Welcome, brotherlylove. Sorry I'm late to the thread.
I'm one of those folks who was raised Christian (Pentecostal), read the Bible (KJV) once from devotion and a second time (Living Bible) to make sure I hadn't been confused by the Old English. That didn't make me an atheist (that came years later), but it did make me an agnostic theist. I believed in some sort of a God, but found the thought that the Bible was 'ordained' by a supreme being rather horrifying given the barbarism and primitive tribal morality. Just sharing for background.
You seem to be making an argument from 'feels good, got good results'. I'm sure you realize that your perceptions are incapable of verifying that any supernatural power you may have been in contact with was in fact the creator God of the Bible. A much lesser spirit would be capable of making you feel loved and awesome and free you from your addictions. It doesn't take the power to turn stars into flamingoes to pull off what you're describing. One could argue that it's achievable by altered brain states, no paranormal invtervention required. It's the one promise any religion can keep: if you believe, then you'll find 'evidence'. However, the nature of true evidence is that it leads someone who is initially skeptical to believe; religion turns it around because it has hit on the technique of getting potential recruits to convert themselves by convincing them that to give whatever religion they're selling a fair chance, they have to try believing it first and then getting the evidence. It's really very brilliant.
So, converts to other religions (not to mention various self-help programs) can make similar claims. Where does that leave you and your 'evidence'?
I'm one of those folks who was raised Christian (Pentecostal), read the Bible (KJV) once from devotion and a second time (Living Bible) to make sure I hadn't been confused by the Old English. That didn't make me an atheist (that came years later), but it did make me an agnostic theist. I believed in some sort of a God, but found the thought that the Bible was 'ordained' by a supreme being rather horrifying given the barbarism and primitive tribal morality. Just sharing for background.
You seem to be making an argument from 'feels good, got good results'. I'm sure you realize that your perceptions are incapable of verifying that any supernatural power you may have been in contact with was in fact the creator God of the Bible. A much lesser spirit would be capable of making you feel loved and awesome and free you from your addictions. It doesn't take the power to turn stars into flamingoes to pull off what you're describing. One could argue that it's achievable by altered brain states, no paranormal invtervention required. It's the one promise any religion can keep: if you believe, then you'll find 'evidence'. However, the nature of true evidence is that it leads someone who is initially skeptical to believe; religion turns it around because it has hit on the technique of getting potential recruits to convert themselves by convincing them that to give whatever religion they're selling a fair chance, they have to try believing it first and then getting the evidence. It's really very brilliant.
So, converts to other religions (not to mention various self-help programs) can make similar claims. Where does that leave you and your 'evidence'?