I have thirsted after, at times longed for, any direct experience which would suggest to me evidence of a higher power or something even the tiniest bit supernatural, but have so far found none. It would be a marvellous thing to have a whole realm of magical, spriritual entities and goings-on. In fact, sod the realm, just one incident would be fine.
Fortunately I am in awe of nature and the wonder of the human mind in particular, and it looks like I’ll have to be satisfied with that for now.
I watch/read such things on occasion. If it’s any good. As said, atheists are perfectly capable of enjoying Christian works - as fantasy, or as something the characters happen to believe in. For that matter, I can watch movies and read books where the characters are Hindu or Buddhist the same way.
However, such works don’t “test and question” my beliefs. It would take facts to do that, not books or movies. Christianity has never once “tested” my atheism, because it has nothing to test it with. It’s empty blather, without foundation.
Everyone committed to a higher power questions their faith from time to time. If one wishes to remain faithful it stands to reason it would be safer not to question, and to reduce exposure to others who question. It’s not the faith itself, but more likely the lack of faith in his parishioners this priest is concerned about.
I was outed by a Christian group when they had heard that I was cheating on my girlfriend (I wasn’t. She was just an over-dramatic attention seeker who saw me being supportive of her friend who was breaking up with a boyfriend.). It was after they had booted me out of leadership and I had lost most of my Christian friends due to my “infidelity” (despite my being a virgin who supposedly had had sexual intercourse with girlfriend’s friend–a miracle!!).
The hatred, judgment, oppression, etc. that I felt had me on the brink of giving up on the faith. I wondered how God could allow a whole group of His followers to treat an innocent man so horribly. Then I concluded that the problem was not with God, but with the people who were clearly in violation of biblical teaching. When I realized that their corruption was caused by their omission of God, my faith was strengthened.
I remember one of them saying I did not qualify for leadership because, “where sin steps in, God steps out.” Didn’t know God was such a coward. So I just sought out a God that was different from theirs. My period of doubt lasted a long time, but resulted in stronger faith. I think more people should question things. Regardless of the conclusions they decide upon, at least they will have sincerity.
Would you agree Charger, that the more one questions the more sincerity they possess?
Not seeing a need for a god hypothesis isn’t in any way a significant part of my identity and so doesn’t factor into the equation.