RE: Let's Start Over, I'm Blackrook and I'm Here to Get Some Answers to Important Questions
September 26, 2012 at 7:18 pm
(This post was last modified: September 26, 2012 at 7:22 pm by Jackalope.)
Blackrook -
Haven't read most of this thread except the OP and some on the first page.
I appreciate the effort you're taking here to re-introduce yourself - hopefully it will have the desired effect.
Anyways, on to your question
First of all, I'd like to say that you don't have to view your dilemma as a choice between atheism and Catholicism. You could, for example, leave the Catholic church and explore your spirituality on your own if you so chose. Not suggesting that you should, but it is an option.
You ask what atheism can offer, specifically with respect to having something to look forward to after a life of struggle. Best answer I can give to that specific question is "I don't know." As far as I'm aware, there is no afterlife.
What atheism does offer is an opportunity to experience your life and to follow your own personal moral compass free of dogma and threat of punishment for "sins" that harm no one.
I do have some empathy / sympathy for you - I understand what it's like to face some very serious life struggles (for one, I also have bipolar disorder, along with a side of post-traumatic stress), ones that feel big enough to break you. We get through them the best we can, and what I learned after I lost my faith many years ago, is that it was my own strength that got me through them all along.
Again, I appreciate the reintroduction and hope you find what you are looking for.
Haven't read most of this thread except the OP and some on the first page.
I appreciate the effort you're taking here to re-introduce yourself - hopefully it will have the desired effect.
Anyways, on to your question
(September 26, 2012 at 3:04 pm)Blackrook Wrote: Anyway, let's start over.
My name is Blackrook and I'm a Catholic in crisis and I'm here to get some answers to some questions I have.
Catholicism has been a great comfort to me when I had feelings that I didn't want to live, and felt like killing myself.
I felt God's presence, literally reaching out to me and telling me I was loved.
Even now, in my current state of pessimism, I can look forward to something better after my bitter struggle in this world is complete.
What can atheism offer to replace that?
First of all, I'd like to say that you don't have to view your dilemma as a choice between atheism and Catholicism. You could, for example, leave the Catholic church and explore your spirituality on your own if you so chose. Not suggesting that you should, but it is an option.
You ask what atheism can offer, specifically with respect to having something to look forward to after a life of struggle. Best answer I can give to that specific question is "I don't know." As far as I'm aware, there is no afterlife.
What atheism does offer is an opportunity to experience your life and to follow your own personal moral compass free of dogma and threat of punishment for "sins" that harm no one.
I do have some empathy / sympathy for you - I understand what it's like to face some very serious life struggles (for one, I also have bipolar disorder, along with a side of post-traumatic stress), ones that feel big enough to break you. We get through them the best we can, and what I learned after I lost my faith many years ago, is that it was my own strength that got me through them all along.
Again, I appreciate the reintroduction and hope you find what you are looking for.
