The Internet: Where religions come to die

[Calypze]

I think this video hits the mark. Of course you can go to explicitly atheist/skeptic forums and the overwhelming majority will be atheists. But in my experience even gaming forums (like TW Center and others) tend to have a much higher proportion of atheists than the population at large (look at this and this). Exactly what the cause(s) of this is I'm not sure of, but I suspect that it's some combination between young age, levels of education, affluence and the fact that religious arguments are rather poor, and arguments for atheism (or more specifically, counter-arguments against the existence of gods) are strong. Internet forums provide a free meeting place for these arguments to compete on the marketplace of ideas, accessible to anyone who owns a computer, an Internet connection and can read English.

[Sir Winston Churchill]

Let's face it, the internet exposes us to a huge range of information that sometimes we didn't even intend to hear about. Unlike some have tried to do, you just can't stop the spread of information. This forces us to think and challenge our perceptions on daily life that we don't normally have to do in our sometimes isolated environment. I was a full on, right-wing religious zealot who thought homosexual were evil child rapists who deserved to die among other horrible things, and my "quaint" little town of less than 2,000 with at least 7 churches surrounding me shared my values, so I was never challenged on them. So naturally, I was convinced I was right.

It wasn't until I started nosing around the internet was I exposed to alternate ideas. I was challenged on my mostly ignorant and hateful beliefs, and forced to consider things that I before did not have to even think about. I tried to argue my side, but more and more I found myself unable to do so and not have a bitter taste in my mouth. Coupled with real-life experiences, I came to my current line of thinking within a year. The internet and the ability to rapidly and a massive scale share and compare my ideas opened me to things I may never have been opened to, and I'm glad it did. I look back on my old self and feel utterly ashamed I used to think the way I did.

[Nutsack]

It wasn't until I started nosing around the internet was I exposed to alternate ideas. I was challenged on my mostly ignorant and hateful beliefs, and forced to consider things that I before did not have to even think about. I tried to argue my side, but more and more I found myself unable to do so and not have a bitter taste in my mouth. Coupled with real-life experiences, I came to my current line of thinking within a year. The internet and the ability to rapidly and a massive scale share and compare my ideas opened me to things I may never have been opened to, and I'm glad it did. I look back on my old self and feel utterly ashamed I used to think the way I did.

Seems like the exact same process that many christians have gone through on this site before. They come in completely evangelical straight up brainwashed and after a few years of debate, trying to justify why there has to be a God and the Bible is his word, they kind of realize that all the crap they have been led to believe is totally insane and eventually just give up and surrender to reason. And become "atheists", or as I like to put it, "don't really give a damn".

[Sir Winston Churchill]

Seems like the exact same process that many christians have gone through on this site before. They come in completely evangelical straight up brainwashed and after a few years of debate, trying to justify why there has to be a God and the Bible is his word, they kind of realize that all the crap they have been led to believe is totally insane and eventually just give up and surrender to reason. And become "atheists", or as I like to put it, "don't really give a damn".

And that's the biggest thing about it, it's not like I outright don't believe in a god, I just find it extremely hard to. I've pretty much just told myself as long as I live my life as a good, kind person, no god can blame me considering there are at least 5 major religions in the world not to mention the innumerable minor ones, dead and alive. I figure I'll live my life the way I want and other people can live the way they want, and when I finally die I'll figure everything out then. I literally just don't care.

[XIII]

Seems like the exact same process that many christians have gone through on this site before. They come in completely evangelical straight up brainwashed and after a few years of debate, trying to justify why there has to be a God and the Bible is his word, they kind of realize that all the crap they have been led to believe is totally insane and eventually just give up and surrender to reason. And become "atheists", or as I like to put it, "don't really give a damn".

I must be abnormal then since the exact opposite is what happened to me. I was an appa-theist (i.e. nominally a theist but doesn't really care) when I started to lurk around these parts. It was SigniferOne's posts who first got me into the entire intellectual mindset of Christian belief that I had no idea even existed.

The internet works both ways (well, maybe not in TWC) as the internet is just an information vehicle. It depends entirely on the people using it.

[chriscase]

I must be abnormal then since the exact opposite is what happened to me. I was an appa-theist (i.e. nominally a theist but doesn't really care) when I started to lurk around these parts. It was SigniferOne's posts who first got me into the entire intellectual mindset of Christian belief that I had no idea even existed.

The internet works both ways (well, maybe not in TWC) as the internet is just an information vehicle. It depends entirely on the people using it.

Well, that's interesting to me, because I find your posts considerably clearer and better thought-out than most of what I've seen from Siggy. Maybe I've missed some of his better work.

[Divine Augustus]

I must be abnormal then since the exact opposite is what happened to me. I was an appa-theist (i.e. nominally a theist but doesn't really care) when I started to lurk around these parts. It was SigniferOne's posts who first got me into the entire intellectual mindset of Christian belief that I had no idea even existed.

The internet works both ways (well, maybe not in TWC) as the internet is just an information vehicle. It depends entirely on the people using it.

Let me get this straight the internet made you believe in metaphysical mumbo jumbo that is not based in evidence other than the book its self. Yikes

[basics]

" Let me get this straight the internet made you believe in metaphysical mumbo jumbo that is not based in evidence other than the book its self. Yikes "

Divine Justice,

Well, subject to that book of numerous incidents written by them that experienced those for themselves, that must make the enquiring mind seek more as the writer has said after having his mind tickled by SigniferOne. The measure of Scripture is always, always, does it live up to what it says and what it promises and the answer is yes, it does.

On the one hand it is the key or keys to heaven for all them that seek the Lord. On the other hand it fulfills all it says about them that willfully chose to ignore it. Of course all them that ignore it will never experience the power and love of God except of course to ridicule it. I say of course because these words are essential to use because all them as Scripture tells, are blinded by their adherence to sin which most if not all will never admit to.

The internet or anything else is never going to change that. Having said that it is true to say that kids, even adults, who have never heard the Gospel ever, can see and hear it on the net should they seek it out or even stumble into it. Indeed if one wants to hear and see a good ole Scots preacher then Alistair Begg is the boy to look out for. But, there are many others that are good alongside many others not so good, some having brought the name of Jesus into disrepute by their antics off screen.

Look, Christianity was never meant to be a great massive religion in any generation. Jesus said that the path is narrow so narrow that few ever get through and that speaks volumes for what we see claiming to be part of the body today. In fact the body is not a religion in any sense of the word that name being reserved for manmade constructions or denominational religiosity.

[Lord Baratheon]

I was a full on, right-wing religious zealot who thought homosexual were evil child rapists who deserved to die among other horrible things.

.Wow,thats deep.Good thing you dont think these things anymore.

[boofhead]

I won't give up my faith for anything or anyone. But then again, I'm not a literalist so I have no problem accepting science.

[Biggieboy]

I won't give up my faith for anything or anyone. But then again, I'm not a literalist so I have no problem accepting science.

that's okay, I don't think someone can be forced to give up their faith anyway. I could put a gun against your head and go "CONVERT!" and you might say you do to, you know, save your life. But in your heart so to speak, you'd still believe. I'm okay with believing, but we could do with less religious dogma.

[In3x]

I won't give up my faith for anything or anyone. But then again, I'm not a literalist so I define my religion to whatever I want it to mean.

Fixed.

[boofhead]

Fixed.

No, not fixed.

I'm a thinking person, you see. I see the Bible as 100% truth, and yet I still have room for science.

I know, it's deep.

Funny that I feel that I actually have become a better muslim because of internet especially with my interaction with fellow muslims and also non-muslims her at TWC.

Me too actually, apart from the muslim bit.

[Phier]

No, not fixed.

I'm a thinking person, you see. I see the Bible as 100% truth, and yet I still have room for science.

I know, it's deep.

As long as it doesn't contradict the bible?

[boofhead]

As long as it doesn't contradict the bible?

Is there truth in The Boy Who Cried Wolf? Is there truth in The Hare and the Tortoise?

[Humble Warrior]

Me too actually, apart from the muslim bit.

The funny thing is, while bought up as a Christian, I never really see myself as one. I`m not even practising, so, technically, i`m not Christian.

But I must agree, the internet and those who think they`re proving something against Christianity (even religion in general) have pushed me more towards being more Christian than against. That`s a big surprise for me.

I guess it`s because I`ve seen so little understanding in what most of these people say, that it astonishes me. I also get particularly angry at the misleading of others by people who don`t want to deliver facts. Very, very little of what most people say against Christianity (and I choose that because I know it) actually has any real knowledge behind it at all. I suspect this is true of Islam as well, though I know little of it. This is why you`ll never me see me attack Islam, but I will correct an Islamic guy who is mistaken about Christianity.

[Lazarus]

The internet only butchers religion in people who weren't given a choice. As a youth (or rather, a younger youth then what I currently am) I was told I was catholic and that was that. People came to my classroom once a week and told us there was a man in the sky. That was it. It was stated as certain as 2 + 2 = 4. When the internet became a thing in my house, and I started spending some time on it, I heard this totally radical concept that "there probably isn't a God". A universe with no God was an idea that hadn't even seemed possible, but then I did some digging and asked the right questions, and I found the case for God becoming very weak - never mind specific Gods.

I would imagine if you had already had the possibility of a universe without God presented to you, and you asked the questions and came up with the answer "there must be a God" exposure to the internet is unlikely to change you, except for in situations where people have misrepresented the Atheistic position by saying that the theory of evolution is flawed because it doesn't explain where all life comes from or that the big bang was a literal explosion.

[The Kybrothilian]

Personally I never gave a damn about religion, as I hadn't found it important to my life. Whatever interest I had on the matter started vanishing after I had been to the confirmation camp.

[basics]

Calypse,

As history was my favourite subject, as day follows night, military modelling and wargaming became the natural path for me to follow, a land where I could immerse myself away from the cares of this world. So the internet gaming when it came relieved me of the time and effort of placing armies onto tabletops and putting them away when games were over. As Roma Surrectum is my main game rather than diminish my faith, it builds it because Rome was an essential part of the world into which my Saviour came, it being a conquered land. It opens up the mentality of the Jews of the time and their relationship to Gentiles which needs to be understood when making sense of much of Scripture.

I have to agree however that the internet has hampered religion as religion stands. The thing is it has not hampered God in bringing people all across the world to know His Son, Jesus Christ, in exactly the same fashion as He has used from the beginning of time and will do until the end. Indeed it can be said that the Gospel has never had such a better airing the results of which are not religious in the sense that we know religion. I mean didn't Jesus come to extract man from religion, to set them free from it and its laws?

On the other hand, is it not proper to say that the thing that is desecrating religion is but another form of religion based on just about as much nonsense as religion itself. What revelation has evolution and its offspring atheism ever had the way a born again Christian is brought to the truth? A born again Christian has had an experience that the evolutionist cannot have unless the hand of God takes hold of him. Like any religion the adherents to it just accept what they are told and if they don't then assumptive science is thrown up at them to bully them into acceptance. Is this not the way with religion?

The internet is a marvelous thing but when that great day arrives who is it that will have their computer, phone or laptop at their side when they meet God? Where then all that knowledge?

[Aztech]

I have grown in an enviroment of mild religious people. Thankfully my parents did not force any kind of religion upon me. They left me to chose my own path. I have read a fair bit of books and spent many hours on the internet browsing information and I came to the conclusion that for me there is no God. He does not decide what we do and how we should do it. Religious people humanize God while claiming he is ethereal. The internet has surly opened my mind to accepting different ideas and opinions and not being stuck in dogmas. In my experience everything that happens in the world is the result of the actions of humans. There is no hidden hand that guides us or decides our fate.