German Scientists Prove There is Life After Death

[Newretailer]

Atheism may not be defined as a religion, but it really is. It is a set of beliefs about whether you think there is a higher power or not. It is what you belief about where we come from and where we are going to.

Being an atheist does not somehow make you superior or know better than everyone else. You are not more intelligent or more questioning as you seem to imply, Wynn. You have not somehow found the real answer. You have just found a set of beliefs that works for you. I will respect your belief system if you respect mine.

If you look at comments across the net, atheists come across as arrogant and aggressive. I cannot understand why they are so intolerant of what others belief. There seems to be this huge desire to make fun of everyone else not sharing their "superior" views. As a matter of fact, atheists seem to be more obsessed with God, even if it is to deny His existence, than many believers.

I think when you are really confident in your own beliefs, you have no need to break others down.

[adrianh]

...yes...maybe it is better that I just keep mouth shut.

[Newretailer]

You know, Adrian, if I see a thread that doesn't interest me, I just don't open it. Why not just stay out of a thread that you should have no interest in whatsoever? It sure looks like a God-obsession to me lol.

The arrogance with which you say "My views do not break anybody down." and then go ahead with a rant doing exactly that, just makes me wonder what the driving force is behind you and so many other atheists? Is it insecurity? Is it a deep fear that just maybe you are wrong and if you get enough people believing the way you do, the fear goes away? I really would like to understand this obsession some atheists have with belittling everyone else.

As far as claiming atheism is not a belief system, you are wrong. You BELIEF there is no God. You BELIEF there is no life after death. See? Belief system. I am starting to think atheism is the new sheep following the latest popular trend, because you all say the same things, just like sheep.

I truly do not care what you belief. Personally, I have deep pity for people who don't have a spiritual aspect to their life. They are missing out on a whole dimension of being human, but it is their right. For me, I don't belong to any church so all the rubbish spewed about churches doesn't hold true. I have had enough experiences to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am right in believing what I do.

I raised my children to think for themselves and my one son decided atheism is for him, which I respect. He also started doing what you guys are doing here and I quickly put a stop to that. You want respect, respect me. Just like that atheist friend of mine constantly telling me how other parents at her kid's school criticise what she beliefs. She says this whilst carrying on in exactly the same way you do

You guys are just not as amazingly superior as you would like to think. You don't know better than anyone else. As I said, you simply found something working for you, just like the rest of us. And I still feel pity for you.

[BusFact]

I keep forgetting to keep my views to myself.... I'll try harder!

Well, I see that only lasted about 24 hours

[Newretailer]

I don't think Adrian can help himself

[BusFact]

... makes me wonder what the driving force is behind you and so many other atheists? Is it insecurity? Is it a deep fear that just maybe you are wrong and if you get enough people believing the way you do, the fear goes away? I really would like to understand this obsession some atheists have with belittling everyone else.

Let me try explain my view: I certainly try not to belittle anyone else's belief system, so please let me know if I head in that direction. But what drives my probing and questions? Well yes I suppose insecurity and fear are part of it. I have grown up being told that I will burn for eternity if I don't believe in God and follow his rules. That kinda keeps those two emotions near the surface. I am now starting to doubt the reliability of my sources. I am beginning to struggle to follow the logic in the belief that a religious God exists. So my driving force is a quest for knowledge and understanding. I am beginning to get the impression that many people are religious purely because of peer pressure. If that's the case, then the more discussion on the topic the better.

As far as claiming atheism is not a belief system, you are wrong. You BELIEF there is no God. You BELIEF there is no life after death. See? Belief system. I am starting to think atheism is the new sheep following the latest popular trend, because you all say the same things, just like sheep.

To me this argument is irrelevant. People can call atheism a belief system or not, its their call. I would like to point out that I do not believe that "there is no God" or that "there is no life after death". It may well be the case, I just currently think its unlikely and that the alternative where these don't exist are more likely. For example, their could be a creator God who pays no interest to our daily lives. There could be an after life as soon as this sophisticated virtual reality experience which we think of as life, finishes and we return to our real lives. I don't know. Point is that I do not believe they don't exist, I just have no reason to believe that they do. That's a much less arrogant point of view imo. I think the sheep analogy could probably fit both parties quite well

I have had enough experiences to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am right in believing what I do.

This is the bit that saddens / frustrates me the most. Everything religious seems to come down to a personal experience and I suppose a personal interpretation of that experience. Where do those of us who have not had the privilege of such an experience stand?

As I said, you simply found something working for you, just like the rest of us.

Well its not really working for me so well, because I can't figure out why the vast majority seem to follow a religion. What am I missing?

The other issue is that although some atheists are perhaps not the most tactful ( <cough> Adrianh <cough> ), they don't have an extremely well organised program that instils religious belief from a young (easily influenced) age. I and everyone else I know, was told that God exists and that the Bible was true. It was not a case of discovering it for ourselves. To me that is a far more aggressive tactic than some individuals ranting on websites or around the braai.

[adrianh]

Well, I see that only lasted about 24 hours

Ah, you got me once again....damn....I have to try harder.

[BusFact]

...
maybe u guys see it differently
but when dealing with those who dont believe in God or life after death, i think thats the best reply.

somehow, they dont seem affected when they are told to look around & see the signs of Gods existence in his many beautiful creations

Well, I suppose its quite possible that these beautiful creations have been made by a God or Superior Being of sorts. I certainly don't have a better explanation to be honest. Its the nature of this God that I have a problem with. Religion hypothesises that this God takes an active interest in our daily lives and has a set of rules for us to follow. I'm finding this a bit of an unlikely scenario. However I don't have a better one. I do have a few that I consider to be of equal likelihood though, but I can't provide any proof, they are merely ideas too. Examples would be:

- A god created this world as a science project, and has since moved on to more interesting things. He either has no idea we exist, or couldn't care less.
- We are a virus infecting a cell (earth) which makes up a much larger organism.
- This life is an expensive virtual reality holiday from our real world.
- We are a contamination left behind by a space travelling civilisation when they visited a long long time ago.
- We are a god's science experiment, and being monitored and analysed to see what we do, but not given any instructions or an after life.
- We are a creation by an advanced civilisation's betting syndicate. Clients lay bets as to what these human creatures will do next.

I'm not trying to be sarcastic, although its probably come across that way. I am trying to point out, that there could be many reasons for all the wonderful things around us which do not require a religious, omnipresent and caring God. Wonderful creations in our environment does not necessarily mean the existence of a religious God.

[Newretailer]

Busfact, thank you for your very thoughtful reply. I found that honest and respectful. I have been where you are now. I was married to an atheist and was pretty much one myself for a while. When my brother committed suicide, I really started questioning what everything was for. I started reading religious books from as many different religions I could find. I saw that they had the same underlying thread and that it was us humans that twisted it and used it for our own purposes, to dominate over one another, to go to war, to make ourselves better in the eyes of others.

I eventually found something that made a lot of sense to me and fitted into my basic Christian beliefs, without excluding everyone else.

I think we are almost programmed to search, because it is certainly something which preoccupies mankind, even if it is to find that one doesn't believe in anything.

[Newretailer]

As per your second post, it could just be that God really is an all-encompassing Love which created us with free will. It is after all humans that do dreadful things to each other and then we blame God. Maybe He is just waiting patiently for us to see the way we are using our free will, is not working. I suspect He may have a long wait