Irate fundamentalist Christian mom: "Stop forcing dinosaurs on kids!"

Well since there is slavery in the Bible I don't think Jesus would really think there was anything really wrong with it lol

Well no, I don't know why you neglected to quote the rest of my post but Im sure you read it and got the entire point I was making. Religions hold over law and "morality" is dying. Gay marriage is the biggest example of that as I said. Be patient my friend, religion is quickly becoming the thing that people are free to practice on their own but is dying in the eyes of how we create law. That is a huge step in society.

To be honest I was actually shocked. 80% of America is Christian, due to the extreme role that politics plays in society I honestly didn't think that so many states would start adopting gay marriage and completely blowing off the majority of their voting block like that. I thought that since Christians are the majority of the people who vote then they would forever hold a stronghold over how policy is conducted. When I saw that so many states just did the right thing over bowing to the majority rules I was impressed and proud.

That is progress, things are changing. They may not be changing as quickly as we'd like but they are changing indeed. Give it time.

 

Well you have to try to understand things from their point of view. Human beings as whole like to feel like we are special in some way. We like to feel secured and it brings comfort to know that someone is watching over us. The most terrifying part of anyone's life is dying. To know that when you die then that's it, life is over, you rot in the ground, is a terrifying thing to accept. People want to believe that there is something after this, maybe even something much better. It gives them comfort to believe that there is an afterlife and a deity looking over them in this life. People like to know that if they need help something is there to help them, if they are upset something is there to comfort them etc. It scares the living crap out of people to accept that they are going through life alone without a guiding hand with no deity to turn to when things get tough. It scares the living crap out of people to accept that when you die then you're dead, lights out, you rot in the ground.

I think a lot of religious people are jut way too afraid to accept the possibility that they might be wrong. It's just simply too terrifying of a prospect to believe that you only have maybe 70 years of existence if you're lucky then you're gone. I think that's why many just plug their ears and accept things that they know in their heart is probably wrong.

I can understand that. I wasn't always an Atheist I used to be a Christian boy growing up. When I finally started rejecting the premise of God it really was a bit scary at first. I thought to myself "Wow, Im all alone here, when I pray nobody is listening to me, nobody is up there helping me, everything I do is me, when I die Im just...dead". To go from believing that when I die I will meet God to accepting that when I die I rot I rot in the ground was scary. I didn't want to accept that by any means, I didn't even want to believe it. I actually tried very hard to NOT believe it. God HAS to be real, I can't just die, no there HAS to be something after this life, there HAS to be, PLEASE be something besides this I dont want to die and just be dead.

But eventually I just had no choice but to accept it. As hard as I tried to return to the peacefulness of knowing that there was a Heaven I simply couldn't do it. My logical brain just couldn't accept that. It made no sense to me. I didn't WANT to believe that there was no God or afterlife. I didn't WANT to believe that I was alone on Earth so I plugged my ears and I kicked and screamed at my self every single time that I let such notions of no God enter my head.

It literally became the 5 stages of grief for me

1. Denial - There is no way there is no God I don't care what my rational brain says. There has to be a God and an afterlife, there HAS to be!
2. Anger - Damn myself for thinking there is no God, why did I even start thinking there was no God? I was so happy before now I'm terrified, I don't want to think like this I want my God back.
3. Bargaining - Alright well maybe there is no Christian God but there has to be something right? Maybe there is no "heaven" per say but theres SOMETHING when I die right? I don't just die and rot right??
4. Depression - There is no God...There is no afterlife, I am all alone here, when I die I'm just dead. Now what do I do, I don't even want to live anymore, I'm terrified and afraid and there is nobody to help me.
5. Acceptance - There is no God and there is nothing you can do about it. No amount of kicking and screaming is going to make God real. When you die that's it, lights out man, so enjoy what you have here now and live it to the fullest, this is literally all you get, make the best of it and be happy. Think on the bright side, there's no God so that means there's no Hell either. So now you can do all of those fun "sinful" things you've always wanted like hook up with the cute girl next door and sneak peaks at dad's dirty magazines. See, its not so bad.

That is exactly how it went with me. I can completely understand why people won't even allow that sort of notion to enter their brain. I was literally shaking terrified for weeks going through that. I didn't want to believe there was no God, and I tried my best to force myself to keep believing. It was hard, scary, and lonely, and I don't blame people for just plugging their ears and accepting there is a God instead of going through the gauntlet like I did.

 

Thank you

I think that is why I don't really give religious folks a hard time. For much of my childhood I was a Christian (Baptist) and I understand full well how it feels to believe like that. It really is a comforting feeling. Just the overall thought of something watching over you is comforting. To hear my mother say things like "No matter how hard things get, God will never give you more than you can handle" was amazing. I knew that God was there with me through the thick and the thin and even though things were hard I could do it because God wouldn't give me more than I could handle. Even when I was upset and I would pray at night before bed it was amazing to believe that someone was listening to me. Even when I didn't see direct results of the prayers I made I knew that someone was listening to me when I prayed. That was a wonderful feeling. When a member of the Church fell ill and was hospitalized we all said our prayers for her that day. And 3 days later she returned and was ok, our prayers worked, collectively God listened to us, he saved her. It really does work.

When I would see horrific things on TV of people dying my mother would always comfort me by saying "Don't be upset son, the Lord has simply returned them to Heaven to be with him, they are with God now, do not be upset be happy for them". That was very comforting. To know that even when I die everything will be ok because I will then be with God in Heaven. I had no fear of death, I rejoiced. I get to live this life of mine and then die and live for eternity in an even better life, that is amazing.

I had not a care in the world because I knew that through all of my trails and tribulations God was by my side and no matter what it was nothing I couldn't handle.

To go from that to realizing that it was all a hoax was devastating. All of the positive things that I looked forward to were gone. It was pretty much akin to being a child and having both of your parents vanish. You drew a nice picture to hang on the fridge and nobody will see it. You got an A in school but nobody is proud of you. You want to read a book but nobody will read it to you. You are upset and need someone to talk to but nobody cares about you. You are hungry and nobody is going to feed you, feed yourself. All of your loved one's who died and you looked forward to seeing again in heaven you will never see again. Nobody loves you or even knows you exist, you are all alone.

So it was hard, extremely hard. But then as time went on I stopped dwelling over all that I had lost in God and started realizing what I have in the world. I don't need God to feel loved my family loves me and I love them. I don't need to be afraid to do things because God isn't by my side I just need to try HARDER than before because I know nobody is helping me. I don't need to not do bad things because I'm afraid of Hell I need to not do bad things because they are just wrong. I don't need to do good things because I think God is watching me I do good things because it's the right thing to do. I don't need to be afraid of dying because there is no afterlife I need to enjoy LIVING because there is no afterlife. I don't need to be afraid of anything. I need to be happy. And happy I am.

That's why I tend to spare religious folks much of the criticism that other Atheists give. I understand exactly how it feels to believe in God. It's a feeling of security and comfort that nobody will understand unless you actually believe in God. Fortunately for me I am one of those people who have lived both lives. And I can tell you with 100% honesty that being a Christian was more comforting than being an Atheist for me. Sometimes ignorance really IS bliss. Although I live my life to the fullest and I have zero regrets, I still often really wish that I was still a Christian. Part of me would really rather go through life believing there is a God and an afterlife then dying and saying "well damnit..." over living my life knowing that there is no God or heaven. Sometimes I honestly do wish that I would never have "figured it out" as a child.

One time flat out openly asked a Christian member of my family "What would you do if humans were able to indisputably prove there was no God?"

Her response

"I wouldn't want to know".

And I understand EXACTLY what she meant.