Atheists have you ever tried to pray or find God?

Question

im not judging people im just curious if you have ever decided to try it.
And when you did were you honest and open minded in prayer? or expecting nothing to happen because you see it as meaningless?

Peace

its funny how you people assume im christian

Answer 1

that is about as civil a question as i have ever seen in this forum, it blows me away the animosity and downright mean spiritedness that it unleashed.well i for one thought that it was avery nice and at the same time thought provking query,the thing about religion is that it tends to seperate people therefore i choose not to embrace any particuler veiw
my relationship with god is a personal matter and as i don't impose it on anyone else its none of their buisness what i beleive, and furthermore ms. rands name is spelled ayn fyi.

Answer 2

Grew up in a very supportive (atheist) household but when I was young (about 13) decided to start going to church. My pairents were supportive in this too. Within 6 months, left the church with very negative thoughts on religion... why?

1.. The people sucked. I have never felt my personal space so violated (not sexually). Brainwashing is not a comfortable experience.

2.. the bible was as far as I could tell full of contradictory riddles and none of the explanations I got when I asked questions made any sense either.

3.. During all that prayer, not once did I ever feel like anyone was listening. I tried SOOO hard to believe in God.. but just couldn't feel it - didn't get it. As far as I could tell all the other people there were just tweaking each others tonks so to speak.

By the time of my 14th birthday I was a millitant atheist but I've since calmed down a fair bit. That was all 25 years ago.

Answer 3

I was not raised in any religion or as an atheist. I was allowed to try any form of worship I wanted and to read any religious books.
Atheism is something I arrived at logically and by observation of the world around me. I was never able to buy into unreasoning faith though at times of trouble I have given it what I feel was a sincere attempt.
It's refreshing to have someone ask a civil question out of curiosity, I must say. Peace right back at ya.

Answer 4

Yes, and I was even in the process of ordination when I realized it was a false mythology. It was disappointing to realize that it wasn't real. I spent many years as a Christian. I am sorry I wasted so much time on it, but I guess it made me who I am. It really isn't that good of an idea. Parts of it are, but you just have to look at it like an outsider to realize people shouldn't be Christian.

Answer 5

nicely, yeah, I spent 30 or so years attempting to stay in a state of "all prayer", or praying almost each 2nd that i grew to become into wide awake. Edit: heavily, have you ever tried praying continuously by using out your days? Praying approximately each little thing it relatively is occurring alongside with constantly praying for individuals that are you pal, or acquaintances? ultimately you awaken and comprehend that it does not make any distinction.

Answer 6

I feel sad for you who don't believe. I have believed all my life as far back as 4 yrs old. That is not to say I have not questioned it, or studied other religions or philosophy. It sounds to me like the reason so many of you are atheist is because you had a bad experience with people in a church. Well to that I must say that even Christians are imperfect and some churches are not good. and no church is perfect. You have to search for a good one. Also trying to understand the Bible with out Bible study is very difficult as it is written in many Aramaic, Hebrew, & Greek and if you don't understand that you are lost in translation. As for rationality, that doesn't require faith...believing in what you can't touch or see does. If you are into rationality read Ann Rand...the second best selling book next to the Bible. Her philosophy of reason doesn't sound so great to me. I would not want to live in her world. For those of you who called out to God and he was not there...were you calling out the God who gave his son, Jesus, up for death so that we might have life everlasting? If you don't believe in Jesus you can't be saved and that is why you didn't get a response. If you were asking with no faith but more of a test, that would also be why you didn't get an answer. When you come to Him in faith he will answer you in his time not yours. Maybe you have yet to receive your answer. I pray for all of you and that is not condesending, I simply want you to have what I will have. Maybe Check out Pascal's Wager if you haven't. By the way I pray for all atheists everyday as I pray for all believers.

Answer 7

Yes and I found it was the other Christians who completely destroyed the whole experience. That's when I had to ask myself if their God was really a God I could believe in or wanted to be associated with seeing it only mirrored their prejudices to begin with.

Answer 8

I'm not an Atheist but I'm not a christian either... I used to be but I didn't find it to be a very fulfilling religion. There is no one religion that is right for everyone... not even christianity. everyone should be free to believe in whatever they wish without people constantly antagonizing and criticizing them for their decision. you're just asuming that everyone who tries to "find God" will automatically fall in love with that religion and become fulfilled but that is not the case.

Answer 9

A vast majority of atheists on this forum are,like me,former christians.
I'm not trying to be rude but this question always comes across as being insulting,as if it isn't possible that somebody could be christian and then turn their back on ancient mythology in favour of fact.
So,to answer your question,yes I did all that but when I was old enough to study and decide for myself,I found christianity to be false.

Answer 10

I come from a Christian family and I wasn't aware that the mythical god was lost. Quick send out the bloodhounds.