10 September 2007

How I Changed From An Agnostic to an Atheist

OK. Lots to talk about.

First, to get started, I heard the lyrics to the song Knights of Cydonia (Wiki) on an advert, and remembered it was by Muse.
Most importantly I remebered the lyrics "Don't waste your time or time will waste you."

I was reading the Wikipedia page about Matthew Bellamy, the lead singer of MUSE, the rock band - who totally rock!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Bellamy
(or go to http://www.musewiki.org/Matthew_Bellamy for more fan-related info)
And down the bottom it says "Bellamy is an atheist: "Being an atheist means you have to realise that when you die, that really is it. You've got to make the most of what you've got here and spread as much influence as you can. I believe that you only live through the influence that you spread, whether that means having a kid or making music"."

And if you think about it, the lyrics from that song reflect that. They make me feel like getting out there and making a difference.

If you have read my profile on MySpace recently, you'll notice I changed it from Protestant (Christian) to Agnostic.

To me, agnostic basically means that you are unsure if god exists. You have doubts. And maybe you believe that it is not even possible for us to prove that God exists. And I was, up 'til now, very supporting of this position. In the past, I said I was Christian basically because everyone else does. I do Christmas, Easter, etc. I have strong imaginations and feelings towards the events in the Bible and belive that some of them could have happened, but believe it was more likely to be Robin Hood ("Robert Hode"). LOL just joking with you...

But when I read about Agnostism on Wikipedia, it was certainly ringing true with me. (Go to Wiki) So I changed.

Okay, keep going with me here...

So then I started watching Skins (WOOOOOH SKINS ROCKS!!!) and in the first episode, Tony said "I say, this world extends way beyond this little field of dreams we're dancing in, and I wanna see that world!" Plus, if you notice, Tony is reading a book called Nausea, which is about a guy who discovers Existentialism.

So I went and looked up Existentialism on Wiki (God, I just love that site, don't I ?!) and I really agreed with some of the ideas it was bringing up. Feelings like... rejecting the world.
Søren Kierkegaard puts it very simply "How did I get into the world? Why was I not asked about it and why was I not informed of the rules and regulations but just thrust into the ranks as if I had been bought by a peddling shanghaier of human beings? How did I get involved in this big enterprise called actuality? Why should I be involved? Isn't it a matter of choice? And if I am compelled to be involved, where is the manager—I have something to say about this. Is there no manager? To whom shall I make my complaint?"

And that is exactly how I feel sometimes!!! I just don't always have the guts to say it out loud to anyone.

(and I just wanted to mention that the author of Nausea is Jean-Paul Sartre - who, after I was reading about him, had a question about him come up on Millionaire a couple of days after I learned about who he was!!! Spooky! anyway.)

Okay, so then I thought, "Wow, this is getting to be really cool stuff now. Certainly I'm finished thinking about everything?"

BUT NO!!

I decided to go and read the Wiki article about Atheism (link here) and I am absolutely flabbergasted about how true it is to me!!

Some notable points which dragged me into it:
- Weak atheism is like Agnosticism
- "Philosophers such as Ludwig Feuerbach and Sigmund Freud argued that God and other religious beliefs are human inventions, created to fulfill various psychological and emotional wants or needs." - That definitely rings true with me - all religion is actually codswallop, if you think about it, just like Astrology, Horoscopes and Eskimos (that's a Simpsons joke)
- "Theodicean atheists believe that the world as they experience it cannot be reconciled with the qualities commonly ascribed to God and gods by theologians. They argue that an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent God is not compatible with a world where there is evil and suffering, and where divine love is hidden from many people. A similar argument is attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism."

And to me, that rings true so much. Do you remember my old blog about Religion? Do you remember that I said "How can a god translate all that stuff into what is good and what is bad?" Yeah? Yeah?

So I just wanted to share all this with you guys. I respect all religions, hence my position on Agnosticism (because I just can't say that there is absolutely no way we can prove that God does not exist, so we can't prove He does... plus, I need to blame all my co-incidences on someone, and as I said in an old blog, We Are God. God Is Everywhere. God Is Us.).

I really wanted to say this, guys, because, whenever I was reading people's profile's, if they said "Atheist", I was thinking, how can they be Atheist? No God? What the...? So I wanted to tell you exactly what Atheism is, so that you can make up your own mind as well.

Well - good luck to everyone and all the best to you! Just remember to make the most of your time that you have!

Picture of Anonymous
Luca Macis wrote:
You went pretty deep there mate but i can help but agree. I am in a similar boat to you. I don't believe but i am not, as of yet anyways, ready to give up the idea that it may be true.

We'll find out for sure when our time is up i guess.
Sept. 11 | Delete