How to be an Atheist?

[Jenny A]

How does one remain an atheist? I only ask because I have "tried" atheism a few times, but always have found myself drawn back to my Catholic faith.

I'm really not sure how one can try atheism. Either you believe in god or you don't. You might try doing without the church or without worshipping for awhile. You might imagine how the world would look to you if you didn't believe. But unless you actually did not believe for a while, you were never an atheist. It's definitional.

It works both ways. In my late teens and early twenties, I tried to make myself believe for the sake of my parents. Attending church, I'd done all my life, so that was no real hardship. The belief part was not possible. Lacking evidence, I so no more than a pretty story. Then I actually read the Bible and decided the story was actually rather ugly. So I stopped trying.

I realize the great limitations of the Catholic Church as a structure, and even readily admit that some of the theology teachings don't make a whole ton of sense. I also appreciate that when one asks someone believe everything the Church teaches, one is asking a lot.  

I find believing any of it rather impossible. The Catholics just have different nonsense the the protestants, who have different nonsense from the Mormons, who have different nonsense from the Muslims, who have different nonsense than the Hindus, who have different nonsense than the Wiccans.

I suppose I find myself still "practicing" the Faith because life just gets hard at times  . It seems people and life are so flawed, imperfect, and downright bad. 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 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 ?

I guess I don't find the Christian myth particularly nice at this point. I did once, before I learned more about it. But whether I liked it or not, I was still an atheist because I didn't believe it.

I know atheists who practice a religion because of the ritual and the cultural traditions. They find it comforting. But they are still atheists. I wonder from what you've said if that is really your situation.

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 .

Yep. And the complete lack of any real evidence for it and the way miracles dwindle as man's understanding of the world grows. Pretty hard to believe.

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

Many people do. Can't really see it myself.

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?

Since I haven't, felt as you do, someone else would be better to answer this one.

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

Again, it sounds as if you don't actually believe, it just that you feel hollow. I have never felt that in anyway that god would help. Family, friends, meaningful projects, exercise, taking care of others, good books that ask questions about living. Those things seem to fill my life quite nicely.