(September 14, 2017 at 6:50 pm)Huggy74 Wrote: My response to that is; welcome to the club...
My response to this is that it shows that religion does not own a monopoly on certain human needs and drives, as much as it would like to. Religions try to own morality by telling us that it all comes from their own particular god, but atheists and humanists are moral creatures too. Religions keep their paying members coming back for more by providing 'fellowship', i.e by satisfying a human need to be part of a pack and like with recreational drugs manipulating the same neurological mechanisms. But you still feel these needs even if you are no longer religious because you don't stop being human once you leave a religion. Atheists who never regularly went to church satisfy their desire for reward and pack instincts through other means, but ex-theists often have a lifetime of religious conditioning and need to satisfy their human drives via particular means. It's more like they are weaning themselves off an ingrained habit. When I gave up eating meat I started eating lots of fish instead. When I gave up dairy I started drinking milk substitutes. When I gave up chocolate I started cramming myself full of dates.
The human brain isn't a logical or rational thing. It creates associations through conditioning. If you recognise this then it becomes easier to change your behaviour and thought processes over time.
