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Original poster

Atheists - is there anything about faith that appeals to you, would you like to believe?

410 replies

Italiangreyhound · 27/03/2013 10:51

Hi, I've been reading a few threads and I've heard atheists say stuff in the past about belief in God. Stuff like they don't believe in God but they would like to or they can see why it would maybe give peace or would be nice etc. I am just curious how atheists feel a bout this and if they want to talk about it?

I am a Christian, I hope I am an open and tolerant person and I would not want to cause offence. I am just curious, as we come into Easter if anyone wants to chat about this.

If not, may I wish you a peaceful and happy Easter, even if all it means to you is some chocolate eggs.

OP posts:
expatinscotland · 01/04/2013 18:44

I like candles and incense, but that could also be because I was a massive pothead in my youth.

greencolorpack · 01/04/2013 18:49

Ellie I ink you are twisting my words. I never said that I oppose secularism. I never said I love secularism. I said the papers are sneery and secular. That's what I said.

No I can't prove that Jesus lived two thousand years ago.

If you wanted to find out about Albert Einstein, would you believe books written about him if they were by his wife, children, friends, colleagues? Or would you reject all those books because of perceived "bias"? Would you rather believe a book about Einstein written by a janitor who once worked in a building next door to him? If he wrote "Einstein, the real story" by someone who never spoke to him, would that book hold more sway for you than the one by the people who actually knew him?

Jesus Christ is proven via what he said about himself and what his friends said. If that to you is circular logic then sorry. But if you want to know about Jesus you have to go to the source and that is the Bible.

Also why would a belief system flourish that is based on lies, when telling the truth is the basis for Christianity? Why would a religion based on truth be spread by people who were knowingly lying about the person at its centre? It wouldn't make sense.

I didn't say my faith is based on critical thinking (well it is but anyway) I was saying that living in this secular world requires a lot of critical thinking because this world tends to be at odds with the teaching of the Bible.

greencolorpack · 01/04/2013 18:51

I am honest thank you.

I am mightily opposed to the idea that anyone can be argued into the Kingdom.

I realised I needed God, I am not afraid to admit that.

Hardly anyone becomes a Christian through arguments on message boards although I dare say it might help. I hope it does.

EllieArroway · 01/04/2013 18:59

Ellie I ink you are twisting my words. I never said that I oppose secularism. I never said I love secularism. I said the papers are sneery and secular. That's what I said

I don't mean to. I'm pretty sure you said that secularism goes against your Christian beliefs, and that's why you have a problem with it. That suggests opposition of some kind, surely? Unless you are opposed to your own beliefs?

If you wanted to find out about Albert Einstein, would you believe books written about him if they were by his wife, children, friends, colleagues?

You're joking, surely?

The evidence for the existence of Einstein is overwhelming. So overwhelming I'm not even going to bother listing it.

The gospels were not written by anyone who ever met Jesus - or spoke to anyone who had. The first one (Mark) was written at least 30 years after he'd supposedly died by someone in a foreign country.

This is hearsay.

That you can compare Jesus with Einstein has left me rather Shock. Most people go with Julius Caesar, although they're still wrong Wink

seeker · 01/04/2013 19:00

One of the things I find very difficult about some Christians is the way they seem to think of themselves as a persecuted minority. The example of sneery secularism given above is a case in point. The newspaper published a factual article about a church report on increasing the numbers of Christians in the country, in which suggestion is made that groups suitable for evangelisation includes two year olds at Sure Start centres. The headline is something like "Church recruiting drive targets two year olds". Which is, apparently an example of sneery secularism. Oh, and it happened in 2009.

EllieArroway · 01/04/2013 19:00

Hardly anyone becomes a Christian through arguments on message boards although I dare say it might help But a few become atheists. Trust me, I know.

twentythirteen · 01/04/2013 19:01

Your question, does anything about faith appeal to me, would I like to believe, made me pause as I haven't thought about it. I'm afraid to say on reflection that it is like asking whether I would like to have faith in fairies, father christmas, the easter bunny, etc., and would believing that they existed appeal to me. I wouldn't know any different. If they existed they might appeal to me, who knows? I see people writing here about community, but I have that and don't need to believe in a god to get it and feel happier that the people I'm in community with see the world in a way that I think makes sense and I can stand up to.

EllieArroway · 01/04/2013 19:02

I didn't say my faith is based on critical thinking (well it is but anyway) I was saying that living in this secular world requires a lot of critical thinking because this world tends to be at odds with the teaching of the Bible

And thank goodness for that. Or we'd all be stoning our cheeky children to death instead of confiscating their XBoxes.

Soupa · 01/04/2013 19:05

I was raised as catholic, family very devout. Much mass, prayer and retreat with catholic schooling too. Met many marvellous people, found school very respectful of belivers or non belivers of anything but I had my biggest moment of recognition when I read how man made god in his own image. It took an re lesson to confirm my disbelief.

I don't believe in much, just not wired for it. I can see benefits but many more losses.

monsterchild · 01/04/2013 19:07

Ellie, I'd like to thank you for your very insightful comments. they have helped me tremendously in framing some of my own thoughts about religions, especially Christianity.

EllieArroway · 01/04/2013 19:10

Thank you, Monster - that means a lot :)

PedroPonyLikesCrisps · 01/04/2013 19:22

Einstein died in 1955. There are still people alive today who met him. That is about the worst argument for the existence of Jesus I have ever heard. But to your point, I imagine there are plenty of things which have been written about Einstein which are factually inaccurate, but the difference is that he isn't the basis for a religion. The research he did and the theories he compiled have a very real impact on the world today (for example GPS systems wouldn't work without understanding relativity) so even if he NEVER existed, someone else clearly came up with the work attributed to him which we actually use for proper useful things, so it's really quite irrelevant anyway.

greencolorpack · 01/04/2013 19:24

Pedro like I said nobody is argued into the kingdom therefore your goading "that's the worst argument ever" is something I am agreeing with! I know nobody can get argued into the kingdom. You are free to disagree with me, namaste, peace, shalom, please dial down the hostility.

JammySplodger · 01/04/2013 19:28

I have a much more inner peace as an aethiest than I ever did as a Catholic.

In fact, having taken my elderly neightbour to Easter mass yesterday (she's barely been out the whole time there's been snow on the ground) I can say with much assurrance that I don't miss one single bit of the Catholic faith, mass or organised religion.

I consider my life to be much happier without any of it.

seeker · 01/04/2013 19:36

Green- please could you explain why you won't talking about secularism?

monsterchild · 01/04/2013 19:39

green I'm a bit late to this, but you know the US is a secular country, and that certainly has not stopped the creation of new religions, nor has it stifled any activities by existing religions in the country. In fact, I think that is actually a good example of why secularism is a good and healthy way to run a country.

I am still stunned that religion is so integrated with schools in the UK

SelfconfessedSpoonyFucker · 01/04/2013 19:49

The U.S is a reluctantly secular country though.

greencolorpack · 01/04/2013 19:52

yes Monsterchild, I think I have said about three times now I am not pro or anti secularism, I haven't posted about that and don't want to because politics is not my forte, also when I post certain hostile types instantly assume about three hundred things about me. And all wrong.

seeker · 01/04/2013 20:22

Well refusing to talk about secularism apart from saying that you don't like certain things about it is most certainly going to make people make assumptions about you. The only possible reason I can think of for not liking secularism is because you want religion to have a place in public life.

greencolorpack · 01/04/2013 20:34

seeker, everything I do is wrong.

On the other hand you are never going to like anything I say so why worry.

seeker · 01/04/2013 20:38

What on earth do you mean? I was only asking you to expand on something you've said already.

greencolorpack · 01/04/2013 20:46

I said and I will say it again, I don't like the papers being sneery and secular. I'm a Christian. Am I meant to like that? Sneery secular newspapers?

I did not say "let's discuss my hugely strong feelings about secularism" cos I haven't got them.

Or if I did this is not the time or the place.

If you can't post somewhere without everyone leaping to conclusions about you you would do well to shut up. So I shut up. I am in no position to run the world or do anything about secularism, whether I cared about it or not.

SolidGoldBrass · 01/04/2013 21:18

Actually, the only good argument against secularism is 'Look at what a mess the Yanks have made of it.' Because they are officially secular yet have all sorts of problems with insane superstitious woman-haters running riot and imposing their demented bullshit on everyone. We on the other hand have a state superstition which is mostly woolly-headed liberal nonsense as opposed to violent nutjobs being given state backing to beat up anyone who doesn't obey their imaginary friend.

SelfconfessedSpoonyFucker · 01/04/2013 21:23

I tend to agree with seeker. Once you have opened up about something clamming up makes it more likely that people will make assumptions. If you had never posted then I would agree with you that people are unlikely to leap to conclusions.

As for you keeping repeating sneery and secular, I can only assume two things. Either that you feel secular and sneery are related and go together (more likely IMO because you won't separate the two) or you don't like the papers being either secular or sneery.

The first makes it seem like you count secular as a negative thing. The second makes it seem that you would prefer that the papers weren't secular, in other words you would prefer that our press had a religious bias.

I'm guessing it is the first and really what you are having the problem with is a perceived anti-religion bias which is completely different from them being secular.

As you refuse to elaborate we have to guess.

greencolorpack · 01/04/2013 21:25

You don't "have to" do anything Selfconfessed.

Why not start a new thread about secularism so you can find a worthy debate opponent as I'm not it?

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