(July 9, 2017 at 4:53 pm)*Deidre* Wrote:Oh, it's totally a "human thing". I have not regressed to theism at any time since leaving it but it was nevertheless a loss that I had to grieve like any other loss. For many believers it's a loss of most of their social support system; they go from insiders to incurring the wrath sometimes of church and family and friends. I was luckier than that by far ... no huge social consequences, but I found I had long-established habits like praying about little things throughout the day, which was a somewhat calming / centering to do and it took me a long time to be at peace with the notion that no one was listening or reacting to that. I knew that was true intellectually, but dropping the "arrow prayers" was highly symbolic, and the human mind deals in symbols.(July 9, 2017 at 2:27 pm)Khemikal Wrote: They may never agree..regardless of whether or not you count yourself among the believing. I've never met a person, personally, in all of my life...and I've never seen a person on these boards....and I've never even heard of a -story- of a person who...by believing, brought accord between those two. We believe, and still feel conflicted. We do not believe, and still feel conflicted. We -disbelieve-....and still feel conflicted.
This. You have no idea how this ^^^ has helped me. You disbelieve, yet also at times, are conflicted. My atheist friends offline don't share their conflicts, so I assume that they have none with their position. But, while I'm not happy that you and others experience this, I'm grateful that this might just be a human thing, and I'm not all that out there for feeling this.
So sure you have little doubts / regrets now and then until you re-acclimate fully. Atheism is a "new reality" or "new normal". A new relationship with reality, actually. It takes some getting used to. No sane person would deny that, although it's been my experience that in the long run, it's a far better relationship with reality.