4 ms·

Seems like a very hard thing to suggest, really. I'm an atheist and nihilist and I've actually found myself to be _much_ less depressed than I was when I was a

by toolz 10y ago

Seems like a very hard thing to suggest, really. I'm an atheist and nihilist and I've actually found myself to be _much_ less depressed than I was when I was an academically studied and strong christian. I've baptized, preached, converted, etc. I was like a superstar christian and now I'm an atheist and much much less prone to depression. I feel like I don't attribute the depression as much to my religious affiliations or lack thereof as I do to my hormone levels settling down due to older age, but my specific experiences of religion did a lot to promote the idea that it's healthy to acknowledge your guilt in all things.

hinkley 10y ago
I was super religious as a kid. When I bump into people who spend all day fretting that their best friends are going to be tortured for all eternity for their poor life choices I feel pity. How do you breathe with that clear and present danger in the corner of your mind all day every day?
- humanrebar 10y ago
  You trust that an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, but ultimately fair God knows what He's doing better than we do. It's called faith for a reason. On the flip side, how does a physicalist tell victims of atrocities like rape warfare? That life is random, so don't take it so hard? While glossing over the fact that the evil people will probably never be brought to justice? But, really, how do you pity the religious when it's all involuntary chemicals and electrical impulses in their brains? It's not like they have a choice anyway. And many of them like it.
  - eli_gottlieb 10y ago
    >On the flip side, how does a physicalist tell victims of atrocities like rape warfare? That life is random, so don't take it so hard? While glossing over the fact that the evil people will probably never be brought to justice? Well, mostly, we try to bring the perpetrators to justice and provide rehabilitation for the victims. >But, really, how do you pity the religious when it's all involuntary chemicals and electrical impulses in their brains? Who said we pity them? Besides which, "involuntarily" doesn't mean that. Some of those chemicals and impulses are under conscious control, because they're the ones that implement conscious self-control. You are in fact affected by your experiences and can in fact change your beliefs, should you choose to.
  - toolz 10y ago
    I live in the middle of one of the most highly concentrated christian areas in the south of the US (at one point we were the most concentrated christian area in the world a few years back). I've baptized more people than probably 99% of the christians you know. I've done mission work in probably more countries than 99% of the people you know have even visited. I was exactly what the church wanted me to be and that didn't make me happy. I believed in God with such a strong conviction and faith that I took it by his words to test the spirits and that's the only reason I allowed the thought into my mind that God might not be real because I decided to test the spirits like instructed in 1 John 4:1. Only outside of this self persecution of faith that tells everyone they aren't worthy and they should relinquish all ideas that they could ever handle something on their own just builds guilt upon guilt. Jesus take the wheel? Oops I drove my own car today, I guess that's just one more subtle way I didn't have faith, because remember just a small amount of faith can move mountains but I don't have even enough for God to drive my car. Luckily, I'm outside of that now and it's pretty easy to see all the subtle emotional warfare the church perpetuates regularly and without shame. "You're useless without me"..."If you don't love me I'll allow you to suffer (in hell none the less)"..."You need to understand how stupid you are and how the beginning of you ever knowing anything is to accept how insignificant you are and that I'm all that matters" Sound like church or an abusive psychopath? Hard to tell the difference when you put all these subtle common church teachings side by side. So forgive me when I call total bullshit on you for suggesting that faith is a sure way to find happiness, because I had more faith that anyone I know and I can say that while being surrounded by more christians than you know (likely, statistically speaking). edit: also, what do you tell rape victims? God wanted that to happen to you? Do you tell them he knew it was going to happen before they were even born and that it was part of his plan? Do you tell them that he was capable of preventing that kid from being born with a disease that killed him slowly and painfully, but he allowed it to happen? I'm not interested in your opinions. I'm interested in what you actually tell the victims, because I'm confident you apologize and console them and say that was bad while fully acknowledging your God knew that would happen before he even created mankind. Your idea of God is portrayed in many places as making/allowing good people to suffer because that's part of his plan - but yet you never tell rape victims to chin up because maybe that was supposed to happen, do you?
    - 10y ago

by toolz 10y ago

hinkley 10y ago

I was super religious as a kid. When I bump into people who spend all day fretting that their best friends are going to be tortured for all eternity for their poor life choices I feel pity. How do you breathe with that clear and present danger in the corner of your mind all day every day?

humanrebar 10y ago
You trust that an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, but ultimately fair God knows what He's doing better than we do. It's called faith for a reason. On the flip side, how does a physicalist tell victims of atrocities like rape warfare? That life is random, so don't take it so hard? While glossing over the fact that the evil people will probably never be brought to justice? But, really, how do you pity the religious when it's all involuntary chemicals and electrical impulses in their brains? It's not like they have a choice anyway. And many of them like it.
- eli_gottlieb 10y ago
  >On the flip side, how does a physicalist tell victims of atrocities like rape warfare? That life is random, so don't take it so hard? While glossing over the fact that the evil people will probably never be brought to justice? Well, mostly, we try to bring the perpetrators to justice and provide rehabilitation for the victims. >But, really, how do you pity the religious when it's all involuntary chemicals and electrical impulses in their brains? Who said we pity them? Besides which, "involuntarily" doesn't mean that. Some of those chemicals and impulses are under conscious control, because they're the ones that implement conscious self-control. You are in fact affected by your experiences and can in fact change your beliefs, should you choose to.
- toolz 10y ago
  I live in the middle of one of the most highly concentrated christian areas in the south of the US (at one point we were the most concentrated christian area in the world a few years back). I've baptized more people than probably 99% of the christians you know. I've done mission work in probably more countries than 99% of the people you know have even visited. I was exactly what the church wanted me to be and that didn't make me happy. I believed in God with such a strong conviction and faith that I took it by his words to test the spirits and that's the only reason I allowed the thought into my mind that God might not be real because I decided to test the spirits like instructed in 1 John 4:1. Only outside of this self persecution of faith that tells everyone they aren't worthy and they should relinquish all ideas that they could ever handle something on their own just builds guilt upon guilt. Jesus take the wheel? Oops I drove my own car today, I guess that's just one more subtle way I didn't have faith, because remember just a small amount of faith can move mountains but I don't have even enough for God to drive my car. Luckily, I'm outside of that now and it's pretty easy to see all the subtle emotional warfare the church perpetuates regularly and without shame. "You're useless without me"..."If you don't love me I'll allow you to suffer (in hell none the less)"..."You need to understand how stupid you are and how the beginning of you ever knowing anything is to accept how insignificant you are and that I'm all that matters" Sound like church or an abusive psychopath? Hard to tell the difference when you put all these subtle common church teachings side by side. So forgive me when I call total bullshit on you for suggesting that faith is a sure way to find happiness, because I had more faith that anyone I know and I can say that while being surrounded by more christians than you know (likely, statistically speaking). edit: also, what do you tell rape victims? God wanted that to happen to you? Do you tell them he knew it was going to happen before they were even born and that it was part of his plan? Do you tell them that he was capable of preventing that kid from being born with a disease that killed him slowly and painfully, but he allowed it to happen? I'm not interested in your opinions. I'm interested in what you actually tell the victims, because I'm confident you apologize and console them and say that was bad while fully acknowledging your God knew that would happen before he even created mankind. Your idea of God is portrayed in many places as making/allowing good people to suffer because that's part of his plan - but yet you never tell rape victims to chin up because maybe that was supposed to happen, do you?
  - 10y ago