Why has religion retained its appeal?

[SnailyBoy]

You are referring to the innocent beauty of a child after birth. Do you call a newborn baby an atheist? I don't think so.

The literal meaning of the word atheist, does it also apply to animals, trees, flowers? Are they atheist too?

 

Waking up from the unconscious mind is a process. A baby is born, it has no education, it does not yet identify with mind, in its unawareness it is in touch with the universal consciousness but the child is not aware of this.

The child starts slowly to become aware, it is obsessed with the world around and wants to learn. After the child starts to walk the parents and society try to pump loads of information filling that child's brain with all sorts of educational and social knowledge. As soon as that happens we start to become disconnected from consciousness and start to focus on our brain mind processing this information.

Now religion comes knocking on the door saying, hey you got a problem? feeling separated from god? don't worry we fix it for you.

Or it doesn't come knocking but then the child stays in complete unconscious ignorance of the existence of religion, this void from religion did not come from some intelligent insight or understanding. In order to be consciously free from religion you first need to learn what it is.

 

Dropping religion does not need to be a choice. It can drop by itself through understanding and pure natural insight seeing what it is. Not from ignorance not knowing what religion is.

 

The unconscious atheist lives a happy live unaware of what is out there.

The conscious atheist lives a happy live knowing what religion is, understanding it and dropped it out of being aware and understanding what it is.

 

Some atheism comes out of fear, being frightened about it, not understanding it, even looking at it can induce horrible painful feelings. many twisted emotions break to the surface even thinking about it.

I'm sorry but this is not living. This atheist has changed into a frightened stressed conflict deep inside themselves. This atheism did not come from some joyful deep understanding.

 

Do you believe that a god/gods exists?

[Obelix]

The conscious atheist lives a happy live knowing what religion is, understanding it and dropped it out of being aware and understanding what it is.

 

Some atheism comes out of fear, being frightened about it, not understanding it, even looking at it can induce horrible painful feelings. many twisted emotions break to the surface even thinking about it.

I'm sorry but this is not living. This atheist has changed into a frightened stressed conflict deep inside themselves. This atheism did not come from some joyful deep understanding.

 

You dont ahve to "drop" religion to be an atheist. You can happily look at it, never accept it and reject it outright without ever taking it up... or indeed ever wanting joyful deep understanding of it.

[Robin-H]

You are referring to the innocent beauty of a child after birth. Do you call a newborn baby an atheist? I don't think so.

The literal meaning of the word atheist, does it also apply to animals, trees, flowers? Are they atheist too?

 

Waking up from the unconscious mind is a process. A baby is born, it has no education, it does not yet identify with mind, in its unawareness it is in touch with the universal consciousness but the child is not aware of this.

The child starts slowly to become aware, it is obsessed with the world around and wants to learn. After the child starts to walk the parents and society try to pump loads of information filling that child's brain with all sorts of educational and social knowledge. As soon as that happens we start to become disconnected from consciousness and start to focus on our brain mind processing this information.

Now religion comes knocking on the door saying, hey you got a problem? feeling separated from god? don't worry we fix it for you.

Or it doesn't come knocking but then the child stays in complete unconscious ignorance of the existence of religion, this void from religion did not come from some intelligent insight or understanding. In order to be consciously free from religion you first need to learn what it is.

 

Dropping religion does not need to be a choice. It can drop by itself through understanding and pure natural insight seeing what it is. Not from ignorance not knowing what religion is.

 

The unconscious atheist lives a happy live unaware of what is out there.

The conscious atheist lives a happy live knowing what religion is, understanding it and dropped it out of being aware and understanding what it is.

 

Some atheism comes out of fear, being frightened about it, not understanding it, even looking at it can induce horrible painful feelings. many twisted emotions break to the surface even thinking about it.

I'm sorry but this is not living. This atheist has changed into a frightened stressed conflict deep inside themselves. This atheism did not come from some joyful deep understanding.

 

The meaning of an atheist is an absense of belief in gods or deities. Do newborn babies have a belief in gods or dieties, I do not believe so, and so technically they are atheists yes.

 

As for animals and trees, I think it’s a bit silly to ascribe terms for humans to non human things. I don’t know what animals think, I doubt they have ‘belief’ in the sense that humans do.

[dutch]

Do you believe that a god/gods exists?

 

I have tried to make it pretty clear in this forum that I am no fan of believing.

Could you describe exactly what the word god means to you it is interpreted in so many different ways.

 

---------- Post added 08-08-2018 at 10:31 ----------

 

You dont ahve to "drop" religion to be an atheist. You can happily look at it, never accept it and reject it outright without ever taking it up... or indeed ever wanting joyful deep understanding of it.

 

Yes, but not accepting and rejecting is usually a very unconscious process.

A buddha could do that consciously I don't most average people are capable of that.

Edited August 8, 2018 by dutch

[RootsBooster]

Robin used examples that were not like for like and the wizard and witches comparison had nothing whatsoever to do with my initial example. I even emboldened it for you. Didn't you notice?

You are proving my point that you don't understand what a like for like comparison is.

 

Dutch's argument that without theism there could be no atheism, seems to be based on the existence of the words. Without the theistic beliefs, the word 'atheist' may not exist but the characteristics certainly would: everybody would literally be without theistic belief, which is the definition of atheism itself. Not having the word "atheist" in existence doesn't change that fact that everyone would be atheists, they just wouldn't call it that because the wouldn't know the word.

 

Robin's example wasn't just like for like, it was also a reversal of the premise: That if a word does exist, then Dutch's logic follows that the characteristics must exist. In this example wizards and witches must exist because those words exist. He could have just as easily said unicorns, fairies, gothpunties, baglaffers hooftybonks or whatever and they would be fair examples to use.

 

You inexplicably went off on a tangent about the beliefs of the wizard/witch, which was never relevant to begin with.

Edited August 8, 2018 by RootsBooster

[dutch]

The meaning of an atheist is an absense of belief in gods or deities. Do newborn babies have a belief in gods or dieties, I do not believe so, and so technically they are atheists yes.

 

As for animals and trees, I think it’s a bit silly to ascribe terms for humans to non human things. I don’t know what animals think, I doubt they have ‘belief’ in the sense that humans do.

 

I will ask danot to answer that question to you.

[SnailyBoy]

I have tried to make it pretty clear in this forum that I am no fan of believing.

Could you describe exactly what the word god means to you it is interpreted in so many different ways.

 

Hang on, you're not a fan of believing, let's test that out.

 

Do you believe the Earth is a sphere?

 

 

---------------------------------

 

Let's say god = the creator and ruler of the universe and source of all moral authority; the supreme being. (the standard monotheistic definition)

[Robin-H]

I will ask danot to answer that question to you.

 

What question?

[dutch]

Can we please stop focussing on the exact literary meaning of the word atheism and focus more on where this atheism is rooted?

Did it come through never been in touch with religion not knowing what religion is all about.

Or did it come through fully understanding and seeing what religion is.

[SnailyBoy]

Can we please stop focussing on the exact literary word atheism and focus more on where this atheism is rooted?

Did it come through never been in touch with religion not knowing what religion is all about.

Or did it come through fully understanding and seeing what religion is.

 

It has nothing to do with religion.

 

It's the rejection of a claim that god/gods exist.

 

That's it