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

[Italiangreyhound]

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.

Nettee, you believe in a god of your own making, I believe in the God of the Bible. Anyway, it's not so much God condemning people to Hell as God respecting peoples wishes. If someone spends their whole life saying "I hate God" then would they enjoy Heaven??? A place full of people worshipping God for all eternity? They would not enjoy it. If someone rejects God all their life then God will not impose his presence on them for all eternity. hell is a place where God is not.

Wow SolidGoldBrass, spot the irony, you say "s/he" acknowledging you don't know the posters gender and then go on to characterise their belief system as if you know them intimately. It's funny, don't you think?

I am the opposite of an atheist, I believe in ALL the gods. So I get to celebrate most of the holidays which is great!
I am of course pissing many of those gods right off, but if they want my beliefs they'll have to just suck it up.
My favorite gods are the little ones, like the goods of lost coffee cups and stolen spoons.

Monster child, that makes you a Synchretist.

Hope you observe the Thursday Spoon ritual. ;). I just made that up.

So green, remembering the OP do you really think that someone who has lived a reasonably good and honest life, and has at times been driven to their knees to plead to be given faith in God deserves hell?

Whoa put away that loaded question, someone will get hurt.

Maybe you are right that my God is of my own making. But how can you be certain that the bible is the word of God? It was written by people living in their own culture with their own pre-conceived ideas. Words cannot really express spiritual Truth as it is all bound to be both more complicated and simpler than we can imagine.

Have you ever had a religious experience? Did it count for anything? Was it a feeling? I have a feeling that God is all loving to everyone. I have a Christian friend who describes an experience of the Holy Spirit - but how does this feeling translate into the Bible being the Word of God and everything in Christian doctrine being true?

Also lets say someone leads a reasonable good life where they do their best to treat others as they would wish to be treated but after much thought decide that God probably does not exist. This person dies and discovers they were wrong and that they are now in a very lonely/hot/miserable/evil place. At this point they probably would change their mind and would want to go and be in heaven. They might even enjoy being in God's all loving presence if they had any opportunity to experience it. It strikes me as very unfair that the choice you make in (this relatively short) life based on sketchy evidence would then have a black and white effect on the rest of all eternity of your experience. Once there is clear evidence either way it is too late.

You haven't answered it though, after telling me I am bound for hell for not believing despite trying to do so. Of course I don't feel terribly threatened by this (as I don't believe in an afterlife) but it doesn't inspire me to keep trying to seek comfort in religion either.

I'm an atheist and I have no need for religion.

I do believe that there is a part of all of us that can be described as "spiritual" but that is not down to any ephemeral or god-like entity. That spiritual side is the aspect of ourselves which needs nurturing for our own wellbeing, encompassing, for example, skills and knowledge, empathy for others and care for our own mental well being.

Nettee, what you are talking about there is free will, you are saying God is cruel not to be a visible presence in the sky being in no uncertain terms existent. If God was self evident and everyone believed in Him then there is no free will to decide not to believe in Him. You cherish your own free will to ignore God, don't you?

How can I be certain the Bible is the word of God? If I answer that question my answer would be beside the point entirely. I believe in God because when I was younger I perceived my need of God and then I looked into it and then I took a leap of faith and believed in God and then I looked into the evidence and apologetics and all that stuff. If I get into apologetics here it will look like I am saying "listen to my arguments and you will become a Christian too". I have concluded after years and years of posting on forums that actually nobody is argued into the Kingdom of Heaven. It's like in Indiana Jones, only the penitent man will pass. Only that person who realises he needs to get right with God will become a Christian. You need to realise you need God and then there he is, you will find Hm. My arguments aren't worth squat and I hate getting into arguments which is why I am trying to keep the mood light round here.

I have had lots of religious experiences and answered prayer. I won't describe it as a means to win an argument though. All I can do is say how it seems to me, much like you and I respect the fact I don't know you and all I know is words on a screen. I get a bit annoyed when posters think they can overstep the mark and can describe my entire belief system based on their own prejudices. But anyway I will shut up now.

mrsHoarder when did you stop beating your kids? There's a loaded question for ya.

I don't like the idea of Hell. I hate it and it brings tears to my eyes to think of my beloved relative maybe being there. And then you come along and you act like I'm rubbing my hands together with glee and licking my lips at the thought of it. To call this offensive is an understatement.

The evidence is even worse than sketchy though, there's none. And another thing. Heaven would be full of people mainly from the culture which has the 'real god' as their god. Other cultures would be distinctly lacking because they were born in the wrong country. But then someone will say, 'oh no god is just and will judge fairly' and if the god they refer to is the biblical god it renders the bible's claims about how to be saved as untrue as there's a back door entrance as it where so why did Jesus even have to die? Why not bump him off in private, let humans get on with their 60 years of struggles and then just let us all go to heaven. Alhough you then have the problem of god not acting when dreadful dreadful things are happening.

A paragraph or two might have been nice. Sorry

The evidence is awesome!, but don't take my word for it, look into It for yourself.

Ha Monster! Loving your opposite of an atheist.

What evidence? There is none.

What is "answered prayer"? In what way is it answered? How do you know it isn't simply confirmation bias?

Green I can certainly look into it!
But I don't think I am melding these beliefs (except they all must exist
In the universe so maybe I am)
My issue is that if one good exists then why don't they all? What makes one desert tribal God have more legitimacy than the gods who went before him? Especially when ceremonies and sortie were coopted from earlier gods? With they're all real our they are all figment of or societal needs

Used to be a Christian green, still have all my bibles to prove it :)

And I can still recite all the books of the bible in order. Did I pass?

I haven't read the whole thread, will come back later and read properly. I just think it must be so nice when somebody dies, to truly believe they go somewhere lovely. I don't, though.

Greencolorpack - I am sorry if I have offended you. I am not trying to have a go at you personally. I am also not ignoring God I don't think. I am trying to engage in the subject and find what it is that I do believe.

I can see why God doesn't appear all the time - that is not the cruel bit. But then I don't actually think that God is cruel, that is my point.

I don't really cherish my free will to ignore God as you put it. I am very interested in God and cherish my freedom to explore my faith. If God put in an undisputed appearance I am sure I would be enthusiastic about that too.

I have also had answered prayer. I think God is not discriminatory in that way. I do agree with you that you can't argue someone into faith - you know/feel it or you don't.

I think that people find God in different ways so again I am sorry that you feel your belief system has been attacked by me and I am glad for those who can be certain of their faith.

Green, do you cherish the free will that allows you to ignore all the other gods out there?

Phone gods are messing with me...

I think it's the "answered prayer" thing that would be th sticking point for me if I was even tempted to become a Christian.

There are biblical promises about prayer- and they have not been kept. That tells me all I want to know- either there is nothing there, or what is there is the sort of omnipotent, omniscient all loving being who lets his creation suffer.