Atheism
I have seen and experienced how this atheists can be seen with a very negative connotation. For some of us realizing we are atheists can be as simple as a sudden realization. "One week ago I worshiped the Bible. One week ago I wasted Sundays mornings at church. One week ago I was convinced in a fairy tale"(Cimino) However for most of us it is a gradual realization that we need to eventually tell others about on our own time. Unfortunately this experience comes from within my own family, who are the definition of an extremely religious family, aside from my father. "Certainly someone who grew up with a secular or at least religiously unenthusiastic parent will be more likely to lose faith than someone whose parents were both earnestly
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We were preparing for thanksgiving dinner and everything seemed like it was going well. The rest of my family slowly arrived and dinner was on the table before I knew it. I still very clearly remember the prayer being normal up until the point where my Uncle decided to take it upon himself to pray for me as he felt I was going to hell. My Uncle the deacon was the first to decide I was going to hell. The man who was in my opinion one of the least judgmental people in the world, had just clearly judged me. I sat there in shock as the rest of my family agreed with his sentiment, even adding comments of there own. I sat there in a stunned silence for the rest of dinner. I could feel for the first time there judgmental looks and I felt isolated in my own little bubble at a time when my whole family was gathered around me. I remember after thanksgiving dinner how everyone avoided talking to me or even looking me in the eye for too long of a time. I wondered why exactly I was being isolated, had I done something wrong, had I insulted them in some way due to my lack of belief in a god? It bothered me for the rest of the night, until I eventually drifted off into sleep assuming it would all be over by the next …show more content…
"If you look up ‘atheism’ in a dictionary, you will find it defined as the belief that there is no God. Certainly, many people understand ‘atheism’ in this way."(Bullivant) I figured this was the time to explain this to my grandmother, however those hopes were soon dashed. I remember being questioned about my morals and where I get them from if not from some "God". It seemed like an odd question, morals are taught during childhood, was she telling me that her morals and only reason for doing right was a book? I know that’s not what she meant but it seemed amusing to look at it in that way at the time. It was just recently on the day after this conversation with my grandma that I realized I was not going to get the acceptance of my family. They have made it very clear how they feel about atheists. I was told I was going to hell and that I was no longer welcome at my grandmas for Christmas. I've been told that I am leading an immoral life and that if I don’t accept "God" into my heart I am going to hell and that they cannot accept me since I don’t believe in a "God". "If you look up ‘atheism’ in a dictionary, you will find it defined as the belief that there is no God. I've also noticed that the people from the parish I used to belong to ignore me when I go to the festivals
An Atheist in America is possibly one of the most misunderstood individuals in the country today. A vast amount of religious people in America have a warped notion and don’t quite grasp the concept behind someone who does not believe in a deity. Most Americans have never even questioned the existence of God and just don’t see how someone cannot believe in it. The media paints atheists as untrustworthy, unmoral, scary, insane, aggressively hating God, doing the Devil’s work, and the list just goes on. Unlike many other countries that aren’t based around faith, there is a corrupted viewpoint on what is to be expected from someone who lacks the belief. This often leads to very damaging misconceptions about what an atheist actually is. An atheist
Growing up in Texas with a jewish mom and an atheist dad was wildly unheard of and slightly unconventional. Texans are famous for two major slogans, the first being “Come and get it” from the Texas revolution, and the second being “Just being a good christian” from every christian i have ever met. I came out of the womb retaliating against conformity along with religion, i didn't understand the need to associate a good deed with christianity when the reality is that people do good things out of humility and for the common good. As i got older i was further subjected to the scrutiny of others through their religious agenda. On December 21st, 2012 the world was predicted to end, my friends and i decided to spend our last day floating in the
Some say Atheism is a moral issue but in an Atheist’s perspective, it is discrimination. A deity often represents morals and meaning, according to those who believe in them. With the lack of a supreme being, it creates the idea that Atheists lack moral. This creates a false view of Atheists being unethical. This idea towards Atheism is often used to persecute Atheists. For instance, a message saying “ATHEISTS, AGNOSTICS AND NON BELIEVERS ARE THE TRUE CRIMINALS OF THE WORLD COMMUNITY” was posted on a Christian-based website called http://www.tencommandments.org. This type of attitude towards Atheism is often found in Christians because of of their
Having completed the unit of philosophy of religion, you are now ready to respond to an article written by an actual atheist. This article titled “On Being an Atheist,” was written by H. J. McCloskey in 1968 for the journal Question. McCloskey is an Australian philosopher who wrote a number of atheistic works in the 1960s and 70s including the book God and Evil (Nijhoff, 1974). In this article, McCloskey is both critical of the classical arguments for God’s existence and offers the problem of evil as a reason why one should not believe in God. Please note the following parameters for this paper:
In a region where Christianity and Catholicism is the dominant religion, people that do not affiliate themselves with religion, such as atheists or agnostics, are often frowned upon by the followers of God. Many people don’t realize that the discrimination of these people in America is very real and is a serious issue. All over the states, thousands of people are being looked down on by their acquaintances solely due to their lack of religious beliefs. This shouldn’t have to be an issue in the “land of the free”. People need to be more aware of the growing concern about the treatment of non-religious people in America.
By definition, ‘Theism’ is the belief of the existence of god one or more gods. In the English language adding an ‘A’ to the beginning of the word automatically takes the original definition, and turns it completely around. So Atheism is, by definition, the belief of no God, nor Satan. As an Atheist however, I do not need the threat of eternal damnation to make the correct choice, morally. Most Atheists are morally good because it is right to be. However, everyone is morally acceptable in their own mindset, for example, the Westboro Church, better known as www.GodHatesFags.com. The Westboro church has started several protests, in the name of God, against Homosexuals, Race, and creed. To an Atheist, believing in a God(s), is the equivalent of a grown man believing in Santa Clause.
While sitting down and talking to Sam she told me that she is an atheist. I was a bit confused by this for a moment since for years she has always maintained that she follows Wiccanism. Actually, my first thought was “Now I have to change the concept of my paper.” How can someone be an atheist but still have a religious belief system? Sam explained
They’re now the second largest “religious” group in North America and the majority of Europe. In the United States those unaffiliated with religion make up about a quarter of the population. Now in America, this isn’t that big of an issue because of freedom of religion and expression. As for some other countries, atheism has sparked some controversy and conflict. As of 2015, 19 countries legally punish their citizens for atheism and in some of those countries it is punishable by death. It’s an unfortunate truth that many people around the world are punished or persecuted all for their religious beliefs, but many people are also now put through suffering for their lack of religious belief. Atheists are definitely discriminated against in America which becomes evident when looking at the fact that in some states, they aren’t allowed to hold any political office, however, things can change and seem to be changing as polls suggest that a majority of American citizens would in fact, vote for an atheist president (which might be worth a shot for this year’s election especially lol). Plus due to the rise in more liberal areas across the country, it seems that people would not discriminate towards atheists once proven that it would not cause an end to the world as we know it or
The notion of prejudice against atheists is found to be center upon trust or in this case lack there of. On a side note I found it very hypocritical for “Christians” to place judgment upon other individuals for not believing in the same things. Doesn’t that go against all Christian morals and values? Evidence that stuck of to me was:
During watching this particular clip from the youtube video for which I selected, I wanted to really give the video discussion my fair opinion; so, I watched it a few times in order to me to feel as such. I believe this belief system of Atheism, is a lot concerned with people who don’t really go off of any kind of religion or faith. This outlook on life or the world and I call it that instead of religion because Atheist does not believe in a faith or religion, so it is not. I think that’s fair to say, right? Atheist or and the individuals in this video don’t seem to be looking to open there minds up to really accept what could possibly
In this paper, I will argue, new atheism could be identified as a non-religious fundamentalist group with some definitions while with over definitions of fundamentalism making new atheism, not a fundamentalist group.
One might ask the question “what would make someone become atheist?” Unfortunately, it is a tough question to answer. There are many reasons as to why someone would become atheist. The knowledge of other religions, bad personal experience, scientific findings and philosophical arguments - these are all possible reasons for atheism. The cause of atheism is often times personal, or based on specific life experience. The last decade saw an increase number of atheist arranging rallies and protesting laws that are based on a holy book. For a long time, atheists were, quite stunningly, almost completely ignored by sociologists of religion” (LeDrew 2013). As a non-believer, an atheist feels like a minority all of their adult life, and have often been afraid to openly express and share their beliefs and ideas. As minorities, it is easy for atheists and agnostics to express anger, frustration, and disappointment at how we are depicted and treated by believers and defend ourselves. (Madeo, G 2009)
Religion walks hand in hand with blind faith. In fact, Religion relies on people trusting that everything has a purpose, and that faith in god is your meaning. Atheism questions that core foundation that religion is built upon. They seek alternate explanations to these larger questions about life. Atheists, like the character Ivan, do not reject the idea of god as an absurd idea, but reject the concept because they have rid themselves of the illusion by challenging the ideas of religion through the observations because of the indifference of the universe.
I'm an Atheist, though, and I "came out" about it as a senior in high school. I also came out as a liberal and a supporter of equal rights. By then, my mother’s intimidation tactics and the passive aggressive (or downright aggressive) responses I received at school were old hat. I can see her, even now, in my mind's eye. I remember my mother squeezing her Starbucks cup, her face as puffed-up and purplish as a turnip, asking me when I decided THAT? She still harasses me about it sometimes, like just now. Which is what prompted me to write this essay. It
The belief may have been cultivated by family, religion, culture or any other external factor but the fact remains that it is accepted as a truth mainly because of the strong emotions associated with it. However, these same emotions are incredibly varied between people because of the differences in family, religion, culture and other factors. Hence, there are also people (atheists) that have strong emotions against the existence of God. As this difference in beliefs between people exists and will most probably always exist because of the diversity of our world, emotional belief as a truth cannot be absolute. It is relative to the person believing the truth.