How can I make myself believe in God?

Question

I'm an atheist...I don't want to be. I was raised Christian...it was very bad--I don't want to go into it, but religion was used to justify so many things--and I tried to believe through all of it and did believe and then one day my brain just shut off and was like, there is no God. And that made sense. I was fine with that. But it's so miserable, believing in nothing now for me--just to see how the ones you love are so afflicted and it's all for nothing...there is nothing more than this suffering...I can't even see myself being spiritual...I just see people who are as being so much happier--I try to think like they do and can't.

Answer 1

For an Athiest to accept God again you must have a shift in your attitude to Christianity and the nature of faith. Avoid literalism as it will kill off you faith before it grows. I can only recommend you read these two authors. It will be the only way to get your faith back!
Tom Harpur, Shelby Spong.
Don't try reading the Bible again until you have read some of their books as this will dishearten you!

Answer 2

Ok, whoah, just slow down a second here.

1) The "others" are not happier. They talk about it a lot, but no group on the face of the planet is particularly happier than any other group. The problem is you are feeling sad, and if you are the only atheist you know, lonely as well. Add to that your crisis of faith, and you have times in which no-one ever was happy.

2) You need to start to realise how similar the world is to when you were believing in God. You are just now seeing it as it really is, and that takes some getting used to.

3) You need to realise that things are not "for nothing" just because they don't have eternal consequences. For instance, I once made a cake - quite a good one. It was destroyed when my family ate it. Was that for no reason? No, making people happy is all that is really needed.

4) There can now be a much better, much stronger, so much a greater reason to some of the things you mentioned now. You say you see the ones you love afflicted with suffering? Then let that be the fuel to help you change things. Set things right. You feel the pain of other people, and the only way to make it stop is to help the other people as well as you can. You will make mistakes - we all do. Don't beat yourself up about it.

5) Pre-occupy yourself with something other than religion for a while. You need to clear your head for a bit - kind of like taking a deep breath, but used when the problems are a bit bigger. Just decide, for now, that you just don't know, but that won't stop you from doing what is right.

6) Do some thinking about what is right, and what is wrong. This works as great charlatan armour. :)

Hope things turn out ok,
R_A.

Answer 3

I used to have the same problem. I am an atheist still, not by choice, but I'm taking a few steps towards saying "Well...this adds up.." I tried changing my perspective a litte.
What is your concept of God? Some all mighty being who made the earth in 7 days?
Or, the big bang happened. The earth evolved..But who made the particles for the Big Bang? God mabye? Was the creation story a dumbed-down version of the Big Bang for the scientifically illiterate people of ancient times?

Plus, you sound a bit depressed. It's natural to question things when the world seems black. But ask around. Pray, I guess is what most Christians would say, but ride it out. You may find you need God, you may find that you don't. Either way, cheer up! (meant in a nice way)

I'm still not convinced strong enough to shake off my atheist title, and I certainly will not be considered a 'convential believer' if I ever do believe, but do a little research. Maybe you're looking for God too high, or in the wrong places.
I hope it helps.
Good luck.

Answer 4

Christians are certainly no happier then anyone else. Their hearts are filled with just as much hate as the next person. Hate of things they cannot explain, hate of homosexuals, hate of other religions, hate of other races, hate of science, hate of the real world, hate of ideas, concepts and critical thinking, hate of higher education, these are just a few of the things I have seen "Christians" hate. Coming from a religion that preaches turn the other cheek, their savior is a pacifist, but are so quick to run into war and support the killing of those that they call "evil." Most religion, especially Christianity, is filled with hypocracy.

In this world there is one person that is going to look out for you, and that's you. Bottom line. No ifs, ands, or buts.

What you need to do is go out and meet others like yourself. Pick up a hobby. Read a book. Do something that will increase your knowledge of the world around you. Seek answers, ask questions, and when you find the answer, question it.

If there is one thing you will never stop doing in life, it is learning. People are so quick to judge their existence as miserable. This is only because those are the moments that stick out in our heads. Enjoy life, meet people, discuss things, LEARN.

Answer 5

You're most likely attracted to the happiness, not the religion.

I'm not saying anything about religious people in general, but in your case you're looking at the effect and not the cause. Analagous to being a teenager who sees other kids walking around wearing a certain kind of shoes and looking confident, and thinks the shoes will fix everything. In fact, it is the internal conviction of self-worth that makes them confident; the shoes are coincidental. You're trying to use religion as a temporary escape.

I'm an apathetic agnostic with definite atheist tendencies, but I don't think my life is for nothing.

Find solace in the family and friends you have, and if, when your life is back in balance, you still find yourself drawn to religion, go for it.

Answer 6

First, faith is called faith for a reason. You can't emperically grasp it. If you really want to believe keep in mind you must be willing to change, and trust in the God. If you don't change, faith will die, because you're not nourishing it. There is more to life than just making money and going to school, there's a REAL purpose. Everything in life is a test, and God will test our love of him. If you need inspiration check out some book(s) on the, "Lives of the Saints,"" Eucharistic miracles,"and St.Padre Pio, who bore stigmata, that's where I started, and it's really fascinating. Above all ask God consistantly in prayer He'll hear you if your sincere. I'll pray for ya!!

Answer 7

I'm not sure that you can make yourself believe in God. Believing in God is believing in something much bigger than yourself. Don't focus so much on being religious and forcing yourself to believe in God. Focus on being a good and moral person. What I mean by that is this; 1) Don't be judgemental of people till you get to know them; 2) Help the less fortunate; 3) Get involved in your community, whether its teaching a dance class or serving soup at a shelter. Life and happiness is what you make of it. Maybe you will find Him or maybe He will find you.

Good Luck

Answer 8

Try to read the Bible (you can even get one in modern English which is somewhat easier to read than the King James version). Don't let ppl who twisted the Bible to justify their behavior turn you off. The beauty of faith in Jesus is that you yourself have the right (and responsibility) to read the Bible and to understand it yourself. No other human being can impose his/her interpretation of the Bible on you. One basic tenet of faith in God and Jesus is that Jesus died on the cross for you. All you need to do is to accept him as your personal saviour. You do not need to give anything to God, just accept his gift to you. Of course, the Bible also says that when you are in Christ, you are a new creature so it's natural that you will want to do the "right thing" in your daily life. Can one prove that everything in the Bible is a scientific fact? No. But being a Christian is a win win situation. It costs nothing to accept Jesus as your saviour. If the BIble ends up being true (and I believe this to be the case), then you will have eternal life. If the Bible is not true, then you still win bc doing the right thing (not murdering, not stealing, treating your body as the temple of God by not smoking, eating unhealthy foods, etc.) is still the right thing to do. The Bible is quite a large book to read. Start with the book of John and do some reading daily.

Answer 9

"I can't even see myself being spiritual". that makes it tougher. you were raised christian, so you were taught that. but that and atheism are not the only possible choices. even if everything every christian has ever said is wrong, that doesn't disprove God. just find whatever makes you not miserable and believe that. it's really pretty unintellectual, since no one knows much of anything.

Answer 10

You've found enlightenment, don't go back into the dark. Being an atheist doesn't mean being miserable, just as being religious doesn't mean being happy. Life is still filled with the same wonderful possibilities, go out and find them!