Turn to God?

I think in a situation where nothing else has worked then maybe people would. I’m an athiest I have never gone to church or prayed etc so I can’t say I would.

some do

some people may want to believe because in this society being an atheist is considered wrong when you hear that what you are is wrong constantly you have to wonder

No. I’ve been through those times as an atheist, and never had any inclination to beg to an imaginary superbeing for help. I find that friends and family are the true source of strength during those times, and if they fail me, then there is no-one …including gods to demons to turn to.

I think it’s hard for a religious person to truly comprehend what disbelief is. It seems that you guys think that atheists secretly believe in god and just deny it. My disbelief in your god is every bit as real as your disbelief in leprechauns or faries (assuming you don’t believe in such things). You would not even consider searching for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow no matter how poor you were, because the idea is just plain ridiculous.

my answer is similar to ichibanarky’s.

when hardship presents itself to me, I don’t kneel to a god- I see it as a test of my personal strength, a test of who I am as a man to see if I can overcome that hardship or crisis and see the way out.

a crisis is not “divine intervention” it is just how life is, and it is up to me to get me (and possibly others)through it, I have done fairly well thus far and have no need to place my crisis into the hands of a “god”.

I used to. I used to believe and I used to pray. But it didn’t get me anywhere.

That is partially why I am now atheist. That and I grew up and realised the facts.

“…everyone is lieing. if you where about to die or get shot by some mugger you would b begging for “god” please god please god. so stop with your bs…”

Have you much experience with God interfering with muggers killing praying victims? Not very probable, is it now, ny_anonymous?!

I think god watches out for us and I like that and it seems silly not to believe in someone that created you but whatever!!

…idiot…

I’m not going to try to predict what I’ll do in the future.

My position isn’t that God doesn’t exist, it is that I can find no good reason to believe that God does exist.

I do doubt that I would turn to God in desperation though. I think that believers don’t really understand the way skeptics look at the world. When I was a believer I prayed every time I faced some crisis. I prayed that a bully wouldn’t be waiting for me on the playground. When I was running late I prayed that I wouldn’t miss the bus. I prayed that when my dad’s department moved out of state that we wouldn’t have to move there too. I prayed when my mom was ill that she would recover. At the time I didn’t know what I’d do without God because I thought he got me through every crisis. When I quit believing in God I discovered that I did just fine without him. I think praying is somewhat therapeutic when you are in a situation that you have no control over but I found that I really was stronger than I thought and I didn’t need an imaginary friend to get me through life’s trials. I think that turning to God in times of crisis is just a habit that believers get into; not something atheists generally do.

I am a true atheist. I’m sure most of you have heard the phrase “You won’t find an Atheist in a Foxhole during wartime.” I disagree 100% with this. I have been through many life threatening times and extremely difficult time and I never once turned to a “god”. So the believers on this website do not have the right to try to answer for atheists. The question was not directed to you; therefore, you should observe, not respond. Atheists are entitled to their opinions just as well as believers. If you do not agree with it, that’s your opinion. We do not agree with your beliefs either, but most atheists will take the time to listen to them and not judge. Truth is, there will never be a common ground between believers and non-believers, so we must accept the fact that people have different views and we should not try to change them. The thing is, a lot of believers try to push off their beliefs on non-believers which angers them. Do you see a group of atheists walking up to your door telling you that what you believe is wrong? I didn’t think so. So please respect us as we respect you and do not answer for us. Your beliefs obviously differ from ours, so it does not make sense to try to answer a question based on an entirely different opinion that was initially directed towards the opposite crowd. Thanks.

anny, I think that a lot of people do decide what they will believe. When my brother married a Catholic woman and decided to convert he consciously created circumstances that would be conducive to his conversion. We live in a society that believes that religion and being religious is a good thing; even most people who aren’t that religious themselves feel guilty about it and idealize those more pious. Many people go to church and Bible study to try to strengthen their faith.

Agreed that Pascal’s Wager is a poor way to choose what to believe. Going with this test one ends up believing whichever worldview makes the biggest promises and the biggest threats instead the one most likely to be true.

Some may.

I personally don’t.

I see times of crisis as part of the path that I have laid out before me. When things go wrong in my life, it is my own actions that have caused it, and I accept the punishment as such.

That doesn’t make it easier, but I can take comfort in knowing that things are happening the way they were intended, and praying to any figure, real or not, will not change the shape of things to come.

…why wouldn’t they?

Similarly, do you know people who, in a time of crisis, turned away from god? They found out Jesus wasn’t really born on Dec 25th, they found out that you can’t translate between 3+ languages from 2 thousand years ago & get it right…then they discovered the guys on TV telling them to give…were spending the money on a mercedes.

Sure, people have that crisis all the time :)

“…Its like air… You can’t see it or touch it. but you know its there because without it you would be dead…”

Walk in the wind, advicegal, and you will feel the air, and if you would look really carefully, you might be able to see air; on a hot day it will vibrate and distort light. You can measure the weight of air and an airplane uses air to fly in. Air is part of the observable, measurable and verifiable world and it is very likely to be real.

God, or any god, is not observable, measurable and verifiable and not likely to be real.

No, I would not.

I have been through very hard times (homeless, drug addict, rape victim). It never made me call out to God, or even think that there was a God. A true athiest - knows that there is no God in their hearts. So in times or trouble or agony - they would not call out on something they don’t believe to be true.

From the Seattle Times, march 2006: “Researchers at the Harvard Medical School and five other U.S. medical centers found, to their bewilderment, that coronary-bypass patients who knew strangers were praying for them fared significantly worse than people who got no prayers.”

Conclusion: Turning to God in times of crisis can be hazardous to your health.

But seriously, folks. Personally, I don’t see why, during a trying period in my life, I would suddenly start believing in a magical sky man, but I agree with thedude that it seems perfectly reasonable that someone might.

Just to confirm the times when I did pray I was about 10. I am now truly atheist, I was naive and knew no better. I have grown up now and understand the world more.

missspellbound:

It’s just as silly to believe in a being that has no proof what so ever. Please respect other’s religions - there are millions of them out there and it’s “silly” to think that yours is the only one that there is to and call other’s wrong.

This is my thought. I would rather believe that God does exist, Die and find out it was all untrue. Then to be a non-believer and Die and find out it is. Its like air… You can’t see it or touch it. but you know its there because without it you would be dead…

So… do they hand out PAMPHLETS at ‘born-again christian’ school? Do the pamphlets only contain Occam’s Razor, and the ‘wind’ analogy?

Oh, and is the ‘Adam and Steve’ line in there too?

Agreed that Pascal’s Wager is a poor way to choose what to believe.

Dammit… I MEANT Pascal’s Wager… not Occam’s Razor… I always mix those up…

This is my thought. I would rather believe that God does exist, Die and find out it was all untrue. Then to be a non-believer and Die and find out it is.

Its like air… You can’t see it or touch it. but you know its there because without it you would be dead…

I have lost my faith before and really hit rock bottom. things started to go bad for me.

I started going to church again and re-built my faith and things started to turn around I started to become more happy and My life felt whole again.

I love God!!! and always will!

Whoever he is, he will turn back to god when a crisis happens to HIM,,,but its a lot better if you do it before the crisis…rt?

Speaking as an atheist, I can say I would not. I don’t believe that there is a god, for various reasons. One being that things are not so good right now, and why would this ‘god’ put me through this at such a young age? The other( and main) reason being that I am a very logical person, and it does not make sense to me. I believe in the theory of evolution. Anyway, to answer your question, I would not. I have a friend who is an atheist, and she would not. Even in the most extreme circumstances I would not. Praying to something would not help the sort of situations I get into.

“…This is my thought. I would rather believe that God does exist, Die and find out it was all untrue. Then to be a non-believer and Die and find out it is…”

Your notion can be referred to as ‘Pascal’s Wager’. Which god will you choose? There are thousands to pick from. And he/she/it has to be stupid enough to fall for the trick. Further; ‘believing’ is not something you can decide to do. It should be a result of observation, study, analysis and intelligent conclusion. Be brave and have a good look at things…