it is really bugging me that you are getting heavily downvoted for this. it’s not like you are actively proselytizing here. i am sorry people are so shitty.
i think belief in (some type of) god is probably pretty healthy. unfortunately, my life experience has led me to a failure to believe in anything at all.
Atheist really means a definite belief that there is no god. Agnostic is less ‘strong’, asserting that it’s impossible to know how the universe was created and whether or not divine beings exist.
Atheist is a non-believer. Prefix “a-“ means absence. Every human is an atheist unless they believe in every god. The word was first used in relation to Christians.
Anti-theist is someone opposed to religion or belief in supernatural. “Anti” means “opposed / opposite to”.
Agnostic is a bullshit cop-out term that at some point in a Christian discourse briefly meant “someone who considers supernatural to not be knowable”, but doesn’t have a proper meaning nowadays. It has a transactional role in conversation - it most often relays unwillingness to continue the conversation on religion.
A “definite belief that there is no god” would be “gnostic atheist” in proper terms. I.e. “god is knowable and he’s absent”. But those proper terms were barely ever alive. Instead, people dance around topic of religion as if it didn’t enjoy enough fucking dances for millennia past.
Interesting what meaning these words have in English.
That’s quite specific, tbh. And both are very American in that they are defined around the bed too establish and stand off “sides”. As if there is a right or wrong to children believing in a Santa Claus until a certain age, or grown ups believing into an adult variant if that. The morality comes from the actions taken under such a belief.
As someone who has found a faith that works for me, personal, nonreligious and without a figurehead god, I’ve seen a lot of concrete benefits from exploring different ways of walking through reality. For me there was a huge difference between the sensation of feeling like a cosmic fluke, blown around in a confusing and random reality, and finding a way to feel like I’m an integral part of time and space.
It was a decision I had to make, years ago, for my own well-being. I’ve seen many others make their own personal, spiritual changes, for similar reasons to mine. Some move away from their childhood religions, towards faith structures that feel more healthy to them. Some return to theirs. I’ve also known people who’ve found meaning, comfort and purpose through studied, focused atheism and agnosticism.
You can probably tell by my tone that I’m not a big fan of organized religion. Any god that can be boxed up isn’t really what I’m looking for. That said, I know from personal experience how powerful that sort of change in perspective can be. It’s exactly the type of thing that could find high ranks in one’s best of the year list.
I started turning away from atheism. I’ve always wanted to believe in God but i was literally unable to.
it is really bugging me that you are getting heavily downvoted for this. it’s not like you are actively proselytizing here. i am sorry people are so shitty.
i think belief in (some type of) god is probably pretty healthy. unfortunately, my life experience has led me to a failure to believe in anything at all.
anyways… you do you. be well.
i did not say “atheism bad”. sure, i dont agree with a lot of atheist beliefs, but the last thing i want to do is spread hate.
and, if you feel good about yourself, “failure to believe in anything” might not actually be a failure. 👍
What are atheist beliefs? I thought being atheist just meant you were non-religious?
Atheist really means a definite belief that there is no god. Agnostic is less ‘strong’, asserting that it’s impossible to know how the universe was created and whether or not divine beings exist.
Atheist is a non-believer. Prefix “a-“ means absence. Every human is an atheist unless they believe in every god. The word was first used in relation to Christians.
Anti-theist is someone opposed to religion or belief in supernatural. “Anti” means “opposed / opposite to”.
Agnostic is a bullshit cop-out term that at some point in a Christian discourse briefly meant “someone who considers supernatural to not be knowable”, but doesn’t have a proper meaning nowadays. It has a transactional role in conversation - it most often relays unwillingness to continue the conversation on religion.
A “definite belief that there is no god” would be “gnostic atheist” in proper terms. I.e. “god is knowable and he’s absent”. But those proper terms were barely ever alive. Instead, people dance around topic of religion as if it didn’t enjoy enough fucking dances for millennia past.
Interesting what meaning these words have in English.
That’s quite specific, tbh. And both are very American in that they are defined around the bed too establish and stand off “sides”. As if there is a right or wrong to children believing in a Santa Claus until a certain age, or grown ups believing into an adult variant if that. The morality comes from the actions taken under such a belief.
No.
As someone who has found a faith that works for me, personal, nonreligious and without a figurehead god, I’ve seen a lot of concrete benefits from exploring different ways of walking through reality. For me there was a huge difference between the sensation of feeling like a cosmic fluke, blown around in a confusing and random reality, and finding a way to feel like I’m an integral part of time and space.
It was a decision I had to make, years ago, for my own well-being. I’ve seen many others make their own personal, spiritual changes, for similar reasons to mine. Some move away from their childhood religions, towards faith structures that feel more healthy to them. Some return to theirs. I’ve also known people who’ve found meaning, comfort and purpose through studied, focused atheism and agnosticism.
You can probably tell by my tone that I’m not a big fan of organized religion. Any god that can be boxed up isn’t really what I’m looking for. That said, I know from personal experience how powerful that sort of change in perspective can be. It’s exactly the type of thing that could find high ranks in one’s best of the year list.
Happy New Year!
Definitely would like some more detail on this.
That’s great! I wish you all good stuff for the New Year, spiritually and otherwise.