Robin, Catholic Scientist and Charles Discussion

where were we.... I'd have to say it was kinda both.The process was gradual because I spent some time rereading and rethinking. I didn't have any faith so I looked at various religions and then rethought christianity. After some time re-searching I decided that Jesus really was God.But it felt sudden like a realization. Like when you're working on a problem that you can't figure out because you're overlooking something and then all of a sudden you have a big "ooOOoh yeeEAAAaahh", and you realize the one part you missed and the whole problem is solved, know what I mean?It was like that for me and this might be what some people refer to as 'being saved', I don't really know though. I just thought that Jesus was God and then everything else fell into place and when it did, it felt similar to the realization of a solution to a problem.So, what do you think....was it sudden or gradual?Edited by Catholic Scientist, : elaborated a little on the gradual story

Was there something that you can identify that you "overlooked," or is this not something that can be explained discursively? Was this a pleasant experience?Edited by robinrohan, : No reason given.

In regards to my beliefs, I think it might be helpful to start at the beginning - I was raised in a family in which you would nominally regards as Christian (Church of England). However that statement has to be put in the context of the place of religion within the UK. The culture within the UK is very different to that found in the states. Religion is a thing to keep to yourself and not to bother other people with. That generally means that unless you are part of a organised group or go to bible study, that you tend to work out your faith on your own. As I got older (around 13 or 14), I’d look at the people and the more I’d look at it, the less it would make sense. In addition, I never got any real sense of the “voice” or anything else that other Christians claim to hear. So I then started to look in more detail around the history of the bible and it’s origins. The more I read, the more I became convinced that it was simply something constructed by man to control man. I then started to consider other religions and came to the same conclusion about them.So what was I? Well I guess I was and am an atheist but it wasn’t until I got into my early 20s that I started to look seriously at what underpins such a position and if it fits my mental understanding and conceptualisation of the world. I still not convinced that atheists is actually that useful of a label because it seems to carry so many negative cognations - (one of which is “anti-religion!!!”)
Once you are in a mental place where there are no gods, in the context of this debate what does it matter what you call yourself? It seems to me once you accept the atheist label, you also take onboard as many preconception about your behaviour and morals as you do when you identity yourself as Christian or Muslim. On a bit of a tangent, in regards to this board you must have it worse because I don’t think we have any other members coming at it from your point of view? - Let’s be honest, many of the responses here to you seem to based purely on preconceived preconceptions about your worldview without many people actually asking you to explain it!While writing about this I’ve also being thinking a bit more about Nihilism and it’s relationship to atheism - technically the difference between the two is that generally Atheists think that life has purpose without the requirement of a God, while Nihilism think that’s life is meaningless. However the more I think about , many people seem to have lives that seem to be pretty meaningless to me. So maybe the gap is not so wide on an individual level?
I see you’ve started a couple of threads about the connection between Nihilism and those seem pretty interesting.

I'm not really sure but I guess its that Jesus really is God. Sure, it definitely wasn't unpleasant. Faith can be a very stong feeling and can allow people to do things they otherwise wouldn't. Like my signature calls it the 'most potent element of human existance'. It can definatley be a pleasant experience but it can also make you feel sorry for the bad things that you've done, although I don't know if its faith that makes you feel sorry. More like it lets you realize that you were wrong.

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Science fails to recognize the single most potent element of human existence.
Letting the reigns go to the unfolding is faith, faith, faith, faith.
Science has failed our world.
Science has failed our Mother Earth.
-System of a Down, "Science"

When I looked more into the bible, I concentrated on the New Testament. Thats were I found the truth in Jesus' teachings that lead me to the faith in his divinity.Yeah, I think you/they should use a different word for just lacking beilief in gods. Rather than the whole strong/weak atheism thing. Its too ambiguous to just say 'atheist'. Nihilist kinda seem like depressed atheists."There's no gods, and none of this shit matters either." Faith can add meaning to your life. I'm interested too and could maybe offer a different POV.

I guess it doesn't matter. Even an agnostic behaves as though God did not exist. I'm often mistaken for a creationist because I don't attack them. There's plenty others that do that here. And the creationists tend to like what I say while the liberal Christians and non-believers don't like to be told that their lives are meaningless. So I do that as much as possible. It's fun.I just thought you had some sort of change in your ideas recently. It was just an impression I got. Edited by robinrohan, : No reason given.