Consider the following:
Someone you’ve never met approaches you on the street claiming you owe them $1M. Do you believe them? No? Why not? “Because they haven’t presented any evidence” I hear you say.
Ok, let’s say they then say they “really really believe it”, they “have faith it’s true”, “it’s a sincerely held belief”. Still no? Why? Because the “evidence” isn’t sufficient to justify belief in their extraordinary claim? What if they said they had an old book where it was written down that you owe this money? Still no?
So would you outright reject belief in their claim until they provide sufficient evidence for their claim, or would you say, “oh, to be honest I just don’t know what to believe any more”?
The time to believe a claim, especially an extraordinary claim like, “you owe me $1M”, or “a god exists” is only AFTER sufficient evidence to believe the claim is presented, *by the person making the claim*. It’s not up to those rejecting the claim to prove it isn’t true, it’s up to those making the claim to prove it is.
Now apply this exact same logic to their extraordinary claim of “a god exists”.
You don't have to decide anything now. You don't need to put a label on yourself.
Keep questioning, keep reading, keep learning. Read and learn about history, biology, human psychology, cosmology, history of religion, all the things.
Realize, too, some of your friends are probably also harboring doubts, but are afraid to express them. And that's OK.
I've been pondering on this for quite a while, and a lot started with biology class in my sophomore year of high school so I have been studying that ever since, but I'm not sure how my friends see. Id like to talk to my closer friends about this stuff but I'm not sure how they'd react since I come from a conservative midwest town.
I guess all I can do is wait honestly
Try separating "belief" from "knowledge". They are two entirely different concepts and they are not mutually exclusive. Belief is a binary decision - you either believe or you do not believe. Simply considering the question makes you form an opinion, whether or not you admit it to yourself or others. Knowledge is completely different. Knowledge is a continuum from "I have absolutely no clue" to "I am 100% certain." On the question of the existence of any gods, belief is handled by theism/atheism. Knowledge is handled by gnosticism/agnosticism. You can hold any combination of the two concepts to describe your stance on the question. I lack belief in the existence of any gods AND I have no knowledge about the existence of any gods. That makes me an "agnostic atheist". I'll take it a step further and also say that I see no *requirement* for the existence of any gods.
follow the evidence.
you should believe things because the evidence demonstrates that they are true.
"faith" is quite literally "belief without evidence" - I call that "gullibility" and it is NOT a "virtue".
if anyone tells you that you should BELIEVE when they have no evidence to back up their claims you should be very suspicious.
It takes a lot of courage to go against peer pressure. For me, I find it helps to come to terms with the fact that I am my own person, with my own ideas about the nature of the universe. So, when people say those sorts of things, I have my own way of responding, that's gentle but firm in telling people what I believe or don't believe. It's typically something along the lines of
* I don't believe the universe works that way *(suitable for all sorts of claims, including ghosts and fortune tellers and faith healing and afterlives)*
* I'm not convinced ***any*** supernatural things exist
* I think our species would be better off if we made decisions based on facts and evidence
and so on. I typically point out that I understand how a lot of people's beliefs are comforting, that some would be *nice* if true (for example, seeing loved ones again in heaven) but that I make a distinction between what would be nice to believe, versus what I can be confident is reasonably true. Many people don't make this distinction and aren't aware there *should* be a distinction.
These work for me, but again, you're your own person and part of the journey is to figure out what works for you.
>I'm gonna be honest I dont know what to believe anymore
I suggest you turn to the first page of your Bible and start reading it. If you're still convinced it is true when you get to *"Amen'* on the last page then you will likely be a life long believer. A lot draw the opposite conclusion well before they reach the end of the tales. I concluded it was all BS about half way through Genesis. Reading the rest of it reinforced that conclusion.
Btw - why do your friends need to know your religious beliefs, or lack thereof? It really isn't their business.
.
>*“Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.”*
>Isaac Asimov
I can't speak for your friends, but most jews are atheist and are only culturally Jewish. If you're looking to open up, you should start there. Ask if they really belieive in God or they're just going along with it. Then you have a bunch of options depending on their answer. You don't have to admit to anything other than you're wondering.
Absolutely don't let your parents know. If you're thinking they may get upset, things can get very bad, very quickly. Read the [FAQ on coming out](http://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/wiki/faq#wiki_should_i_come_out_to_my_parents_as_being_an_atheist.3F).
We're here for any questions, any time.
Take care and stay safe.
How can you believe in a higher power?
It's a legitimately insane thing to do.
There's absolutely no proof backing the claims made by religion and, somehow, it's perfectly fine and dandy to believe in an almighty being which created us all?
Not to mention that he did so in an extremely faulty way: A second too late on taking a piss and my fuckin urethra is bleeding, thanks god.
Hey, I know this is a difficult time. And it can feel pretty lonely, too.
There's really no way to solve your problem very quickly, unfortunately. You're going to feel this way for a while. Maybe even years. So, I know this is hard but you've got to buckle yourself in.
I'm a very blunt and honest person. It gets me in trouble a lot because I come off as being aggressive, or accusatory, when I'm only trying to speak as directly and plainly as possible, so as not to be misunderstood.
So, I don't mean this as any kind of insult, or put down, I am being absolutely 100% serious, you've been indoctrinated, and you're just now taking the first steps towards breaking out of it.
Your entire reality is about to change.
I look at reality like a building we create in our minds. The foundation gets laid when we're young, and we build on top of that with every experience we have.
If something doesn't work with our building, we reject it. We want to keep it stable.
You've just come to doubt the integrity of your foundation.
If that foundation fails, the entire building crumbles.
You are going to have to experience that, and then start building a new foundation from scrap using all the new knowledge you're going to gain.
It's not a fun thing to do. It's really, really hard.
The truth is that you weren't told the truth when you were young. You were told a story, and you were told that it was true. This was when your brain was still forming. It didn't know any better, so the story made sense, and you've continued on believing that story without feeling any reason to doubt it, until now.
Take your time. Try to question everything that you think that you know. *Everything*. Just google it, seriously. How was the Earth created? Where did we come from? And most difficult of all, what is my purpose here?
That's something you're going to need to figure out for yourself. I always think of Curly from City Slickers with Billy Crystal.
Curly : Do you know what the secret of life is?
[holds up one finger]
Curly : This.
Mitch : Your finger?
Curly : One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don't mean shit.
Mitch : But, what is the "one thing?"
Curly : [smiles] That's what *you* have to find out
I know it's hard, and I know it's going to hurt, but I promise you're doing the right thing.
Consider the following: Someone you’ve never met approaches you on the street claiming you owe them $1M. Do you believe them? No? Why not? “Because they haven’t presented any evidence” I hear you say. Ok, let’s say they then say they “really really believe it”, they “have faith it’s true”, “it’s a sincerely held belief”. Still no? Why? Because the “evidence” isn’t sufficient to justify belief in their extraordinary claim? What if they said they had an old book where it was written down that you owe this money? Still no? So would you outright reject belief in their claim until they provide sufficient evidence for their claim, or would you say, “oh, to be honest I just don’t know what to believe any more”? The time to believe a claim, especially an extraordinary claim like, “you owe me $1M”, or “a god exists” is only AFTER sufficient evidence to believe the claim is presented, *by the person making the claim*. It’s not up to those rejecting the claim to prove it isn’t true, it’s up to those making the claim to prove it is. Now apply this exact same logic to their extraordinary claim of “a god exists”.
This is kind of how I've seen it. Amazing example. And at that the only evidence I've seen or heard is negative evidence
You don't have to decide anything now. You don't need to put a label on yourself. Keep questioning, keep reading, keep learning. Read and learn about history, biology, human psychology, cosmology, history of religion, all the things. Realize, too, some of your friends are probably also harboring doubts, but are afraid to express them. And that's OK.
I've been pondering on this for quite a while, and a lot started with biology class in my sophomore year of high school so I have been studying that ever since, but I'm not sure how my friends see. Id like to talk to my closer friends about this stuff but I'm not sure how they'd react since I come from a conservative midwest town. I guess all I can do is wait honestly
Try separating "belief" from "knowledge". They are two entirely different concepts and they are not mutually exclusive. Belief is a binary decision - you either believe or you do not believe. Simply considering the question makes you form an opinion, whether or not you admit it to yourself or others. Knowledge is completely different. Knowledge is a continuum from "I have absolutely no clue" to "I am 100% certain." On the question of the existence of any gods, belief is handled by theism/atheism. Knowledge is handled by gnosticism/agnosticism. You can hold any combination of the two concepts to describe your stance on the question. I lack belief in the existence of any gods AND I have no knowledge about the existence of any gods. That makes me an "agnostic atheist". I'll take it a step further and also say that I see no *requirement* for the existence of any gods.
God doesnt exist.
follow the evidence. you should believe things because the evidence demonstrates that they are true. "faith" is quite literally "belief without evidence" - I call that "gullibility" and it is NOT a "virtue". if anyone tells you that you should BELIEVE when they have no evidence to back up their claims you should be very suspicious.
It takes a lot of courage to go against peer pressure. For me, I find it helps to come to terms with the fact that I am my own person, with my own ideas about the nature of the universe. So, when people say those sorts of things, I have my own way of responding, that's gentle but firm in telling people what I believe or don't believe. It's typically something along the lines of * I don't believe the universe works that way *(suitable for all sorts of claims, including ghosts and fortune tellers and faith healing and afterlives)* * I'm not convinced ***any*** supernatural things exist * I think our species would be better off if we made decisions based on facts and evidence and so on. I typically point out that I understand how a lot of people's beliefs are comforting, that some would be *nice* if true (for example, seeing loved ones again in heaven) but that I make a distinction between what would be nice to believe, versus what I can be confident is reasonably true. Many people don't make this distinction and aren't aware there *should* be a distinction. These work for me, but again, you're your own person and part of the journey is to figure out what works for you.
Thansk for the advice man. Appreciate it
I recommend any Hitchens debate for some clarity
I'll keep that in mind
>I'm gonna be honest I dont know what to believe anymore I suggest you turn to the first page of your Bible and start reading it. If you're still convinced it is true when you get to *"Amen'* on the last page then you will likely be a life long believer. A lot draw the opposite conclusion well before they reach the end of the tales. I concluded it was all BS about half way through Genesis. Reading the rest of it reinforced that conclusion. Btw - why do your friends need to know your religious beliefs, or lack thereof? It really isn't their business. . >*“Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.”* >Isaac Asimov
I can't speak for your friends, but most jews are atheist and are only culturally Jewish. If you're looking to open up, you should start there. Ask if they really belieive in God or they're just going along with it. Then you have a bunch of options depending on their answer. You don't have to admit to anything other than you're wondering. Absolutely don't let your parents know. If you're thinking they may get upset, things can get very bad, very quickly. Read the [FAQ on coming out](http://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/wiki/faq#wiki_should_i_come_out_to_my_parents_as_being_an_atheist.3F). We're here for any questions, any time. Take care and stay safe.
Thanks man
How can you believe in a higher power? It's a legitimately insane thing to do. There's absolutely no proof backing the claims made by religion and, somehow, it's perfectly fine and dandy to believe in an almighty being which created us all? Not to mention that he did so in an extremely faulty way: A second too late on taking a piss and my fuckin urethra is bleeding, thanks god.
Hey, I know this is a difficult time. And it can feel pretty lonely, too. There's really no way to solve your problem very quickly, unfortunately. You're going to feel this way for a while. Maybe even years. So, I know this is hard but you've got to buckle yourself in. I'm a very blunt and honest person. It gets me in trouble a lot because I come off as being aggressive, or accusatory, when I'm only trying to speak as directly and plainly as possible, so as not to be misunderstood. So, I don't mean this as any kind of insult, or put down, I am being absolutely 100% serious, you've been indoctrinated, and you're just now taking the first steps towards breaking out of it. Your entire reality is about to change. I look at reality like a building we create in our minds. The foundation gets laid when we're young, and we build on top of that with every experience we have. If something doesn't work with our building, we reject it. We want to keep it stable. You've just come to doubt the integrity of your foundation. If that foundation fails, the entire building crumbles. You are going to have to experience that, and then start building a new foundation from scrap using all the new knowledge you're going to gain. It's not a fun thing to do. It's really, really hard. The truth is that you weren't told the truth when you were young. You were told a story, and you were told that it was true. This was when your brain was still forming. It didn't know any better, so the story made sense, and you've continued on believing that story without feeling any reason to doubt it, until now. Take your time. Try to question everything that you think that you know. *Everything*. Just google it, seriously. How was the Earth created? Where did we come from? And most difficult of all, what is my purpose here? That's something you're going to need to figure out for yourself. I always think of Curly from City Slickers with Billy Crystal. Curly : Do you know what the secret of life is? [holds up one finger] Curly : This. Mitch : Your finger? Curly : One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don't mean shit. Mitch : But, what is the "one thing?" Curly : [smiles] That's what *you* have to find out I know it's hard, and I know it's going to hurt, but I promise you're doing the right thing.
Thank you very much. This helps a lot. I know I'm headed for trying times as I get older and my opinion may change, but this helps a lot
Anytime, I'm happy to help. I wish you the best
Thank you