I never thought about it that concisely O_O
This is what religion did to me when I was a kid. It’s from a “Biblezine”, which is the New Testament presented like a magazine, interspersed with wisdom like this.
Unbelievably, when I first saw this at age 12, I didn’t think much of it. Religion made me a moron.
…
Sometimes you just have to let things speak for themselves.
From this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA-PWlT-4BI
rafiki-town replied to your post: What do you think about tarot cards?(:
What about love? Can you prove that exists with tangible proof?
I never asked for tangible proof. Love and gods are two completely different concepts. Love is an emotion that I can feel and show through actions. Gods are said to be omniscient, omnipresent beings that know our thoughts and can supposedly answer billions of prayers at once. Some are believed to have created the entire universe (here’s an estimated idea of how big the universe is: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/525347 ) outside of spacetime itself. With the definition and characteristics that most religions give to their gods, they must exist independently from us.
Love, on the other hand, exists in our minds. I can tell you I feel love but you never have to believe me. How many times have you heard of/seen someone who tells their significant other they love them, yet is sleeping with someone on the side? Love is not a concept that can exist without someone to experience it. If you want to compare love with gods, you would then have to accept that gods live inside our minds as well.
Sounds about right….
(Source: atheism-)
Right, but where does Oprah/Chuck Norris fit into this?
@anon1 I’ve answered this question before, but I’ll summarize just in case anyone else missed it too. The thing is, we don’t HAVE to know. Just because science isn’t 100% certain (yet) how exactly the universe came into existence, doesn’t mean that God had to create it. The big bang is not just as plausible as aliens creating it, and assuming that just means you haven’t read up on the subject. The universe is always expanding which means if we rewound the tape, you’d see it “sucking back in.” That would suggest that it would have to have a meeting point. That would have been the big bang. To suggest that God created the universe is to suggest that he is outside of space and time which becomes an infinite regress. “What created God? What created the thing that created God?” Etc., etc. If you want to watch an awesome couple of videos with Stephen Hawking, click here and watch all 4 parts of Curiosity: The Questions of Our Life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CvZD9TIb-M
@anon2 I do not believe religion is rooted in truth and I’ve encountered too much information opposing its legitimacy to ignore. This is all religion and mythology. I believe in testable, demonstrable things supported with evidence and explained with reason. That said, if you DO still believe in any religion and in that religion you are told to deny basic rights to gay people, particularly Christianity, you should watch the film For The Bible Tells Me So: http://www.veoh.com/watch/v191044278BAQY7F3?h1=For+the+Bible+Tells+Me+So+
@myworldisopen That is terrible. For anyone to think that is in any way good or right, they need to reevaluate their belief system and learn what it is to be humanistic.
What Led Me to Not Believe
Here is a compilation of sources I’ve encountered that made me think about my beliefs.
Stephen Hawking. Arguably one of the greatest geniuses of our time. Here’s his latest special, Curiosity: The Questions of Life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CvZD9TIb-M (It’s 4 parts—all are easy to find in the related videos section.)
Books:
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens
Live call show:
The Atheist Experience public access television show. You can visit their website at http://www.atheist-community.org and watch episodes of the show at http://www.youtube.com/theatheistexperience.
Movie:
Agora starring Rachel Weisz. Yes, it’s a Hollywood movie, but it shows how Christianity stifled science, philosophy and evidence that contradicted the Bible.
Documentaries:
Here is a list of some of the documentaries I have watched. Most you can find on Netflix. If you don’t have a Netflix account, it’s awesome! Get one! You can also probably find most of them online if you search for them.
Selling God
Flock of Dodos
Consantine’s Sword
The Atheism Tapes
The Nature of Existence
The God Who Wasn’t There
I love debates. They show both sides and are always fascinating. Here are some I’ve favorited:
Stephen Fry on Catholicism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL5WVecNdhk
Dan Barker (former preacher) debate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8KX-fN8hp8
You could also search Richard Dawkins’, Christopher Hitchens’, Sam Harris’ and Michael Shermer’s debates as well.
This is a book I have not read, but was recommended to me and I plan on reading:
Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris
(EDIT: I’ve since read Letter to a Christian Nation and bump it to the top of my list of suggested reading. Amazingly thought-provoking, clear and concise.)
And finally, my own thoughts on certain matters after collecting the information from the above sources and just generally thinking things through:
Why I Don’t Believe Anymore: http://soundlyawake.tumblr.com/post/8766860557/why-dont-you-believe-anymore
Afterlife? http://soundlyawake.tumblr.com/post/8877297189/afterlife
Response to Douglas A. Jacoby’s arguments: http://soundlyawake.tumblr.com/post/8837493052/thanks-i-like-that-you-like-my-videos-ive
I’m sure there’s more and I’ve mentioned it on my Tumblr somewhere, so if you do want more resources you can definitely find them. :)
A common question is: “Do you believe in ANYTHING?”
My answer is: Why is there a need to believe in the supernatural?
I believe in love, kindness, humanity, science, reason, truth-seeking, gaining knowledge and much more.
<3
