Thanks for the responses. Answers skewed about the way I thought they might.
For the record, I’m not undergoing any kind of existential crisis or deep questioning of my position regarding the supernatural (definitely don’t believe in it). It’s more like the occasional wistful, “hmmm…I wonder if it’d be nice to have some measure of faith in an almighty something-or-other,” and that’s about the extent of it.
What Roderick Femm referred to above regarding the social aspects of organized religion is probably the only thing I really miss about not belonging to a church. I met some truly good and wonderful people back when I was attending regularly (including my now-wife), and some of those people are still good friends. There is something about the immediate community of a church “family” (particularly the choir at that congregation), however, that I have found difficult to replicate outside of organized religion.
Have to answer no. The kind of comfort that religion brings is pleasant and uplifting, but it is founded on myth. I’m far more devoted to the philosophical ideal of truth, and have to scorn the idea of being cosseted by belief in fables.
Also…I’d always have doubts. I can’t think of any possible way around that (short of Jesus – or Herakles, or Balder – walking through the door and convincing me in person.) For me to have any kind of certain belief would mean such a radical change in my personality, I wouldn’t be “me” any longer.
No for two reasons. One, I’d have to park my rationality outside the religion door, and I like my rationality.
Second, and more important, no god is more comforting. Sure it is nice to think you are going to heaven (though I’m Jewish and never really thought that.) But it is far nicer to think that those killed in things like tsunamis die because of truly natural causes, not directly killed by a deity or allowed to die by a deity who clearly doesn’t give a shit.
We have enough monsters on this Earth - no reason to invent the biggest one.
No.
Hypothetically-speaking, maybe there are supernatural entities or worlds that would be pleasing to believe in and not affect my daily life.
But religion as we know it seems to have a large hate and fear component, requires cognitive dissonance and obliges believers to do all kinds of arbitrary (and in some cases damaging) things.
I don’t desire that. But I can relate to missing church and pagentry, I was raised Catholic and we have some beautiful RC churches in the UK.
If I wanted to join a community of helpful locals I’d pick a different charitable organisation with no religious affiliations, like a Rotary Club or such-like. I certainly don’t have any spiritual needs going unfulfilled.
You do what works for you, I mean no disrespect to different belief systems as long as you’re proactively altruistic.
Never. I haven’t been 4 years old for a very long time.
I would never want to be falsely comforted. I’ve always viewed people who do believe as very deluded or immature, despite some who are very near and dear to me.
My current favorite bumper sticker: “Omnipotent Deities Need Your Support!”
A friend of mine says he’d like to have the ability to trust which he sees in believers; to trust people, to trust that things will eventually get better, to trust that most people are trying to be decent… his words: “it’s not so much that you guys believe some dude in the sky will fix things, it’s that you guys believe people will fix things - I can’t”. Mistrusting everybody does sound like it is really tiresome.
Sometimes I hope that the Christian idea of Hell is correct and that some people (mostly politicians lately) will suffer forever for their sins, but I know it’s not true and these people will never be punished, either during life or after.
There are a couple of things I believe in. First that there are no gods. Certainly not the mean jealous Yahweh. Of course, I could be wrong, but there is no evidence for that. But it is a belief. I cannot recall ever believing otherwise. The second is that the usual axioms of mathematics are consistent. Of course, this is unknowable, but I could not be a mathematician without believing it. Of course, every day that goes by without a contradiction makes this belief more likely.
I could write a whole thread about the things I don’t miss, but for this thread I’ll focus on the things I do.
I definitely miss the friendship and the community. Every Sunday morning, I was greeted by people who were genuinely glad to see me. We shook hands, hugged, exchanged small talk, even developed meaningful friendships outside of the church doors. Og I miss that.
I also miss being a part of something larger than myself. I oft volunteered with this or that, and there was this profound sense of Doing Something Important when we were painting sets for Vacation Bible School, practicing our lines for a skit in children’s church, even mopping up the men’s bathroom. I miss that, too.
Finally, I miss Christmas. It used to mean something. Now that I’m not a Christian any more, it’s just a cultural holiday, devoid of its religious underpinnings. I miss getting teared up when the preacher read the bit about “…and there were shepherds, living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night…” I miss hearing the choir sing about angels and the advent and all that, and deriving comfort from the idea that God came to Earth in the form of an infant. It was such a beautiful feeling.
I like the idea that there is a benevolent being who always has your back and I think it would make it easier to fit into society at large. But everything makes more sense without religion.
I’ve lived in medium-sized towns and cities, and most recently Ottawa. Religion never comes up in any type of conversation.
Well, maybe after you’re good friends it might, but never at work or any social event. It would be considered very rude, in my opinion.
Ever since my ayahuasca trip well over a year ago, I’m like that. Religion finally makes sense to me. If I had to name my religion, it’s probably a kind of pantheism. I think I nowunderstand many religious concepts, like prayer, sacrifice, heaven, hell, afterlife, body vs soul, good vs bad. I’m still integrating the instinctive sense they make now, with all the knowledge I have as an biologist and psychologist. I see most organized religions are an human and fallible attempt at sharing and perpetuating faith. I pray usually alone, but I find myself drawn to people with similar experiences and outlook, for instance to the lectures of Alan Watts, many of which have been put up on Youtube.
