I'm an atheist still right?

[a_jaynepayne]

Does becoming atheist mean that any former brain or personality I once had no longer exists?  I was talking to my friend, who has just recently gotten into religion...Catholicism of all things, any she's still really open minded and fair so she wasn't calling me out or trying to save my soul or anything she was just talking in a way only your best friend can.  So basically I just told her why I don't believe in god (just a slow breakdown of that religous brick wall)  She thought all of that was fair enough.  But then she said, "but you still believe in ghosts, psychics, and supernatural stuff."  I didn't really have a defense for that other than I'm still the same just without god.

If the skys opened up and a man walked out of the clouds - a few years ago I would've said something along the lines of "Oh holy father my soul is yours.  Please forgive me for my lack of faith."  Now it would be "HOLY SHIT!!! I knew aliens were real! Please don't vaporize me."...
As for the ghost thing...isn't it just plain old funner to believe?  I mean I'm pining for the day when dragons, fairies, unicorns, and wizards come back from wherever they've been hiding.

I'm atheist because I don't believe in god not because I don't have an imagination...and to a certain extent I do believe there can be psychics or prophecies...I just don't think they come from god.  I think science will one day prove either A: Some people make some VERY lucky guesses or B: Some people can just use a different part of their brain...

Just because something is unexplainable now doesn't mean it's forever unexplainable...  Okay okay I know that sort sounds close to faith, but I guess that's my point.  I can still believe in the same things right?  Or am I confused?

We haven't found a cure for AIDS or cancer but that doesn't mean it's not there waiting to be discovered.  We couldn't explain the internet or Blue Tooth to someone twenty or thirty years ago...

Hundreds of years from now I think religion from this day and age will be looked at the way we look at Zeus or Amon-Ra...There's my prophecy. :-)

[rlrose328]

My husband maintains that EVERYONE is agnostic... NO ONE knows for sure, 100%, that there is or isn't a god.  We (hubby and I) call ourselves atheists anyway because, based on the evidence we currently have, we are comfortably sure that no god exists and we fight to preserve a secular country and atmosphere.

We do acknowledge that aliens MAY exist, though we have no evidence for them either... but then again, I don't have anyone insisting they ARE real and passing laws based on that insistence.

I don't believe there are ghosts.  I believe psychics are frauds and seek to con people out of money to hear what they want to hear (same with astrologers).  I do not believe in the supernatural in any way, shape or form.

I agree that just because something cannot be explained RIGHT NOW, it's unexplanable.  But i don't want to delude myself into believing in something just because there's no proof.  I have no problem with imagination and pretending... think "Harry Potter," one of my favorite escapist fantasies.  I'd LOVE to believe it's real... I know it's not, but that doesn't detract from my enjoyment of it.  It's the religionists who say it's evil who are placing their faith in it as real as much as their god that scare me.

I can only HOPE that religion is seen in the future as Zeus and Amon-Ra are today... but if they ARE, what will take their place?  Man NEEDS to believing in something.  For the most part, man is dependent on SOMETHING or SOMEONE on whom he can give credit or blame.  So if the Christian god falls from grace, there will be another one to take his place... and who knows how evil THAT one will be.

[a_jaynepayne]

you're harry potter thing is more of what I was getting at with the "isn't it funner to believe" (sadly I honestly know fairies and unicorns will not be making an appearance AND IT SUCKS!) I think my friend just thinks this is a phase or something, cause she also pointed out that I still like the movie The Passion and The Nativity Story, my only defense was a good story is a good story wether it's true or not.  I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was in third grade but I still love Christmas time and Ruldolf the Red Nosed Reindeer...I mean some of the best stories I've ever heard come from the Bible...Noah and the flood...Micheal Crichton couldn't have come up with a better plot.

[rlrose328]

Hey, one of my favorite musicals of all time is "Godspell" and I listen to the soundtrack in the car at least once a week.  Doesn't mean I believe, just means I have strange taste in theater.  

We have a whole passel of movies we watch at Christmas, too... all of the "Clause" movies, "A Christmas Story," "The Grinch," "Christmas Vacation," etc.  Doesn't mean we believe Jesus is the song of god and was born then, just means we love good movies.

The Noah thing is one of my hot buttons... actually, anything in the bible that people say really happened but is scientifically impossible.  Especially with the fundies and gellies... they LOVE coming up with "science" that proves their bible is real (like the dimensions of Noah's Ark proves it could have carried that many animals and the Grand Canyon is proof of a world-wide flood... bahahaha ).

BTW, I LOVE your quote... "Dogma" is one of my all-time favorite movies!  I have a Buddy Christ right here next to me while I'm on line!

[a_jaynepayne]

My friend is super cool, she's really the only person besides my husband who I've talked to about this just because I'm nervous how people will react...I'm pretty anti-confrontational...I mean I like to argue and debate but I can't do it with people who seem to think I'm stupid.  My friend on the other hand...we can talk about all of this and still have a lot of respect for eachother...she totally understands that it's a big thing for me to say this...I mean when you live your whole life believing you'll see your passed loved ones again and your crap life will all pay off in the end; to come to the realization that all of that isn't true is scary as hell I don't care who ya are...sort of like the it's funner to believe...it's a lot safer feeling to believe but if it's not true it's just not true no matter how scary it is to think that...well it's not really scary anymore...it was at first...shit at first I had the total christian thought..."well maybe all of this religion stuff isn't real...Oh sheese that's just the devil tellin' ya that.."  that's what i thought for a long time...
shit I really do leave my computer I swear.

[McQ]

Well, I'd say that anyone who claims to not believe in a god, any god, is an atheist. And as far as calling someone an agnostic because they don't "know for 100%" that there is no god....well, that doesn't mean they aren't atheist. Atheism is a lack of belief in god. Just like A-Santa Clausism is a lack of belief in Santa Claus. ;-)

It's not about knowing there is no god. It's about what you choose to believe.

Or not believe.

[rlrose328]

I agree, McQ... and so does the hubby.  He's a very technical guy... a human computer.  He knows he's an atheist, not an agnostic.  

It's not so much to say atheists are really agnostics as it is to say Christians are really agnostics.  They can't say for sure there IS a god anymore than we can say there isn't.  We can say we BELIEVE there isn't a god, but believers will always want to be finite about it... "how can you know for sure?" they ask.   We answer, "I don't... and neither do you.  Therefore, we are both agnostics.  You just choose to believe in a god... I choose to not believe."

[tigerlily46514]

Ajaynepayne,
i enjoyed reading your exploration of your thoughts.  I think you have the absolute right to believe or not believe in whatever you choose.  I'm in agreement- you are an atheist.
I do find it interesting you believe in ghosts, though.  Funny enuff.  I mean if you truly do believe in ghosts.

wow-this is getting me in the mood for my favorite holiday!  HALLOWEEN!! yeh ha hah hah.