After you have been an Atheist. . . . ?

Question

After you have been an Atheist, and you have read everything that can disprove a God, could you really ever go back to any form of spirituality and fully accept it?


Because i find it very hard.
I can't stop myself from saying "This makes absolutely No sense" or "What kind of Logic were these people using when they made this Crap up"

LMAO, that mindset makes it hard for me to accept any kind of religion.
I guess when you get out of the brainwashed state you cant really ever go back :)

Oh and just so you know i wasnt talking about any certain religion.

Please dont take offense to what i have said.

I don't want to hurt any feelings.

Answer 1

i went back... i was once an atheist..

and really once you ignore the bible and all these other religions.. you start to think for yourself and make up your mind about god... because its really hard to make up your mind about god when you have all these fairy tales flashing in your face.

Answer 2

Once you understand the nature of any God based religion you will not return to that type of bondage. Many people that go from an atheist to being a theist was never an atheist to begin with. They just have not decided what they truly believe but were convinced of a God because they had no other representation of how this universe could come to be.

In all candor this universe is too old for man to begin to fathom it’s beginning. To say it is a God behind the intelligence is to far fetch if you really take the time and think it through. The intelligence of the universe is a silent leader that knows nothing of its own existence is why it treats everyone the same. The God force in this universe only follows itself thus is available to all things.

The God force knows nothing of good and evil. There is only cause and affect. The God force is similar to the laws of nature. It can be an equal opportunity provider for life as well as an equal opportunity killer. Does a hurricane care if it kills an atheist or a Christian? Will the asteroid that slams in to this planet give a rat’s *** about any religion? The answer is a resounding no?

Think about this long and hard and you will come to realize the construct of God is wishful thinking for men that can't fathom or confront the coldness of death.

Man will also learn one-day love only exist within him thus should only be extended to another like him, a living being. When we worship an intangible being like the idea of God man then learns to hate other men. What else should you expect when you exalt an imaginary person over a live being? This is the nature of why men kill for their Gods. The construct of God was for the primitive man that had no access to technology.

The act of love toward each other should be our only exalted deity. Love and respect of self will lead to the same in for other living beings.

Answer 3

I have thought at times that I could make the switch back. It would have to be purely on the basis of faith, though, as I'm too aware of the fact that religious beliefs have no empirical support.

I'm pretty certain that were I to become a believer again, I'd have a far better basis for my faith than almost any believer, because I've considered and rejected belief. Like atheists in general, I've been on both sides of the issue, something practically no believers can say.

Answer 4

well, for starters, you can't prove that there is no God, as the nature of a 'perfect being' allows people to invent numerous exceptions and conditions which account for the so called proofs...because, "If God is perfect, then surely THAT couldn't stop Him." (That's just a general rule regarding the proving that there is no God...it's impossible, because there is no set definition as to what God is. Particular definitions can be refuted, just as Socrates refuted every description and definition given to him when he asked what virtue was(and when he asked what knowledge, justice, and all manner of other things were).

You should note here, that although Socrates was able to refute EVERY explanation of these things, that this did not convince him that they did not exist. Though he had no concrete example of virtue, and no explanation of it, it did not thwart his efforts to investigate it.

Therefore, if one is considering whether he could possibly adopt another belief system after having been so convinced of the one he presently holds, it is important to realize that the title of 'atheist' is just a social convention. Atheism is something that you do, and believe...not something that you are.
For example, we say that a man is a painter if he paints...only he is not really a painter...because he stops painting at night when he sleeps. Painting is merely something he does.

So if you want to consider whether it's possible to go back to any form of spirituality, it's only a matter of considering whether you could act differently than you do...because your beliefs are not what you are...they're something you do...and you are perfctly capable of choosing to act differently, aren't you? (that is, unless you also consider yourself a determinist).

Also, you must realize that your own beliefs are what construct the reality that you percieve....and it is quite possible that the reality you have constructed in your perception is not concordant with the reality of the absolute.
When you ask questions which are not answerable by religions, you most certainly ask them in relation to the world you percieve(the only world it is possible to know). As such, your questions and assertions needn't have a concordant reality to them.

Asking what colour the alien in my bedroom is, for example, illustrates how you can ask wrong questions about things. Since there is no alien in my room it cannot have a colour.

In conclusion, what you will come to relalize is that atheism is just another spiritual belief system...one which is rich with opportunities for cognitive dissonance I might add.
In order to fully dismiss any ideas, you must first understand them...and so long as religion/spirituality does not make sense to you, it is safe to assume that you have not understood it.
As you have said, it is your mindset which makes it difficult to accept things...not the facts of the matter, which are only understandable in the first place with acceptance.

-Rob

Answer 5

you might be confusing spirituality for religion. Accepting a doctrine (religion) is difficult to do because alot of it isn't reasonable.

Spirituality is just embracing that which is beyond yourself (ego) religion may help to do this but you might not want the bs portion. Of course to be spiritual you would have to first believe that everything is interconnected.

Check out Ken Wilbur. He takes various traditions and cuts and pastes kinda like Bruce Lee took what was effective out of martial arts and left the bs behind.

Answer 6

When people change back an forth it is in desperation or hope for something. Sometimes hope can outweigh reason or coincidences can make people hope for more than what they have. I don't think I have met someone who stopped believing in a particular faith and return that same faith, but to another faith that better suited their understanding.

Answer 7

I have met a couple that were raised atheists that became religious. But that is to be expected as they never thought it through themselves.

I have never met anyone who consciously became an atheist and then went back. It is hard to lose a god and it isn't an easy decision. You have damn good reasons when you do it.

Answer 8

I don't see me going back. I just don't see how it makes any sense. God now appears to me to be some kind of monster. The idea of eternal hell, all the suffering in the world, his so called revelation to a few, but not all. No, its not something I can do anymore.

Answer 9

i can live without any kind of religion, life is difficult as it is to spend half day thinking of divinities that may or may not exist...dont see the point. Anyway the god idea for me is just a way for some people to explain what they cannot explain, instead of looking for more reasonable answers...that is god provides the answers so they dont have to do anything for themselves, i wont call these people more spiritual than anyone else...maybe i will call them lazier

Answer 10

Spiritual is a rather meaningless word. It's a way for people to make "I just want to believe it" sound more authoritative.

I agree that once you've gotten past all the supersititous nonsense, it's hard to imagine people actually falling for it. You just have to realize that it is an emotional attachment and not rational.

Answer 11

I am not so naive to "know" that there is not a "higher power"
but I recognize that the so-called "truth" of any organized religion is just a wild shot in the dark.
At least with science I get a chance to aim.