Atheism

[Viktor Zeegelaar]

As a Christian we know that we cannot serve two masters. It's either God or Satan. However, in the last decades we've seen a tremendous rise of (designed) atheism in the West. Atheism could be defined as:

''Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which in its most general form is the belief that at least one deity exists.''

To give an impression of who's behind the designed push for atheism in the West good old Wikipedia helps us:

List of Jewish atheists and agnostics - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It is assumed that ''Jews have a special affinity for atheism''. It is also said that ''many Jewish atheists feel comfortable within any of the three major non-Orthodox Jewish denominations (Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist). This presents less of a contradiction than might first seem apparent, given Judaism's emphasis on practice over belief, with even mainstream guides to Judaism suggesting that belief in God is not a necessary prerequisite to Jewish observance.''

So I don't think the origins of atheism bear too much scrutiny.

Personally I've been an atheist for 27 years until I stumbled into the truth of the Christian God. My experience with atheism is that as I grew up in a completely secular social environment and cultural environment I'd never researched the idea of a God. I was too hooked up into fun, pleasure etc. So although I would have considered myself an atheist during that time, it was more by design and custom than a deeply held belief and principle. I think that is the case for most who have been born in this time and culture. The big difference for me between the atheistic and Christian based lifestyle is feeling at ease. The atheistic lifestyle brings continual strife, chaos, panic, need, want, distress, stress, pain, tension. The Christian lifestyle makes you feel at ease spiritually, something that can never be achieved with an atheistic lifestyle.

Interesting points to touch on:

- What has been the impact of atheism on Christian communities in the West?
- How do we deal with atheists?
- How do we lead our lives in an overtly atheistic society and all the social, cultural etc. ramifications?
- What is your personal story with atheism? Were you an atheist before you came to God and how did it make a difference in your life?

 

[Eric The Awful]

I don't think I was ever an atheist. I was raised in the Christian Science cult, and became a Christian when I was 28.

I think some Christians are functional atheists. They show up at church most Sundays and give lip service to God, but don't have much fruit in their lives. At least in evangelical circles, we do tend to emphasize confession of belief over practice. We go to church, but reflect the world most of the time. Lately I've been studying Catholic and Orthodox sources, and finding value in having rituals. I haven't made it as far as setting up a fast schedule, but I'm trying to incorporate some of their prayers into my life and I'm finding value in that.

The impact is, we get people who say they're Christians, but are just like the world. There's little difference. I will admit to being Christian when asked, but I do not lead with it as I prefer to let my behavior speak for me, and if I'm not behaving like a Christian, I don't want it to detract from others. I also won't put Christian symbols on my car. I've had too many people cut me off or refuse to let me get over while driving, and when I get behind them, the back of their cars are plastered with Christian stickers. Definitely not a good advertisement.

I deal with atheists by how I treat them. I deal honestly with them. I don't "preach" at them. I talk to them like human beings. If they have questions, I answer as honestly as possible. If they don't, I leave it alone. It's mostly Golden Rule stuff; I won't use any tactic that would not have worked on me before I was a Christian.

 

[MrFreezy]

Never been an atheist. Always with Christ. But from my experience that I ve seen in members of my extended family atheism is a horrible lifestyle. Childlessness or broken family. Unnecessary violence, confusion, alcoholism, adultery, etc. Funny enough atheism is a part of the Boomer lifestyle. Not the grandparents who survived the Russian labor camps though. Lost all their teeth almost starved to death and still able to find each other, fall in love getting married have kids. Life is great if you got the faith. If not...voila here comes the clownworld!

 

[Viktor Zeegelaar]

Yes I agree. If we take some statistics into account we see a difference between Europa and North-America. Let's take the NL and the US as example:

In 2015, Statistics Netherlands, the government institute that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands, found that 50.1% of the adult population declared no religious affiliation. Christians comprised 43.8% of the total population; by denomination, Catholicism was 23.7%, the members of the Protestant Church of the Netherlands were 15.5%, and members of other Christian denominations were 4.6%. Islam comprised 4.9% of the total population, Hinduism 0.6%, Buddhism 0.4%, and Judaism 0.1%.

--

According to the Pew Research Center in a 2014 survey, self-identified "atheists" make up 3.1% of the US population, even though 9% of Americans agreed with the statement "Do not believe in God" while 2% agreed with the statement "Do not know if they believe in God".[4]

According to the 2014 General Sociological Survey, the number of atheists and agnostics in the U.S. grew over the previous 23 years. In 1991, only 2% identified as atheist, and 4% identified as agnostic; while in 2014, 3.1% identified as atheists, and 5% identified as agnostics.[5]

In 2009, Pew stated that only 5% of the US population did not have a belief in a god and out of that small group only 24% self-identified as "atheist", while 15% self-identified as "agnostic" and 35% self-identified as "nothing in particular".[6]

According to the 2008 ARIS, only 2% the US population was atheist, while 10% were agnostics.[7]

--

So we see that in the NL 50% has no religious affiliation. However, the surprising thing is that 44% says they are Christian. Living here for 3 decades I can tell you that there is 0 Christian visibility here generally, besides a small Biblebelt. The only religious visibility is the Muzzies, especially in the big city. They are just 5%. Churches are empty, so that 44% probably are boomers who grew up somewhat with an idea of God but don't practice their faith at all, nor live according to their faith if I see the darkness around me on the streets.

Interesting to see that so few people identify themselves as atheists in the US, whereas the US is the home and export leader of degeneration, filth, atheism and satanism. What happens in the US follows 2 months after in Europe. What's your take on this? Mostly people who have some Christian upbringing yet don't live by their faith, if it's there at all, as @emuelle1 said? And what are the social, cultural and other ramifications you see around you as the influence of atheism on yourself, your community or your country?