Jealous of the Ned Flanders?

monkai666

monkai666

monkai666

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I was talking with my friends and we came up on this, it turned out we all thought different to what we thought we did.

The subject was hanging around religion and whether atheism is a religion or not (it was pretty much a 50/50 split, in my opinion it isn't) and we all settled that we were atheists. Or (if we've got the meaning wrong) don't believe in God, the afterlife or any of the miracle type bible stories and such.

But I do envy those that do.

My friend is very religious (luckily not there at the time) and believes in his relatives and friends going to heaven and believes that God is watching over him. He's so content with this and is pretty chilled out because of it. "It'll be fine, it's all in the lords plan." When I get told about God I instantly need proof and a science to back it up and since that's not available I'm extremely sceptical. I don't think this is my fault, I've been brought up in the education system where science is fact and (maybe foolishly) believed them. Now my mind is logic based and I like it that way.

But I would love to feel that sense of blind faith, to know everything is going to be okay and my friends and family have gone to be a better place. Does anyone else feel like this or am I just thinking too much into the mystery that is life?




I know Ned Flanders is an extreme and fictitious example but I think his stereotype gets the idea across!
 
For some reason the post I typed didn't get posted... sorry Gilly!

I said: Of course he's relaxed and chilled, he's been brought up into an environment where he feels confident that he's right and that he's going to heaven. Eternal paradise and being looked after by lovely God isn't an idea that I think the majority of people would rail against.
 
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I take your point, but I don't believe I could ever do it without having been pushed into blind beliefs, which is strongly against my own beliefs and therefore I could never agree with. If you see what I mean :D
 
Gilly said:
I take your point, but I don't believe I could ever do it without having been pushed into blind beliefs, which is strongly against my own beliefs and therefore I could never agree with. If you see what I mean :D
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Yeah, I know what you mean. That religious guy had a very religious family which pretty much forced him to read the bible and do church TWICE a week.
 
monkai666 said:
Yeah, I know what you mean. That religious guy had a very religious family which pretty much forced him to read the bible and do church TWICE a week.
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See, that itself is wrong, for all the freedom etc. etc. that religion preaches I always find it ironic that most people attached to a faith were in one way or another coerced into it.
 
Gilly said:
Seems to me he's more of an agnostic. Not believing rather than believing the opposite is true.
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he's denying the possibility of a god without proof, blind faith, atheism and religion all go hand in hand.

If he were agnostic he wouldn't say he didn't believe in god, just that he didn't know.

You can prove the bible and organised religions storeys are wrong but you cannot disprove a creator (least not yet anyway).


I am in no way jealous of my religious friends. If anything, pitiful.
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how so?

I'm jealous of a really Christian lad i know, he doesn't seem to believe the churches version but more of his own interpretation. Great lad though does lots of youth work and other things, will always help a person out if they are in need.


No sex before marragie is a bit of a downer though :p
 
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That's not quite true. I don't believe in God but I'm not an athiest.

Just because he doesn't believe in god, the afterlife and the rest doesn't make him athiest.
 
monkai666 said:
I don't think this is my fault, I've been brought up in the education system where science is fact and (maybe foolishly) believed them.
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It's good that you've realised this.

Now my mind is logic based and I like it that way.
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There's no reason that religion can't be logical too. If what you've experienced in life points to there being something beyond our understanding, then there's nothing wrong with attributing it to a higher power. Experiences are personal, and not always rationally explainable. Taking science to be the sole provider of truth, or even a provider of truth in the first place is a grave mistake.

But I would love to feel that sense of blind faith, to know everything is going to be okay and my friends and family have gone to be a better place.
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Blind faith is stupid. Atheism is an example of this, as is unthinking, religious indoctrination from an early age. That's not to say there's anything wrong with being raised within a belief system, so long as you're given choice. I think you'll find most Christians wouldn't call what they have "blind faith", but would talk of an intimate relationship with their maker. This will sound stupid (hell, it does to me anyway and I'm a borderline believer) but it's definitely not something believed "for the sake of it".
 
Tefal said:
he's denying the possibility of a god without proof, blind faith, atheism and religion all go hand in hand.

If he were agnostic he wouldn't say he didn't believe in god, just that he didn't know.

You can prove the bible and organised religions storeys are wrong but you cannot disprove a creator (least not yet anyway).
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The creation of the universe really gets my brain thinking, I was watching that series Stephen Hawking did about the beginning of the universe and (don't quote me on this, it sounds so weird I'm doubting he said it myself now) towards the end of the program after explaining lots of crazy things he said something like, "it is logical that something can come from nothing". That series blew me away and if they do confirm the beginnings of the universe, I'll doubt I'll be able to fully understand the explanation.
 
Tefal said:
How so?

By saying there is no god. when you cannot prove it you are making a blind guess. (although it is an educated guess in the case of the abrahamic religions)
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You've misread my posts and the post of the OP. Neither he nor I said the words 'there is no God', only that we didn't believe in one.
 
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