Converted atheists. Have you ever missed having a God?

Question

I'm an atheist, and have been for the last year or so.

I won't get into too much boring detail, but the one thing I really miss is having faith in "God" to get me through some difficult situations from time to time.

I guess it's like missing an invisible friend I had for a number of years. I know it sounds like mental illness, but I just mean when you are used to depending on something for a long time it's a hard habit to break.

Oh well, I guess the comfort should be in following the truth, right?

Answer 1

Yes, once in a while. I used to miss the whole 'your-sins-are-forgiven' thing.

Then I realized what I really needed was not forgiveness for offenses to an imaginary being, but for family members to stop holding a grudge for things that I did when I was a teenager.

Answer 2

There is a big misconception about atheists. And it's on display in your question. "Have you ever considered the possibility of there being a God...?" The reason I'm an atheist is precisely because I have considered the possibility and answered no. I'm not an atheist because I refuse to believe in God. I'm an atheist because I don't believe any such thing exists. I'm not trying to be difficult. Also, I never understood how the idea of God actually explains anything. What's the difference between saying God did it and saying magic did it. Both explain nothing. By explaining existence with God you're explaining a mystery with a mystery. There's no reason to believe it and it explains nothing. And what's even worse is that the God described in books like the Bible and the Koran is a very hateful, nasty character anyway. God didn't create us; we created God.

Answer 3

Im agnostic but thought I would anser this anyway.
I have never fully believed in God so I cant say I miss God.
But there were times that I felt ripped off...as if I were missing out on something wonderful and beautiful. And I was a little sad that I didnt have that relationship with God.
Thats what gets me is when I post questions here and I get responses like "Ask Jesus to come in your heart" or "seek him and he will answer". The thing that gets me is I have really tried. I have tried with me heart and soul. I really wanted to believe, yet it never came.
I dont miss is so much anymore and I think really trying helped me get over that grief. Oddly yes I felt grief for something I never had. I felt grief because I had seen so many others who explained all this wonderful stuff about God, yet I could not grasp it. I do have more comfort in the truth I can not deny myself that and to even try anymore makes me feel as if I am lying to myself.

Answer 4

I honestly wouldn't know. I was born and raised as an atheist, in a country where belief in a god is usually ridiculed.

I've never depended on a god for anything.

But, the more strength to you. I think it's like quiting smoking. If you never smoked, you will also never really yearn for a ciggy. But if you were a smoker, even years after you've quit, you will feel the need of lighting a ciggy once and a while.

Answer 5

I'll admit that yes, there are some aspects of believing that I miss. Mostly, I miss thinking that I'm going to see my loved ones again, someday. Dealing with death has been the hardest thing for me since becomming an atheist. Saying goodbye is almost unbearable. Other than that one thing, I am very happy and comfortable being an atheist.

Answer 6

I "missed" god more in the beginning of my atheism. The habits of christianity, prayer, having a friend in times of trouble, etc. were more of a habit then and I didn't know what to do with myself during those times.

I also missed "church" - having a ready made social group with like-minded people. It is a hard habit to break. I filled it in with things like volunteering, making good friends with atheists and filling my mind up with profound writers like Ingersoll and Sagan.

And yes, there is comfort in following the truth. As they say "An unexamined life is not worth living" (but they also say "When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back into you)

Answer 7

I would be "comfortable" knowing that there's no possible way that I'm going to be sent to a fiery pit where I will burn and choke, and scream, and cry for ETERNITY. I converted to atheism at very young age, so I really can't remember what it was like having a god, and I'm sure I didn't even yet grasp the concept of god.

Answer 8

I don't miss having a 'god', but sometimes when I hear about people dying, it's so depressing that it makes me want to think they're in a better place, but I know they aren't, they just become another moment in time, in history, I don't want to indulge in false comfort, I'd rather not have any comfort

Answer 9

Hard to miss something that was never there in the first place. Has it ever occurred to you that the 'invisible friend' you say you had was in fact just you all along? I know it was so nothing has ever left you, reality has just set in.

Answer 10

Yes, I have and I do.

I stopped believing in God not too long before my mother died (but it had nothing to do with my mother dying - it was, as you seem to understand, because it seems to be the truth).

I stopped believing in God precisely because I realized I only believed in him because I was afraid not to. Not that I ever believed in hell, but I was afraid to lose that one person who would always forgive, always love, always be there to talk to, always always always. And to have someone to be grateful to! I really miss that. It's harder to be grateful to humans. And thus harder to stay optimistic.

Still, when most evidence points to your brain being just brain, your soul being just brain, the universe being beyond the earth, and people generally believing in whatever God they do not because of personal experience but because they live in that particular region of the world - well. It's hard to shut your eyes and believe in god again.

It would be nauseatingly dishonest.