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How did you become an atheist?

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explod said:
If there is a possibility in the first place, but there is not until it is shown
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possibilities are not shown ---- they are endless ----- and even when a possibility appears to have been exhausted, there is every chance that the conclusion is in fact incorrect --

biggest mistake humans make in my opinion is putting limits on possibilities !!

explod said:
Each individual human is entitled to assume as he/she likes, but assumptions are not facts.
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we actually agree on this one Explod :D ----


explod said:
And "string theory" we are not dealing in theory, absolute facts only, not fairy tales
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mmm --- ok --- absolute facts ---- so how do you get from theory to fact?

are these all fairy tales ? :-

theory of evolution --

quantum theory --

big bang theory --

chaos theory --

atomic theory --

cell theory --

etc etc ---

i'm not looking for an argument, but people should open their minds to possibilities ---

for example --- Gold will hit $865 b4 it hits $1,010 ;) ---- that "theory" may interest you specifically :D
 
possibilities are not shown ---- they are endless ----- and even when a possibility appears to have been exhausted, there is every chance that the conclusion is in fact incorrect --

biggest mistake humans make in my opinion is putting limits on possibilities !!
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Possibility starts with some clue, but untill that clue is confirmed by some facts it does not realise existance. Remember as a youth reading metaphysics on the potential of things, the potential of a rock is eg. sand or with physical assistance a building, but it is never going to breathe.

Sensible humans require the points of proof.

mmm --- ok --- absolute facts ---- so how do you get from theory to fact?
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Theory grows from idea, the idea is tested by reasoning, reasoning has to make sense, sense requires logical understandble proof, by evidence/facts
 
Joke,

An atheist buys an ancient lamp at an auction, takes it home, and begins to polish it. Suddenly, a genie appears, and says, “I’ll grant you three wishes, Master.” The atheist says, “I wish I could believe in you.” The genie snaps his fingers, and suddenly the atheist believes in him. The atheist says, “Wow. I wish all atheists would believe this.” The genie snaps his fingers again, and suddenly atheists all over the world begin to believe in genies. “What about your third wish?” asks the genie. “Well,” says the atheist, “I wish for a billion dollars.” The genie snaps his fingers for a third time, but nothing happens. “What’s wrong?” asks the atheist. The genie shrugs and says, “Just because you believe in me, doesn’t necessarilymean that I really exist.”
 
My conversion (?) kind of worked backwards...I couldn't get my head around the "devil...hell and eternal damnation" and if you can't believe in him then you cant really believe in God...well a christian one anyway
 
Happy said:
God thing was worked around with 1065 replies so far, so I will refrain from adding another slant on the issue there.
However I wander how does it happen that a person is/becomes an atheist?

As 8 years old bloke asked my father if there is crowd in the sky with all the gods?
At the time I read books about Native American gods, ancient Egypt gods, gods in India, Japan.
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Happy,

It was the realisation with a tint of nature that helped stipulalte the insanity of not obeying a simple unindoctrinated existence.
 
wonders why everyone reckons there god is the only god .... why not pinch all the bits you like from all the gods and make a real cool one
 
Another epiphany ;) for me, which I recalled when I saw kgee's post, was attending a Christening and the Anglican Minister banged on about how evil babies were and that the Baptism was a cleansing for them! :mad: Nothing like a bit of hysteria to keep the masses coming to Church.
 
What goes on in our minds about how we undestand ouselves and our world is amazing stuff.

"deal with it and move on" strikes a chord.

This is earth as seen from Mars...thats you just to the left.:D
 

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lindsayf said:
This is earth as seen from Mars...thats you just to the left.:D
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I like the insignificance jolt. :D

A part of the human mind function is lying. It is a basic survival function used by all to defend and attack though is used more so to control others for personal and group gain.
 
lindsayf said:
What goes on in our minds about how we undestand ouselves and our world is amazing stuff.
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just following on from that theme, heres a little scenario for those who have trouble thinking outside the circle :D ---


Werner Arber and his mates wake up one morning and exclaim "we can now permanently stop the degeneration of human DNA from viral attack" etc etc ----

Werner gets on the blower to Jack Szostak and his mates who can now concoct cell membranes out of fatty acids and nucleotides at will ---- hell, they'll even clone your mother in law :eek:--- too easy !!

The boyz have an idea ---- They borrow a space rocket from Nassa (with Obamas permission of course) ---

they email John Archibald Wheeler; Johnno who recently flew to Mars for the weekend through a Wormhole has now perfected space travel through his studies of nuclear fission and the S-matrix

They set up a conglomeration of test tubes with various adaptations of cloned molecular constituents resembling various life forms on earth ---- bung them on the rocket, and fire the rocket to Planet X in a distant galaxy via an available wormhole -- (bit like Noahs ark on a galactic scale )

The rocket lands in a distant galactic swamp, where the various cloned lifeforms begin to reproduce and "evolve" ---

a few thousand years later, species have evolved, chaos has become ordered through natural selection and a "society" has been born --- yay!!


The higher life forms (which were created in our image :eek:) start to question where they came from --- we occasionally send the odd "hint" to their planet to indicate that they are not the only life form in the universe --- after all, its pretty easy to get dejected about your existence when your friends are all dying from strange diseases that seem to appear out of nowhere ;)!!

Here on earth we continue to monitor our "experiment", but basically keep our distance --- we drop the odd new viral plague on Planet X so the higher life forms can hopefully learn how to look after themselves and "their" world ---

As they come to understand and comprehend the complexity of life, many start to assume ownership of this knowledge cause it makes them feel superior -- (atheistic stance)

Many others simply cant or wont try to fathom the complexities and conclude "god did it" (Godders stance)

In the above scenario ---- Werner Arber, Jack Szostak and John Archibald Wheeler will in fact collectively BE "God" to many of the inhabitants of Planet X !! ----

as scientists get closer to undiscovered truths (stopping/reversing disease and ageing ), perhaps man will become a god to his own galactic experiments --- food for thought perhaps (chew well b4 swallowing!! :D)

now back to my wormhole :aliena:
 
Hmmm as an agnostic my thoughts are God to some people would be similar to the Holy Grail of trading, it's all in your head...
 
Macquack said:
Interestingly, the chances of an atheist being elected as the President of the USA (or PM of Australia) are very slim.

That tells me, there are a lot of fence sitters out there.
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Depends how good an actor or liar a future President can be.

A head of a very religious order reportedly said he had stopped believing in God very many years before. In fact before he was elevated to head the order, and that was known by several who appointed him, maybe even the Pope at that time. He was a brilliant man and the best person to do the job, as the religious part may not have been as important as the work the order carried out. Same for a President of America or any President or leader?
There was a film made about this but I can't remember the name of it or the finer details.
 
Happy said:
If we reject atheism we are left with another question, which god is real?
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One can reject atheism without believing in God. One can simple be agnostic.

As to which God is real? Mine, and if you don't believe it I will kill you!! :D (jk)

Seriously, if a God/whatever exists, and he/she/it wanted us to know exactly what it looked like it would have done so.

If we reject all anthropomorphic Gods on the basis of what is discussed in this thread, there becomes a massive void of ideas... or a massive infinity of ideas, depending on ones imagination.

In other words, who the hell knows. My guess is (and I'm not an atheist) NONE!
 
Cartman said:
just following on from that theme, heres a little scenario for those who have trouble thinking outside the circle :D ---


Werner Arber and his mates wake up one morning and exclaim "we can now permanently stop the degeneration of human DNA from viral attack" etc etc ----

Werner gets on the blower to Jack Szostak and his mates who can now concoct cell membranes out of fatty acids and nucleotides at will ---- hell, they'll even clone your mother in law :eek:--- too easy !!

The boyz have an idea ---- They borrow a space rocket from Nassa (with Obamas permission of course) ---

they email John Archibald Wheeler; Johnno who recently flew to Mars for the weekend through a Wormhole has now perfected space travel through his studies of nuclear fission and the S-matrix

They set up a conglomeration of test tubes with various adaptations of cloned molecular constituents resembling various life forms on earth ---- bung them on the rocket, and fire the rocket to Planet X in a distant galaxy via an available wormhole -- (bit like Noahs ark on a galactic scale )

The rocket lands in a distant galactic swamp, where the various cloned lifeforms begin to reproduce and "evolve" ---

a few thousand years later, species have evolved, chaos has become ordered through natural selection and a "society" has been born --- yay!!


The higher life forms (which were created in our image :eek:) start to question where they came from --- we occasionally send the odd "hint" to their planet to indicate that they are not the only life form in the universe --- after all, its pretty easy to get dejected about your existence when your friends are all dying from strange diseases that seem to appear out of nowhere ;)!!

Here on earth we continue to monitor our "experiment", but basically keep our distance --- we drop the odd new viral plague on Planet X so the higher life forms can hopefully learn how to look after themselves and "their" world ---

As they come to understand and comprehend the complexity of life, many start to assume ownership of this knowledge cause it makes them feel superior -- (atheistic stance)

Many others simply cant or wont try to fathom the complexities and conclude "god did it" (Godders stance)

In the above scenario ---- Werner Arber, Jack Szostak and John Archibald Wheeler will in fact collectively BE "God" to many of the inhabitants of Planet X !! ----

as scientists get closer to undiscovered truths (stopping/reversing disease and ageing ), perhaps man will become a god to his own galactic experiments --- food for thought perhaps (chew well b4 swallowing!! :D)

now back to my wormhole :aliena:
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LOL, you crack me up C-man.
 
wayneL said:
One can reject atheism without believing in God. One can simple be agnostic.

As to which God is real? Mine, and if you don't believe it I will kill you!! :D (jk)

Seriously, if a God/whatever exists, and he/she/it wanted us to know exactly what it looked like it would have done so.

If we reject all anthropomorphic Gods on the basis of what is discussed in this thread, there becomes a massive void of ideas... or a massive infinity of ideas, depending on ones imagination.

In other words, who the hell knows. My guess is (and I'm not an atheist) NONE!
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"Know" is an interesting point, we know what we see, hear and feel, with scepticism what we are told or read. From my view I "know" that a higher spirit has not breached these lines.
 
explod said:
"Know" is an interesting point, we know what we see, hear and feel, with scepticism what we are told or read. From my view I "know" that a higher spirit has not breached these lines.
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I've had the opposite experience. But it might have been that mushroom omelette I had, dunno. ;)
 
The easiest way to explain this is to go and hire out the movie "Horton hears a who!" or read the Dr Seuss book of the same name. It will ALL become very clear when you have finished and I guarantee you will be able to relate to the characters. :rolleyes:
 
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