Atheism vs Religion

Hey there guys,

I've been quite depressed as of late, and in between my comfortable long bouts of wasting time playing Overwatch I've been considering my atheism.

Can you believe in a god when you feel this way? How can you justify a deity out there observing while there are people down here flickering like a faulty TV from static into being and back again? How can you deeply relate to a deity if you feel you lack a deep connection to those around you?
Please forgive the dramatic sound to that. It's the best way I can currently think to describe it.

I've been an atheist all my life and I'm hoping for some insight from either believers or non-believers. I'm not sure why. I'm not expecting to be enlightened, maybe to be inspired.

See you guys around.

Hey
I'm an Atheist. As far as I'm concerned it's not that I am an Atheist because I "can't" believe in god or because "I havn't found the right religion yet", I feel settled in my worldview. I think that the world is in and of itself deeply absurd. So bouches of luck and suffering don't surprise me.
There are plenty of theological answers to theodicy- which seems to be your current inner conflict- maybe you want to read them up.
At the end, you can always escape into doubt, and I don't mean that from a believer's perspective. You can use doubt like a defense mechanism- never admitting to a certain opinion without adding a "but I'm not determined about that/I'm not sure". This attitude is no real constructivism in my opinion- because for that you'd have to have a subjective certainty about whatever it is you believe.
However, I think that even if it might be scary at first, at the end it is deeply satisfying and settling to make a conscious decision as to what you want, or are able to, believe, or accept as your subjective truth. Then you can still say "I know that I know nothing for sure" but you do have a subjective certainty. It's not doubt, exactly. It's accepting the ambiguity between never knowing for sure yet having an opinion.
For me, it took one year of intensive thinking about whether or not I wanted to believe in god, and at the end I made a conscious decision.

I'm a pretty ruminative or "philosophically" inclined person though- maybe it would be weird for most persons to dedicate so much time to this topic and such.

Don't know if one can really follow through my thought process- I tried.

Hey there Kivulitaronyu,

Thanks for your reply.

I think my 'existential' questions probably derive not so much from deciding whether I believe or not. I decided a couple of years ago that I lack faith in a god and I can't and wouldn't want to change this. I think I'm just very interested in why exactly people who do believe (and also experience deep personal troubles) would still believe in God/Allah/the tooth fairy, if you catch my drift.

It's interesting to contemplate whether I'd want to change my point of view if I could. Maybe I would, because (and I mean no offence, I do not want to insult anyone's beliefs) in a way 'ignorance is bliss' and believing in a life after this is rather comforting, isn't it. At least, if I get to live my second life with a different personality. Otherwise at least He has a sense of humour :)

It is nice to hear from someone who feels the way I do and I hope you're doing well. :)

Kind regards

Lulalullaby wrote:Hey there guys,

I've been quite depressed as of late, and in between my comfortable long bouts of wasting time playing Overwatch I've been considering my atheism.

Can you believe in a god when you feel this way? How can you justify a deity out there observing while there are people down here flickering like a faulty TV from static into being and back again? How can you deeply relate to a deity if you feel you lack a deep connection to those around you?
Please forgive the dramatic sound to that. It's the best way I can currently think to describe it.

I've been an atheist all my life and I'm hoping for some insight from either believers or non-believers. I'm not sure why. I'm not expecting to be enlightened, maybe to be inspired.

See you guys around.

Maybe God is schizoid. lol. But seriously - maybe there is a God but he just doesn't care about tiny insignificant humans. Do we care about the suffering of little ants?

Hey lullaby
I get what you say about in a way "wanting" to believe in god. Not believing in god has it's frustrations, and believing in god has its frustrations too. It would be nice if I could believe in something like a loving father figure who will eventually give me fairness and punish the people who did wrong in life and such. Yet on the other site my mind can't help but point out the lack of logic involved when arguing for the existence of god. Also, if there was some "ultimate good" in the sense of a merciful god, there'd be some clear good and clear bad, and who'd decide in which case someone was "genuinely" a bad person or just had bad upbringing? If there was a god, why would he create humans who suffer under the burden of their own nature? Etc etc...
So yeah, if I was able to ease my mind and ignore these things, having the image of an ultimate good leader has somthing very tempting... I get you on this.

I have a friend who converted to Orthodox Christianism. His personal answer on theodicy is that he believes that god is in us and in everything around us and that god suffers with the ones who suffer. He also says that god shows his power by "turning the other cheek", so to say voluntarily not retaliate for violation or unjustice, instead of just reluctantly endure being mistreated.

His image of god, the afterlife, the devil a. s o. is pretty abstract and deconstructed. I don't think that this kind of believe in god would be emotionally more satsifying to me than being atheistic.
And at the end, this friend didn't convince me either that there is a way of believing in god without ignoring the essential rules of logic at some point. No matter how abstract you go by explaining constructs like god.

trigger warning?






i grew up in a home where christianity was used to justify my parents abusive behavior, and to ingrained self shaming...I am so happy to no longer believe that crap. I do read a lot about taoism and buddism, because I like the idea of self forgiveness and the possibility of reincarnation. I don't know if I fully believe in reincarnation, but the idea that I might get a second chance is comforting.

p.s. i don't know if the trigger warning was nessecary, but I thought that someone might be offended by my views on christianity.

Hey guys,

Thanks for your replies. It's always interesting reading them. Because I don't want to spam the forum too much I'll just use one post to reply.

Parador - haha, very possible. To answer your question (even though you probably don't expect an anwer), I personally do care about the suffering of little ants. That is to say I'm not going to roam the world and spend my time saving ants from little 4-year-old kids with magnifying glasses, but if I were to see one burning a legion of ants to a crisp, I'll definitely put a stop to it.
God is supposed to be omniscient. He should be seeing every magnifying glass in the world. He should be able to see every instance of suffering without having to try. That's why I think he doesn't exist, and if he does against all my convictions and is indeed omniscient (and omnipotent), I wouldn't want to praise him.

Kivulitaronyu - you bring up some interesting points. Am I correct in saying your friend is a pantheist (as in he believes all things in reality = God?) ? I'm not quite sure how to place his viewpoint because you define him as an Orthodox Christian even though his conviction is that God is in everything around us (and not some deity looking down upon us). Please correct me if I'm wrong.
I'm also not sure if I "want" to believe in a God. I think I would if I was never given the choice, if I just did , if that makes any sense at all. Currently I wouldn't choose to become a Christian. My response to Parador above this paragraph gives an indication as to why.

Unsocial Butterfly - I'm sorry to hear that. I get what you mean about the possibility of a second chance. While I enjoy some of the things Buddhism is a proponent of ("the philosophy is kindness"), I can't say I believe in reincarnation or nirvana any more than I do in heaven and hell.

Have a nice day or night or anything in between.

Agnostic master-race. You cannot prove nor disprove God's existence!

*climbs on top of moral high ground*

*falls to her knees as a result of a sudden incontrovertible agnostic epiphany*

I'm an atheist and an agnostic.