(April 14, 2015 at 8:54 pm)IanHulett Wrote: I'm still technically a recent deconvert, only becoming an atheist in mid january of this year, but I still have this persistent "feeling" that God exists even though I know it's a lie, but it's also followed by a fear that everything I do will lead to me burning in hell, even though I know it's all fake, and it's been 3 months. I have been around so many conservative religious people who kept telling me I'm going to burn in hell, over and over again, throughout my childhood, and add to that the whole concept of hell in Christianity, also all the bad stuff that's been done in the name of religion, basically, I cannot get over this "feeling" or fear and I don't know what else to do. I'm not going back to religion... well... not without evidence, and I don't want this fear or "feeling" to run my life.
Is it possible that the reason this is still happening is because my former religion has been traumatic for me? Or is this normal because it's only been 3 months? How do I get rid of this "feeling" and fear? Will it disappear with time? Thanks a bunch.
Belief in God (theism) isn't a religion. Its an opinion we owe our existence to a personal agent who purposely created the universe and caused humans to exist. There is no religious connotation but it does have philosophical ramifications. For instance it gives reason to believe humans are special and created equal as opposed to the idea humans are the untended by product of the laws of physics and thus our existence is an accident.
