When I was religious, I was taught to fear myself. Like everyone, I had moments of anger or negative thoughts about others that I never acted upon but my upbringing taught me that without god, I would go crazy and act on those thoughts.
My problem was not so much that I thought god made me good(although I sort of thought he did). What terrified me was the idea that what is moral might just be our opinion. That meant that not raping someone or forcing them into slavery was wrong just because we humans said so and there wasn't a higher power that made our actions absolutely right or wrong. It also meant that if I used the bible as my authority, I had to justify a lot of evil things that the bible god did.
Luckily, there were several atheists on the forum for Catholic Answers who patiently answered similar questions repeatedly. Fear of myself was the reason that I clung to religion even when it made no sense. It is also why I tend to be gentle with religious people. I can sympathize with how strong and heavy that fear is.
Did any of you have similar feelings before you deconverted? Did any person help you overcome that fear? What did they say?
My problem was not so much that I thought god made me good(although I sort of thought he did). What terrified me was the idea that what is moral might just be our opinion. That meant that not raping someone or forcing them into slavery was wrong just because we humans said so and there wasn't a higher power that made our actions absolutely right or wrong. It also meant that if I used the bible as my authority, I had to justify a lot of evil things that the bible god did.
Luckily, there were several atheists on the forum for Catholic Answers who patiently answered similar questions repeatedly. Fear of myself was the reason that I clung to religion even when it made no sense. It is also why I tend to be gentle with religious people. I can sympathize with how strong and heavy that fear is.
Did any of you have similar feelings before you deconverted? Did any person help you overcome that fear? What did they say?
