garrisonjj Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 As a proud "born again atheist" after being a submissive (stupid) catholic for most of my life, I have observed many things. First, since the church sex scandal, I know many people disgusted by the church and have left it or now care less about it. Religion in general is on a downslide in my community. As only the very old,and sometimes young children attend church. I am so much more comfortable and energy filled by believing in no gods or fuckin holy ghosts!!! I also find, that many I thought were religious also think it's BS as I, only are not as vocal. I do not find as many female agnostics and atheists as males. Can females address this? Do you share any similiar observations ? Is it normal to feel so happy after abandoning all forms of worship and imaginary dieties that filled me with such fear? I am so fulfilled now that I am godless. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostOrFound Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 I'm not female but I would agree with you. There is an amazing peace that comes over you when you realize there is no god, no hell, no judgment... you are free to be the wonderful person that you are without the baggage of judgment and guilt. Celebrate your freedom! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurisaz Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 Is it normal to feel so happy after abandoning all forms of worship and imaginary dieties that filled me with such fear? I am so fulfilled now that I am godless. Thank you. Personally, I wouldn't call the source of my happiness "abandoning all forms of worship and imaginary dieties" for obvious reasons (after all, I'm not an atheist )... but I think that the crucial thing about religions isn't the faith itself anyway, but the blind faith variant of it. Just because you're religious doesn't mean that you feel bound to idiotic rules that demand you negate your very humanity. And of course I never was a morontheist (fundie), even back when I was a christian. I guess that explains a bit too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Firehawk Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 First, since the church sex scandal, I know many people disgusted by the church and have left it or now care less about it. I think too many people have just ignored this issue. I'm glad it's not true where you live, but what I see is that far too many people are dismissing the actual evidence that proves there has been (for far too long) a coverup of this filth. Either that or people are just going with the additude that, "it's always been that way, no reason to blame "god" for what priests do." I find that "reasoning" to be rather disgusting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 Is it normal to feel so happy after abandoning all forms of worship and imaginary dieties that filled me with such fear? I am so fulfilled now that I am godless. Thank you. I find this to be the case for myself. I just did the Belief-O-Matic test again and it felt so GOOD to mark all the "no god, not sure, doesn't matter" options. And when it came to ethical issues as they apply to my ideal religion, I just marked all the "not applicable" options. I do believe in these ethical issues but not in the context of religion. It just felt so very good. I felt liberated. This thread might give you insight that this is not unusual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyrocrasticfro Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 I'm as happy and content as I've always been--before and after Christianity. But it's nice not to feel obligated to give god credit for every little thing in my life. Regarding the female thing--I can't tell whether there are more male agnostic/atheists than females. Heck, I am barely the only one I know outside of this forum. This is just not something that is brought up in everyday conversation...."Where ya from? Where do you work? Are you an atheist?" Aside from being a blooming atheist, I am also a pretty intelligent, rational, logical and scientific chick--somewhat different from other women--tho that sure sounds like a stereotype. It was those traits that helped me reject theism. But the nuturing, caring (and wanting to be cared for) and more cooperative nature of women (including me)--as well as the social structure of organized religion makes it an attractive option. Daddy god takes care of all your needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizard Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 Well, I'm not an atheist in the true sense of the word..I don't know many atheists, male or female. I think most are simply agnostic or just don't care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurari Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 Yes, it's very normal to feel more empowered and fufilled when you realize you have more control over your life. Being female, I'll make a general observation about there seeming to be less female agnostics/atheists. There are a lot of different reasons, but I think it's mostly due to the fact women are taught that we NEED to get our emotional security from an outside source. Women in the church are not taught to be self sufficient. We're commanded to be subservient to men and god, and to rely on them in all things since we are the "weaker sex." We are taught that we cannot and should not provide for ourselves, that we can't make our own happiness, that it can only come in the form of being married and being taken care of by our husbands as we take care of the children. So women are simply never taught the skills necessary to survive alone emotionally or physically. When you are taught that all your life, you get ingrained with it until you KNOW it's truth and you can't live any other way. It's absolute bullshit of course, but women are still beaten, raped, and harrassed for "defying god's will" because of the clothes she wears or how she acts. Agnosticism and Atheism means you have to think for and take care of yourself and for a lot of people, male or female, that idea is a little scary. So if there really are less agnostic and athiest females, it's either because some don't know or can't know any better, and the ones that do keep their traps shut about their beliefs so they can have some genuine peace in their lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lycorth Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 Just because you're religious doesn't mean that you feel bound to idiotic rules that demand you negate your very humanity. Pretty much so; many ex-xians have a bad habit of equating the word "religion" exclusively with "Xianity" (or at least all Abrahamic religions in general), neglecting to realize that not all religions are the same. Partially, such people cannot be blamed, since as Xians they were taught that all other religions were tools of control and full of evil. But it's really no excuse, since as ex-Xians they ought to do a little mental legwork before they make blind, umbrella statements. But for myself, I feel so much better after kicking The Church to the curb. My path suits me well and has given me more fulfillment than all my long years as a Jebus stooge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garrisonjj Posted October 28, 2006 Author Share Posted October 28, 2006 Just because you're religious doesn't mean that you feel bound to idiotic rules that demand you negate your very humanity. Pretty much so; many ex-xians have a bad habit of equating the word "religion" exclusively with "Xianity" (or at least all Abrahamic religions in general), neglecting to realize that not all religions are the same. Partially, such people cannot be blamed, since as Xians they were taught that all other religions were tools of control and full of evil. But it's really no excuse, since as ex-Xians they ought to do a little mental legwork before they make blind, umbrella statements. But for myself, I feel so much better after kicking The Church to the curb. My path suits me well and has given me more fulfillment than all my long years as a Jebus stooge Thats what I regret. All the lost time, money and energy in fuckin church that did absolutely nothing for my life except to increase my guilt and insecurity.I do enjoy reading scholars who de bunk the whole religion/god daddy concept.How could I have been so foolish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts