Didnt Know What I Was Looking For Until I Found It.

[Eleandrus]

Hello

 

I just became a Atheist on Friday the 20th after watching A Steven Hawking video called Did God create the Universe. It was one of his Curiosity shows he did. Currently I just finished taking college Physics class and I was able to understand what Steven was talking about, when he said that before the Big Bang there was no time, so there was no time for a creator to create anything. I don’t know a lot about Quantum Physics but I understand that the Universe created itself now therefore there was no need to believe in a God that never was or Jesus who was just a man.

 

I am almost 32 and I was raised (made) to be a Catholic until I was 18 (my whole family is Catholic on Dads side), However growing up id been exposed to Baptists and even Jehovah Witnesses services. I’ve spoken in tongues or rather forced out words rather than let down the people around me at the time. While in High School I even tried out Scientology, it wasn’t for me and IMO is cult like. After I turned 18 my mom who used to be Baptist started going to a Lutheran church so I converted over. In Aug of 99 I went to Navy boot camp, there I became a baptized Mormon and a Aaronic Priest all because I didn’t want to go to Catholic mass or Jewish Services, they had Protestant but I was too new in Lutheran to know that’s what I was so LDS seemed like a good choice. After boot camp I never returned to the Mormon Church. In 2006 I was Baptized Southern Baptist, my wife's current religion.

 

Last week before I started thinking if there was a god or not, my Friend "J" who I served with a couple of years ago asked me how I learned about religion and God. I told him through my parents and he was like but u really didn’t decide for yourself did you. He asked me about how many religions id been and i told him, He asked" what the hell are u searching for" I told him "I don’t know" ,"then why do it" He told me that God was nothing but about control and fear. Why do I have to be threatened with hell, just to be encouraged to be a good person?. What he said was making sense, He told me to watch Zeitgeist the movie and I told him I already did and it was Blasphemy. But then I said okay and started to realize I’d been lied to. After I watched that movie on You tube, Steven Hawking’s 45min program was in the recommendations so I watched it and was blown away. The thing I’d been searching for, that I couldn’t describe was the truth, in science.

 

Thanks for Reading

[Wings]

Hi Eleandrus,

welcome to ex-c and thanks for sharing your story. It's tough to find your way out but it sounds like you're on the right path... just keep asking questions and surround yourself with supportive and understanding people in whatever capacity you can-- sounds like you already know this though

Wishing you the best on this journey and as you find the peace that you're searching for! Hope to see you around here!

[3DollarBill]

That program was a big part of my deconversion as well. Science is fatal to superstition.

 

Welcome to the real world.

[TrueFreedom]

Welcome, Eleandrus! Thanks for sharing your story. Once you are willing to examine your own religious beliefs objectively and consider alternatives the house of cards comes down fast, doesn't it?

[Kaiser01]

You will find with more and more scientific inquiry that "God" get smaller and smaller. Eventually God runs out of room and that God becomes non existent or completely useless.

[Eleandrus]

Thanks for the Welcome all.

 

Wings I’ve always had questions growing up. Like getting baptized when i was a Catholic as a baby before I even knew what Sin was never made any damn sense to me. Also for the longest time I’ve never Preyed I never believed in it because of what people told me conflicted each other so much. they said "GOD has a plan for you" and "GOD gave us free will" so when u prey you’re asking god to alter his plan for just for you. Seems kinda selfish and pointless and went against "the Plan" I Am sure many people have heard George Carlin's skit about how’s he prayed to Joe Pesce cause he look like a guy that can get shit done. I heard that and was like Exactly George.

 

Wings my grandfather was born in Paincourt/Chatham Ont. CA Very proud of that and my very Arcadian French last name. 12^th grand dad founded Port Royale Nova Scotia and Chipody/Shipody Newfoundland

 

3Dollarbill yeah that show makes perfect sense but i have to be honest if I wasn’t perusing my Bachelor’s Degree i would have never had a reason to take Physics, I’d never had deconverted. If there was no Creator then Jesus had no reason to die for Sins that never existed if Jesus was a real man at all. I admit the New Test. is talking about the same person and maybe he taught others to live great lives. But he didn’t die for our Sins because the Garden of Eden never existed.

 

That another issue that always got me Adam and Eve had kids and then their kids had kids so basically Christians want us to believe that were all inbred and that back then it wasn’t a sin but it is now. In order for humans to evolve they had to have a bigger stock of breeding couple than just two.

 

Lastly when I was a Christian I didn’t believe in human evolution but I did for everything else because it’s proven. Obviously creationism goes out the window, but is it wrong to still not Believe that we came from Damn Apes. I believe we evolved from something but that it’s still missing.

 

Truefreedom yes the house of cards fell down for me in about 3 hours

[Kaiser01]

The human fossil record is one of the most complete there is and there is an abundance of molecular evidence that suggest we share a common ancestor with apes. For example there are 16 retro viruses that show up in both the human and ape genome in the exact some spots. This is only possible by common descent because the chances of that happening by chance with NO common descent would be out outrageous.

[norton65ca]

welcome, there's some pretty deep Canadian roots there... Doesn't go back a lot farther for colonists than Port Royale.

Just a note about your last comments re: evolution. Your phrase: "but is it wrong to still not Believe that we came from Damn Apes" is based upon an erroneous presupposition. Evolutionary scientists have not claimed at any point to my knowledge that we (homo sapiens) are descended from the apes at all, far from it. What is presented as a plausible theory that is supported by what evidence there is to be seen, is that the higher primates (including homo sapiens), in the family hominidae: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hominids may have a distant common ancestor many millennia back, however, our branch of the "family tree" if you will, diverged many millions of years ago. Furthermore, SINCE that family split, there have also been a number of members of the branch of the family tree that "haven't made it" so to speak, for example, homo erectus, as well as what we commonly refer to as the Neanderthals, who seem to have been overwhelmed by the incursion of early homo sapiens, in the form of what we commonly refer to as Cro magnon. Cro magnon was a direct ancestor of our modern species, but Neanderthal, and the much more ancient homo erectus, were unsuccessful offshoots of the family line. They are however, all members of the genus homo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_%28genus%29 Farther back, but still after our particular branch of hominids became distinct from the mysterious and as yet undiscovered link to the branch which in turn led to modern apes, there was another evolutionary dead end, which has been termed australopithecus: http://en.wikipedia....ustralopithecus this genus is long extinct, they seem to have been unable to deal with the arrival of the far more advanced early humans. So the family hominidae has four genus currently, us, chimps, gorillas and orang utans, with australopithecus as the fifth member of the family, long gone (by 2 million years ago.

 

These Christian misconceptions and false answers are irritating but extremely common. The lie, that respectable scientists are trying to convince people that we are descended from apes, is as old as the first resistance to Darwin's theories. No decent scientist has held that opinion, the real picture is much more complex and nuanced than that. No, we are absolutely not descended from apes, evolutionary theory doesn't support that. We do, however, have a common ancestor, but don't worry, we split from that loud, filthy, banana scoffing, tree dwelling, rude, bum waving bunch about 20 million years ago or more...

[Eleandrus]

So basically we came from the same thing but somehow we diverted away from each other to become Apes and Humans. so the link that is missing is only a phyical one, it being the the orginal being that we both came from and evolved out of.

[norton65ca]

yup, that's basically the core of it. survival of fragile hominid fossils dating up to 10 million years ago is almost, to use a hackneyed phrase, "miraculous". We have a very incomplete picture but there is clear evidence of hominid development very far back now, but the original bridge between the ancient ancestors of the apes and the ancient ancestors of your mother? we're not there yet and may never be.

[TrueFreedom]

So basically we came from the same thing but somehow we diverted away from each other to become Apes and Humans. so the link that is missing is only a phyical one, it being the the orginal being that we both came from and evolved out of.

We actually have discovered some of the common ancestors. We also share DNA with Neanderthals...

[Eleandrus]

ty for clearing that up, i listen to plenty of scientific minds because I am into and signed up to be Frozen when i die and most of the conversations ive had were like that that were apes and ur wrong for saying other wise and are not scientific enough. ive always believed in Evolution because Darwin was not a fool and there evidence of it all but growing up Christians it’s hard to conceive that God didn’t create us, no matter what logical explanation is presented. I do know believe in Evolution cause since there’s no God and the Universe created itself then humans had to have come out of the primordial soup and evolved in to what we are today. Were to advance as a species to just poof into existence

[norton65ca]

turns out after reading some of those wiki articles myself that what with discoveries and new taxonomy, there are a number of genus other than Australopithecus that are extinct.

[Eleandrus]

I never really researched Human Evolotion because it was such a forbidden fruit to even think that god didnt create us. the whole Adam and Eve never set well with me even years ago. all those generations until "the flood " took them all out and they were all inbreds. Then what happen Noah starting the inbreeding all over again. To think thats what people including myself believe/believed is kinda disturbing

[Wings]

Wings my grandfather was born in Paincourt/Chatham Ont. CA

 

 

Eleandrus- are you kidding?! I'm from Chatham (my hometown)! What a small world because no one knows where that is (lol, much less Paincourt)!! Bonjour et beinvenue! Have you been there before?

 

Lol, ps. sorry I didn't add more to make this a helpful deconversion thread. But I'm always astounded (and excited) at what a small world it is and the connections I"ve been able to make on here!

[Eleandrus]

Ive never been there but one of my Realitives built the alter for the Old St pauls church i believe, ive seen the pictures with his name attached to it, i could find out. My last name is Thibodeau. As far as Port Royale and Chipoudie, now Hopewell Cape Pierre Thibodeau founded both of them after coming over from Marans, near La Rochelle, France in 1630

 

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pitretrail/myline/paternal/PThibodeauJT.htm

[mcdaddy]

Why are they always "damn apes"??? Better than a freaking madigascaran hissing cockroach isn't it??

 

Can't change the facts. They are what they are.

[Eleandrus]

I only knew evolution as us coming from Damn apes, I was taught to believe that Evolution was not correct that Creationsim was the only way God made us. I now know that to be false.

[silentknight]

Heh. I can relate to that speaking in tongues to fit in thing. I never spoke in tongues, but I pretended to be "slain in the spirit" a few times after being pushed by the pastor of a "dancing in the aisles" apostolic church my step father made me attend. I always wondered how many others felt nothing, but pretended in order to fit in there.

[Kaiser01]

I only knew evolution as us coming from Damn apes, I was taught to believe that Evolution was not correct that Creationsim was the only way God made us. I now know that to be false.

 

The thing about creationism is it treats itself as a "win by default" thing and that's not how science works. Even if you disprove evolution creationism has done NOTHING it prove its own position, it just assumes it wins. Creationism is bad science and mostly made up of unsupported hypothesizes.

[Eleandrus]

Science is true because it’s Verifiable and repeatable, Creationism is only "valid" for Christians. So how do u think a Native American would take Creationism if they are not Christian or Buddhist or any other non-Christian sect. It has to be true for any faith to be an actual explanation to as how we were made. With Evolution any person of any faith, which educates themself can know the answer, not be told the answer

 

Like your quote, when i was in the Navy i was the Second person in the armed forces to sign up for Cryonics. I hope to live after death, I’ve always hated the thought of dying and think with cryonics i could live a second life and make new choices, careers in the future

 

“Immortality: A Toy which people cry for, And on their knees apply for, Dispute, contend and lie for, And if allowed would be right proud eternally to die for.” - Ambrose Bierce

[wndwalkr99]

Heh. I can relate to that speaking in tongues to fit in thing. I never spoke in tongues, but I pretended to be "slain in the spirit" a few times after being pushed by the pastor of a "dancing in the aisles" apostolic church my step father made me attend. I always wondered how many others felt nothing, but pretended in order to fit in there.

 

I'm betting all of them.

 

 

Edited for really annoying and stupid typos

[Spectrox]

Hello

 

I just became a Atheist on Friday the 20th after watching A Steven Hawking video called Did God create the Universe. It was one of his Curiosity shows he did. Currently I just finished taking college Physics class and I was able to understand what Steven was talking about, when he said that before the Big Bang there was no time, so there was no time for a creator to create anything. I don’t know a lot about Quantum Physics but I understand that the Universe created itself now therefore there was no need to believe in a God that never was or Jesus who was just a man.

 

I am almost 32 and I was raised (made) to be a Catholic until I was 18 (my whole family is Catholic on Dads side), However growing up id been exposed to Baptists and even Jehovah Witnesses services. I’ve spoken in tongues or rather forced out words rather than let down the people around me at the time. While in High School I even tried out Scientology, it wasn’t for me and IMO is cult like. After I turned 18 my mom who used to be Baptist started going to a Lutheran church so I converted over. In Aug of 99 I went to Navy boot camp, there I became a baptized Mormon and a Aaronic Priest all because I didn’t want to go to Catholic mass or Jewish Services, they had Protestant but I was too new in Lutheran to know that’s what I was so LDS seemed like a good choice. After boot camp I never returned to the Mormon Church. In 2006 I was Baptized Southern Baptist, my wife's current religion.

 

Last week before I started thinking if there was a god or not, my Friend "J" who I served with a couple of years ago asked me how I learned about religion and God. I told him through my parents and he was like but u really didn’t decide for yourself did you. He asked me about how many religions id been and i told him, He asked" what the hell are u searching for" I told him "I don’t know" ,"then why do it" He told me that God was nothing but about control and fear. Why do I have to be threatened with hell, just to be encouraged to be a good person?. What he said was making sense, He told me to watch Zeitgeist the movie and I told him I already did and it was Blasphemy. But then I said okay and started to realize I’d been lied to. After I watched that movie on You tube, Steven Hawking’s 45min program was in the recommendations so I watched it and was blown away. The thing I’d been searching for, that I couldn’t describe was the truth, in science.

 

Thanks for Reading

 

Eleandrus - welcome to X-X.

 

Personally what convinced me that the Bible was not true was the Bible itself. It contained so many contradictions and stupid unbelievable mad as bat-shit stuff that I gave up on it.

 

I don't think the Zeitgeist - Greatest Story Ever Sold is that convincing or as well researched as it could have been. I'm not sold on the idea that Sirius was the Star of Bethlehem or that the 3 stars in Orion's belt were the 3 magi. The best book I've read on the idea that Jesus was a pagan solar messiah is The Jesus Mysteries by Timothy Freke.

 

Zeitgeist's analysis of the US money system is better than it's attack on religion. And there are better scientists out there than Hawking (bless him) but anyway, hope you enjoy the site ...

[Guest Babylonian Dream]

Welcome to Ex-c!

 

I remember before I finally became an atheist, I religion hopped like there was no tomorrow. My brother used to joke that I had a new one every week (a huge exaggeration, but I probably did look into a new one each and every week for a while).

 

I avoided atheism at all costs though, but eventually denial lost to my desire for a coherent sense of reality, in which I was searching for for a long while.