2nd CD -- Julia Sweeney, Letting Go of God -- Part 3 of 6

[javonne]

this story is so much like my own... It was such a sad and tragic moment in my life, just the thought of there being no God. I felt sick, I felt nauseated. I looked to the Bible for help and guidence, but suddenly it was as if EVERY page was something about death... I felt scared, alone, and devoid of any sense of joy. My life became a living hell for a whole week... Until my mind began rationalizing again. I started to slowly come back to life... Now here I am 2 years later and I'm free. :)

[Katalyzt]

So that is what it is like for someone who once believed in magic and fairy tale gods to start critically thinking and slowly come to reality.

Katalyzt

[SeMaHaSa]

@Katalyzt It opens your eyes to how angry atheists are and how they are filled with hate towards people who believe differently from them. It also shows how so many of them aren't just happy being "good without God" but with an inexplicable obsession with the eradication of religious belief. The atheist camp doesn't seem happy or enlightened or fulfilled. They seem empty, grudge holding, and kinda ugly. Oh, and acting the same way that elitist Christians act only without the whole God thing.

[Katalyzt]

Hello SeMaHaSa,

Interesting comment. How does it relate to what I stated? ;O)

Katalyzt

[sarahsunsmashable]

@SeMaHaSa not all atheists are that way. many of them will wish we lived in a world without religion and feels it holds us back. but what some of us are sick of is how many (no offense intended) religious (nothing personal) people are always putting down what we try to do by claiming it is a sin. It cannot be said athiests hate all other beliefs when e.g christianity claims all who do not believe in god will be sent to hell forever. it is nothing more than to scare people into beliving in christ

[xxhellspawnedxx]

@SeMaHaSa Well, in a sense, most of us do hold a grudge against religion. Because of dogmatic religions (not belief - Believing doesn't hold you back from being the best you can be and achieving as much as you can, as long as you don't introduce slightly psychotic notions of absolute values and such in it) and their lobbyists and flocks of sheep following their leaders every whim, we have a stunted scientific development, way behind what we could've had. The grudge is towards religion, not God.

[colourfulwithaU]

This is such a charming story. And she is such a charming storyteller.

[Roymustang18]

lmao i love this series. my favorite part was where she said, u fucked up buddy lmfao!

[jodiebug1]

God, this monologue makes me feel so good about majoring in Biology....

[ZachTHEeuphorian]

@jodiebug1 this monologue makes me feel so good about being an atheist

[martin692006]

Wow I had that same experience that Sweeney had where there was a voice in the back of my head screaming "There is no god" I also put on and off the no god glasses. The world works the same whether or not you believe in god.

[Enuvrack]

I wish I had this much internal thought about my deconversion.

[verglaze]

Its funny, the last time i prayed was also for faith... Weird.

[wildnine00]

I've found this whole thing very touching and altogether lovely. :)

[t3tsuyaguy1]

This is so full of great moments but, "You mean we're just hurtling through space!!!?  That's so vulnerable!!!" is my favorite so far. : D

[botwindfish]

"Why are we ethical?"

Her answer to this question is so problematic.

[MidgardEagle]

@botwindfish Why?

[botwindfish]

@MidgardEagle It's fraught with dilemmas. It's an amateurish, shallow explanation that does not understand its monstrous ethical/moral implications. But she isn't intending to persuade believers, so I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt.

[schreix27]

@botwindfish Why?

[GreyLabyrinthine]

@botwindfish It is. But psychologists and neurologists are working on it. And I'd guess the answer that *they* might give will be SO much more complex and ambiguous than to fit it into what is essentially a personal comedy program. And the gist of it probably isn't even so far off from what she said. What dilemmas exactly would you mean?

[Mattrevik]

@botwindfish "Why do piranhas not kill each other?” “Are they following a rule giver?”; “Did humans think it was OK to steal, lie and murder before the 10 commandments?”; “Are the ethical suggestions in the bible not apparent in other literature pre and post bronze age?; “Where did these archetypes come from?”; “ Could they be genetically coded because they ensure survival of our species?” Naw…her answer is probably problematic. No...wait. "coz the bible tells me so..."is problematic.

[SeMaHaSa]

@Mattrevik It is just as problematic for anyone to base their ideas or beliefs on any type of media, whether it is books, TV, celebrity opinions, magazines or the internet. We still live in a world where people actively seek to be mirror images of other people. the concept of blindly following didn't start with and won't end with the Bible.

[scruffyexaminer]

@botwindfish Assertions without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

[KoolaidMolestors]

AMAZING!

[Ebuverthebicepcurler]

Its like the anti-confessions(book by St.Augustine of Hippo), a long journey toward denial.

[questionsamson]

This video is the best one for me because I had almost exactly the same experience.  I "put on and off" the no god glasses a couple of times in one week.

[Domzdream]

Hehe. I kinda like it.

[leanonme1]

kind like how obama says "ummmmm...."

between every second word, nobody sees it till someone tell you about.

[debaser71]

"there is no god"

[Caesar512]

"OH MY GOD THERE IS NO GOD"

[MidgardEagle]

@Caesar512 It's really sad that I didn't get that pun until I heard that sentence for about the dozenth time.:P