(March 25, 2018 at 9:48 pm)Macoleco Wrote: As someone who used to believe in God and was a christian, I have a question, specially to ex-believers, now atheists.
I used to do the common religious activies such as praying, and believing I had a personal relationship with God. In many points through my life, I thought God had helped me, and thta he was always watching over me. These kind of believes and activities can cause some very strong emotions over a person. Very positive emotions. It makes you feel safe, strong, energetic, and that you can accomplish anything in your life. It helps you overcome hardships, control negative emotions, etc.
After becoming an a atheist, all of these emotions are gone. Maybe not completely, but not to the same extent. Now I feel more insecure, since I know God is not protecting me. I dont feel like an accomplish anything, since I am not all powerful and God isnt helping me. It is now harder to have a positive outlook of life and the future since there is no God. This idea of God is extremly powerful, and I see almost no way of compete against it only with reason and force of will.
I have been wondering if some ex-believers have reached the same level of "positive emotions" if you may call it, only by force of will and reason.
Just as an anecdote, a few times I have pretended to talk to God as an atheist, and I feel some positive force on me. Perhaps I was so accustomed to this in the past, that it still lingers on me. And please, I dont want any believer telling me it is the power of God telling me to believe again.
You can accomplish things and you should give yourself the credit for any accomplishment, not some deity. Reason and truth is far better than living in a fantasy world. I can relate somewhat to your feeling of emptiness. I'm sure that most apostates go through this. I compare it to a drug addiction of sorts. The drug gave you a false sense of security. You are free of the addiction but you still miss that feeling. I found an atheist group in my home town to fellowship with. My work keeps me away for the most part but knowing that they are there helps. I hope you are able to work through this and divert that adoration for a non-existent deity towards yourself, where it belongs.
I believe in life before death.
