DominicCobb said:
RicOlie_2 said:
DominicCobb said:
I thought about starting this thread and then saying that I probably wouldn't answer any questions because atheists don't have a set set of beliefs. Any question that gets answered just comes down to the answerer's view on life.
So I just want to make it clear that these answers don't represent the beliefs of all atheists. I'm sure we all know that but it's a common misconception that all atheists think the same thing and treat others and the world the same way. I actually see atheism as the belief system that faces the most prejudice (let me be VERY clear that what I mean by this is that I think many theists have a low opinion of atheists - I do not mean AT ALL that they are persecuted or are the victim of any sort of violence, because they aren't).
What really annoys me the most is when theists see atheists as people who have no soul or sense of empathy. Again, I don't mean you guys, but I've met people in the world like this. Just anecdotally I feel like a lot of theists have a low opinion for atheists that they'd never have for a theist with a different religion.
Personally, my hands are off religion so it annoys me when people try to argue against my atheism (which, again, I don't think you see a theist doing this to a theist of a different religion) because I just want no part in religion. For me, God doesn't exist, and that's that.
Of course, this makes it all the more rewarding when I meet a theist who totally respects my beliefs.
This wasn't really a question, but whatever.
I respect everyone's beliefs, but I don't agree with most of them. I have a question for you though. Supposing Christianity was true and you died an atheist. Since you want no part in religion, would you want to go to heaven or hell?
I'm just asking out of curiosity. To further clarify, I will define heaven and hell for you. Hell: total absence of God (and supposedly of most or all good); heaven: the presence of God and the worship of him. Both of these are for an infinite length of time and one cannot go from one to the other.
Yeah, I think most respect others beliefs. If I said otherwise, that was a mistake. I just think many don't.
As to your question, I don't know. From what I learned when I was a Catholic hell really sucks a dick in terms of how well your stay will be, but if it's just the "total absence of God" than I don't know, why do I want God? What makes him so great? I don't know.
Also, wouldn't I go to purgatory first and ask for forgiveness? That's what I'm banking on.
To be honest, a lot of religious concepts seem to me to be confusing or hypocritical. Sometimes I think about how I could make Catholicism make more sense. But that's obviously neither here nor there.
The reason hell is supposed to be such a crappy place to vacation is because the absence of God isn't supposed to be a great thing. Think about this analogy of hell:
You are given the entirety of earth on which you can do whatever you want and go wherever you please. The downside is that you are the only human being on the planet, because you get it for yourself, after all. After an eternity--an eternity!--would you not get bored. After the boredom, wouldn't you find it torture being alone on the planet and having done everything you could possibly do a thousand times over, yet knowing you hadn't even been there for a billionth of the amount of time you were going to be there?
Because I believe God is infinite, then an infinitely long stay in heaven would still be enjoyable. The earth is finite, so if you were given the earth as your hell (that's not what I necessarily believe hell is, I'm just trying to make the concept more clear) you would eventually get pretty darn sick of it.
I'm sure that if God is truly just then he will account for the things that made you decide he didn't exist. No one can really claim to know how that works though.