making or convincing another human being to believe in a deity. I was born as an unbeliever of any dogma or superstition. I wasn't born an atheist, or an agnostic, or a theist, or Christian, but I definitely was born undeitized. . Now, I don't even know if deitized is even a word, I couldn't find much on it, but it suits my purposes for this post. For here, I mean it to be the process of training or indoctrinating someone to the existence of a deity or deities, and NOT the process of becoming a deity  :P .  In essence, I wasn't a Catholic until my parents, church, and friends persuaded me to foremost, be a theist, and secondly be a Catholic. To think of it now, it is astounding just how much indoctrination actually goes into this process of being deitized.

Now I think I've stated in an earlier post that I don't really like the word atheism because for one, it often used pejoratively, as in "losing one's faith," and secondly, it doesn't really explain my "beliefs" or lack thereof beliefs in a manner that gives ample weight or contrast to those of believers. Now if deitized is used to mean acquiring faith in the existence of a god, or gods, be it monotheistic, polytheistic, or deistic, then undeitized would mean the unacquiring of these beliefs and a return to the position I had when I was born, which was none. I would much prefer the contrast to be deitized versus undeitized because it obviates the amelioration of the word "faith" and forces us to see it for what it really is: Indoctrination.

My name is Jimmy, and I have been undeitized :P

Well, I have to agree with you. When I tell people I am atheist, I almost feel like some take it as "used to be religious, but not anymore."

I know that is the case for some atheists, but most were just born HUMAN. Without religion or faith or any superstition, until it was cast upon them by parents and/or guardians.
I want to be human. I hate having to attached labels for society. I feel the same way about religion as I do about my sexuality. I am just ME. My non belief and sexual prefrence don't define me .
They don't validate or make choices for me.
My experience as an adult human being do.

Right on, SD! I just added this to the member quotes thread.  ;D


Aw, thank you, Amicale!! :D
Law 35- "You got to go with what works." - Robin Lefler

Wiggum:"You have that much faith in me, Homer?"
Homer:"No! Faith is what you have in things that don't exist. Your awesomeness is real."

"I was thinking that perhaps this thing called God does not exist. Because He cannot save any one of us. No matter how we pray, He doesn't mend our wounds.

Amicale

:) I totally feel the same way. I'm just ME. If you spend some time with me in person, sure, you'll eventually find out that I'm both lesbian and atheist, but neither label defines who I am. Personally, first and foremost I'd consider myself a mom, a friend, a daughter and grand daughter, a total nerd, a bookworm, a cat lover, a music nut, a coffee addict, someone who's passionate about history and philosophy, etc etc... and really, that's prettymuch how I live my life. Outside of this forum, my atheism isn't discussed all that often, and anyone who knows me pretty well just takes it for granted that I'm never going to date a guy, so...  :D I don't even think about that too often. I'm just me.


"Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb we are bound to others. By every crime and act of kindness we birth our future." - Cloud Atlas

"To live in the hearts of those we leave behind is to never die." -Carl Sagan

Sweetdeath

Yes~
Nerds and coffee addicts unite. :D
Law 35- "You got to go with what works." - Robin Lefler

Wiggum:"You have that much faith in me, Homer?"
Homer:"No! Faith is what you have in things that don't exist. Your awesomeness is real."

"I was thinking that perhaps this thing called God does not exist. Because He cannot save any one of us. No matter how we pray, He doesn't mend our wounds.

Amicale

Quote from: Sweetdeath on April 11, 2012, 06:53:25 PM
Yes~
Nerds and coffee addicts unite. :D

Dyslexics and velcro afficianados, untie;D



"Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb we are bound to others. By every crime and act of kindness we birth our future." - Cloud Atlas

"To live in the hearts of those we leave behind is to never die." -Carl Sagan

cgmccall

Quote from: Amicale on April 11, 2012, 03:30:42 AM
Quote from: lebrecht52 on April 11, 2012, 03:19:27 AM
Quote from: cgmccall on April 10, 2012, 08:33:30 PM
I've been an atheist all my life, but the topic of conversion to atheism has interested me for a while.
It didn't even occur to me until a few years ago that people unconvert from religion. It's not as though it seemed impossible, it just wasn't a line of thinking that I was really exposed to. You hear about people converting to new religions, but when people talk about atheism it's often just a standoff between two people on TV. They talk about ideas but not themselves so much. Atheist just kind of...are.
Then I told a group of fellow students that I was atheist, and one guy asked me "Oh, when did you lose your faith?"
I was surprised. Why would I need have it in the first place? And...that happens? I guess it must. How often does it happen?
That's a question I've had for a while (someone tell me if it's already been discussed here) What perscentage of Atheists have always been non-believers, and what percentage unconverted during thier lives?

Very interesting.  I always answer I have never lost faith, only have no religious superstitions. I have been an atheist since childhood.   About 70 years.
Anne

:)

One way of saying it that we seem to have recently adopted on the forum as being a neat idea is this: if you never had any religious beliefs, you would be a never-theist, whereas if you had religious beliefs but gave them up, you'd be an ex-theist. I like the distinction, because when you tell someone you're an atheist, they still don't quite know how you got to that position. Myself, I'm an ex-theist atheist.

May I ask, just for the sake of curiosity... when you were a teenager or a young adult, did you ever feel any inclination to explore religious beliefs? Or was it never of any interest to you?

I was never personally interested in religion, but my parents (both atheists) insisted that I learn the basics of what people believed, so I wouldn't be offensive by accident. Also, I studied world history for my Bachelors, and I love history, and religion permeates every part of history imaginable. Certainly, I've always been way too much a skeptic (a person who asks questions) to be interested in any idea that insists you not ask questions -- no religion for me.

Sweetdeath

I'm sure many of us would love to have atheists parents. ;__;
Law 35- "You got to go with what works." - Robin Lefler

Wiggum:"You have that much faith in me, Homer?"
Homer:"No! Faith is what you have in things that don't exist. Your awesomeness is real."

"I was thinking that perhaps this thing called God does not exist. Because He cannot save any one of us. No matter how we pray, He doesn't mend our wounds.

Ali

Quote from: Amicale on April 11, 2012, 06:38:01 PM
:) I totally feel the same way. I'm just ME. If you spend some time with me in person, sure, you'll eventually find out that I'm both lesbian and atheist, but neither label defines who I am. Personally, first and foremost I'd consider myself a mom, a friend, a daughter and grand daughter, a total nerd, a bookworm, a cat lover, a music nut, a coffee addict, someone who's passionate about history and philosophy, etc etc... and really, that's prettymuch how I live my life. Outside of this forum, my atheism isn't discussed all that often, and anyone who knows me pretty well just takes it for granted that I'm never going to date a guy, so...  :D I don't even think about that too often. I'm just me.

I agree Amicale (and SD)  I don't really talk or think about my atheism much outside of this forum, and it's definitely not a huge defining piece of my personality, except in comparison to really religious folks.  Like, a lot of the members of my family really think of "Christian" as something that defines them as people, and also somewhat something that defines us as a family.  Only I'm not, so when I stumble up against that kind of "group identity" of "Christian"; that sort of makes me feel like an outsider and makes me really feel my atheism more than usual.  But for the most part, I just kind of feel like it's a normal default setting, something that is a natural part of me that doesn't take a lot of thought and consideration, like having brown hair, or size 7 feet.  I'm not really An Atheist most of the time, I'm just Ali, who also happens to be an atheist.