Guest Katana0 Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Well, my story is pretty standard... my parents are rather liberal Christians. I used to go to church all the time, but my parents became kind of frustrated at some of the things the various churches were saying (cant remember what though, I was too young to really care at that point)... none the less, my parents still taught me to believe in Christianity... I started to doubt everything in 7th grade when I came across the thought "If God is supposed to be so merciful and kind, why would he send people to hell just because they dont directly say they believe in him, but instead another religion that basically maintains the same principals of living?" I asked some one at my grandma's church, who wouldnt give me a strait answer... And that moment there, after she left, was the point when I said "'Well, you cant be merciful and unforgiving at the same time... so this deity contradicts himself!" About the same time I started studying quantum mechanics (yes, in the 7th grade... I have always been strange like that) and my studies brought me to some interesting conclusions... not just about the world that we live in, but about the universe and what it is really about. It is true that in quantum mechanics, some of the theories are so irrational that they make sense, and things that mechanically shouldn't be possible, are! It is not a science that some would say refutes the existence of anything that cannot be directly observed, but actually deals extensively in particles and objects that cannot be directly observed, only observable through their effect on the universe around them, or particles that have been calculated, but never seen (such as the graviton, or the strangelet). I was once watching a documentary dealing heavily in quantum mechanics and one of the scientists they were interviewing said "If god is such a vast and omniscient deity, why would he care so much if we acknowledge his existence and pray to him?" or something to that effect. She raised a very interesting point, one of my favorite quotes ever (though I can't remember all of it, its been years since I watched that) The last thing that lead me to this point is my girlfriend. She's actually the one who showed me this site... I suppose it had never really occurred to me that I could just kind of say "well, I don't believe in that anymore, I have chosen to find my own views on the world" or perhaps it had, but I thought something to the effect of "but I cant do that, I'll be a heathen!!!" LOL... She told me that she used to be a Christian, but finally came to her conclusions on the whole thing, and became an atheist. I knew that some one like her could not be destined for hell, simply because she decided to form her own views of the world! So I came to the conclusion that, it is not bad to turn away from that which so severely limits my research into the inner workings of the universe. I suppose some would call me a bit of a classic scientist, I seem to be interested in the workings of... just about everything... It is just not enough for me to be told "well, it just kind of happened one day. God said it was, and then it was, and thats all that happened." I just could not accept reasoning like that. Also, being a scientist, I refuse to either acknowledge nor deny that some deity had some hand in our creation, because there's no way to prove either is correct. But I'm also not going to let a belief system impede my free thinking! If such a deity truly exists, then they gave us free thought for a reason, and would not give us free thought simply to make us slaves to his (or her) thoughts! So ya, thats about it... I suppose this is kind of the final step for me... lol... I have finally devoted myself to the world of logic, a much better place than that of constant avoidance of things that deny the existence of god. I have no plans to tell my parents yet (who happen to be my mom and grandma, I count my grandma as a parent because, well, who the hell knows where my dad is, and generally I don't care at this point...) simply to avoid conflict... But I may tell them some day, perhaps when I am on my way to college... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirono Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 The last thing that lead me to this point is my girlfriend. She's actually the one who showed me this site... I suppose it had never really occurred to me that I could just kind of say "well, I don't believe in that anymore, I have chosen to find my own views on the world" or perhaps it had, but I thought something to the effect of "but I cant do that, I'll be a heathen!!!" LOL... She told me that she used to be a Christian, but finally came to her conclusions on the whole thing, and became an atheist. I knew that some one like her could not be destined for hell, simply because she decided to form her own views of the world! So I came to the conclusion that, it is not bad to turn away from that which so severely limits my research into the inner workings of the universe. I'm so glad to be of service, it never really occurred to me that I might be one of the reasons you were able to finally realize you didn't have to believe. And the fact that you think there is no way I'm a candidate for roasting for eternity, well that's sweet! So ya, thats about it... I suppose this is kind of the final step for me... lol... I have finally devoted myself to the world of logic, a much better place than that of constant avoidance of things that deny the existence of god. I have no plans to tell my parents yet (who happen to be my mom and grandma, I count my grandma as a parent because, well, who the hell knows where my dad is, and generally I don't care at this point...) simply to avoid conflict... But I may tell them some day, perhaps when I am on my way to college... Welcome to the real world, the Red Pill may taste awful at first, but it's a much better decision in the end. *Glomp* I am such a nerd.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraphicsGuy Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Welcome Katana0! I was wondering who you were talking about in your post...and someone I absolutely don't know suddenly pops up...hi shirono! Katana, I figure you must have a pretty amazing mind to have been studying hard science at such a young age. I envy you! Congrats on finally dropping those last vestiges of the cult! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Katana0 Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Welcome Katana0! I was wondering who you were talking about in your post...and someone I absolutely don't know suddenly pops up...hi shirono! Katana, I figure you must have a pretty amazing mind to have been studying hard science at such a young age. I envy you! Congrats on finally dropping those last vestiges of the cult! Eh... I dont know if you'd exactly call my mind amazing... Quantum physics just happened to pique my interest one day, so I started doing google searches and reading articles on wikipedia... every time I didnt know what a word or phrase meant, there was usually a link to another page talking about whatever it was... lol... usually some theory or property of subatomic particles (they do some weird stuff sometimes...) And ya, it is pretty nice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirono Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 I was wondering who you were talking about in your post...and someone I absolutely don't know suddenly pops up...hi shirono! yeah I have a habit of lurking I suppose, when I find a topic to post in someone else has usually already made my point for me and usually better than I could have ever done.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
par4dcourse Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Welcome Katana0. I started studying quantum physics exactly the same way. My "prove it" scientific mentality also was the driving force behind my de-conversion. Fact and religion are like oil and water. Look forward to your posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtdude Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 ...I was once watching a documentary dealing heavily in quantum mechanics and one of the scientists they were interviewing said "If god is such a vast and omniscient deity, why would he care so much if we acknowledge his existence and pray to him?" or something to that effect. She raised a very interesting point, one of my favorite quotes ever... And now it's one of my favorite quotes, too. Welcome, Katana0. Freedom of thought is a muy groovy thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Katana0 Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 So far things are going well... I havent had much time to do any further research into... anything... but at least I am not so restricted in thought... perhaps the de-programming process will not be as hard as I thought it would be! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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