Reply #5: Incredible sense of freedom from the feeling [View All]

[RoBear]

of being watched by a malevolent god who actually cares about some of the foolishness "they" throw at us. I'm amazed that people can still hang onto old beliefs based on tribal rules ascribed erroneously to "God."

Those "near-death" experiences are simply the brain shutting down. One of the other atheists at our MeetUp group was asked by someone, "What happens to you when you die?" Her response: "The worms eat you just like they do all dead things."

Another friend pointed out to me that there's actually a shelf of books on atheism in the story. The lady in front of him turned and remarked that that was awful. R---- remarked, "I'm an atheist." Her response: "You'll be sorry some day!"

It's all based on fear. Shed that and you're out of the frightened bunch and on the way to living a full life.

BTW, I left for many reasons, but the thing I could absolutely NOT reconcile is the idea that JC was "sacrificed" on the cross. I couldn't shed the idea that sacrificing a life to a god was such a pagan thing to do.

I too have no problem with the things jesus said, but paul (that screaming queen) and the rest of the women-hating child molesters are not for me. The odd thing is my best friend is a nun and she understands completely and agrees with many things while studying arcane and esoteric "paths" to the truth. She is so put off by the church, but because of her age and the fact that she can work within the structure of the church, she stays in the convent.

Sorry for the dissertation! O8)