New theistic chew toys wanted!

[Ahriman]

The term god shaped hole may suggest things that don't exist and it may offend some, but I think there is a core to it that makes sense. In Japanese culture, the concept of wabi sabi is an aesthetic that acknowledges that things are always incomplete, imperfect, and unfinished. For better or worse, a god answers these "flaws" in reality by giving us an alternative in a perfect form that transcends the limitations of reality. A god provides things that a secular philosophy cannot, and such things are desirable; they're a reflection of our desire for the good. A god can provide answers to questions which we otherwise have to rest uncomfortably with. I think there are a lot of desirable things about a god.

And a god drives religion. People in atheists groups have speculated about how to infuse atheism with some of the ritual aspects which make being part of a religion desirable. Things like community, regular holidays/rituals, forms that people can cohere around, and so on. Generally we think the bad outweighs the good with respect to gods and religion, but there are good sides to them, and I think it would be an exaggeration to say that their absence doesn't in some sense leave a hole needing to be fulfilled. Look at nihilism and absurdism; would people willingly choose these if there were a verifiable alternative?

Just no 

Religion provides nothing and Atheism is missing nothing important

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That is one the most beautiful thing I've read on this forum...ever. Thank you.

You would think that

Don't be so negative. Religion makes people happy, more often than not. It's only the relative few atheists who seem to have a problem with religion.