₦airaland Forum

Greenlandncom:
If you can not prove that God does not exist, then you can not safely say God does not exist.
Nothing is flawed there.
Before you draw your conclusion, you must have laid your premises (proves).
Or else what you are holding remains a mere opinion.

You seem to misunderstand.

I am not of the opinion that God does not exist; that will be quite close minded and is no more different from a position from which I stand.


However, the problem here lies with the fact that everyone seems to know who god is; everyone seems to know exactly what he wants and how he likes to be adressed.
And that would be cool if not for the fact that everyone seems to think everyone else is wrong. Every god seems to insist that other gods are wrong and they should follow him: The one true God.

Yeah, the battle on whose God continues even until now; occasionally turning bloody with a group not being able to withstand "blasphemy".

And still, God does............nothing to signify his presence


I can't say whether or not God exists........


But if he does, I don't see why he will have any problem of me doubting his existence.

Seun:
It happened at a time when I had many problems in my life and I decided to skip sunday fellowship because frankly, the fellowship hadn't done anything whatsoever to help me with my problems. Over the next week, I tried to examine the impact of my personal relationship with God on my life and I could only conclude that it had a negative impact on my life. If I had relied on my own understanding to make decisions, instead of doing things I thought God wanted me to do, my life would have been so much better. So I told my roommates that I'd be an interim atheist until I got some strong evidence of the existence of God and the truth of the bible. I'd no longer give Christianity the benefit of doubt.

(I could do that because in my quest to be a better Christian, I learnt exactly how the bible was put together, which was a mess. I'd discovered the contradictions in the bible. I'd tried to convert a muslim who was able to defend the flaws of Islam as well as I could defend the flaws of Christianity, which made me realize that the only reason I was a Christian was by choice, due to being born into it. My quest to witness the pentecostal promise of signs and wonders had been fruitless. Even speaking in tongues had turned out to be not supernatural at all)

As an atheist, I started the process of rethinking my life, and everything now made so much more sense. All those 'difficult questions' I used to struggle with as a Christian who actually read the bible and tried to make sense of it were easily answered thus: "because there's no God".

Hmmm,everyone born of woman is faced with this reality! Can you imagine John the Baptist sending people to Jesus to ask if he is the Messiah or they should expect someone else and he was the one that introduced Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. I will encourage you to read Psalms and see the exprience of David,he went through it all and came out as the favourite of God. I had same crisis earlier,couldnt really placed God then,but now my Faith has found a resting place.....

Joshuabase:
"Whatever can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence." - Christopher Hitchens

We are saying the same thing brother!
You burden of proving rest squarely on the one who holds or denies the claims.
If you say there is God then what is/are your reason(s)?
If you say God doesn't exist, then what is/are your reason(s)?
Your reasons have to transcend all these excuses of human sufferings, imperfections in creation and a substitutive theory of Big bang which is a mere conjecture.

CAPSLOCKED:
I STARTED TO IMAGINE LIFE & DEATH FROM THE TIME I WAS 7. OR EVEN 5.
LOST MY DAD WHEN I WAS 2MONTHS OLD SO IT WASN'T TOO BRILLIANT FOR ME.

WAS BORN A CATHOLIC, GREW UP AN ALTER BOY, FROM PRIMARY SCHOOL DAYS TO SEC.

I WAS EVEN SENT TO A MINOR SEMINARY, EVEN AS AN ONLY SON. ALTHOUGH I REALLY WANTED TO BE A MONK SO BAD.. . BUT THE THOUGHT OF BEING AN ONLY SON MADE THE CHOICE OF PRIESTHOOD A LITTLE MANAGEABLE.

FROM THE TIME I WAS A KID I ALREADY HAD PERSONAL ISSUES WITH GOD THO I FEARED AND BELIEVED IN HIM, BUT WHY CHOOSE TO TAKE AWAY MY DAD LEAVING ME AND MY TWO SISTERS TO THE MERCY OF NOBODY, WHAT DID I OR MY PARENTS DO TO DESERVE THIS, I THOUGHT. ..

AT 11, WE LOST MUMSY.

OUT OF ALL THE BAD PEOPLE MAKING THIS WORLD BAD, THIS GUY CHOSE TO TAKE MY PARENTS.. . WHY?
TO LET WE INNOCENT KIDS SUFFER, FOR WHAT REASON NAW, TOT HE'S A LOVELY BEING? ?

I CONTINUED TO FEEL DISAPPOINTED WITH GOD BUT STILL PRAYED WITH HIM OUT OF FEAR THAT I MIGHT DIE A PAINFUL DEATH AND GO TO HELL.

IN 2012, I STOPPED CARRYING MUCH OF CHRISTIANITY IN MY HEART CUZ I COULDN'T IMAGINE OTHER PEOPLE GOING TO HELL AND JUST WE CHRISTIANS GOING TO HEAVEN.

I STOPPED BELIEVING IN JESUS THOUGH I FELT IT WAS RELEVANT TO STILL BELIEVE IN GOD.
BUT NOTHING REASONABLE WAS WORKING FOR I AND MY TWO SISTERS.

DESPITE TAKING AWAY OUR PARENTS THE GUY DIDN'T STILL WANNA MAKE US BE COMFORTABLE, MY BIG SISTER PRAYED AND FASTED FOR 7 YEARS BEFORE GAINING ADMISSION INTO SCHOOL. ..BY THEN MOST OF THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SUPPOSED TO SPONSOR HER HAD ALREADY DIED. LOL, I WAS IN JS1 WHEN SHE FINISHED SEC, SO YOU SEE THE REALLY WIDE MARGIN BETWEEN OUR AGES.


MEHN.. I CONTINUED TO PRAY TO THIS MAN UNTIL LAST YEAR, BUT BEFORE THEN I STOPPED GOING TO CHURCH AND ENGAGING IN RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES.
I JUST DECIDED ITS NOT POSSIBLE THAT A LOVELY CREATOR WILL LET ME KNOW SADNESS FROM THE TIME I WAS A TODDLER... DOING HARM TO MY FAMILY ALL IN THE NAME OF GOD'S WILL.
MEANWHILE LETTING POOR KIDS SUFFER AND DIE ALL AROUND THE WORLD, LETTING THE WICKED ONES PROSPER EVEN MORE, AND EVEN MAKE HEAVEN IF THEY REPENT ON THEIR DEATH BED.

EVERY THING BECAME SMOOTER FOR ME WHEN I STARTED THINKING AND LOOKING OUTSIDE THE "RELIGION BOX" AND LIFE HAS BEEN EXTREMELY FAIR WITH ME SINCE I STARTED TO WORSHIP IT AND ADORE NATURE.

AS I 😘A KID I LOVED TO READ ABOUT SPACE.. THEN I DIDN'T EVEN THINK IT'S POSSIBLE TO CREATE 9 OR MORE OR LESS PLANETS AND FILL JUST THIS ONE WITH HUMANS. EVEN AFTER DESTROYING THE WORLD BY FLOODING WHY DIDN'T HE JUST RELOCATE NOAH TO SATURN OR RECREATE A NEW MAN ON JUPITER?
HOW WILL AN ALL KNOWING GOD WHO ALREADY KNOWS THE FUTURE, NOT KNOW THAT ADAM WILL EAT THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT.. .. WHY DIDN'T HE REMOVE THE TREE FROM THERE? OR WHY DID HE FORM VEXED AND CURSE THEM WHEN HE ALREADY KNEW THEY WERE GON FCK UP.

HE KNEW CAN WAS GON KILL ABEL, WHY DID HE LET IT HAPPEN ONLY TO FORM VEX AS USUAL, AND CURSE CAIN AND HIS GENERATION.

MEHN I SAW A LOT OF THINGS AS IMPOSSIBLE AND ABSURD IN THE BIBLE AS A KID BUT COULDN'T STOP PRETENDING TO PRAY BECAUSE OF FEAR OF HELL.

WHEN I WAS A TEEN I'LL EVEN ADD IT TO MY PRAYERS. .. I'LL BE LIKE "LORD YOU SEE DEEP DOWN MY MIND, YOU KNOW I REALLY DOUBT AND DISLIKE YOU BUT I'M SCARED OF HELL AND CAN'T STOP DOUBTING YOU CUZ I DON'T SEE ANY REASON TO BELIEVE YOU, BUT PLEASE HAVE MERCY"!

INCASE YOU READING THIS GIBBERISH JUST KNOW I TYPED IT ABSENT MINDED.
PARDON THE IMPROPER GRAMMAR USE AND LACK OF PUNCTUATION I'M JUST TYPING CUZ ITS THE ONLY THING TO DO ON NL..


BUT I DON'T LIKE TO BE CALLED AN ATHEIST, I DON'T LIKE TITLES AND STUFF, I JUST LIVE LIFE BELIEVING IN LIFE, LOVE, SERENITY, CHARITY, AND UHM.. . MASTURBAT!ON!

You nailed it bro, these are exactly my thoughts

here are things you need to know about atheism .

https://www.nairaland.com/3216534/all-atheism-types-etc

Still waiting for the former Muslim atheist

tartar9:
Still waiting for the former Muslim atheist

There are no muslim atheist here. Only one was here before but has soon stopped posting years ago.

tartar9:
Still waiting for the former Muslim atheist

You wan go kill am abi?

Thou shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free...

That's the only portion of the Bible that has an absolute truth and sincerity.

Once I discovered this truth, I have been free from the bondage and fear that accompanies religion, Christianity in particular.

I got so angry when my devoted mum succumbed to cancer after putting up a fight for 4yrs. I was angry with God....hahahahahaha... Angry that he allowed such a painful death on his devoted daughter. Even if he wanted to take her home like those silly apologist tried consoling us with, did he have to let her go thru all those pains? All those sleeples nights?

Then I discovered the truth, I discovered that there's really no reason to be angry; that there's nothing special about Christianity, good and bad things happens to everybody irrespective of religion, believe and personal conviction. I realized my mum would have had better chance of survival if she was in a country with better medical facilities. I got a 'heavenly' peace since I discovered this truth, that no extra-terrestial being out there looks out for us. Nature takes its course. Although I must confess that this single event helped me muster the strength to question my belief, to ask questions and seek answers. I started probbing, stopped accepting silly excuses as explanation. When I couldn't find reasonable answers, I started using the internet; I must say that's how knowledge abounded.

Now I am at peace, I tackle challenges in life rather than pray for supernatural help. I accept the things I can't change and strive to change those I can. My life has been much more better and peaceful.

Once again, the truth does set one free.

cloudgoddess:
It was difficult for me to make this post because so many things have happened along my "journey to atheism" that I could write a book on it. I'll try to focus on the most important points to keep this from being too long.

~~~
Before my teenage years, I never questioned Christianity. I was very convinced that it was all real and true (as any indoctrinated & blissfully ignorant child would be), despite not having read much of the bible or knowing anything about other religions, history, or science. I had nightmares about hell or demons on a few occassions, which made me terrified of eternal damnation. I don't think I ever desired heaven nearly as much as I feared hell -- and I think that might be the case for many Christians/religious people. Subconscious fear is a stronger motivator than most of us imagine.

A memorable catalyst for deeper investigation of my religion was around age 13 when, in the car on the way home from church one day, I opened my bible to a random page and started reading. Prior to that moment, as I mentioned above, I hadn't read very much of the bible outside of the verses chosen by pastor during service. I landed on the story of Lot's daughters.

To recap, the story basically describes in excrutiating detail, two young women getting their father drunk, and then impregnating themselves by sleeping with him. While reading it (remember, I'm 13 years old, and my father is in the front seat ) I felt such an overwhelming sense of disgust and horror. I wondered why this story was never mentioned in church, why children would be directed to read a book that contains this kind of weird sh*t, and what other questionable things might be in the bible.

I started reading more bible stories. I read about the genocides God carrys out in the bible, the slavery he permits and even poses regulations for ("It's all good if you whip them as long as they don't die " ), the rape he allows, the unequal treatment of women he dictates. After some amount of sincere reading, my skepticism became too uncomfortable to ignore. I took to the internet for answers, and inevitably stumbled upon websites that eloquently, boldly, and coherently stated the same criticisms I was secretly thinking while reading the bible, but too afraid to share with anyone ("Why was god so cruel even though he claims to be loving? How can a God that's supposedly all-knowing, punish people with such fierceness and anger as if he didn't see it coming?" )

Of course, I became obsessed. As the months went on I started to spend more and more time on websites that pointed out the flaws in Christianity. I stumbled upon youtube videos by atheists, science videos explaining evolution, and videos questioning the validity of biblical ressurection/Noah's ark/etc. Soon I realized that I could not honestly call myself a Christian anymore. I hadn't yet ruled out the idea of a God completely, but the bible's flaws were too glaring at this point for me to still hold Yahweh in my mind as true. Of course, I kept this all to myself and continued to go to church with my family. A teenager in a highly religious Nigerian household doesn't have much of a choice.

Equipped with this new knowledge however, I started to notice more flaws, contradictions, and moral issues with what we were being taught in my youth group & during sermons. When I asked questions, the answers I recieved were very insufficient and unconvincing. Many times they just seemed like bad excuses that only a small child would fall for.

It also became more obvious to me that prayer was ineffective. The "God's time" explanation that I had accepted so readily before, now appeared to be a clear cop-out -- If God is going to do everything on his time anyway, what's the point of praying? I also noticed that a lot of effort was put into making it "feel real". During prayer time everyone would be made to hold hands, and the most emotionally moving tracks would be played very loudly. I started to ask myself, if something was truly happening when we prayed, why did we need all of this emotional manipulation? Why couldn't God just talk to people casually and directly, without a need for all the extra noise?

As I continued to be an avid internet user, and my interests in science grew (biology and psychology in particular), I couldn't help but stumble upon more and more reasons to reject Christianity, and Abrahamic religions as a whole. Due to fear and denial, I didn't admit to myself that I was indeed an atheist until perhaps two years ago. I am now in my 20's.

I can honestly say that my life without religion is much better. I don't have to lie to myself, keeping contradictory ideas in my head out of fear (cognitive dissonance is REAL). I don't have to adhere to ridiculous and outdated views. I can think for myself, and freely explore science without defending myself against everything I discover ("But but but, the bible says...!" ). I mean there's just so much inner freedom now.

Nairaland has helped me be much more comfortable, and even proud of, my atheism. It feels great to know that there are other brilliant & brave Nigerian thinkers out there, even if most of us are in hiding (for now). I have no doubts that in the near future more and more people will be leaving religion behind, in part, if not mostly, due to enlightenment via the internet.
~~~

cc BeastAmbition
urahara

I love this...
Mrzenographer, Muafrika2, Goddys(the false prophet of satan(yahweh)), Winner01,jcross, kingebukasblog, come and see something.

otemanuduno:
I love this...

I wonder what she thinks about the UFO cult

Hmm

I think church and most religious rituals is the most boring place in this world.

A bunch of people sit in a big hall and listen to one ordinary man who claims to be Gods messenger, tell them they are sinners and they would attract Gods blessings by giving. People just sit for two hours listening to that crap (after dancing and praising God before the sermon)

My mind is too busy for such boring life.

Besides, I always ask... why do humans give praise to God and enjoy the praises themselves? It is just a case of the praiser enjoying his own praises more than the praisee

The whole God theory is messed up.

dalaman:
There are no muslim atheist here. Only one was here before but has soon stopped posting years ago.

There are plenty former Muslims like me just that I don't see myself as an atheist. Ever since I dropped religion I stopped being a fan of titles....when I av the time, I will put down my journey away from religions

ValentineMary:
[b] I came from a very religious catholic family (at least my moniker depicts that) my cousin a catholic priest, another a nun, another a seminarian, another a charismatic leader. and me a block rosary president and devote catholic.

I think my journey to atheism started when I met some of them on facebook, I felt absolute pity for them because I thought they were all going to hell. The first thing I said to them was "I pity u atheist in this group" (They were mostly American though). Until I got to know them better then I realised they were good guys and not bad as the bible depicts them to be. Then I asked myself why did Jesus say "Those who don't believe in me shall not have eternal life". I then began to doubt some of Jesus message.

Being a catholic, I learnt about their killings in the past but I tried to overlook it but I could not. Why would the pope (who we were taught was Jesus rep here on earth order killing of women and kids?). Also I developed great devotion to the Blessed Mary and I made sure I prayed 20 decades of the rosary daily (catholics know how long this is) and I also constantly wore my scapular of mt Carmel because we were taught those who die wearing the scapular can't go to hell. I also became a block rosary president and hoped one day to be a catholic priest. I was so vested in the catholic faith and belief that people thought I was a seminarian.

But after some time, I could not overlook the killings in the bible and church history. It just did not make sense. If God was love why allow so much killing, why be oblivious about certain thing eg thinking that if some dudes build a tower till it reach d sky; they might find him, causing pharoah to sin just to punish him, etc. It did not sum up. So I called myself a religious skeptic and I still believed in a God. Until I began to ponder more, I saw so much errors than I expected.How could a cause that claims to be good like religion cause so much suffering, discrimination, and disaster Then I migrated to being a deist but now an agnostic atheist. [/b]

one unique thing...u believe, then you meet a group that u cant defend yourself against and they influence u.

all bad boys were once good boys, until dey met somepple and their ideology changed.

a pope ordered those killings, and so u forgot the good that many popes before and after him had done huh?

i have been going through many comments here.
they usually start with "i was a christian" its funny that there seem to be little or no muslim converted atheists.

then dey go further and say, dey started doubting, questioning things because they didnt sound beleivable, likeable or to their taste.

but, u know how d first denomination broke out, dey didnt "like" a doctrine that affected them. king henry was ok with the church until it told him not to get another wife then he started "doubting"

atheists analogy is what we used to do in sec school.
school had laws: dont do this or get punished e.t.c.

someone will come cheat in an exam and wont be caught or would steal and wont be caught and we will ask ourselves, why should i read when pple are cheating nd going scot free?? remember when u leave d right path and start cheating, u might not be caught immediately but maybe at the end of your stay, ull realize that u were wrong to deviate!

if you read your bible very well before u were "converted", ull have come across the story of king saul who was a beloved but then lost his way!

... Reviving this thread....

Who have noticed, all this atheist testimonies were coverts to Christianity, not from Islam.. .. Christianity itself is a faulty religion before, that's why, the atheist could find cracks and lies in their religionn..
*but* Islam, hmmmn , u can't see stuffs like that.. .
U may say, that u made a research on faults in the quran... ,mheen, I went online also, but all the things I saw, I was actually laughing, at the flimsy excuse, Orientalist are giving to belie and find errors in the quran..
So, am waiting for an athiest who converted to Islam to share his unfortunate story

olaade714:
Who have noticed, all this atheist testimonies were coverts to Christianity, not from Islam.. .. Christianity itself is a faulty religion before, that's why, the atheist could find cracks and lies in their religionn..
*but* Islam, hmmmn , u can't see stuffs like that.. .
U may say, that u made a research on faults in the quran... ,mheen, I went online also, but all the things I saw, I was actually laughing, at the flimsy excuse, Orientalist are giving to belie and find errors in the quran..
So, am waiting for an athiest who converted to Islam to share his unfortunate story

There are plenty exe Muslim atheists.

Islam naturally oppresses it's followers ,so the cases of ex Muslim atheists are rare. Buy comparing Islam and Christianity, I'd tell you right now that I'd never in my right mind take a religion whose prophet is a **** seriously.

Seun:
It happened at a time when I had many problems in my life and I decided to skip sunday fellowship because frankly, the fellowship hadn't done anything whatsoever to help me with my problems. Over the next week, I tried to examine the impact of my personal relationship with God on my life and I could only conclude that it had a negative impact on my life. If I had relied on my own understanding to make decisions, instead of doing things I thought God wanted me to do, my life would have been so much better. So I told my roommates that I'd be an interim atheist until I got some strong evidence of the existence of God and the truth of the bible. I'd no longer give Christianity the benefit of doubt.

(I could do that because in my quest to be a better Christian, I learnt exactly how the bible was put together, which was a mess. I'd had to think about the contradictions in the bible. I'd tried to convert a muslim who was able to defend the flaws of Islam as well as I could defend the flaws of Christianity, which made me realize that the only reason I was a Christian was by choice, due to being born into it. My quest to witness the pentecostal promise of signs and wonders had been fruitless. Even speaking in tongues had turned out to be not supernatural at all)

As an atheist, I started the process of rethinking my life, and everything now made so much more sense. All those 'difficult questions' I used to struggle with as a Christian who actually read the bible and tried to make sense of it were easily answered thus: "because there's no God".

@ interim atheist

Martinez19:
@ interim atheist

lmao!

More

Do you believe there is juju?
Who is behind juju?
Some guys will be shot with Ak47 and the bullets will drop like paper.
If there is devil, why did you think there is no God?
There is God, get that to your dirty skull.

RALPHOW:
Do you believe there is juju?
Who is behind juju?
Some guys will be shot with Ak47 and the bullets will drop like paper.
If there is devil, why did you think there is no God?
There is God, get that to your dirty skull.

Yes, there is juju alongside Fuji and Afro Beat. Some say, King Sunny Ade is behind juju, I believe it’s Sir Shina Peters. Regardless, AK47 bullets only drop like paper in Nollywood, Hollywood, and Bollywood. Once in a blue moon, it happens in Russia. There is devil and no God because devil killed God. It happened around the year 999. My skull is clean because I just showered.