The need to believe?

[Simon Moon]

Most everyone here knows my ''story,'' but the nutshell version is that I grew up in a Christian home, and thought I believed most of what I was taught. As an adult, I've questioned like anyone does, but about five years ago, I came to the conclusion that Christianity was built on man made lies, and that the Bible really is a book designed by men to control other men. Religion is a powerful tool to control others.

ALL religions are man made, not just Christianity.

I don't believe that the evidence points to the Bible being designed to control people. It happens to be a great tool for that purpose, but it was not by design.

Then, my grandmother died a little over two years ago, and when she became ill, I was an atheist at that time, and it was then that I started to feel emotionally lost as an non-believer. Logically, atheism was still ''it'' for me, but emotionally, dealing with the loss of my grandmother was just hard. Despite having quite a few atheist friends, I couldn't find any solace in regards to processing my grandmother's death. So, I started looking into other beliefs system like Buddhism and even Islam. Without going into a lot of details, I have always felt this need to believe. Like if I don't believe, something bad will happen. Thanks to my indoctrinated childhood, I've always felt like something outside of myself should solve my problems, or come to my rescue. I'm not ''good enough'' on my own. In organized religion, the teachings revolve around how you're simply not good enough to do anything on your own, and you need this Great Comforter to help you. And when you believe it, it IS comforting. But, why do I need this belief? Logically, there is no proof that a deity exists, but why must I tell myself that one does? I felt almost two years ago, like I had an actual spiritual experience, and now I wonder...was I creating that experience because I've missed the emotional comfort that faith brought to me? And looking back, there likely was a logical explanation for what happened ut I applied a supernatural answer to it.

I do not mean to be condescending or insulting, but I could never imagine having thought processes like you describe above.

To me, one of the most important things in my life, is to try to have as many true beliefs as possible, and as few false beliefs as possible. I want my internal representation of the world to map as closely as possible to the real world.

The single best way to accomplish the above, is to base my beliefs on demonstrable evidence and sound and valid logic. And to disbelieve claims that lack these criteria.

My mind and heart never really ''agreed'' when it came to my atheist position five years ago, and when I come to this site, or hang out with my friends who are atheists, there is comfort in logic. Simple logic. But, we're not only logical people, the sum total of our lives isn't built around our intellects. We have emotions, and while they shouldn't govern us, they are important. So, where I'm at right now is that I want to believe that God exists. Or a god. I'm not following any religion, don't go to church, etc. Yet, I feel a pull towards spirituality. I've been reading about ''spiritual atheism'' and wonder if it is an actual thing. Can an atheist, also be spiritual? Can someone logically come to a conclusion that a god doesn't exist, yet wishes to believe that one does? Have any of you felt this way, do you ever wish you believed, or have had a desire to believe, yet logically, you know that the concept is absurd? Is there no meaningful way to reconcile the two?

You do not care whether your beliefs are true, only that they make you feel good. That way of thinking is completely foreign to me.

So, where I'm at right now is that I want to believe that God exists. Or a god.

Beliefs are not a choice. They are a result of being convinced.

There is no psychological path to actually believing a proposition or a premise, unless you are convinced of it being true. The question is, are you convinced that a god exists, or not? Not what you want to be true, what you are convinced is true.

One of my friends recently said to me (he is an atheist, always has been) that he thinks it's interesting that I feel that everyone is on a ''faith journey,'' for he has never felt that way. He said that there is no journey of faith for him, he accepts his lack of belief, and doesn't try to ''fix it.'' He said that he thinks I'm trying to ''fix'' something inside of me, as if there is something wrong with not believing in a god. And that struck me so hard, he is right, I guess. When I was an atheist, intellectually and logically, I felt fine. I had no issues with my concluding that a god likely doesn't exist, but emotionally, I've always felt empty not believing. Just being honest. Because I was taught to put God in the everyday, human void that we all probably experience from time to time. ''God of the gaps,'' plugging God into the painful gaps of my life. So, that's where I'm at right now, and wonder if I'm alone in these thoughts. 

I grew up a theist, but I have no interest of being in a "faith journey". I was more than happy to give up faith based beliefs.

I do not find faith (the way the word is defined by theists) to be a virtue. I am unable to determine the difference between faith and gullibility.  

Faith is not a reliable path to truth. There is no claim, no matter how outrageous, that can not be believed on faith.

Thanks for listening, and if you have any thoughts, I'd be happy to hear them.

Thank you for sharing!