How to be an Atheist?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

How does one remain an atheist?

By believing what is demonstrably true, and not believing in a proposition merely because it gives you the warm fuzzies.

I suppose I find myself still "practicing" the Faith because life just gets hard at times .

You're not alone. A lot (I suspect a majority) of people cling to religious beliefs because they can't cope with life any other way.

It seems people and life are so flawed, imperfect, and downright bad.

I disagree, but let's stipulate that this is true. How is holding on to a faith you clearly have issues with a solution to the badness of other people? Religion hasn't seemed to make the majority of people any better, has it?

The Church is the same way in a lot of ways, but I suppose it's just the faith, it's stories and teachings I find attractive and hard to dump. Religion may be the "opium of the people" yet it is a strong and satisfying opium all the same

I've known (yes, personally) heroin addicts who said much the same thing. Because something makes you feel good doesn't mean it's a good idea.

I remain Catholic largely because I like Jesus ! He seems so decent and kind, as far as Gods and myths go. Unlike other Gods (like Anubis,Thor,Poseiden,Zeus, Odin, etc.) Jesus was (and still is) decent and kind to people, especially the poor and vulnerable. While Jesus might not have made sense all the time, he seems like a far more generous and kindly soul than the other Gods I mentioned. How many lepers,blind men and cripples did Poseiden help again

Ok, so why aren't you a Clausist? Santa helps people all the time. And - for the record - Poseidon helped exactly as many people as Jesus did - nil = nil.

I get atheism. I get that the bible is contradictiory, flies in the face of science at times, and has been used to justify some pretty sketchy things

This is what makes it possible for people to remain atheists: we decline to believe in things that are 'contradictory', that 'fly in the face of science' and have been 'used to justify some pretty sketchy things'.

I suppose it is the message and the "mythos" of Christianity and it's many saints that I find so compelling/endearing.

That statement is almost sad beyond enduring.

I just wonder if any of you have felt that way about the religion you were raised in (if there was any) and how you cope with the loss a lack of faith brings? What do you fill the empty space with?

Thing is, most atheist find a lack of faith to be liberating, not a 'loss' at all. Filling the void left by the absence of religious faith is rather like curing athlete's foot and then deliberately trying to contract gangrene.

Can anyone identify with my feelings and how they helped overcome them? On the one hand I do like "faith in God." But on the other, I don't want to believe in something untrue

I recommend you stick with your faith. You strike me as one of those people who doesn't like to apply thinking to life problems, so you'll always revert to godism. I'd rather see you as a happy believer than as a miserable pseudo-atheist.

Boru