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Edited Date/Time
2/13/2013 12:41pm
I read this paper in a collection on Religious Philosophy yesterday and found it's main point interesting that there is a strong correlation between prominent atheist thinkers and their dysfunctional or disappointing relationships with their fathers. It is more than likely that there are deep-seated psychological reasons behind anger towards God and religion, otherwise it would only be logical that an atheist who arrived at their position by reason alone would be apathetic towards God, religious people and religion in general.
http://www.faithinterface.com.au/apologetics/the-psychology-of-atheism-prof-paul-c-vitz
The Psychology of Atheism
http://www.faithinterface.com.au/apologetics/the-psychology-of-atheism-prof-paul-c-vitz
The Psychology of Atheism
I am a devout Christian but the vast majority of atheists I've met wouldn't necessarily fit into this description. Yes I've met some that are just bitter towards life for various reasons, but it's not necessarily about their father. They do all have one psychological thing in common but this isn't it.
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If this thread were by an atheist making the claim about believers, we would be reading "stop talking about religion..."
How was your relationship with your father? How does that make you feel?
If I look at the world around me and the effects that I have on what takes place rather than the idea of asking some diety to watch over me is that not a reasoned and thoughtful process by which I arrive at my beliefs?
How does not having a belief in God translate to anger automatically, that is sort of generalizing about a lot of folks that can't possibly be quantified.
You know a whole lot more angry shit has happened in the world in the name of God.....quite a bit of it because folks wouldn't swear allegiance to one particular religion or another.
Your second point makes no sense, since there is no way to prove in a concrete fashion the existance or non-existance and yet here we are thoughtfully discussing it.
I have a sister who was a pretty bad person (drugs, disrespected our family, dropped out of high school, etc., etc....you get the picture). She's 9 years older than me. Anyway, people of that caliber sometimes reach out for the outrageous. My sister became a Jehovah's Witness. When I was 11, she told me of the impending Armagheddon. The Witness's, bless their hearts, make the fatal mistake of putting dates on things. That Armagheddon was supposed to happen the following year, in 1974. Scared the living fuck out of me. I started going to her meetings, door to door, you get the picture. 1974 comes and goes without a hiccup.
Now, I'm not someone special, but I'm sharp enough, even at 11, to hit the brakes and say, "what the fuck?" The Witnesses convinced me that only they could properly interpret the bible, and they knew exactly what Jehovah (using their terms) was going to do. Umm....apparently they proved themselves wrong. It really opened my eyes. So, I started reading about world religions (including but also beyond Christianity), and it became obvious that these gods are stories throughout humanity, but created by humans.
Nothing I've found since has changed my view of that. I love my sister (not in an Arkansas way, though...lol), and I understand she only had the best intent. But, I ain't buying the religious guff, no matter what they're using their belief for. There might be something that created this, but humans just aren't that smart to figure it out....yet.
Some sort of creator? Umm...maybe. If it/they exist, it did so before the big bang, so it/they is something beyond our physical universe and impossible for me to describe, since I only understand things based on the way this universe behaves. If something(s) made this, it/they are absolutely awesome. But, it/they sure as heck isn't defined by any religion.
Pit Row
As far a Christianity being fear based, I understand many have used and abused it in that fashion, but the teachings of Jesus are anything but fear based.
I treat those who believe the same way I would hope they treat me in return.
More often than not, when I tell a person I'm an atheist, they tell me that they feel sorry for me. Who's being condescending in that scenario?
Frankly I'm tired of being blamed for the downfall of society, hurricanes, teenage pregnancies, gay marriage, and whatever else your TV preachers deem fit to blame on the unbelievers this week. If you want to have a frank discussion of religion I'm always game. However, most every time I've tried to have such a discussion, the believer always resorts to the tactic of that if they speak loudly enough, they win the argument. Not exactly an intelligent discourse.
If I'm the calm and rational one during the discussion, who is it that's being angry and condescending? Pointing to passages from a book I hold zero regard for is not empirical evidence. Raising your voice and shouting me down does nothing to bolster your position. Accepting my beliefs as my beliefs and showing them the respect I give yours would further your argument much more.
Your beliefs don't make you a better person, your behaviour does.
It's only the agnostic that are level headed. They dont know, they know they dont know, they dont care to know, they simply worry about what is in front of them and live their lives guilt free.
I like JTom have my own thoughts on who and what God is
The paper you cited starts from the position that "Athiests have an anger towards God because....."
When you set out to prove a single point of view it is not hard to structure your research to prove whatever you like.
Again I point to religous zealots who use violence ands intimidation to prove their own views on God.
That certainly doesn't represent every person of faith either.
Please give me an example of an athiest movement that conquered nations and slaughtered thousands in the name of non-belief.........and Nazi Germany doesn't count as that wasn't the primary aim.
I was an athiest at 7 years old. I thought religion was stupid. It didnt make sense. And I laughed at kids at school that believed in it.
By the time I was a teenager and got a lil wiser I decided that agnostic was the more logical choice. But Ive never wavered from my stance that anyone that follows one of the prominent organized religions is handicapping themselves.
Spirituality serves two useful purposes.... it helps calm the people who are scared of what they dont know. And it helps get others thru tragic moments in time, sorta like an emotional crutch for those whom need it. Faith and hope are powerful things and if a person needs to turn to a fable in order to find it in a time of crisis, I wont fault them for it.
But to wonder why atheism exists or to try and dig into the psychology of it and blame poor parenting just seems very hypocritical and/or ironic.
The only reason you see atheism being geared towards Judeo-Christian belief is because the majority of the religious here are just that. If a Hindu or a Muslim started posting religious belief on the board in a manner that invites my opinion, I'll treat them just the same, because ALL gods to me are religious, equally man-made, and equally ficticious.
"....As far a Christianity being fear based, I understand many have used and abused it in that fashion, but the teachings of Jesus are anything but fear based....."
Well, not exactly true....
Matthew 5:22
10:26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
10:27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
There's a lot of that kind of talk in the new testament. Lots of threats about what happens to those who are/believe different than what Jesus taught. The guys who wrote that were right about one thing....religion separates, not brings people together.
Now, I'll admit that on the surface, it seems that Stalin was simply anti-religous. However, what he really was was paranoid. He killed anyone who he thought could threaten his power. He killed his own smartest scientists, engineers, doctors, etc., etc., etc. Did you know that he killed more Red Army generals than the Nazis did? Funny (sad) as shit. Estimates are that he might've killed around 40 million people or more!
Oh, Hitler was religious at first, if I remember correctly.
Same with Hitler.....certainly the anti-Judiasm campaign stands out but that seemed to be wrapped up in the whole nationalism/power thing as well.....and Hitler certainly wasn't trying to convert anyone.
I was speaking more of specific holy war....inquisition, jihad, that sort of thing where the only reason you kill is because the other guy won't believe what you do.
Lotta crazy bastards in the world that is for sure.
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