Hey guys, before I came on this site I am a hundred % believer, as the time goes by and read most of the post and comments on here plus every time I asked bf bout things, it changes my views in life, it turned out that the logic of things and situation from the people on here has a point. I think it's in my bones but I keep on ignoring it and don't accept the fact that I don't believe in god, I was born and raised in the Philippines. The country boasts to be the only Christian nation in Asia. More than 86 percent of the population is Roman Catholic, 6 percent belong to various nationalized Christian cults, and another 2 percent belong to well over 100 Protestant denominations. It was hard to make decisions but after how many times of thinking things, past situations in life, and right the very beginning I don't believe in my religion. it's time for me to signing off from being a believer. Yey! I felt happy and felt the freedom inside me, booooom! Officially I'm an agnostic yey!
Congratulations, you have just crossed into the world of TRUE Reality, Logic, Reasoning, Free-Thinking and everything that a True Human being should be and strive to be.
A few more shorter and easier steps and you'll become an Atheist and the whole Universe of Reality, etc, will be wide open to you, live in it, love being in, enjoy being a part of it, THERE IS nothing better I can assure you of that.
@Boomtarat03 No need to thank me, just telling things as they are.
Congratulations! Another mind has become clear...
More power to ya! I myself was a halfway believer early on and gradually I wondered out into non-belief as if I had always been that way. No struggle...just seemed to fit like a glove! I feel safer, happier and have no need to justify myself to anyone!
Congratulations! This journey involved a lot of study for me and that study was the bible. The writings inside came together officially some 300 plus years after Jesus. The book contradicts itself because the many smaller books inside were never meant to be bound together as one. "Early church fathers" is a term put on people 300 or so years after Jesus, and Josephus was not a contemporary. Paul is credited with writing two thirds of the New Testament and he never knew or met Jesus. Beyond that, the man could never tell whether he was "in or out" of his body when he received his great teachings. I look back and it is so hard to imagine people who follow this.
Some claim I have not tried other religions. Why would I need to? So called holy writings abound and there is no proof of gods or of gods wanting to get in touch with you. The question is more like why do we want so desperately to invent a god?
Good luck to you in your journey. Remember also that we make our own luck.
May I just add my good wishes to those of all the others. Welcome to being a freethinker and rejecting the dogma of Catholicism. My grandfather made that same decision to leave the Catholic Church in 1911. He had been raised in an Irish Catholic immigrant family in England, came north to Scotland where he married my grandmother, a Protestant who converted to marry him. My father was born in 1910 and baptised into the church, but a year later my grandfather decided to leave the church and declared himself a freethinker. He raised my father and his brothers and sisters to think and read everything and never to believe unquestioningly, but to challenge and decide for themselves. My father in turn raised my brother and me the same way, for which I am eternally grateful. Welcome to our community.
But religion has so much to offer: lies, fear, ignorance, superstition -- are you sure you want to give all that up in favor of reality?
You are shaking some of the last vestiges of Spanish domination of your culture. Lapu lapu would be proud!!
But what if you're wrong? What if there is an angry old man in the sky who wants women to be subjected to the status of property that men can own and who will burn you in liquid fire for eternity?
Well that's just crazy but there are a lot of crazy people who believe that horrible idea. Just remember to put things to the test of logic and if it doesn't pass that test after several attempts then it is probably just a crazy idea and should be avoided.
In my thunder years my body and I shared an apartment in Toronto. My wife and I were in school so we rented to others to lower the living expenses. One of our "victrims" was a Greek girl. After so many decades no longer remember what she was doing for a living but she was very religious. We told her that my wife is a witch and we saw her flying on the broom out of the window. We told her that to be on the good side of the witch she needs to screw us every day. The girl did, but all good things come to an end and she was still afraid of the witch and in a few month moved out and e lost the safe home sex. Very sad, my wife was very bisy and in spite of being very young, she was nce a week" girl.
So not all aspects of religions are bad. They can be exploited quite nicely as all Jehovas, Scientologists and all others of the 1170 plus sects know. I have fun with 27 religions. At the moment I cherish Discordians. Lovely religion, simply put: we are against EVERYTHING.
@Boomtarat03 one foot in front of the other is how we make progress and at least you are moving forward and not backward.
Thank you for sharing your story @Boomtarat03, it's always good to see a new person stepping out of darkness to full freedom. I am happy for you!
I'm glad you came to the logical and Real world, its always fun to interact with you
@Boomtarat03 your welcome
I dated a Filipino many years back. He belonged to Iglesia ni Cristo, which had a lot in common with the church I grew up in, Seventh-Day Adventists. I got to visit his family from time to time in the Philippines, but it was always under the pretense of "friends." He lived in fear: fear of God, fear of being disenfranchised, and fear of being cut off from his family. He still does. The one thing I don't miss about God is that fear. And I'm free to love people and be happy.
I see my belief in God as a computer app that was installed for me, not by me, and when I gave up that belief in God, all I did was uninstall the app. I've been surprised at how much hard-space that un-installment has opened up. It's also surprising how many legacy apps have been affected.
@Boomtarat03: Yah, it's a crazy church. And we were always trying to hide the fact that we were dating. I'm so glad I'm not associated with them anymore.
I hope you have come to the realization that the only reason your country is catholic is because it was once occupied by Spain for a very long time, it affected the Filipino culture with food, language, names, and many other influences, including the bad ones, like religion. Congratulations on your personal freedom from the brainwashing of religion.
Most 'religious' people got that way from indoctrination when young.
Once older & wiser, a little reading & research soon reveals the falseness of it all.