Interview with an Atheist

[Tin-Man]

@Jaegeez

Hello! I am currently and RN on his way to get a BSN. The questions are of my own design and I will take any critique y’all throw at me.

Howdy again, Jae! Medical field, huh? Excellent! Challenging and rewarding. Spent a few years as an Army Medic, myself. Loved (almost) every minute of it.

Looked over your questions, and I’m now looking forward to answering them. As expected, everybody else has already jumped in and started flooding the thread. (We really are desperate for entertainment around here. ) Got my two year old grandson today, though, and I have to go to work this evening. Therefore, my answers may be delayed somewhat. Oh, and like Cyber said, definitely hang around. You can certainly learn a few things around here to help you deal with various people/situations. Many different perspectives here with an amazing pool of experience, and most all of us are always eager to brag about the stupid shit we’ve done in our lives.

(Edit to add: Be aware, if Cog was a flavor of ice cream he would be acerbic banana.)

[Tin-Man]

Re: Question from Jae - “What are some prevalent misconceptions about atheism held by individuals from other cultures…”

@Atkinbean

That athiests masturbate daily.

Whoa! Hold up a sec, Atkin! You mean we DON’T??? … Er-uh… I mean, uh, that’s right. People always make that mistake about us atheists… (discretely placing lotion back in cabinet)…

[skriten]

@Cognostic

I told him I would talk to a wall for him.

HAhahha…I’m stealing that and I promise to use it the next time someone says they will pray for me. (You will be held responsible if I get beaten severely as a result…)

Edit to talk to myself

[Kevin_Levites]

I would like to be interviewed . . . although I can give you the basics of my position in this post, if that helps you.

“Why have you rejected God?”

I see the damage done by religion . . . whether it’s the constant turmoil in the Middle East, honor killings in conservative Muslim countries, firebombing abortion clinics in the U.S., oppression of LGBTQ people (worldwide), and so on.

So, I examined my religious beliefs, and I found many inconsistancies, such as:

a) If God exists, then where did God come from? If He has always existed, then why not assume that the Universe always existed. If God’s origin is an unanswerable question, then why not assume that the begining of the Universe is an unanswerable question?

b) The requirements of the various religions often contradict each other . . . and we frequently see these contradictions between different sects of the same religion. As an example, if a Catholic commits suicide, they are beyond redemption and go straight to Hell . . . while a Muslim suicide bomber will go straight to Paradise with his 72 virgins. This is the case even though Catholics and Muslims worship the same God.

I decided that these contradictory requirements combine in a way that causes them to cancel each other out (like adding positive and negative numbers) so that we are left with nothing.

c) There is a very famous, often-used argument called “The watchmaker argument,” which states that a watch implies a watchmaker . . . so the Universe–which is much more complicated than any watch–must have been created.

If we follow this reasoning, then the existence of God implies a God-maker, and then we have to believe that something made the God-maker . . . and so on, as an infinite regression, or series. Having an infinite regression or series in the discussion of God accomplishes nothing of substance, as it is a much simpler explanation to believe that the Universe has always existed.

d) I hear “What if you’re wrong, and go to Hell for rejecting the sacrifice that Christ made for you on the cross? Isn’t a belief in God a free insurance policy that costs you nothing if you’re wrong about God’s nonexistence?”

I actually do find this argument to be interesting, and it deserves a civil response . . . as we take out hurricane insurance even if our area hasn’t been hit in decades.

As for my answer, I look around me and see all of the horror and damage caused by religion, so my atheistic position is a rejection of all of this nastiness. I believe that religion divides humanity at a time when we’re faced with existential threats, so if I’m wrong when I die and I meet God, God will know why I rejected belief and give me a pass. If I’m wrong and God is unreasonable, then we’re all screwed anyway and religious beliefs make no difference.

Or, to examine this position from another viewpoint, let us suppose that I buy the “free insurance policy” argument. Out of the world’s 5,000 or so religions, I may choose the wrong one . . . which would definitely confine my soul to Hell for eternity. It seems that my atheistic position might be easier to defend before God’s judgment, as there is less hypocrasy behind atheism than exists in the many religions.

e) “You have a moral sense, so where does this come from? Why not let yourself become a sociopathic monster if there is no eternal punishment? A sense of right and wrong comes from God.”

If a faith in God is what impells us to be “good” (in however you define the term), then why not skip a step and simply decide that I can be “good” just for it’s own sake . . . and have faith that being good just to be good is all that’s required?

f) “Almost all of the people in the world believe in God in one form or another. Do you say that you know better than the collective wisdom of billions of people? Aren’t you arrogant?”

All of the people in the world used to believe that the Earth is flat, and that the Universe revolved around the Earth. Many people still believe this. This belief did not succeed in unrounding the Earth by so much as an inch (this is a line paraphrased from a book by Isaac Asimov).

There are any number of ideas that are widely believed, yet are wrong. I am not obligated to believe that the Earth is flat just because everyone else does.

Does any of this help with your project?

Private message me if you’re interested in further dialog.

Good luck.

[Atkinbean]

@Tin-Man

People always make that mistake about us atheists

@Tin-Man

Question from Jae - “What are some prevalent misconceptions about atheism held by individuals from other cultures…”

@Atkinbean

That athiests masturbate daily.

Whoa! Hold up a sec, Atkin! You mean we DON’T??? … Er-uh… I mean, uh, that’s right. People always make that mistake about us atheists…

Being an atheist doesn’t automatically make you a chronic masturbator, just like being religious doesn’t automatically make you a saint. So let’s all embrace our individual choice and hobbies.
Actually my reasoning behind this was simply,some people think we don’t skip it and are doing it every time even in koma.

But they don’t know atheists can have a strong sense of morality and ethics based on reason and empathy.

Edit: Lol
Edit:- Also thiests can be confused when an athiest wants no fap because they need god to stop fap but athiests as normal human being who know their brain is plastic can stop it anytime if they want.

[Nyarlathotep]

1. One day: the wife of the CEO of the corporation where I worked; asked me if I was an atheist. I said I was. Her response was “and you seemed like such a nice person”. The next day my position was merged with another position and I was out of a job. Within a month they separated the jobs and hired someone else for my old position.

2. There is little hope that one dirty atheist is going to be able to change the mind of someone who has been indoctrinated by dozens of priests, teachers, TV shows, and family for decades. I don’t have access to those kinds of pressures or time.

3. When I was single; I didn’t date people who believe in magic (who believe in god). I also didn’t date people who worship UFO’s or Bigfoot: FOR THE SAME REASON.

4. Well I’ve lost jobs, friends, and even been beaten for not being Christian (for not believing in god).

5. I live in Sin City (Las Vegas). With the sex industry, free alcohol, gambling, and huge shows composed entirely of drag performers; religious/Christian non-sense isn’t a big deal here.

6. Well I lost several friends when I revealed I didn’t believe in god as a teenager. Now I try not to get too close to people who believe in magic as they are unreliable in my experience.

7. I guess I addressed this in #2.

8. Well they often claim atheists are satanists, or hate god, or are all liars.

9. I discussed this above (Las Vegas).

10. Yeah, you mentioned you are from Southern Texas. I was in a brawl at the mall in Killeen Texas in the late 90’s. It started because I was wearing a Bad Religion tee shirt.

[Calilasseia]

Be advised, that when I answer your questions, I will probably be a serious outlier, not least because my background includes exposure to pure mathematics at university level, and as a corollary of said exposure, I understand the value of rigour when dealing with concepts. Indeed, if you explore the Debate Room category, you’ll find I’ve contributed numerous documents via Google Docs, dealing with assorted canards and misconceptions, covering topics as diverse as braneworld cosmology and the nature of species from the standpoint of a biologist. So be prepared for a roller coaster ride when you read my answers.

So, let’s move on to this list of questions.

@Jaegeez

Here are the questions, feel free to post here or PM.

1. When someone from a theistic religion discovers you are an atheist do you feel like they try to change your mind instead of accepting and understanding your reasoning? Describe an example.[/quote]

Oh boy. If you search the Debate Room section of this forum diligently, you’ll find numerous examples of various religious adherents not only failing to understand elementary concepts, even after we have explained them in detail, but engaging in wilful refusal to understand any concept that destroys their presuppositions and assumptions.

Worse still, a good many of the religious adherents who gatecrash this site, have a habit of posting well-known and previously destroyed canards, in the smug and utterly mistaken belief that they’re presenting some ineffable brand of “wisdom” that we’ve never seen before, and that doing so will magically convret us into religious adherents f the same species. This is, not to put too fine a point on it, garbage. All too often, the religous adherents in question post canards that we’ve dealt with before on numerous occasions, in some cases canards that are known to be decades old. Some of these canards are, in addition, couched in terms that include thinly veiled ad hominems (in some cases, not even thinly veiled) and instances of blatant well poisoning.

Among the canards we see frequently here are the following (NOTE: this is not a complete list by any stretch of the imagination):

• “You only deny my god because you want to sin”;

• “It takes more faith to be an atheist”;

• “You can’t be moral without my god”;

• “Prove that my god doesn’t exist”;

• “You don’t understand the bible/hermeneutics/exegesis”;

• “You’re taking it out of context”;

• “You’re angry/emotional” (when presenting facts that destroy the assertions of their favourite mythology);

• The usual variations on the assertion that we purportedly possess a range of cognitive or ethical deficits, because we don’t treat unsupported mythological assertions uncritically as fact;

• Assertions to the effect that the OT laws were superseded (followed by demands to conform to said “superseded” laws, but only the ones that purportedly “validate” various bigotries);

• Assertions to the effect that accepting experimentally tested and validated scientific postulates is the product of “assumptions” or “presuppositions” (blatant projection ahoy!), or worse still, various brands of wilful mendacity (again, blatant projection ahoy!).

As an example of the diligence I have exerted to combat some of these canards, I direct you to this post, from which you can jump to a Google Docs page covering explicit and thorough dismantling of numerous canards.

Note that the majority of pedlars of canards of this sort tend to be American evangelical Christians, who seem to regard it as some sort of “mission from god” to regurgitate these canards here. Pedlars of canards from other religious backgrounds tend to be much rarer here.

Moving on …

@Jaegeez

2. Oftentimes when the average religious person hears about atheism, they associate the word with bad connotation and already there is misjudgment. How do you go about communicating in ways that can change that bad connotation to either a better connotation or just so that the person understands you a little better?

First of all, I require evidence that someone peddling various canards is doing so merely out of ignorance, and is likely to be receptive to education. Sadly, such individuals tend to be extremely rare here. More often, we see the usual ideological stormtroopers for doctrine, who engage in discoursive mendacity on a grand scale. When I encounter those, I subject their duplicitous output to whatever discoursive ordnance it deserves. Once again, you will find that I’ve been prolific with respect to this.

@Jaegeez

3. Have you ever faced any challenges in your relationship with a religious partner because of their religious beliefs? If yes, how did you handle those challenges?

Fortunately, no. Though here in the UK, it’s now practically the norm for people I encounter to be atheists.To give you an indication of the numbers, when the last population census was conducted here in 2021, 22½ million UK citizens identified themselves on the census forum either as “atheist” or “no religious affiliation”.Indeed, for the first time in UK history, Christianity is no longer the majority religious affiliation. I suspect if you check the numbers for many EU nations (the Scandinavian nations in particular), Japan, Australia and New Zealand, you’ll find the numbers involve even more dramatic demographic shifts.

By the way, just to show you how much of an outlier the USA is in this regard, here’s a peer reviewed academic paper covering the relevant statistics:

Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies by Gregory S. Paul, Journal of Religion & Society, 2005

The paper can be downloaded in full from here, and read at your leisure.

@Jaegeez

4. Have you ever faced discrimination or prejudice because of being an atheist? If so, can you describe your experiences?

No. See my answer to [3] above, in which I mention the relevant demographics applicable to my UK home.

Though, I am aware of several American correspondents with starkly different experiences. Some of whom have stated that being an atheist in their part of the USA carries with it a quantifiable personal safety risk, if their atheism becomes public knowledge. A few of those may well provide some illuminating answers here.

@Jaegeez

5. Do you feel pressure conforming to a religion that is followed by the majority of your local area? If so, what are some examples and how did you handle them?

No. Again, see my answer to [3] above, and the requisite comment on demographics.

@Jaegeez

6. What reaction did your friends or family have when you first expressed your beliefs about atheism if they aren’t atheists? Are the majority of reactions positive or negative?

At this point, I’ll introduce you to a well-known phenomenon here in the UK, namely that for many years, people used to state that they were “C of E” (short for Church of England) without exhibiting any major signs of religious adherence. It was, in effect, a social convention aimed at avoiding awkward conversations (which for many years, we British were very good at). Many people here were de facto “C of E” in name only in the past. Though the Church of England here in the UK has tended to be what is termed "conservative with a small ‘c’ ", with the clergy preferring not to ruffle any large batches of feathers, at least until recently. The governing body thereof, the General Synod, has usually conducted its business in positively funereal fashion, as befits an organisation with a, shall we say, interesting past with respect to its formation, which centred upon an English king wanting to ditch his wife for a younger model.

Indeed, “tea with the vicar” has become here a cliché inplying studied and at times anally cultivated gentility. I made a comment on the stark contrast between cosy Cotswolds middle class life and the horrors of trench warfare elsewhere, when discussing the Voluntary Aid Detachment of young girls who travelled to Flanders to provide nursing care for wounded soldiers. Indeed, my comment was as follows:

@Me elsewhere

Among those records are also to be found some of the most tragic losses of all. The earnest young girls of the Voluntary Aid Detachment, who went to the trenches to act as nurses for the wounded - many of them sheltered, well-mannered and somewhat cosseted middle-class girls from good Christian families, who thought that they were doing their duty not just to King and Country, but to God as well. Their names on the Roll of Honour are an echo of a lost world of lace tea dresses, buttered scones and Sunday Best, who were immolated in the flames of total war. Names such as Miss Wilhelmina Baily, Miss Daisy Coles, Miss Alice Violet Hallam, who went from lace bonnets and chats with the vicar, to howitzer shellfire and men with their internal organs strewn across the floor.

I think that should be informative with respect to the requisite concepts.

Of course, the demographic shifts that have taken place recently are rendering much of the aura of “C of E” here historical, but enough people of my generation are still around to understand the concept.

Thanks to the above, you can now understand what I mean, when I say that my parents were “C of E” in name only.

@Jaegeez

7. What are some prevalent misconceptions about atheism held by individuals from other cultures, in your opinion, and how do you confront them in conversation?

I refer you to that document I invited you to read in my answer to question 1.

@Jaegeez

8. What advantages do you see for your local area as a whole in comprehending and appreciating other cultural beliefs and practices?

Understanding what ideas are being held by someone else is, of course, always useful, though by now you should have inferred from my answers, that my interest therein tends to be of a more scholarly nature than the average. This doesn’t mean for one moment, that I regard any of the manifestly ridiculous ideas prevalent within a section of the population as in any way valid. As you should have inferred long before reaching this part of my post.

@Jaegeez

9. If you find yourself in a situation where you must choose to assimilate, accommodate, or separate, which approach would you use to achieve your preferred outcome? For example, would you get rid of all cultural differences in order to “fit in”? How about insisting others from a dominant culture change the rules of society so it can incorporate experiences of other co-cultures? OR perhaps rejecting the notion of forming a common bond and seeking to maintain your own separate identity as an atheist?

My concern is for ideas to be correct. And I’m not afraid to ruffle feathers in pursuit of the requisite goal. A maxim I have presented here and elsewhere should be informative at this juncture, namely bad ideas exist to be destroyed, not least because we have numerous historical precedents, informing us how bad ideas end up destroying good people, if said bad ideas are allowed to fester.

However, I an content to allow people to harbour nonsensical ideas in private. What stupidity they keep within their own drawing rooms is their business. The moment they bring that nonsense into the public domain, and demand that policy be skewed to conform to said nonsense, that’s when I reach for the artillery.

@Jaegeez

10. Have you ever traveled to a country or another state where atheism is less common or even stigmatized? How did you navigate that experience?

No. Though if I did travel abroad, my main interest in doing so would be to pursue invertebrate zoology, which would hopefully keep me away from conflicts with hotheads. Religious fanatics tend not to be preent in numbers, when the topic of conversation moves along to spiders with 12 inch leg spans and venomous centipedes. Indeed, I find that participants in said conversations tend to be few in number. And if I’m starting to sound like the late J. B. S. Haldane at this point, an individual whose brusqueness was legendary in his lifetime, then I’m not going to worry too much about following the example of an eminent biologist.

I suspect the regulars here will enjoy this post of mine immensely.

[Nyarlathotep]

@Calilasseia

…I understand the value of rigour when dealing with concepts.

The sad part is: most people don’t know what that means; imo.

[Cognostic]

@skriten

(You will be held responsible if I get beaten severely as a result…)

Oh! I will happily accept responsibility. It works much better if you initiate your response with “Hey Fucktard,” That will always get you the best results. They just cower at that one.

[skriten]

@Cognostic

They just cower at that one.

Oh, ok! Thanks for the heads-up. That seems counterintuitive, but hey, I’m not one to argue with experience… after all, you’re the religio-proctologisticator…
.
.
.
Edit to learn sarcasm

[Tin-Man]

Okay, finally have a little quiet time. But I got in late from work tonight, so I may only be able to answer half the questions for now. We’ll see…

Before I get started, though, a bit of background might help you understand my answers better. It’s only been about 5 1/2 years since I finally escaped my Christian upbringing. Plus, I’m something of a “hermit”, you might say. I live in a somewhat isolated rural area, and I’m not much for socializing when in public. Plus, I retired after 20 years on patrol with a large city police department, and I spent about 17 years in the Army Guard with 3 combat deployments. Was raised in a Baptist/Methodist home in a small town in the middle of the Bible Belt. However, the bible and its teachings NEVER made sense to me, even when I was a little kid. Now, on to the questions…

@Jaegeez

1. When someone from a theistic religion discovers you are an atheist do you feel like they try to change your mind instead of…

For starters, “theistic religion” is rather redundant. Maybe I’m just nit-picking, though. Anyway, nobody I’ve encountered thus far has tried to “change my mind”. Probably because if they start questioning me about my lack of belief, I am typically able to turn the tables rather quickly by asking them questions about why they DO believe. Oddly enough, most of them so far have been unable to answer my questions reasonably. That is IF I bother to engage them at all. Depends on the person and situation. Basically, most people I know probably have no idea I’m an atheist, because I keep that kind of stuff to myself.

@Jaegeez

2. Oftentimes when the average religious person hears about atheism, they associate the word with bad connotation and already there is misjudgment.

Thing is, I totally understand their tendency to jump to such conclusions. When I first joined this site, it literally took me two full days to decide to identify myself as an atheist when I created my profile. For my entire life, the mere MENTION of the word “atheist” would immediately cause anybody within earshot to look around in fear/disgust/shock. A friggin’ child molester could be forgiven, but atheists were equal to devil-worshiping Jesus-hating scum, and were not to be tolerated. As for how I handle any adverse reactions from those of faith, I haven’t really had any bad incidents that I can recall. Strangers, obviously, would never know I’m an atheist. What few friends and acquaintances who do know I’m an atheist are cool with it. And the friends/acquaintances who don’t know never bother to ask.

@Jaegeez

3. Have you ever faced any challenges in your relationship with a religious partner because of their religious beliefs?

This one is easy. My wife is Pagan, and she was actually a major factor in helping me shed my Christian indoctrination. We have a fantastic relationship.

@Jaegeez

4. Have you ever faced discrimination or prejudice because of being an atheist?

Well, sort of, I suppose. A man and his wife who are consider to be “neighbors” in these parts are highly devout Christians. Thing is, though, my wife and I did not know that when they invited us over to visit for the first time about a year ago. While he and I were chatting in another room, his wife and my wife somehow started talking about religion. Oops. The evening went very sideways after he and I entered the room in the middle of their discussion. Long story short, they have made no further contact with us since then.

@Jaegeez

5. Do you feel pressure conforming to a religion that is followed by the majority of your local area?

Nope. Why would I? The curtain has been lifted for me. My mind is no longer plagued by the delusion of god(s). Interestingly enough, I am now more comfortable and at ease being around religious situations than I have ever been in my life. Does not bother me in the slightest.

Getting to be about bedtime. Will try to finish the others tomorrow. Meanwhile, please feel free to DM me if you have any questions.

[Jaegeez]

@Sheldon

explain the project in detail please, and the course, so we have some context.

The project is about co-cultures. It is a general term used to describe the different cultures one would find in any given area. For example, in school you have the jocks, goths, nerds etc. in a community you have Catholics, Muslims, Jewish. We must write a report on the interaction between people from different cultures. will it be pleasant or will there be animosity? Will communication be one way? Does belonging to a different culture have an effect on communication? That’s for us to find out. My group picked someone who is a theist (more specifically a Catholic because I live in souther Texas and there’s over a million of us) and someone who is an atheist. Frankly, I work Night Shift and I don’t get out much due to school and work so I resorted to online forums such as this one to find a potential interviewee.

As for me, yes I did label myself as a theist but I am not a devout believer. I merely grew up in a catholic household. Was sent to Sunday school and almost became an alter boy up until I moved out at the age of 18. Then I moved in with my then girlfriend who’s mom is Catholic and father a Buddhist. I learned quite a bit from the father and it made me question my faith even more. I hang on to the belief of a higher power or life beyond death merely because of a personal experience I had. Some people call it a nightmare but I think it was something else. Basically one summer night in 2019 I had a dream my best friend was at the edge of my bed and began to shake me vigorously. I shrugged it off and went to work the next morning. In the evening after work I got a phone call from my best friends dad. His son had committed suicide the night prior. Call me superstitious but i couldn’t help but feel like that was him trying to get my attention. Fast forward 9 years, here I am branching out trying to pick peoples brains as to why or why not I should be a theist. I’ll read more of y’all’s responses this weekend. For now I’ve got to get back to being a glorified poop scooper.

[Tin-Man]

@Jaegeez

The project is about co-cultures. It is a general term used to describe the different cultures one would find in any given area… (et.al.)…

Hey, real quick. Thanks for the background info. Just so you know, it’s very rare we get anybody to contribute such an exchange with these types of “surveys”. Definitely hang around. Much can be learned here.

[Cognostic]

@Tin-Man

“theistic religion” is rather redundant.

Oh come on.
What a looser. There are plenty of non-theistic religions. Damn… what a frigging nit-picker. That’s what happens when you isolate yourself in the back woods of Alabama. You lose all sense of the real world. You spend your days designing outdoor furniture and swing sets because you hear the message in your head… "If you build it, they will come.’

I should have warned this guy about talking to Tin Men on the site. Shheeeesh. What a nitpicker.

[Cognostic]

Interesting event:

@Jaegeez

best friend was at the edge of my bed

I was working at a Sonic, flipping burgers. The shift was well under way and suddenly I just stopped and thought of a friend, a girl, lying in grass and looking up at the stars. A weird image. About two hour later the girl showed up at the sonic all black and blue. She had been jumped and beaten to a pulp in a local park. Hmmm… So what do I make of it? Nothing at all. There is no way to measure it. No way to confirm it. No way to call it anything but interesting, The argument would go. ‘Something once happened to me that I don’t understand. Therefore, the spirit world exists.’ It’s a pretty lame reason to believe anything. Do you not see the problem? The fact is, weird shit happens. It just does. No one gets to call it supernatural until it can be shown to at least have some sort of measurable consistency. The time to believe things is when they are evidenced. It’s just that simple. All I can say about my experience is that interesting shit happens. How do you get from interesting shit to a God, all powerful creator of the universe? Isn’t that just a bit of a reach?

Oh, I should add. I was a Christian at the time. I thought god had sent me a message. I grew up and stopped believing in Santa by the age of 18.

[Bluedoc]

1. Sometimes. A description would quite depend upon where, exactly, I am encountering said theist, IME.

2. Begin communication with kindness and an eye on maintaining everyone’s dignity, as with anyone else.

3. No.

4. Yes. It mostly sucked.

5. No. Doing one’s own thinking and adhering to one’s values despite pressure to conform is part of adulting, IME.

6. Mainly indifferent. In much of the northern Midwest U.S., doing religion is more of a pastime than a means of judgment.

7. I’d be surprised if a cursory search and read on this site wouldn’t easily produce an answer to this one. Confronting these misconceptions by feeling pity for the misconceiver and moving on is a good response, IMHO.

8. Either Sociology is no longer a 100 level college course or this cannot be a serious question.

9. A far too broad question, in my opinion. The answer would ideally depend upon the situation.

10. Yes. It helped that I and those in my immediate cohort (many of whom weren’t even atheists) had guns and radios. Funny old world, isn’t it?

[Atkinbean]

@Cognostic

No one gets to call it supernatural until it can be shown to at least have some sort of measurable consistency

The issue with supernatural claims is that we lack the equipment to measure such events. For example, he was unaware of his friend’s message coming to him, making it difficult for him to measure the event. Even if he had access to instruments, he may not know how to capture the energy, making it challenging to find evidence of supernatural phenomena. As a result, these occurrences will remain supernatural to the experiencer’s mind rather than INTERESTING SHIT HAPPEN!

[Jaegeez]

@Cognostic

The fact is, weird shit happens.

Indeed, weird shit does happen. Especially when it comes to death and dying. People claiming to have seen or hear their late relatives mere moments before their untimely demise. A part of me understands the chemical reaction that occurs in the brain when it’s dying and yet the other part me that was indoctrinated at an early age says it’s supernatural. Each day I’m experiencing conflicting views. When you explain it back to me what I had mention earlier I can’t help but agree with you.

[Cognostic]

@Atkinbean

The issue with supernatural claims is that we lack the equipment

No. The issue with supernatural claims is that you can not distinguish them from brain states.

@Atkinbean

he may not know how to capture the energy,

What energy? Why do you think you get to assume energy? Capture it.
WTF are you talking about. One inane assumption after another. Are you even listening to the bullshit coming out of your brain.

@Atkinbean

supernatural claims is that we lack the equipment

@Atkinbean

Even if he had access to instruments, he may not know how to capture the energy, making it challenging to find evidence of supernatural phenomena

Do you not see the utter and complete idiocy of the juxtaposed statements?

@Atkinbean

As a result, these occurrences will remain supernatural to the experiencer’s mind rather than INTERESTING SHIT HAPPEN!

NO! That’s like saying once a kid believes in Santa Claus nothing can ever change his mind. Are you fucking stupid? I have heard some inane shit from theists before, but you take the cake. Those are the stupidest thoughts I’ve heard in the past year. Do you really think you are arguing logically? You have to be trolling. I can’t believe another human being is that dense.

Someone give me a cookie before I lose my shit. I’m going to my room. I need to meditate and contact my spirit guide.

[Cognostic]

I can teach you to have the NDE. It’s simple. I have been doing it my whole life. The NDE is no different from the OBE but for "Lack of Oxygen to the brain’ in the case of the NDE. The biological functions are the same. The brain shuts the body down, just as it does every night when you are sleeping. At the same time, you manage to remain conscious / alert. Without sensory input from the body, the brain creates a phantom body, just like phantom limbs. This feels like a spiritual body and is nothing more than a common brain year’state. Many people experience this naturally when they experience sleep paralysis. There is nothing at all magical about this. Certainly, nothing supernatural. Dream cultures existed for thousands of years. Meditators and shamen have used these techniques since the beginning of humanity. There is nothing new here.