Nonbelievers, how did you lose your religion?

rpgdude

Member
Personally, I don't believe religious people are dumb. I also don't believe that they grew faith out of stupidity. They were just tricked by fear and rewards.

But that's just my opinion. And I believe it may change soon. I typed out a response that contradicted myself so I deleted it.. I proved myself wrong lol.. Here's my original post

Religious people are not dumb simply because they have faith in something that cannot be proven. They were just tricked into believing nonsense by their friends and family. Is a little kid stupid because he trusted his parents when they told him santa is real?

Yes, that kid is stupid lol. Has that kid ever seen magic played out? No. Then he shouldn't believe some fat dude pops into people's houses to deliver toys all around the world in one night. So I guess religious people should understand that their beliefs aren't the truth.
The reason you contradicted yourself is simple. You don't understand because you've never been there. The kid is stupid? He believes what the people who love him, whom he trust implicitly tell him. Another thing, they do see and feel things. Buddhist, Muslims, christens and devil worshipers alike feel what they describe as electricity, heat, tingling on the skin that can be seen as chill bumps. I watched benny hinn wave his coat and 900 people passed out in a wave. It was not fake in the sense that people fell willingly. Its the power of expatiation and suggestion and in the hands of a master hypnotist its powerful.
 

Hepheastus420

Well-Known Member
The reason you contradicted yourself is simple. You don't understand because you've never been there. The kid is stupid? He believes what the people who love him, whom he trust implicitly tell him. Another thing, they do see and feel things. Buddhist, Muslims, christens and devil worshipers alike feel what they describe as electricity, heat, tingling on the skin that can be seen as chill bumps. I watched benny hinn wave his coat and 900 people passed out in a wave. It was not fake in the sense that people fell willingly. Its the power of expatiation and suggestion and in the hands of a master hypnotist its powerful.
I've been there. I've gotten chills from praying to my imaginary friend. That doesn't change my new opinion that religious people's beliefs stem from ignorance.. their beliefs are nonsense and stupid.. The only reason a child could believe in santa is if they don't have the critical thinking skills to question this fat guys magic powers.
 

Doer

Well-Known Member
White printer paper? Can we agree to that standard? No one is white. Kinda pinkish, kinda blueish, mostly shades of tan. No genetic basis for race, has been found.
Racial characteristics, skin color, nose and eyelid shapes are adptations based on longitude.
 

ActionHanks

Well-Known Member
Im kind of disturbed by religion

When I was 4-5, if you took two glasses of equal measurement, say both 50 liters, one wide, and one tall, I would tell you that the taller glass contains more liquid. If you asked me the same question when i was 6 or 7 I would tell you that they both contain the same amount of liquid. Cognitive development.

LETS TALK ABOUT SOME GENERAL COLLEGE PSYCHOLOGY YALL
Jean Piaget, Cognitive psychologist

"Cognition develops in all children in the same sequence of stages.Each child goes through the stages in the same order, and no stage can be missed out - although some individuals may never attain the later stages."

Cognitive Stage of Development Key Feature Research Study
Sensorimotor
0 - 2 yrs.
Object PermanenceBlanket & Ball Study
Preoperational
2 - 7 yrs.
EgocentrismThree Mountains
Concrete Operational
7 – 11 yrs.
ConservationConservation of Number
Formal Operational
11yrs +
Manipulate ideas in head, e.g. Abstract Reasoning


I am a "spiritual" person, I believe in the science, the universe, conservation of matter (including our cognitive ego) and other physical laws, etc
But I dont know what the "answer" is, nor do I really care. I feel like religious people are stuck in the concrete operational stage, religion and the whole fear of death/unknown plays such a large part in their lives that it never allows them to think about or experience things outside of their comfort zone or knowledge basin. Its fucking sad, why would you ever want to introduce religion to your children is beyond me. Im not going to tell my kids what they can believe however.

Blah blah blah, wall of text

HOW did i lose my religion? I turned 12, and from that day forth I for some reason just realized it was more than likely a sham, and or actually unimportant in the grand scheme of my life.
 

Padawanbater2

Well-Known Member
Im kind of disturbed by religion

When I was 4-5, if you took two glasses of equal measurement, say both 50 liters, one wide, and one tall, I would tell you that the taller glass contains more liquid. If you asked me the same question when i was 6 or 7 I would tell you that they both contain the same amount of liquid. Cognitive development.

LETS TALK ABOUT SOME GENERAL COLLEGE PSYCHOLOGY YALL
Jean Piaget, Cognitive psychologist

"Cognition develops in all children in the same sequence of stages.Each child goes through the stages in the same order, and no stage can be missed out - although some individuals may never attain the later stages."

Cognitive Stage of Development Key Feature Research Study
Sensorimotor
0 - 2 yrs.
Object PermanenceBlanket & Ball Study
Preoperational
2 - 7 yrs.
EgocentrismThree Mountains
Concrete Operational
7 – 11 yrs.
ConservationConservation of Number
Formal Operational
11yrs +
Manipulate ideas in head, e.g. Abstract Reasoning

I am a "spiritual" person, I believe in the science, the universe, conservation of matter (including our cognitive ego) and other physical laws, etc
But I dont know what the "answer" is, nor do I really care. I feel like religious people are stuck in the concrete operational stage, religion and the whole fear of death/unknown plays such a large part in their lives that it never allows them to think about or experience things outside of their comfort zone or knowledge basin. Its fucking sad, why would you ever want to introduce religion to your children is beyond me. Im not going to tell my kids what they can believe however.

Blah blah blah, wall of text

HOW did i lose my religion? I turned 12, and from that day forth I for some reason just realized it was more than likely a sham, and or actually unimportant in the grand scheme of my life.
What's the name/study that provided that chart?
 

rpgdude

Member
I've been there. I've gotten chills from praying to my imaginary friend. That doesn't change my new opinion that religious people's beliefs stem from ignorance.. their beliefs are nonsense and stupid.. The only reason a child could believe in santa is if they don't have the critical thinking skills to question this fat guys magic powers.
Ignorance and stupidaty are very difrent. Chills are something you get from a powerful singer, Visions and hallucinations are very different from a chill. You do not know you assume you know. Beliefs don't stem from one single thing but from many, such as the fear of death, the desire to see lost loved ones again, a need to feel like you have a purpose or that you are better then others and also delusion. When a belief is pounded into you from childhood it can make you strap on a bomb and blow yourself up. That's' not ignorance its brainwashing and unless you've been there you have no clue how strong it can be that makes you the lucky and ignorant one.
 

Hepheastus420

Well-Known Member
Ignorance and stupidaty are very difrent. Chills are something you get from a powerful singer, Visions and hallucinations are very different from a chill. You do not know you assume you know. Beliefs don't stem from one single thing but from many, such as the fear of death, the desire to see lost loved ones again, a need to feel like you have a purpose or that you are better then others and also delusion. When a belief is pounded into you from childhood it can make you strap on a bomb and blow yourself up. That's' not ignorance its brainwashing and unless you've been there you have no clue how strong it can be that makes you the lucky and ignorant one.
Again, I have been there. Who are you to tell me I haven't gone through what you're explaining?

I never said ignorance and stupidity are the same thing.. If I thought they were the same thing, why would I use both? That's going off topic though. It requires either stupidity or ignorance or both to believe in such nonsense fairy tales. I don't care if you were "brainwashed". If you can't think for yourself, then you don't have critical thinking skills.. Which was my original point.

A kid is ignorant if he can't see that santa isn't real.. The kid also doesn't have critical thinking skills. IMO the childs beliefs in santa are dumb whether or not he was brainwashed into believing so.

I understand the effect religion has on people. It's horrible. But it doesn't change my opinion that it takes the believer to have low critical thinking skills to believe in fairy tales.

Of course this is all in my opinion..
 

OGEvilgenius

Well-Known Member
Should be an interesting, and hopefully educating, thread. I see a lot of people claim they used to be atheists but saw the light and now they're a believer. Hopefully this thread sheds a little light on why that's an absurd statement to make, and why and how we each reached our own conclusions to nonbelief in a god.

I'll start...

Flashback to 1997, I was about 10 when the concept of God really came into my life..

1999, full blown Christian, believing (but not understanding) God created everything, you go to Heaven if you're good, Hell if you're bad, the whole 9 yards... I was influenced by my parents, having been duped themselves by tradition and years of conditioning. Not having realized this then, or having the capacity to, I blindly followed Christianity, believing it was right because my parents, the people who I depended on for life, said it was right...

2000, Y2K, my first taste of conscious irrationality. They said the world would end, I sat frightened, but preoccupied with my friend who made absurd statements about the taste of bbq chips dipped in koolaid (ROFL! to this day!) not really believing the world would end because I couldn't put 'Y2K - computers go out - the world ends!" into logical perspective, even as a 13 year old...

2003 - President Bush launches a war into Iraq because of 9/11. Confused, but I had the opinion of 'America is always right, why would they do anything bad against national interests?!', quickly realized (by 2006) that it was all bullshit for monetary gains, not American interest. Faith in the American government begins to fade...

2006 - began to question the moral reasons behind the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, realized the terrorists behind 9/11 were from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. Began the long, arduous process of researching why we went into the Middle East in the first place...

2006-2010 - researched history, religion, politics, science, society, psychology, astronomy, philosophy, art, influences. Literally anything and everything to get a broader understanding of existence.

2010 - realized atheism

2010-2012 - was spent trying to empower other people, on the fence or otherwise confused, have reached some, but not others.

I find the hardest thing in this entire quest is those that are proud to be faithful. Those that reality doesn't exist to. Those that prefer myth over logic, tradition over fact. Those too scared to let go, too scared of non-existence. The most fulfilling thing has been reaching those that value truth over comfort. When it finally clicks inside someones head that they have no real reason to fear anything in existence, especially the claims of the fearful, it all becomes worth it. Worth all the countless hours spent trying to explain a concept to someone who doesn't want to hear it, worth all the time and effort put into a thoughtful response only to be given a one sentence rebuttal..

I'm a non believer because nothing believable has been presented.
Nothing unbelievable has been presented either. You are young, I suggest keeping an open mind about things. You cannot prove God does not exist. Just like a believer cannot prove he or she or it does.
 

OGEvilgenius

Well-Known Member

Kaendar, you must understand, from an atheist's perspective, which you don't have any personal experience with, it is absurd to claim you used to be an atheist and now are a believer. If you were a true atheist, for the correct reasons, and not just reveling in teenage angst, you would understand what I mean...

You can't, I repeat, CAN'T (as I have yet to meet someone) go from atheism to belief. You can't do it because to become a believer after reaching atheism for the correct reasons would require absolute proof of a deity. Beyond absolute proof, which would negate the concept of faith, an atheist can't be persuaded.

Disagree? Provide evidence for one.
Well, when I was much younger I chose to believe that God wasn't real. Since then I have decided differently. I still think churches are mostly full of assholes attempting to control folks through whatever means possible, but I'm not sure it's relevant to the discussion of is there a God or not.
 

rpgdude

Member
Again, I have been there. Who are you to tell me I haven't gone through what you're explaining?

I never said ignorance and stupidity are the same thing.. If I thought they were the same thing, why would I use both? That's going off topic though. It requires either stupidity or ignorance or both to believe in such nonsense fairy tales. I don't care if you were "brainwashed". If you can't think for yourself, then you don't have critical thinking skills.. Which was my original point.

A kid is ignorant if he can't see that santa isn't real.. The kid also doesn't have critical thinking skills. IMO the childs beliefs in santa are dumb whether or not he was brainwashed into believing so.
I understand the effect religion has on people. It's horrible. But it doesn't change my opinion that it takes the believer to have low critical thinking skills to believe in fairy tales.
Of course this is all in my opinion..
Your dead wrong. I wish you where not but many well informed, intelligent people believe in the garbage. All types of investigative professions are full of critical thinkers that believe the stuff. Some scientist with IQ's in the 200+ believe in God. Sorry man but there are many very intelligent critical thinking believers, its a part of them like brushing your teeth only more hart felt. And no I don't believe for a second that you have any clue in hell what its like to grow up in an environment where people talk about what an honor it would be to die a martyr. Your opinion proves it.
 

OGEvilgenius

Well-Known Member
Ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha











AHAHAHAHAhAHHAHAHA
Again, you are but a child. I read your post. You aren't being logical (nor did it seem you were being very logical all through your decision making process in that post but anyway...) here at all, sorry. You can't prove God doesn't exist.
 

Hepheastus420

Well-Known Member
Your dead wrong. I wish you where not but many well informed, intelligent people believe in the garbage. All types of investigative professions are full of critical thinkers that believe the stuff. Some scientist with IQ's in the 200+ believe in God. Sorry man but there are many very intelligent critical thinking believers, its a part of them like brushing your teeth only more hart felt. And no I don't believe for a second that you have any clue in hell what its like to grow up in an environment where people talk about what an honor it would be to die a martyr. Your opinion proves it.
I always say that religious people aren't stupid. I still stick by that. But "faith" stems from stupidity and ignorance. We're all stupid, and certain views stem from our stupidity. I've met a few really smart people that believe things like being gay is bad.. Or have weird feelings towards certain races.. They're not stupid, but some of their views sure as hell are.

It's the same with religious people. They can be smart or dumb, but believing in blowing yourself up for the better good or strongly believing that we came from ribs is.. well.. stupid.

Maybe they have critical thinking skills.. Which just leaves them with stupidity. They made a stupid decision to follow something that is obviously not real.

Even then, I still wouldn't say they have very good critical thinking skills if they believe in such nonsense. Do you know any intelligent critical thinkers that believe in santa? Why not? It's because it takes very basic CTS (critical thinking skills) to say that santa isn't real. It also requires CTS to say that most religions are just nonsense. If you strongly believe we came from ribs or other stuff like that, you MUST have low CTS.

Can you name me one intelligent person with an IQ score of 200+ that believes there was a talking snake? How about one that believes there was a great flood? Sorry for mainly picking on christianity, but I'm sure you still understand my point.

So you're telling me that I never felt what it was like to be a strong believer? Haha that's funny dude.. Funny guy.
 

Hepheastus420

Well-Known Member
Again, you are but a child. I read your post. You aren't being logical (nor did it seem you were being very logical all through your decision making process in that post but anyway...) here at all, sorry. You can't prove God doesn't exist.
Hey come over to TX.. I wanna take you on a magic dragon ride to the moon where I will give you $1,000,000.
What you don't believe me? Come on bro, what proof do you have against me? Just come on down.. Seriously. You can't prove I'm wrong so just have faith man.. Faith.
 

OGEvilgenius

Well-Known Member
Hey come over to TX.. I wanna take you on a magic dragon ride to the moon where I will give you $1,000,000.
What you don't believe me? Come on bro, what proof do you have against me? Just come on down.. Seriously. You can't prove I'm wrong so just have faith man.. Faith.
Your logical fallacy really doesn't help your position. Again, you're a kid. My advise is to not take strong positions on subjects that you absolutely cannot say anything factual about one way or the other. Is there a God? Maybe not, but I choose to believe otherwise. And it isn't because I'm illogical. Einstein wasn't illogical either, yet he chose to believe. Because it's a choice, it's not something based on logic or reason. Your belief that God absolutely does not exist is just as religious and dogmatic as someone who chooses the opposite belief.

Further, it is self absorbed ego driven beliefs that lead one to think they know the answer to such questions.
 

Hepheastus420

Well-Known Member
Your logical fallacy really doesn't help your position. Again, you're a kid. My advise is to not take strong positions on subjects that you absolutely cannot say anything factual about one way or the other. Is there a God? Maybe not, but I choose to believe otherwise. And it isn't because I'm illogical. Einstein wasn't illogical either, yet he chose to believe. Because it's a choice, it's not something based on logic or reason. Your belief that God absolutely does not exist is just as religious and dogmatic as someone who chooses the opposite belief.

Further, it is self absorbed ego driven beliefs that lead one to think they know the answer to such questions.
I don't know if he does or doesn't exist.. I do know that saying it's fact that he exists and that believing things like talking snakes requires an illogical mindset..

You're right, it isn't something based on logic or reason. But when it impacts the world the way religion does, it sure as hell should be based on logic and reason.

I never said I knew the answers.. lol.. I laughed because you said "nothing unbelievable has been presented either"... AHAHAHAHA.. Sorry that makes me laugh every time.
 

OGEvilgenius

Well-Known Member
I don't know if he does or doesn't exist.. I do know that saying it's fact that he exists and that believing things like talking snakes requires an illogical mindset..

You're right, it isn't something based on logic or reason. But when it impacts the world the way religion does, it sure as hell should be based on logic and reason.

I never said I knew the answers.. lol.. I laughed because you said "nothing unbelievable has been presented either"... AHAHAHAHA.. Sorry that makes me laugh every time.
You say talking snakes are crazy, but you didn't live in those times. Take such claims with grains of salt, but never claim to know the truth.

Folks who take everything literally are obviously misguided. Not everything is meant to be literal. I say God does exist, not just because I feel that way, but also because of some life experiences and a whole slew of things happening that just seemed to line up perfectly - like it was meant to be. But I realize this is just a belief. I prefer to make my religion sports, where it's less dangerous and people get less angry over disagreements. What I see from you is pointless insults to large groups of people that may have some difficulty justifying their beliefs, but also are beliefs that are just as difficult to hold in question for many of the same reasons you or I cannot say for certain the existence of God.

Most things we choose to belief are taken largely on faith. You have faith scientists are not misleading you and did not miss something, etc etc.
 
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