FINDING MY RELIGION: Julia Sweeney talks about how she became an atheist

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 8/15/5 | David Ian Miller

[Grampa Dave]

Letting Go of God - Julia Sweeney
Letting Go of God - review of Julia Sweeney monologue about her drift away from the Catholic faith of her childhood:'a window into a life examined that all but the most doctrinaire can appreciate' ... out of the closet and announced she was a lesbian. Letting Go of God, begins with ... Keep in mind: this is Julia Sweeney, Pat of Saturday Night Live ...www.culturevulture.net/Theater8/LettingGoofGod.htm -

[general_re]

Now you're just cutting the same thing out of context - it doesn't say what you think it says. Here's the complete sentence, with some emphasis added: "While neither confession nor apology, nor total rejection of the potential of religion, it is the charting of her transubstantiation from rigorously observant Catholic child to still a grappling atheistic adult--a conversion she describes as being more shocking to her family and home town than had she come out of the closet and announced she was a lesbian." Notice the "than had" - that's pretty obviously a hypothetical condition, made for purposes of comparison.

[SmithL]

That sentence could have been written in a clearer manner, but after several readings, I came to the same conclusion that you did.

[general_re]

Yeah, it's not exactly a model of readibility. ;)

Anyway,who knows? Maybe she is gay, but I don't think this piece tells us that...

[Rutles4Ever]

You know, like Jesus was angry a lot. When he turned all those people into pigs and made them run off a mountain, it was so hateful, not just to people but to pigs. I felt upset for the pigs!

How sad. Sometimes you hear about people who lose their faith because they've hit a rough patch in life, and they just need to be ministered to to help regain what was lost.

Then there are those who actually REASON that there is no God. These cases seem to require extraordinary grace (i.e., unsolicited Divine Intervention) to get on the right path...

Worse, she wants to lead those who are inquisitive of religion to an atheist conclusion.

What an empty existence. She was given a second chance at life, and she spits in the face of God.

[kosta50]

Atheists/scientists have to believe that matter created itself from nothing with no energy present

In other words they have to believe in a miracle!

[xzins]

It is a position on the issue of God.

One side (theistic) says there is a God(s).

The other side (atheistic) says there is no God(s.

Since both are opinions on an ultimate question, they both are faith statements. Each side uses various forms of evidence to buttress their basic faith statement.

[LiteKeeper]

IN the most generic sense, it is religious - a belief system that dictates one's way of life.

[Zero Sum]

I said God is this idea of a big man who lives up in the clouds and he created everything.

Why is it that when athiests try to talk about God, they always imagine something very much like a pagan deity? Their idea of "God" is really just like a person -with all the flaws- except for having some nifty supernatural powers and being immortal.

Well, no wonder she doesn't believe this, because this idea is absurd and primative, just like she claims. I think the problem with many atheists is that they have never really considered what God meant when he said, "I am Holy."

[Zero Sum]

Oops.

...when He said, "I am Holy."

[irishtenor]

But they are religious about it.

[RedBeaconNY]

Absolutely... as long as it hurts other people.

[Dimensio]

Theism isn't a religion. Comparing atheism to theism does not demonstrate that atheism is a religion.

Atheism is simply the lack of theism. It encompasses no more than that. Some religions are atheistic (such as some sects of Buddhism), so it is possible for an atheist to have a religion, but atheism itself is not a religion.

[xzins]

I did not use the word religion.

I said it was a faith statement. One faith statement is: "There is a God." The other faith statement is: "There is no God."

Obviously, they're both operating on faith. If one side or the other could be proved, there'd be no discussion.