Atheist gone wrong?

[showmethegin]

This is a really weird one. I went to a baptist church as a kid but was never baptised as I lost interest before I ever wanted to do anything as formally as be baptised. I've spent the following 20 years as a complete atheist. I believe in people and I believe that people are predominantly good. I believe that religion has caused untold shit in the world because of people using it as an excuse to do awful things.

But this is the thing. The last few weeks I can't stop thinking about it. I'm not sure whether I even know whether there is a god and I disagree with the main points of so many different religions but I just can't shake it. I keep googling what different religions believe and thing myself in knots about it all. Is this normal?

I have never heard of this before and I don't know what to do

picklemewalnuts but I have read your bible- am I to ignore that?
God is capricious, petty, spiteful. He wants people to love him and uses fear in part to coerce.

The LORD is a jealous God, filled with vengeance and rage.
Nahum 1:2

I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me;
One of the 10 commandments- how fair is that? So god also blames children, grandchildren and great grandchildren for the wrongdoing on one person.

And according to the bible he has killed millions of men, women and children.

I wouldn;t have a coffee with this guy. He sounds like a psychopath.

You are reading words written by men to explain their world.

The God described in the New Testament is nothing like the God of the Old Testament.

I think there are Christians who believe what you think they believe, but there aren't very many.

To be honest, your posts don't make sense to me. You accuse me of believing things I don't believe. No one in my church believes what you say we believe. No one in the group of churches I work for. Some people in some churches? Probably. It's not mainstream Christian belief, no matter how often you claim it is.

The God described in the New Testament is nothing like the God of the Old Testament.

So can the 10 Commandments be safely ignored then- as they were written by the god of the old testament?

picklemewalnuts

I am not "accusing " you of anything.
THis is a discussion.

Speak out, you are talking to yourself, not me. You aren't discussing anything because you aren't responding to what I said, just to what you think I said, despite you mentioning me.

Reread my post. I didn't claim 'my Bible' was correct. My faith. In fact I specifically didn't claim God or Bible.

People don't 'know' God very well. They tend to expect or want certain things, and therefore see those things in God.

Any explanation of God is coloured by the people describing God, so is flawed.

All the religions suffer that flaw. It doesn't mean God is vengeful, judgemental, etc, just that we have seen God that way.

I believe there is God, that we understand in particular ways as a result of our own culture. People of faith seek God out and try for a better understanding of God and how to live.

Take time to care and look after yourself, get some bereavement counselling if you can. Don't rush into any decisions and certainly don't take advice from purported Christians on the internet - whose purpose to recruit is inherent in their belief system and therefore biased.

As some have said I don't think you need to follow a religion to believe something. I personally believe parts of different religions. I believe in a god, but I can't believe in a good who knows and controls everything, I think because if I believed that I would have to dislike that God. I think I do believe in heaven, but I don't believe in hell. I believe in reincarnation, I'm not sure which religion it is that believes you are reincarnated until you are ready/good enough to go to heaven, but that's what I believe.

I do find it hard to answer the religion section of a form though, because it's not any of the religions, but it's not no religion either.

In most religions I see the imperative to believe things, and follow what other people (men) interpret out of the sacred book/s (written by men).

Sod all that.
I would rather experience the amazing, possibly the divine, in this amazing Universe, on this beautiful planet.
For me it is about experiencing and knowing, not anything about faith.

Is there life after death? Possibly. Is it dependent on whether I am a good person or not? Possibly. Does it depend on whether I follow the rules in the Book? Doubt it.
Is there a god? Define god. Supreme being/s, the Force, Gaia, gods who walk the Earth, extraterrestrials, divine kings, prophets... could be anything, including the computer programmer who created the hologram we live in. Perhaps.
Will I be born again? Well, energy is never destroyed, only changed, so possibly my wee spark of energy could be embodied somewhere else.

No one really knows, do they? And I find that amazing enough. 🙂