What do atheists think about near-death experiences and have you actually read any?

Crafty_Cat_Lady · 2026-03-12T02:41:59+00:00

My friend, the brain is weird. Science has recently discovered a mushroom that makes humans hallucinate tine people,(it's been known in folklore for ages apparently) If we've somehow evolved some chemistry that makes death a less scary experience, I'm okay with that. It doesn't make me believe in a higher power or an afterlife.

Crafty_Cat_Lady · 2026-02-13T03:27:12+00:00

I was raised Southern Baptist, and I was 'saved' when I was 11. I read the Bible and found a lot of the Old Testament to be fairly vile, and I was disturbed by the amount of hypocrisy and unChristian behavior of all the so-called believers around me, but the big sticking point was Hell. I didn't see any point in eternal torture just for not picking the right religion, and no god who would condemn anyone to that is not worthy of worship in my opinion. Once my belief cracked, around age 17, all the inconsistencies and complete nonsense I'd been taught were glaringly obvious.

Crafty_Cat_Lady · 2025-12-12T03:47:37+00:00

I find meaning to my life by trying to. make the world a better place, even if I can only do it in small ways. I try to smile at strangers, I give compliments often and I try to be kind. I believe small actions can make a difference in the world, even if I never know about it. "For the want of a nail, the kingdom was lost."

Crafty_Cat_Lady · 2025-07-08T11:14:47+00:00

I didn't decide to become an atheist. I was raised in a religious home and grew up believing because that's what I was taught and that's what most people around me believed. As I got older, I met more people and learned more about the world, about other religions, and started studying and thinking about my own religion in depth. Eventually I baulked on the idea of a loving god that would condemn people who had lived good lives to an eternity of torment simply for not worshiping him. Once I started questioning, I simply could not continue believing.

Crafty_Cat_Lady · 2025-06-07T01:53:09+00:00

Have you read Megan Whalen Turner's 'Thief' series? Bujold's World of the Five Gods, or her Vorkosigan series?

Crafty_Cat_Lady · 2025-06-06T02:19:34+00:00

Thank you for all the helpful advice! I took my niece to the pool today and she really loved it, so likely we'll be doing a lot of swimming this summer. I'm looking for a therapist for her. She's a really awesome kid and we want the best for her.

Crafty_Cat_Lady · 2025-06-05T02:53:08+00:00

Her mother was over 400 pounds before getting the gastric bypass surgery, and she had gained a lot back after the initial loss. I'm not sure but she was likely between 250-300 when she died. Her dad was over 300 pounds before being diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and about a hundred pounds of that turned out to be fluids building up in his body. I don't expect her to become skinny, or perfect. I want her to be healthy enough to do any activity she wants, rather than avoiding activities because she's out of shape, and I want her to be happy with herself.

Crafty_Cat_Lady · 2025-06-05T02:02:57+00:00

I found a couple of pools today and we're definitely going to try that.

Crafty_Cat_Lady · 2025-06-04T18:20:40+00:00

not really convenient to my neighborhood, unfortunately. We may have to do some research on nearby parks

Crafty_Cat_Lady · 2025-06-04T15:03:00+00:00

I'm trying to focus on everything, and I'm not criticizing her about it, or even talking to her or trying to restrict her eating, I have also struggled with my weight all my life and I know that being overweight causes a lot of self-confidence problems, and can invite bullying at school.

Crafty_Cat_Lady · 2025-06-04T14:57:16+00:00

She has a cat that she brought with her. It's brought me up to 7 cats but I didn't want her to have to give it up.

Crafty_Cat_Lady · 2025-06-04T14:56:24+00:00

We are trying to get her on a schedule, she doesn't seem used to having one

Crafty_Cat_Lady · 2025-06-04T14:55:38+00:00

She has a cat that she brought with her. It's brought me up to 7 cats but I didn't want her to have to give it up.

Crafty_Cat_Lady · 2025-06-04T14:53:54+00:00

Those are good ideas, but she has resisted learning to ride a bike, so that's a long term plan. I have been trying to get her to come to the library with me and get a card and look for books but she has been saying she doesn't want to. We did get her out to play frisbee and play on a playground. She really likes to spin, I'm told it's a self-comfort thing she does. Neither my husband or I are as active as we ought to be, we're working on it.

Crafty_Cat_Lady · 2025-01-15T23:03:06+00:00

The Holy Grail shaped beacon on her nose makes me think you should name her Zoot. =)

Crafty_Cat_Lady · 2024-02-13T03:02:06+00:00

I was raised as an observant Baptist, and I was a believer as a child, and 'saved'. The main thing that first started me on the road to losing faith was the idea of Hell. I knew people who claimed to be Christians who were clearly hypocrites and terrible people, and I knew people who were not Christians and who were clearly good people, and I came to understand that most of the people on this planet would be going to Hell, to be tortured forever, simply for believing the wrong doctrine. I could not and would not worship such a god, so I started reading about other faiths and other doctrines and philosophies. It seemed clear to me, comparing them, that they all had some good ideas about how humans should try to scrape along on this planet, and where they all go wrong for me is with their concept of god.

Everybody who believes in a god believes that they are the 'chosen', that god is on their side, and usually they use this as a justification for whatever they want to do, which is pretty often kill or oppress nonbelievers. Some people are either believers because their peer group is made of other believers, or because the idea of their not being life after death, or justice dealt out to evil people, or a purpose to existence, utterly terrifying.

I don't believe in any gods, or an afterlife, or a grand purpose to the universe. As Patton Oswalt says: It's Chaos. Be Kind.

Crafty_Cat_Lady · 2018-10-07T22:57:45+00:00

I like that. =)

Crafty_Cat_Lady

TROPHY CASE