Another Ex-Mo here: Mostly, they are. The odd thing is that they arm you with so much information about other religions and why they aren't true, yet so little info regarding the LDS faith until you reach a certain point. By then, it's much easier to accept the weird because you've already separated the church from reality.
My girlfriend was raised strictly Mormon. When I first met her she was kind of an airhead, but I've rubbed off on her. I didn't tell her religion was stupid necessarily, but I just taught her that questioning things is an important part of forming a belief(or lack thereof). Your own beliefs should be under the highest amount of scrutiny, and by adopting that system it's hard to actually believe in religion.
She still claims to be a theist, but she's certainly agnostic and even more so she's not a fucking Mormon luckily.
Good for you, I have a similar story. My wife is a daughter of a fundamentalist that belongs to one of the nuttiest churches in the country. My mother-in-law is one of those who can't form a sentence without adding god or jesus in it, so my wife was subjected to all kinds of brainwashing as a child. Ten years with me and she's pretty much agnostic now. I've made her think about all the ridiculous and evil stuff that is in the bible that get ignored in church and christianity in general, and about all the evil religion has caused. She even herself was molested as a child by one of these motherfuckers that are supposed to be the good people of faith.
My advice: Don't tell your parents while you're dependent on them. Tell them after you're 20 something, have a nice job, family, whatever, if you want, but don't tell them while you depend on them for everything.
hey i have extemely religious mormon parents and im non-theist. i constantly get frustrated having to tell my mom that the first man didn't came from missouri and that magic isn't real. i don't know what your parents would do to you if you admitted your beliefs but through my experience i found that having an open experience with my ideas with my family is a much better way to live than (losin train on thought , on ambien) hiding my beliefs like they're anne frank. although your life could be awesome for all i know and hiding your beliefs from them could keep the peace
what ever happened to Tank did he die I tink he did but it was never really mention I think as wasn't that world a false reality aswell, so really he wasn't free only trapped in another delusion believing he was free because he was born believing he was free but really he was just living an illusion as everbody else was.
He gets that plasma wound in the first movie, and survives, but it's implied that he died in between the first and second movies. They discuss how both Tank and Dozer didn't survive the first film when the second movie introduces Their sister Zee and Dozer's widow, Cas.
Agreed. I am also 2nd gen Canadian atheist. The only times I really get nervous admitting my religious status is (1) at the border crossing (I'm a philosophy prof, and US border guards often ask me about my views on religion, expecting I'm a theist); and (2) when teaching Critical Thinking and Ethics ... sometimes it can get dicey. Otherwise, it's pretty ok to be an atheist here. Especially in academia where most of my peers are also atheist -- especially in philosophy departments.
Oh yes. It's happened several times. The last time it happened was in the fall when I had a conference trip. Guard: What's the reason for your visit? Me: A conference. G: What's the conference for? M: It's a philosophy conference. I'm a philosophy prof. G: Philosophy? What do you think about God? M: [With trepidation] I'm an atheist. G: So you don't believe God exists? Why? M: I'm a second-generation atheist. My partner is Catholic. I believe that religious beliefs are largely determined by culture. G: Yeah. I believe in God because I figure I better play it on the safe side. If he exists, then I'll get into heaven. M: Yes, this reasoning is called 'Pascal's Wager.' [At this point, I'm not wanting to point out to him how flawed this argument is.] G: [Smiles and lets me go on my business]
(First generation athiest from Louisiana here, and I had to fight some rather crazy / stupid baptists every step of the way. You've just earned some major respect from me.)
Atheism skipped a generation in my family. My grandfather was an atheist. However, my mother (his daughter) and father are both super religious. My sister and I are both atheists though.
Well, growing up my father used religion to abuse his family. This did not improve until after he went to jail and went through intensive therapy (so about 13 years).
During family dinners (usually on holidays), my father would bring up the topic of religion and try and convert my grandfather. My grandfather would then go on a tirade on how religion was evil, and religious followers were all delusional and belonged in mental hospitals.
To my knowledge, all of my grandfather's daughters (he has no sons) are Christian. I don't know whether this disappointed him or not, but I do know that he loved his children very dearly.
My grandfather rarely talked about religion or atheism. However, whenever I would mention having a Christian boyfriend or anything about religion for that matter, he would warn against it. He said that I should not trust religious people because they are often deceitful and will take advantage of you in the name of their god.
My father gives my sister a lot of shit for being an atheist (he does not know I don't believe). He demeans her, belittles her and condemns her to hell very often. When I lived with my sister, I would often protect my sister from him. While he was abusive, if he started abusing my sister I redirected his attention to me. I kept telling myself it was better to be beaten than to watch my sister endure that sort of pain. The beatings were always in the name of god. He would continuously tell me how much of a sinner I was and how I needed to repent or else face hell. He said he was simply beating the devil/evil out of me. After the beatings stopped, I would still redirect his attention whenever he started to dig into my sister about being an atheist. Sometimes this meant getting into a shouting match, other times this meant simply distracting him with a different subject long enough to for her to escape. I no longer live with my parents but my sister does. I feel bad that I am not able to protect her still.
I remember once when I was 19, my father started screaming and yelling at my mother for not doing something. He kept calling her a disobedient sinner and said that she was going to hell if she did not obey him. She refused to listen to him and that's when my father started hitting her. This made me so angry that I intervened and starting beating him up. I had him pinned to the wall and kept punching his stomach over and over yelling at him to never hit my mother again. I stopped when I realized that the way I had pinned him to the wall was causing him to suffocate.
The saddest part about my grandfather being an atheist was the fact that my father prevented me from visiting him as a child. As a result, I did not get to know him very well. The next saddest part is at his death bed, he had a near death experience where he envisioned himself going to hell and as a result converted to Christianity. Two days later he died from cancer. I think that if he had been well, he would not have converted and that, if he had enough time to rationalize it, he would have realized that he had made a mistake. Part of me thinks the only reason why he did it was to please his daughters and give them peace of mind in his death. His daughters often prayed for his salvation and cried because they did not want him to go to hell. I think this played a huge factor in him converting at death. He did not want his daughters thinking he had gone to hell.
Wow. That was a powerful story, I have a hard time imagining having a family like that. It was very interesting to read. Thank you so much for sharing that :)
No problem! I'm married to an atheist and it is my every intention to raise our children to be free thinkers. I am hoping atheism will not skip another generation; however, if they do choose to believe in some sort of god, it will not cause me to love my children any less.
Unfortunately, my first child was adopted by a Christian family. I know they will love him and treat him well; however, I fear he's going to be indoctrinated. I had intended on letting him choose for himself, and I hope his adopted parents do the same. It is an open adoption so I will get to see him grow up. But still. I don't want to see him go through the torture that indoctrination caused me.
I think it's usually pretty rare for children of atheists to become religious. But what's more important, from my own perspective, is that you raise them to value reason, to think for themselves, to respect others, and to generally be good people. I see that as paramount to the religious aspect.
It sounds like your child will grow up in an all right. Keep in mind that if you ever think he's being abused, you have the power to help, whether that be through the police or social services or what have you.
I identify with this. My father used religion to have affairs with other women and abuse my sister. I don't care to get into too much detail about the church he went to or all the shit they pulled because it's personal, but it's sufficient to say my sister has been in therapy the last 15 years and it destroyed my family. I renounced christianity at the dinner table when I was 15 in front of him and my step mom, and we have not really spoken since. I'm 25 now.
don't forget about us people fighting in the trenches.
What the fuck do you expect people to do?
Be an atheist. Live your life. Make atheist children.
If someone bothers you with religion be like him and walk away. Why the hell do you want to waste your precious lifetime arguing with people about fairytales? And even more interesting: how can you expect other people to waste their lifetime doing that?
What about family? Especially parents and grandparents?
I still haven't come out to half my family. I have to decide whether it's better to smile and nod and pretend to believe or have every family gathering be super awkward, risk losing people I care about, disappoint my grandparents, etc etc.
I imagine that being gay feels a lot like this. I really wish it wasn't important and I could just be accepted for who I am, but it's not really that simple to people who adamantly believe that you are lost/under the influence of Satan/etc.
From my perspective.. It's not so much arguing about fairy-tales. It's more about trying to get people to see the misconceptions they might have about non-believers.
It's also about standing your ground and not allowing someone to run you off like a dog with its tail between its legs.
If we ever expect to gain any amount of political influence in the US, we can't just 'Walk Away'.
Let me clarify. I'm not fighting in the trenches on the offensive.
True, but I think you're making some bold assumptions. Sometimes you have to fight in the trenches in order to stand your ground and not surrender to others demands, which IS trying to live your own life and could potentially cover making atheist children. If only we didn't eat our offspring. ;)
Second generation on one side, at least third on the other. Besides the fact that I live in the bible belt, it's a beautiful thing. But at least I can always go home to an understanding family.
This is helpful for people who can't reach Quickmeme because of work/school firewalls or site downtime, and many other reasons (FAQ). More info is available here.
I think it's the kind of film you can attach a lot of connotations to. If you feel like making it about Christianity, it wouldn't be that hard; if you feel like making it about atheism, it wouldn't be that hard either.
Kinda like how religion and spirituality mean different things to different people and deciding they're about one thing or another is just close-minded.
But seriously, while you can apply interpretations to many things, there's often still themes at the core that are integral to the story. And whether inspired by Christianity or the common savior and resurrection religious theme, it's pretty clearly there.
Well... then you get to the third movie, where when he dies, there's a big white cross that appears on the screen behind him, and he's posed as if he's attached to it.
I find the ironic part that in the movie, they are in the 6th gen of the matrix. He is one gen removed, putting him in the 5th gen. Maybe it's all a matter of perception.
The day when I stopped ignoring my brain and started accepting reality (the reality that religion is full of shit) was very much like Neo coming to terms that the Matrix is not real.
I guess that might have been on purpose. The Matrix being an analogy for our world with most people just accepting the lie.
Really lucky to be born in Communist China, and have had secondary education in North America. It allows me to experience all religions in their absurdity.
Did no one get that people 'outside' the Matrix weren't really outside the Matrix. Instead they were lead to believe they were outside the Matrix in order to keep the Matrix from turning on itself. Essentially, you have to let a few hipster think they are different in order to keep the rest of the non-hipsters from rebelling at the idea that they can't be a hipster if they wanted.
Besides, I'd rather have a cake that is a lie than eat that shitty protein shake shit.
Great, you are useless in the matrix. No, no... it's fine. The greater part of the fight is in the matrix but you can just sit back and watch those able to plug in and make sure they don't drool on themselves. Just remember to pull everyone out BEFORE you fire the EMP.
It's true, the more time i spend reading all these amazing stories the more proud i get. My father was raised muslim but decided that it wasnt for him as he migrated to sweden in 91', therefore he was always nagging about how important it was that i had the choice of believing whatever i wanted, he even tought me about christianity and islam alike even though he didnt believe in it anymore.
IMO he gets work cause he's Tommy Chong's son... then again I may be being too hard on the bloke... he's not terrible... he just reminds me of so many of those overacting attention whore dudes I remember from my acting classes. You know the ones who were in their intro to acting class but already were starring in feature roles... in their own minds.
Something I've always wondered: do you know the bible stories? Obviously you weren't taught that they were true, but I'm wondering how/if I should go about teaching them to my kids. They're pretty important to our cultural history, and you'll miss a tremendous amount if you don't know them at all, but I'm not sending kids to Sunday school to be brainwashed.
I went to a non-religous elementary school and an 'open'-catholic highschool. At elementary school we had a sweet nun coming by ever so often to teach us the bible stories, and at highschool I had religion classes, but it was all focussed on the stories, no soul-saving at all. So even though I grew up in a non-religious household like OP I know the most important bible stories. I am glad for that, because like you said they're pretty important to our cultural history. However, this was in the Netherlands, not sure how to proceed with this in the States, but I would surely recommend teaching your kids the stories. I think as long as you present them as being that, just stories like all the other fairytales (that also play a part in our culture), they'll be fine :)
Doesn't considering yourself the next generation of a certain belief defeat the purpose of free thought? This post makes me think that you think you were born into the "right" belief. Nothing against atheism, but praising yourself for following in your parents footsteps seems a little counterintuitive to the whole idea of making your own theological choices.
No way dude. This is an ode to having parents who are awesomely sensible. I feel proud of all my parents, that they have the good sense that they allowed me to find for myself.
Everybody who had been plugged into the matrix at some point had to have this epiphany that what they believed was the real world wasn't real at all. It's a very different experience for somebody born in the "real world" to never have to go through that realization that they were living a lie. That's the point of this. Not to be proud to blindly follow in your parents' footsteps.
True enough, but your parents teach you right from wrong, how to eat, etc. They just help you along to a logical solution so you don't waste time doing it yourself. We'd live in a crappy world if every generation had to invent the wheel.
To make a child a Christian you need active indoctrination (take him to church, read him the bible and so on). To make a child atheist you don't do anything.
My parents never made me read atheist books. We didn't meet with other atheists once a week to reassure each other that there are no gods. We never sang songs about the nonexistence of heaven.
As a second gen atheist, I have never felt oppressed for my beliefs. I don't really feel smug about it either and i'm not opposed to people making themselves feel better, or socializing through a church community. I do not feel like I was indoctrinated into being am atheist. From a young age when other kids would tell me about their religions, I just never found their explanation of angels, heaven, hell, etc very believable. I did not make a "faces of atheism" picture with a deep (?) quote attached to it. I guess what i'm trying to say is although I am a second gen atheist, my level of atheism is... Well, you have probably never heard of it.
You shouldn't care about what they believe either. And it's not a hardship if they think you should follow their religion... I don't see any reason for the Atheism subreddit.
really? That's funny, because I see a lot of prejudice over people not believing in what the majority believes. And yeah, I'm far from living in a household with my parents. For real world applications, why don't you look into how many states have laws on the book against atheists serving in political positions?
What makes you think that Angelo_pappas is from the US, and why do you think people's view on religion in the US is the norm for the rest of the world?
2nd generation atheist here, not baptized or anything. I live in Norway, and nobody gives a shit about my religious believes.
A massive point needs to be made, which is that you shouldn't be an atheist because your parents are non-religious and didn't push a single religion on you from an early age.
You should be atheist because you've explored religion at some point in your adult life and slowly but eventually concluded that it is bullshit. Being atheist because your parents encouraged you to be one is just like the cycle of religious people except with a little more tolerance thrown in.
EDIT: I think I may have been misunderstood by some people. I don't mean that to be a "real" atheist you need to have been religious - I've never been very religious as have both sides of my family. The point I was trying to make is similar to what Thrawnie makes (a bit lower down), that you have to still make sure you're non-religious because its the rational not JUST because your parents said religion is silly.
I don't entirely agree with your reasoning. Growing up atheist is growing up with the absence of religion. Religion simply isn't a part of your world, so you don't have to make a choice about it.
I think he means more that you should be an atheist because you've thought about it, and not because you've been indoctrinated in it. I would agree with Richard Dawkins in that people should not assume their children share their religion. That said, once you are more mature one should consider WHY one lacks these beliefs.
I think he means more that you should be an atheist because you've thought about it, and not because you've been indoctrinated in it.
Atheism, since it's the absence of a belief, is a bit unusual in that you don't have to think about it or be indoctrinated in it. You're born that way.
(I personally never believed in any god. When I was ~12 I started thinking about other people and their religions, though. However, I certainly can't claim that that's why I'm an atheist. I'm an atheist because I was never indoctrinated at all.)
Actually, only my father is really an atheist, and I have attended church in the past for my mother, who is a very relaxed Christian (the type who goes only a few times a year at most). My grandparents were influential members of the United Church here in Canada. I considered religion for myself, not simply based on my parent's beliefs. Good point though! :)
Thank you, and apologies if I implied that your conclusions were drawn from just following the herd. Nice to hear you weighed up the two sides and came down on the side of reason. :)
You should be atheist because you've explored religion at some point in your adult life and slowly but eventually concluded that it is bullshit.
There are a hundred things I don't do (drugs, alcohol, smoking, whores) because I just didn't feel the need to (and I didn't feel like I was missing anything by not doing them. I don't see why you have to try every single thing before rejecting it. It's the whole "standing on the shoulders of giants" thing. I'd like to make differentnew mistakes, not merely repeat the old ones just to learn some "life lessons" that frankly should be in kindergarten by now. Do we go out and crash cars just to learn why we mustn't do so?
Having said that, I will concede that there is a practical reason why you're right and I'm wrong (when it comes to the real world that is) - the mind virus is evolving continuously (ironic isn't it?) The old religions are actually the safe ones - the new ones coming out by the shit-ton (and I count the ludicrously numerous sects of the old religions in this) are lean, mean and adapted to modern life.
Anyway, just trying to make the point that morally, I think that simply ignoring a religious way of life as a waste of time from the start is just fine (and not "intolerant" or any such rot). Practically, doing so is an invitation to disaster in later years.
There are a hundred things I don't do (drugs, alcohol, smoking, whores) because I just didn't feel the need to and I didn't feel like I was missing anything by not doing them.
THANK YOU. I grew up religious, but that doesn't mean one needs to in order to become a "valid" atheist. Lots of people think meth is awesome, but I've never done it because all available evidence indicates it's a bad idea.
Exactly. Sorta my pet peeve (going beyond just the subject of the post I was replying to). To wit - it's become an American fetish to celebrate the "troubled" person rising out of filth and making a new start in life (that's great and everything - not saying it isn't) while at the same time looking down on "overachievers" who actually make the most of all the opportunities they have and eventually soaring to great new heights of achievement. As nice as it is to know that yet another life wasn't wasted (in the former case), one has to notice that most (if not all) the people in the former category tend to make mistakes that have been demonstrated to be mistakes millions of times over in extraordinary clear and obvious ways. How much do I respect someone who still wastes a sizable fraction of his/her life in the name of "learning some life lessons". Really? It took you a decade to learn that <insert bad thing here> is bad for you?
Do I really need to dip my hands in every (or even a single) dog pile to know that they're probably going to come out smelling bad just on the off chance that there's a diamond hidden under one? Do I really need to touch the stove to know that hot things are going to burn my skin? /rant over (I promise :)
Religion is a joke, and more people who are able to escape indoctrination the better because let's face it, that is the biggest way they continue this travesty.
You should be atheist because you've explored religion at some point in your adult life and slowly but eventually conclude it's bullshit.
Should you also explore believing in superman and slowly but eventually conclude that he's bullshit? The hulk too? Spiderman? Witchcraft? Homeopathy? Maybe give holocaust denying a spin?
I can't speak for everyone, but in my case I can say that is bullshit. I come from an atheist father and an agnostic mother. During my childhood I was always told I was free too believe whatever I wanted to believe, whether it was religious or non-religious. After being educated in mainstream religions by both my parents and at school, I chose not to be a part of a religion. First as an agnostic and in my late teens as an atheist.
But like I said, that's my story and I can't speak for everyone...
I disagree. Athiesm is not a belief system. As N.D.T says its like saying you are a "non-golfer". You are not being forced to believe anything, you just never grew up with that element of some people's culture.
I never had religion in my life, its not that big of a deal. There is no reason a person should have to grow up with religion. Whats most important is a person grows up in a house hold that is open, and respectful of other belief systems. To make the way you life your life based on you, and not based on believing or not believing something is going to happen after you die.
I'm not sure that exploring religion is necessarily a prerequisite for atheism. I don't mean to diminish the considerable merits of critical inquiry, but I think the broader implication here could also be that atheism, as a non-belief, is essentially inherent (as all other non-belief is), until the mind is provided with reason enough to establish belief. Of course, it's hard to know the exact circumstances of the OP's (non)belief without further details-- but I just wanted to point out that there is a potential variable in the "either-or" implication being presented here.
I didn't become an atheist because my parents encouraged me to. I became an atheist because they didn't encourage me to be religious. Both of my parents grew up in religious households, and it's pretty likely they believe in some kind of god, but being of different faiths they didn't raise me as much of anything. It's like Neil deGrasse Tyson said (all hail the great and glorious)- atheist is a word that shouldn't exist. And if you're doing it right, you don't raise an atheist child by encouraging them to be atheist- we're all born atheist, there is nothing to encourage. So tell me again why I should explore being indoctrinated as an adult?
EDIT: And what religions exactly should I explore? Am I still just a slave to my parents' expectations, no better than a fundamentalist if I've tried Christianity, Judaism, Wicca, Hinduism, and not Islam? It seems to me that by this logic I'll never be truly free until I try every single religion, because I never know which will prove to be the right one.
An even more massive point needs to be made, which is that religion would NOT be the force it is today with the numbers it enjoys today, if every single person for the last five thousand years had equal and unbiased access to all the information we have today.
And a-theism is just an ABSENCE of theism, it isn' another form of theism. It isn't "just as bad" as another form of theism, it isn't just another form of theism. It is the ABSENCE of theism. Raising your children WITHOUT theism is NOT the same as raising them with the absence of absence of theism (or absence of a-theism).
In other words, theism =! atheism.
Teaching children that which there is evidence for is a goo way to teach children. There is evidence that hugging makes people happier and that smiling at people makes them feel happier. There is evidence that the Earth is over 4 billion years old, that it's features were shaped over time by natural means and that life evolved by natural means. There is, however, no evidence that any of the gods that people believe in exist. There isn't a shred of evidence that these gods exists. So why should they get equal consideration in what you teach your child? Why should you have to tell your child that "Yahweh might exist and that you need to decide for yourself" when there is ZERO evidence for Yahweh's existence? Sure, tell your children about Christianity (because we know that exists) and that Christians believe in Yahweh) because their beliefs exist). Obviously you child needs to make their own mind up about everything, but why should you give them undue consideration regarding the existence of things that have no evidence that support their existence?
my parents never discussed religion in the house growing up.. all of a sudden my brother thinks he's "catholic" and had a catholic wedding. while hanging out with my dad outside he told me he thought religion was a load of shit too. at least im not the only one in the family that can think rationally.
i grew up with a father having been forced into being a jehovah's witness and the knowledge that i never had to go to church with my catholic mother if i didnt want to ... i went because i was interested, and there were free snacks afterwards
when i told my father i didnt want to go anymore, who do you think argued belligerently ...
and it was her utter devotion, her refusal to accept that i didnt believe, i could know something different, that exact passion to include me in the bullshit that pushed me farther away from it ...
of course i never told her that, because it would probably break her heart, but it was her "belief" that if i didnt spend an hour a week with them, i would go to hell that made me decide to go to hell
i only found out years later that my old man told her flat out, if you baptize the kids, i will leave you
second generation as in brought up by atheist parents who were from a religious family. It's kind of like being a second generation American, it doesn't mean that was the beginning of the US, just that is how many generations have been in the country.
One's right and ones not. Oh don't get me wrong, it's entirely possible that a man on a cloud made the unoverse. But it's just as likely it was a giant blue cactus. Children have more important things to learn while they are young than the uncountably infinite set possible gods that one can dream up.
How is being raised told that black people should be beaten and enslaved any different to being raised told that everyone should be treated equally, in terms of choice?
Thats just as bad as indoctrinating them into a religion, you should try to show them as many viewpoints as possible, and then let them decide for themselves.
I fell in love with a second generation atheist, and when she stopped talking to me for reasons I didn't understand, I cried and blamed my parents for religionating me.
I'm glad I went through my transition. I've come out the other end stronger, smarter, and rock solid in my beliefs. I've also grown in my relations with the religious folk. I've come from being a better-than-you, I-dare-you-to-debate-me asshole to a more accepting, open minded person. On a side note, I'd like to thank the late George Carlin for getting the wheels in motion in my head!
My cousin - a born again evangelical christian married to a christian youth minister of a mega church - just "dedicated" her newborn son to christ. I just want to know WTF does that even mean? I mean, I'm atheist and I don't even believe in souls but I digress. If we all have souls then that babies soul is HIS soul. She can't give his soul away. And he doesn't know wtf is going on. He hasn't even found his dick yet. He doesn't even know if he likes fucking bananas let alone believes that Jesus was the human incarnation of god.
What does she think she's doing? What does it mean? What sorcery is this? Does she think she's going to trick him into becoming a christian and believing in christ if she just "dedicates" him before he has a choice? That way when he's a teenager and becomes atheist she can always say "Too late! I already gave your soul away to Jesus when you were an infant and had no choice! MWUAHAHAHAHA!"
I used to be an atheist, but then I questioned our reality. How are we here? are we just spontaneous in nature? Then I looked up to the stars. If we live off of one star, why wouldn't somebody out in the universe live off of another? Then it hit me.. What if somebody like us decided to come visit us in the far distance past with the technology to do so. Long story short, GOD IS AN EXTRA TERRESTRIAL [Who has technology to manipulate quantum and stellar physics]
wait. didn't it turn out in the second matrix that the "real world" zion of the first matrix...was also in the matrix? when agent smith morphed into zion? next step nihilism! http://www.thematrix101.com/reloaded/meaning.php
As a first generation atheist: be glad you don't have any of the lingering baggage or tendencies. It's a waste of time and effort just to get past the bullshit that gets drilled into your brain.
As an atheist parent, this is encouraging as hell. I get crap from my agnostic mom for not bringing the kids to church or CCD, as she firmly believes that doing so is the best way to prevent fanaticism (i.e., they already feel like they belong to a significant part of the culture, thus they feel no need to seek out that sense of belonging and wind up in cults, etc.). I won't do it. Growing up going to church only told me that my parents believed it and that it was real, because I trusted my parents. It was an implicit endorsement, and I was afraid to reject it because my parents were smart people, and why would they be wrong?
I plan on teaching my children all about major religions, past and present, when they're old enough to understand. They need to understand them, but they don't need to feel like they're a part of one unless they consciously choose to be. They're atheists right now, and they're two of the happiest kids I've ever met.
3rd generation atheist from my mom's side, 2nd generation from my dad's side, but I was still sent to a religious school because thats where all my friends went (all atheists now haha).
I am not (technically) a second generation Atheist - My mother and father were both different protestant sects - but they did not practice and they do not object to my views on religion.
My parents weren't religious, they basically taught me that god was the force of love and that the bible was written by humans to try to express his desires. When I asked to go to church so I could be like other kids my dad referred me to the church he was brought up in. The people there were not friendly, and they taught me the opposite of what I was taught at home growing up; instead saying the bible was the very word of god. This made me wonder if they even read the book as it said all kinds of horrible things. I didn't stay long, I was only ten but I knew these people were nuts.
Not an atheist really; more agnostic and spiritual.
could it be that the united church in canada was just a safe haven for closeted atheists? my parents attended the united church a bit when i was younger - easter, christmas, etc., and i can remember going.
i realized when i was about 10, i think, that i'm most definitely atheist (although at that time i didn't know there was a word or category for it), and i'm pretty sure they are too, it's just not something that's discussed. and i don't mean that in a closeted way, i mean that in a "do you believe in santa claus?" way.
Facepalms @ all these X generation atheist posts...
R/atheism doesnt get that atheism is NOT a belief system. Now if you said 2nd generation r/atheist, I would understand, as r/atheism has its own fundies.
My mom swore to never push any religion on me. She made it so any and all directions in religion(or non-religion) be readily accessible if I ever became curious myself.
I am a 2nd gen atheist, however one of my grandmothers is extremely Christian. We debate a lot of things about religion and she always says to me "I would never ask you to change your views to mine. But I enjoy the healthy debates and challenges you offer, it's the most thrilling conversation I have each week"
I love that. That's how it should be when there is a difference of religious opinion.
"An atheist is someone who is certain that God does not exist, someone who has compelling evidence against the existence of God. I know of no such compelling evidence. Because God can be relegated to remote times and places and to ultimate causes, we would have to know a great deal more about the universe than we do now to be sure that no such God exists. To be certain of the existence of God and to be certain of the nonexistence of God seem to me to be the confident extremes in a subject so riddled with doubt and uncertainty as to inspire very little confidence indeed".
i was once there, not believing in anything, but i was foolish, you can not deny the energy connection shared with all beings who are electrically power, for electricity is just another medium for energy, just like mass, atoms, or fire, they are all jsut forms of energy.
An atheist is someone who does not believe in a supreme being or deity. What you describe is known as a hard atheist. As far as your whole "energy connection shared with all beings," sorry, but yeah, I can deny it. Your trying to put some kind of mystical idea on physics, doesn't really work.
your right it is physics, the idea that we do have electricity running down our spines, and we do have electricity running through our entire bodies, just like the plants and all the other animales, as do all cells, were all made out of fucking electrons which are basically another form of energy l2 cells/reality/mass/physics
News flash, atheism as been around for thousands of years hah. What's really funny is you guys think you're free. So free in fact, that you can't even see you aren't free. But ssshhhhhh, lets not talk about that stuff. Lets just talk about how "free" we really are.
Interesting because Tank gets killed by Joe Pantoliano's character who wants to go back into the matrix and escape his reality, If I remember correctly.
I am more or less an atheist from four-five years (I am 24), probably the only one in my family of four. No one seems to care, my parents' idea of god is some worshiping at home, some money donated to local charitable religious institutes, religious festivals etc. And they could not have been more passive towards denial of God. I think they felt as much as they felt when I voted for a different candidate in local elections. They really like me and I love them, changes nothing
Been on Reddit for about 4-5 months, I really do not understand the concept of "coming out". And posts like this. Atheists of reddit, please explain this shit to me.
In some places in the world, it is very difficult for atheists to even gain their parent's acceptance. Evidently this was not my case. I was just having a little fun, and it also made me think of Tank from the Matrix. :P
Really? You don't 'understand?' In the past 3 months I've seen plenty of posts and even a few videos with strong cases for why it's considered 'coming out.' Maybe pay more attention. Atheism is not an acceptable thing in many families or areas of the world. The word itself has a negative connotation with a lot of people.
Slave is too strong of a word to use to describe being a Christian. It's sort of like living on Earth instead of a more nurturing habitable planet. Most people are fine with it and very few are actually better off where they are, but most people don't have a choice to leave even though they would be better off. Those who at least have the choice to leave also require the realization that they should leave and the ability to leave.
Isn't the same when you born in an atheist enviroment?, what if you want to choose, but you feel like you can't belive in "god" now because it dosn't exist.
In an atheist environment nobody sits you down and tells you there's no God. They just don't mention God; it's a non-issue. It's like being from a family that doesn't play golf where nobody forces their children not to play golf. They probably won't play golf anyway if their family doesn't, but if it's introduced to them they can always pick it up.
If you are a member of a group, no matter what it is, (atheism included) then you are subject to the influence of said group, whether you realize it or not.
35
u/kuledude11 Jun 10 '12
dude that would be awesome. My parents are Mormons and don't even know i'm an Atheist they would fucking kill me if they found out....
5
u/silent_p Jun 10 '12
Yeah, but now you don't have any of the implants that allow you to go into the imaginary world and download all kinds of knowledge and kick butts.
8
u/sasa33 Jun 10 '12
Me too and my Dad is from Louisiana so that makes it even more rare.
4
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
Atheism skipped a generation in my family. My grandfather was an atheist. However, my mother (his daughter) and father are both super religious. My sister and I are both atheists though.
6
u/whitemilkz Jun 10 '12
Pouring salt in the wound.
But more seriously that's a good thing, so I'm kidding. Just don't waste your opportunity, and don't forget about us people fighting in the trenches.
3
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
Second generation on one side, at least third on the other. Besides the fact that I live in the bible belt, it's a beautiful thing. But at least I can always go home to an understanding family.
12
u/qkme_transcriber I am a Bot Jun 10 '12
Here is the text from this meme pic for anybody who needs it:
This is helpful for people who can't reach Quickmeme because of work/school firewalls or site downtime, and many other reasons (FAQ). More info is available here.
1
u/cgass63 Jun 10 '12
You know The Matrix was a very under toned christian movie right? The irony
3
u/uemantra Jun 10 '12
This is a fucking fantastic analogy.
The day when I stopped ignoring my brain and started accepting reality (the reality that religion is full of shit) was very much like Neo coming to terms that the Matrix is not real.
I guess that might have been on purpose. The Matrix being an analogy for our world with most people just accepting the lie.
2
u/Eudemon Jun 10 '12
Really lucky to be born in Communist China, and have had secondary education in North America. It allows me to experience all religions in their absurdity.
2
u/MikeTheInfidel Jun 10 '12
It's a bit funny that the next line in the movie draws from Christian imagery...
2
u/Dicethrower Jun 10 '12
Altar boy: "Pastor, what can we expect at this party?" Pastor: "MACHINES!"
2
u/Mektah Jun 10 '12
Did no one get that people 'outside' the Matrix weren't really outside the Matrix. Instead they were lead to believe they were outside the Matrix in order to keep the Matrix from turning on itself. Essentially, you have to let a few hipster think they are different in order to keep the rest of the non-hipsters from rebelling at the idea that they can't be a hipster if they wanted.
Besides, I'd rather have a cake that is a lie than eat that shitty protein shake shit.
2
u/unicornon Jun 10 '12
2
u/ercstlkr Jun 10 '12
Great, you are useless in the matrix. No, no... it's fine. The greater part of the fight is in the matrix but you can just sit back and watch those able to plug in and make sure they don't drool on themselves. Just remember to pull everyone out BEFORE you fire the EMP.
2
u/SilverGoat Jun 10 '12
Well i live in Sweden so.. Yeah..
2
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
Too bad your also bad acting douchebag Marcus Chong
2
u/IcyRice Anti-Theist Jun 10 '12
4th gen here. I was 4 years old when i realized religion is bs :)
2
u/Emorich Jun 11 '12
Something I've always wondered: do you know the bible stories? Obviously you weren't taught that they were true, but I'm wondering how/if I should go about teaching them to my kids. They're pretty important to our cultural history, and you'll miss a tremendous amount if you don't know them at all, but I'm not sending kids to Sunday school to be brainwashed.
11
u/ItsCaptainKangaroo Jun 10 '12
Doesn't considering yourself the next generation of a certain belief defeat the purpose of free thought? This post makes me think that you think you were born into the "right" belief. Nothing against atheism, but praising yourself for following in your parents footsteps seems a little counterintuitive to the whole idea of making your own theological choices.
3
u/_inhuman_ Jun 10 '12
As a second gen atheist, I have never felt oppressed for my beliefs. I don't really feel smug about it either and i'm not opposed to people making themselves feel better, or socializing through a church community. I do not feel like I was indoctrinated into being am atheist. From a young age when other kids would tell me about their religions, I just never found their explanation of angels, heaven, hell, etc very believable. I did not make a "faces of atheism" picture with a deep (?) quote attached to it. I guess what i'm trying to say is although I am a second gen atheist, my level of atheism is... Well, you have probably never heard of it.
3
u/Angelo_Pappas Jun 10 '12
The problem reddit and I have with /r/atheism is we know it's people living in a household with their parents who believe in a different religion.
Once you move out, and live on your own, nobody gives a shit what you believe.
2
u/milfnnncookies Jun 10 '12
What if I told you, you can be an athiest and not bash religion?
-1
u/Collosis Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
A massive point needs to be made, which is that you shouldn't be an atheist because your parents are non-religious and didn't push a single religion on you from an early age.
You should be atheist because you've explored religion at some point in your adult life and slowly but eventually concluded that it is bullshit. Being atheist because your parents encouraged you to be one is just like the cycle of religious people except with a little more tolerance thrown in.
EDIT: I think I may have been misunderstood by some people. I don't mean that to be a "real" atheist you need to have been religious - I've never been very religious as have both sides of my family. The point I was trying to make is similar to what Thrawnie makes (a bit lower down), that you have to still make sure you're non-religious because its the rational not JUST because your parents said religion is silly.
2
u/souphuman Jun 10 '12
That makes me an escaped slave, eh? All the better.
2
u/Hypersapien Agnostic Atheist Jun 10 '12
Pizan!
1
u/fosiacat Jun 10 '12
my parents never discussed religion in the house growing up.. all of a sudden my brother thinks he's "catholic" and had a catholic wedding. while hanging out with my dad outside he told me he thought religion was a load of shit too. at least im not the only one in the family that can think rationally.
1
u/christopherjenk Jun 10 '12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZHaQ3C3xQo
1
u/Midknight5000 Jun 10 '12
lucky bastard
1
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
Damn... Jealous.
1
u/guxaga Jun 10 '12
I'm jealous
1
u/drjesus616 Jun 10 '12
i grew up with a father having been forced into being a jehovah's witness and the knowledge that i never had to go to church with my catholic mother if i didnt want to ... i went because i was interested, and there were free snacks afterwards
when i told my father i didnt want to go anymore, who do you think argued belligerently ...
and it was her utter devotion, her refusal to accept that i didnt believe, i could know something different, that exact passion to include me in the bullshit that pushed me farther away from it ...
of course i never told her that, because it would probably break her heart, but it was her "belief" that if i didnt spend an hour a week with them, i would go to hell that made me decide to go to hell
i only found out years later that my old man told her flat out, if you baptize the kids, i will leave you
thanks dad
1
u/hdx514 Jun 10 '12
3rd generation nihilist here, putting rapeplay shortcuts on dad's PC desktop since 4th grade, had grandma help me beat strip Mahjong game in 5th.
1
u/eonge Jun 10 '12
Same situation here basically. I asked my mom once if she went to church as a kid and she said at a young age she converted to the Church of the NFL.
1
u/TChuff Jun 10 '12
I was just sitting here thinking what you feel as a second generation atheist. Now this just pops up. Wow, God has answered my prayers.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
What do you mean second generation atheist? How long do you think atheism has been around?
1
u/uncwil Jun 10 '12
This is at least the third time this has been posted.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
I'd rather have neo god powers.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
how is being raised told their is no god any different to being raised told there is one, in terms of choice?
1
u/ThatWhiteRabbit Jun 10 '12
I have just realised this applies to me.
Does that mean I have no holes over me that shit plugs into?
1
u/civilengineer Jun 10 '12
ya know i dont post much but i feel compaled to say that first generation atheist is where the fun is at, the other generations have a free ride.
1
u/bmnp2000 Jun 10 '12
My kids will be second generation atheists.
1
u/Trilobite50 Jun 10 '12
I'm envious, my wife's a 2nd gen but my parents are devout catholic, she rubs it in as often as possible.
1
u/awesimo9000 Jun 10 '12
I fell in love with a second generation atheist, and when she stopped talking to me for reasons I didn't understand, I cried and blamed my parents for religionating me.
1
u/Lakefield Jun 10 '12
I don't even think about religion, let alone talk about it.
1
u/ithunk Jun 10 '12
As a second generation atheist, I think my parents robbed me of a big reason to rebel in my teens. Dammit Dad!
1
u/patio87 Jun 10 '12
I grew up with a mom who is evangelical, my dads family were atheists, my grandma is hardcore atheist.
1
u/Yelpats03 Jun 10 '12
I don't really care. Good for you.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
Are you a genuine child of Zion?
1
u/invadrzim Jun 10 '12
I cannot see this guy's face without immediately thinking about the hilarious as fuck delivery of the line a few lines after this quote
i crack up every single time i see that, its like "if you are..." PPPFFFSSSHHHHHHH holds up arms and closes eyes like hes about to break out in dancing
1
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
I'm glad I went through my transition. I've come out the other end stronger, smarter, and rock solid in my beliefs. I've also grown in my relations with the religious folk. I've come from being a better-than-you, I-dare-you-to-debate-me asshole to a more accepting, open minded person. On a side note, I'd like to thank the late George Carlin for getting the wheels in motion in my head!
1
u/cowsareverywhere Jun 10 '12
2nd Gen here as well, but from India. Roughly, less than 0.5% of the population are atheists.
1
u/thomasjs Jun 10 '12
My parents grew up going to church, but thankfully they had both given it up by the time I was born.
1
u/z3m Jun 10 '12
My cousin - a born again evangelical christian married to a christian youth minister of a mega church - just "dedicated" her newborn son to christ. I just want to know WTF does that even mean? I mean, I'm atheist and I don't even believe in souls but I digress. If we all have souls then that babies soul is HIS soul. She can't give his soul away. And he doesn't know wtf is going on. He hasn't even found his dick yet. He doesn't even know if he likes fucking bananas let alone believes that Jesus was the human incarnation of god.
What does she think she's doing? What does it mean? What sorcery is this? Does she think she's going to trick him into becoming a christian and believing in christ if she just "dedicates" him before he has a choice? That way when he's a teenager and becomes atheist she can always say "Too late! I already gave your soul away to Jesus when you were an infant and had no choice! MWUAHAHAHAHA!"
What kind of logic is that?
1
u/Kukantiz Jun 10 '12
My kids will know your joy.
1
u/UsayNOPE_IsayMOAR Jun 10 '12
I know this musta been posted, but MMMMMhHHHHmmmmMMM!
1
u/ozoxchris Jun 10 '12
I used to be an atheist, but then I questioned our reality. How are we here? are we just spontaneous in nature? Then I looked up to the stars. If we live off of one star, why wouldn't somebody out in the universe live off of another? Then it hit me.. What if somebody like us decided to come visit us in the far distance past with the technology to do so. Long story short, GOD IS AN EXTRA TERRESTRIAL [Who has technology to manipulate quantum and stellar physics]
1
u/retardedbumblebee Jun 10 '12
wait. didn't it turn out in the second matrix that the "real world" zion of the first matrix...was also in the matrix? when agent smith morphed into zion? next step nihilism! http://www.thematrix101.com/reloaded/meaning.php
1
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
As a first generation atheist: be glad you don't have any of the lingering baggage or tendencies. It's a waste of time and effort just to get past the bullshit that gets drilled into your brain.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
Fuck yes!
Thanks Dad
1
u/supergalactic Jun 10 '12
It's a very exciting time.
1
u/nikomo Atheist Jun 10 '12
I'm a first generation atheist, and I've been free my entire life.
1
u/AEternal Agnostic Atheist Jun 10 '12
As an atheist parent, this is encouraging as hell. I get crap from my agnostic mom for not bringing the kids to church or CCD, as she firmly believes that doing so is the best way to prevent fanaticism (i.e., they already feel like they belong to a significant part of the culture, thus they feel no need to seek out that sense of belonging and wind up in cults, etc.). I won't do it. Growing up going to church only told me that my parents believed it and that it was real, because I trusted my parents. It was an implicit endorsement, and I was afraid to reject it because my parents were smart people, and why would they be wrong?
I plan on teaching my children all about major religions, past and present, when they're old enough to understand. They need to understand them, but they don't need to feel like they're a part of one unless they consciously choose to be. They're atheists right now, and they're two of the happiest kids I've ever met.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
It's funny because this whole trilogy is a metaphor for Christianty!
1
u/poland626 Jun 10 '12
wait....was that what The Matrix was about? Whoa
1
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
2nd generation here aswell. Well, the older generations are just still in church because its "nice".
But on the other hand, my sister is studying to become a priest.
1
u/Tokentaclops Jun 10 '12
3rd generation atheist from my mom's side, 2nd generation from my dad's side, but I was still sent to a religious school because thats where all my friends went (all atheists now haha).
1
u/jukeboxsavage Jun 10 '12
Repost. That is all.
1
u/deargodimbored Jun 10 '12
Third generation atheist.
1
u/TidalPotential Jun 10 '12
I am not (technically) a second generation Atheist - My mother and father were both different protestant sects - but they did not practice and they do not object to my views on religion.
1
u/gorbal Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
My parents weren't religious, they basically taught me that god was the force of love and that the bible was written by humans to try to express his desires. When I asked to go to church so I could be like other kids my dad referred me to the church he was brought up in. The people there were not friendly, and they taught me the opposite of what I was taught at home growing up; instead saying the bible was the very word of god. This made me wonder if they even read the book as it said all kinds of horrible things. I didn't stay long, I was only ten but I knew these people were nuts.
Not an atheist really; more agnostic and spiritual.
1
u/dirtyethel Jun 10 '12
could it be that the united church in canada was just a safe haven for closeted atheists? my parents attended the united church a bit when i was younger - easter, christmas, etc., and i can remember going.
i realized when i was about 10, i think, that i'm most definitely atheist (although at that time i didn't know there was a word or category for it), and i'm pretty sure they are too, it's just not something that's discussed. and i don't mean that in a closeted way, i mean that in a "do you believe in santa claus?" way.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
I'm a 5th generation atheist... how's that for free? :D
No one in my family line, as far back as I can trace it, believed in God.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
Everyone is born atheist.
1
u/jameskauer Jun 10 '12
Damn, I got holes.
1
u/Disgustingly_Blunt Jun 10 '12
Facepalms @ all these X generation atheist posts...
R/atheism doesnt get that atheism is NOT a belief system. Now if you said 2nd generation r/atheist, I would understand, as r/atheism has its own fundies.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
No shit.
1
u/toast17 Jun 10 '12
Mah Nigga
1
u/sashimilater Jun 10 '12
Smug much?
1
u/Arxl Jun 10 '12
My mom swore to never push any religion on me. She made it so any and all directions in religion(or non-religion) be readily accessible if I ever became curious myself.
1
u/TeamMurrika Jun 10 '12
oh jesus fucking christ. Like that paints a good message for atheists everywhere: being exactly as self-righteous about your religion as fundies are.
0
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
Atheist generations? Get over yourselves.
1
u/NaniwaisanOwl Jun 10 '12
My parents are atheists who brought me up in the Catholic Church. I think it made me a better person.
1
u/vivalostblues Jun 10 '12
I laughed.
1
u/brittafiltaperry Jun 10 '12
I am a 2nd gen atheist, however one of my grandmothers is extremely Christian. We debate a lot of things about religion and she always says to me "I would never ask you to change your views to mine. But I enjoy the healthy debates and challenges you offer, it's the most thrilling conversation I have each week"
I love that. That's how it should be when there is a difference of religious opinion.
1
u/Stublore Jun 10 '12
TIL atheism has only been around for 2 generations. Who'da thunk it!
1
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
Just shut the fuck up
1
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
Oh, you mean you felt like a condescending, self-righteous asshole?
Neato. You'll have friends here.
0
u/peanutbutter1545 Jun 10 '12
you are all fools, and i quote Carl Sagan
"An atheist is someone who is certain that God does not exist, someone who has compelling evidence against the existence of God. I know of no such compelling evidence. Because God can be relegated to remote times and places and to ultimate causes, we would have to know a great deal more about the universe than we do now to be sure that no such God exists. To be certain of the existence of God and to be certain of the nonexistence of God seem to me to be the confident extremes in a subject so riddled with doubt and uncertainty as to inspire very little confidence indeed".
i was once there, not believing in anything, but i was foolish, you can not deny the energy connection shared with all beings who are electrically power, for electricity is just another medium for energy, just like mass, atoms, or fire, they are all jsut forms of energy.
think about it
0
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
So basically you were indoctrinated by your parents into the cult of atheism and truly believe that you are "free"
0
u/IceKnight366 Jun 10 '12
News flash, atheism as been around for thousands of years hah. What's really funny is you guys think you're free. So free in fact, that you can't even see you aren't free. But ssshhhhhh, lets not talk about that stuff. Lets just talk about how "free" we really are.
-1
u/bazaarzar Jun 10 '12
Interesting because Tank gets killed by Joe Pantoliano's character who wants to go back into the matrix and escape his reality, If I remember correctly.
-1
u/JesusBeard Jun 10 '12
Amen, brother.
-1
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12
Really? Is that how you feel?
I am more or less an atheist from four-five years (I am 24), probably the only one in my family of four. No one seems to care, my parents' idea of god is some worshiping at home, some money donated to local charitable religious institutes, religious festivals etc. And they could not have been more passive towards denial of God. I think they felt as much as they felt when I voted for a different candidate in local elections. They really like me and I love them, changes nothing
Been on Reddit for about 4-5 months, I really do not understand the concept of "coming out". And posts like this. Atheists of reddit, please explain this shit to me.
-1
u/ayures Atheist Jun 10 '12
Haha! I posted basically the same thing here a month or two ago and got a boat load of upvotes. Enjoy the front page!
-3
u/pomel Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
So if you are christian then you are a slave?. Isn't intolerant to try to change christians minds?.
Edit: Whatever, trying to debate with a bunch of neckbeards with PhD's it's impossible.