Feeling a bit atheistish these days

[Minimalist]

The best part is when it transitions from "want to be fucked in the ass" to "our god is an awesome god" then back!

Religion's been fucking people up the ass for millenia.

[Norfolk And Chance]

No, because you could still believe in a creator god, and not necessarily a patriarchal creator. Some deists believe in a god who got the figurative ball rolling, and not a god who can intervene on our piddly affairs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism

That seems pointless to me.

[Erinome]

That's probably why you're not a deist. I know that's exactly why I'm not, but I can still respect it more that being... religious.

[Heather]

I've been fighting depression for years now and in the last few weeks it seems to have gotten worse, to the point of my feeling physical symptoms.

You know, seasonal depression is very common. As it gets cold and dreary, depression is much more common. I would maybe try to get out of the house as much as possible and maybe even exercise. Exercise or any physical sport can greatly decrease depression symptoms as it releases endorphins which trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine. Ok, you probably know all of this but I like to give advice!!! !

It's for this reason that I'm slow to make any shift in identity official.

There is no timeline for which you have to officially change your stance to atheist. Take your time.

Yet somehow things seem a bit more drab without God being "out there somewhere".

I think this is going hand in hand with the depression. Many people feel a huge sense of loss when they finally accept there is no god out there. It takes time to grasp that idea. But, once the loss feeling goes away, the free feeling arrives and it's such an awesome feeling to have that burden of "does god exist" lifted from your thoughts.

[chatpilot]

DeistPaladin you are right in asserting that deconversion is a slow and lengthy process, at least it was for me. I think this has to do with the level of belief and indoctrination. I was as fundamentalist a Pentecostal holy roller as they come and I took the bible at its word literally. Blinded by my faith I could not see the many contradictions and when I was shown them I quickly resorted to the famous quote from Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:12 '12 Now we see only reflections in a mirror, mere riddles, but then we shall be seeing face to face. Now I can know only imperfectly; but then I shall know just as fully as I am myself known.' (NJB)

Every time I was thrown a contradiction, that was my go to verse to counteract the skeptics. I believed at the time that I felt Christ's spirit residing in me, talking to me in my mind, guiding my every step. When I preached in churches, on the street, or on the radio I swore that I felt the power of the Holy Spirit surging through me in the form of electric currents flowing through my body. When I prayed for people and they passed out at a look or a touch from my hand I gave God all the glory and the praise.

After I left the church it took me literally about 6 years to fully embrace my atheism and overcome the "fear of the Lord." Every day I asked God to prove to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that he exists and it's been 18 years and he has yet to prove anything. It's a long road my friend and a journey that we each must take on our own, no one can deconvert anyone this is a personal journey and everyone reaches their own conclusions in the end. Some turn back to theism while others like myself become wholly unconvinced that Christianity is nothing more than mere myth. Good luck with your journey and try and take it one day at a time my friend.

[reverendjeremiah]

DeistPaladin you are right in asserting that deconversion is a slow and lengthy process, at least it was for me. I think this has to do with the level of belief and indoctrination. I was as fundamentalist a Pentecostal holy roller as they come and I took the bible at its word literally. Blinded by my faith I could not see the many contradictions and when I was shown them I quickly resorted to the famous quote from Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:12 '12 Now we see only reflections in a mirror, mere riddles, but then we shall be seeing face to face. Now I can know only imperfectly; but then I shall know just as fully as I am myself known.' (NJB)

Every time I was thrown a contradiction, that was my go to verse to counteract the skeptics. I believed at the time that I felt Christ's spirit residing in me, talking to me in my mind, guiding my every step. When I preached in churches, on the street, or on the radio I swore that I felt the power of the Holy Spirit surging through me in the form of electric currents flowing through my body. When I prayed for people and they passed out at a look or a touch from my hand I gave God all the glory and the praise.

After I left the church it took me literally about 6 years to fully embrace my atheism and overcome the "fear of the Lord." Every day I asked God to prove to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that he exists and it's been 18 years and he has yet to prove anything. It's a long road my friend and a journey that we each must take on our own, no one can deconvert anyone this is a personal journey and everyone reaches their own conclusions in the end. Some turn back to theism while others like myself become wholly unconvinced that Christianity is nothing more than mere myth. Good luck with your journey and try and take it one day at a time my friend.

Its amazing what believing something will actually make you physically feel.

[chatpilot]

I couldn't agree with you more reverendjeremiah but one of the first things I did when I left the church was to seek explanations for all of those experiences. And after several years of research I was able to explain away each and every one of them to my satisfaction.

[reverendjeremiah]

I couldn't agree with you more reverendjeremiah but one of the first things I did when I left the church was to seek explanations for all of those experiences. And after several years of research I was able to explain away each and every one of them to my satisfaction.

You felt it because you wanted to feel it. You EXPECTED to feel something.

[Rhizomorph13]

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DeistPaladin you are right in asserting that deconversion is a slow and lengthy process, at least it was for me. I think this has to do with the level of belief and indoctrination. I was as fundamentalist a Pentecostal holy roller as they come and I took the bible at its word literally. Blinded by my faith I could not see the many contradictions and when I was shown them I quickly resorted to the famous quote from Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:12 '12 Now we see only reflections in a mirror, mere riddles, but then we shall be seeing face to face. Now I can know only imperfectly; but then I shall know just as fully as I am myself known.' (NJB)

Every time I was thrown a contradiction, that was my go to verse to counteract the skeptics. I believed at the time that I felt Christ's spirit residing in me, talking to me in my mind, guiding my every step. When I preached in churches, on the street, or on the radio I swore that I felt the power of the Holy Spirit surging through me in the form of electric currents flowing through my body. When I prayed for people and they passed out at a look or a touch from my hand I gave God all the glory and the praise.

After I left the church it took me literally about 6 years to fully embrace my atheism and overcome the "fear of the Lord." Every day I asked God to prove to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that he exists and it's been 18 years and he has yet to prove anything. It's a long road my friend and a journey that we each must take on our own, no one can deconvert anyone this is a personal journey and everyone reaches their own conclusions in the end. Some turn back to theism while others like myself become wholly unconvinced that Christianity is nothing more than mere myth. Good luck with your journey and try and take it one day at a time my friend.

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DO NOT TEST THE LORD YOUR GOD!! Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you.

[LastPoet]

God seems like an angry teen