Date and age you left Christianity?

[cloudyday2]

What is a fundamental atheist? Lol.

You haven't heard of the five pillars of atheism?

Here is a link to an article:
Atheist fundamentalism - RationalWiki

I would say it is atheists who are invested in their beliefs? In the same way that a fundamentalist Christian wants to believe certain things to maintain group membership, a fundamentalist atheist wants to believe certain things. So in both cases, it is hard to get the person to soften or change his/her beliefs.

 

[dlamberth]

That's probably because you don't understand scripture. If someone knows scripture well then one deals with the verses and not necessarily whatever they think the message is.

Honestly, any more I say phooey to scripture. I've evolved towards that direction when realizing that God is not scripture. What I want to see is how a person actually makes God a reality in their lives, today, where He is needed the most. We can see that level of Divine Light in how a person treats others, helps those in need and honors the Sacredness of this Creation. It's very simple really.

 

[juvenissun]

Well, I had a theory that the usability of the internet in the late 1990s and early 2000s was the key factor in the exodus of Christians into apostasy in the US. I suspected that there was an avalanche of people from all age groups losing faith in that time period as they were suddenly connected to skeptical information and groups. I expected this avalanche to be finished, so that now it would be only a trickle of young adults losing faith.

My theory doesn't seem to work. That is what I learned. (Of course this isn't a scientific survey.)

I agree. It does not work.
But, why not?
Here is my answer: faith is NOT related to information.

 

[MehGuy]

You haven't heard of the five pillars of atheism?

Here is a link to an article:
Atheist fundamentalism - RationalWiki

I would say it is atheists who are invested in their beliefs? In the same way that a fundamentalist Christian wants to believe certain things to maintain group membership, a fundamentalist atheist wants to believe certain things. So in both cases, it is hard to get the person to soften or change his/her beliefs.

Seems like the article you listed in your link spends most of the time being skeptical of the term "fundamental atheist".

I'm not sure what you mean by "beliefs". Atheism for most is simply a lack of a belief in a god/gods. There isn't some scripture atheists can choose to fundamentally follow/believe. The term just seems disingenuous to me.

 

[MehGuy]

I do find it amusing listening to stories from people who claim that they were shocked to discover how fundamental Christians can be upon joining this site. For me it was the opposite. I was shocked over how liberal and scientific minded Christians can be. This discovery probably did have a role in my eventual falling out from theism. Which begs the question.. whether or not I would have been able to be a theist for as long as I did if I grew up in a more liberal Christian bubble. I don't think my mind could wrap around such inquiry without completely falling over into the atheist camp, lol.

 

[Goonie]

What was the date and your age when you left Christianity? I realize that it might have taken several years so you can give a range. Thanks

0.

 

[cloudyday2]

Seems like the article you listed in your link spends most of the time being skeptical of the term "fundamental atheist".

That was my impression of the article too, but I think they are talking about atheism in theory instead of atheism in reality.

I'm not sure what you mean by "beliefs". Atheism for most is simply a lack of a belief in a god/gods. There isn't some scripture atheists can choose to fundamentally follow/believe. The term just seems disingenuous to me.

Think about the threads on forums where atheists debate Christians. Many times it seems that the atheists are only regurgitating something they read in a book ("How to Win Arguments with Christians (for Dummies)"). If these atheists don't understand the arguments they present, then how did they come to be atheists? Did they simply say to themselves, "I think the hep-cats are the atheists, so I want to be an atheist". IMO that is no better than a fundamentalist saying "I don't want to go to hell, so I want to be a fundamentalist".

IDK. You are right in theory of course.

 

[ToBeLoved]

Honestly, any more I say phooey to scripture. I've evolved towards that direction when realizing that God is not scripture. What I want to see is how a person actually makes God a reality in their lives, today, where He is needed the most. We can see that level of Divine Light in how a person treats others, helps those in need and honors the Sacredness of this Creation. It's very simple really.

the measure is not always where someone is today but in comparison to who and where they were.

I'd research also how much Christianity gives each year. I think you underestimate our affect on the world.

 

[MehGuy]

That was my impression of the article too, but I think they are talking about atheism in theory instead of atheism in reality.

Seems like much of the article talks about how atheists have behaved in the past. In the real world. Coming to the conclusion that some atheists are jerks, but atheism doesn't have dogma anyone has to follow so such a term "fundamentalist atheist" is probably not apt to use.

Think about the threads on forums where atheists debate Christians. Many times it seems that the atheists are only parroting something they read in a book ("How to Win Arguments with Christians (for Dummies)").

I see many atheists gravitating to tried and tested arguments to converse with theists. I'm not really under the impression that they do not understand the arguments they make. Even if they were, I don't see how that would make them fundamentalists.

If these atheists don't understand the arguments they present, then how did they come to be atheists? Did they simply say to themselves, "I think the hep-cats are the atheist, so I want to be an atheist". IMO that is no better than a fundamentalist saying "I don't want to go to hell, so I want to be a fundamentalist".

What kind of atheists do you meet who have this kind of mindset? Most of the ones I meet are simply atheists because they have come to accept they have no good reason to believe in a God in the first place. They're not doing it because it's "cool or whatever". Even if they did, I don't see how that's a fundamentalist act.

 

[cloudyday2]

Seems like much of the article talks about how atheists have behaved in the past. In the real world. Coming to the conclusion that some atheists are jerks, but atheism doesn't have dogma anyone has to follow so such a term "fundamentalist atheist" is probably not apt to use.

One possible example of atheist dogma is the claim that "atheism is merely the absence of belief in gods". My brain is kind of going in circles right now. This or that short phrase keeps repeating. I don't know if that happens to anybody else. LOL it is like mental hiccups. Anyway, I need to settle down my thoughts.

You're basically right in what you say anyway.

 

[dlamberth]

the measure is not always where someone is today but in comparison to who and where they were.

I disagree. For instance, when I look at a person and how they are helping those in need, I do not look at what they did in the past. I look at what they are doing now. When I see the love a mother has for her child, it's what I see now.

I'd research also how much Christianity gives each year. I think you underestimate our affect on the world.

I don't understand where this came from. It wasn't even part of the discussion.

 

[ToBeLoved]

I disagree. For instance, when I look at a person and how they are helping those in need, I do not look at what they did in the past. I look at what they are doing now. When I see the love a mother has for her child, it's what I see now.
.

I don't think you understood what I was saying.

When one comes to God they come with all their experiences personality etc

So the measure of change should be before Christ and after Christ.

That is my point

 

[MehGuy]

One possible example of atheist dogma is the claim that "atheism is merely the absence of belief in gods". My brain is kind of going in circles right now. This or that short phrase keeps repeating. I don't know if that happens to anybody else. LOL it is like mental hiccups. Anyway, I need to settle down my thoughts.

You're basically right in what you say anyway.

Dogma regarding what the definition of an atheist is? Lol. If you want to call that dogma, I don't think it's enough to make someone a fundamentalist though. Unless you really want to water the term down.

I was more talking about atheism lacking any dogma telling how one should live their life. An atheist can go around berating theists all day and even wanting to convert the whole world into atheism. That doesn't mean he has any tenets from atheism itself he's using to justify it, because atheism is silent on such matters.

 

[Cearbhall]

One possible example of atheist dogma is the claim that "atheism is merely the absence of belief in gods".

If someone considers atheism to indicate nothing besides that, that would be the opposite of dogma. That statement limits it to its basic meaning and says that nothing else is inherently a part of atheism.

 

[dlamberth]

I don't think you understood what I was saying.

When one comes to God they come with all their experiences personality etc

So the measure of change should be before Christ and after Christ.

That is my point

But I'm not looking at the measure of change. When I come upon a person becoming a more human, Human Being, I'm looking at where they are right now. I don't care where they were in the past. Yesterday is gone. The measure I have is in their helping those in need, and such, "today" where it is needed the most.

 

[ToBeLoved]

But I'm not looking at the measure of change. When I come upon a person becoming a more human, Human Being, I'm looking at where they are right now. I don't care where they were in the past. Yesterday is gone. The measure I have is in their helping those in need, and such, "today" where it is needed the most.

That's why your not measuring correctly.

If someone addicted to crack never does crack again that is much different than someone who never did crack never doing crack again.

The measure is in the change not what you think someone should be.

 

[JackRT]

Going back to the original thread question:

Date and age you left Christianity?

I grew up in an extremely devout Roman Catholic family with the benefit of a Jesuit education. I have never left Christianity but in the early 1970s at the age of about 30 I began to research and rethink EVERYTHING. That has been going on now for over 40 years. I am no longer RC but I am still a Christian of a liberal/progressive bent. If I had not discovered fellow Christians like myself (members of what John Spong terms "the church alumni association") I likely would have rejected Christianity entirely.

 

[dlamberth]

That's why your not measuring correctly.

If someone addicted to crack never does crack again that is much different than someone who never did crack never doing crack again.

The measure is in the change not what you think someone should be.

I don't understand where the idea came from, but I'm not measuring anything. That's because being a human being is not a measurement. And I'm not looking at what someone should be either. I'm looking at what a person does. What a person does is a reflection of the light in their soul. And that speaks volumes about the inner workings of a person. If I were to take this a step further, I'd say that the more light shining from a person's soul, the more human they become as Human Beings. No one can measure that light. But we can sure see how a person acts by what they do.

 

[dlamberth]

That is so true.

Many walk for God, rather than with God. Walking with God is what Christ died to give us.

I tend to think that rather than walking with God, Christ spent most of His ministry teaching those who would listen in how to walk "IN" God.

 

[Arthra]

I was raised a Baptist... Got interested and began practising Yoga around fourteen years old.. Went to an Ashram ... around twenty years went to a Silent Friends Meeting awhile after that... became a Baha'i when I was twenty five.