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Relapses of a recovering god-aholic
#11
RE: Relapses of a recovering god-aholic
Quote:I was still technically a Christian when The Passion of the Christ came out.

One shitty movie.

But it does give us a hint into the cult of death that is xtianity. The fuckers glory in it.
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#12
RE: Relapses of a recovering god-aholic
(April 1, 2012 at 2:15 am)aleialoura Wrote: I did have some seemingly unexplainable occurrences, that blew my mind, but the human mind is so pro at convincing itself of things that it wants to believe. If you knew you were having a delusion, it wouldn't be a delusion. I'm not saying you're delusional, you seem to want to accept that there are reasonable, neurological and psychological reasons behind your experiences, and there are.

Religious indoctrination can be really tough to overcome.

Thank you for being kind about the experiential part of Christianity.
(April 1, 2012 at 2:24 am)Creed of Heresy Wrote:
(April 1, 2012 at 2:15 am)aleialoura Wrote: I never really had a religious emotional experience. I was still technically a Christian when The Passion of the Christ came out. I went with my whole family. I was the only one who didn't cry... and I'm the type that does cry because of movies. I did have some seemingly unexplainable occurrences, that blew my mind, but the human mind is so pro at convincing itself of things that it wants to believe. If you knew you were having a delusion, it wouldn't be a delusion. I'm not saying you're delusional, you seem to want to accept that there are reasonable, neurological and psychological reasons behind your experiences, and there are.

Religious indoctrination can be really tough to overcome.

Hey, someone else who saw the Passion and was like "Well this is really great...by, you know, torture porn standards..." Big Grin

"Torture porn"; Well put. I think I'll use this phrase next time someone chides me for thinking the subject matter of that movie was horrible.
I have studied the Bible and the theology behind Christianity for many years. I have been to many churches. I have walked the depth and the breadth of the religion and, as a result of this, I have a lot of bullshit to scrape off the bottom of my shoes. ~Ziploc Surprise

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#13
RE: Relapses of a recovering god-aholic
Don't beat yourself up/freak out about the relapse experiences. Sometimes when I lay down I still catch myself beginning that nightly prayer and then I go "Wait... ahhhhh shit". Its not the same as your experiences but you got to give yourself a break. When something is psychologically conditioned into you especially for a period of over 10 years etc its going to take awhile and sometimes a really focused effort to get rid of the habit.

You may want to consider seeking some professional help if the experiences are very severe/uncomfortable. I think that you can overcome them eventually but some of us are just going to carry some weird baggage that pops up every now and again. Just think of it as an old wound that throbs every now and again in the cold.
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#14
RE: Relapses of a recovering god-aholic
(April 1, 2012 at 1:51 am)Creed of Heresy Wrote: Think what you want. Doesn't make it true. You can submit yourself to an examination by an individual who has spent years studying the topic of human emotional and mental workings [and who have degrees from reputable colleges in courses specializing in these fields] to figure out if your "religious experiences" were real or made up. OR you can continue to hold your delusions as being feasible. If you think that "appeals to ego" and isn't "truth-seeking," then you might as well submit that the big bang theory and the theory of evolution are pandering to the egos of the individuals who study the topics, too, and if that's the case, good luck ever coming to any valid logical conclusions; you're gonna need it.

my, my you are aggressive - and defensive.
(April 1, 2012 at 12:39 pm)Voltair Wrote: Don't beat yourself up/freak out about the relapse experiences. Sometimes when I lay down I still catch myself beginning that nightly prayer and then I go "Wait... ahhhhh shit". Its not the same as your experiences but you got to give yourself a break. When something is psychologically conditioned into you especially for a period of over 10 years etc its going to take awhile and sometimes a really focused effort to get rid of the habit.

You may want to consider seeking some professional help if the experiences are very severe/uncomfortable. I think that you can overcome them eventually but some of us are just going to carry some weird baggage that pops up every now and again. Just think of it as an old wound that throbs every now and again in the cold.

The experience was not severe or uncomfortable at all; in fact it changed my life 180 degrees for the better. It was quite profound and amazing. It turned me away from my religion and liberated me from my psychotic mother. I have spoken to many psychologists about it but they were all religious - maybe I should find an atheist psychologist. I was wondering if I could figure out what it was so I could reproduce it.

I do get confused sometimes and want to think it was 'god'. that is the indoctrination in me and it pulls at me. I want to forget that part of my life but I dont want to let go of this particular experience completely because it helped me so much and i think I could help a lot of other people if I only knew how to reproduce it. I guess what I'm wondering if anyone was able to keep some experiences they had while religious, but drop the religious part from the experience?
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#15
RE: Relapses of a recovering god-aholic
I don't have religious experiences in that sense but I still find that I have read/experienced things that could be compared to "spirituality". For example I read the book Tuesdays with Morrie and to be honest that book moved me. It may not be a crazy experience but that experience and others will probably profoundly change my perspectives/attitudes towards life in general.

There is much inspiration/positive experience outside of religion.
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#16
RE: Relapses of a recovering god-aholic
(March 31, 2012 at 10:16 pm)Blanca Wrote: When I was super religious I had some pretty intense "religious" experiences. I struggle explaining some of them because they were not banal and they changed my life for the better. Some of those experiences led me away from religion, but not necessarily away from god. I don't really want to get into the specifics here but was just wondering, has anyone else de-coverted but struggled with unexplainable powerful experiences from their religious days?

Nope, never had that problem. I have strictly stayed an atheist since the day I lost my faith in bullshit.

I dont want you to take this the wrong way, but maybe you havent convinced yourself if you have problems sticking with it.

Perhaps you should call yourself a deist instead of an atheist.
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#17
RE: Relapses of a recovering god-aholic
I haven't had any experiences that seemed supernatural since I became a skeptic. When I was a Pentecostal in my youth, I did some speaking in tongues, and I had a disturbing experience as a boy that I now think was a night terror of some sort. I think different people are differently prone to have these kinds of experiences. I think a skeptic could be one of those prone people, but I think it would be a struggle for them to become a skeptic in the first place under those circumstances, and of course they would consider hallucinations a likely explanation, unlike a non-skeptic.
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#18
RE: Relapses of a recovering god-aholic
I never had any experiences, but I was never really religious in the true sense. I was just a kid being unwillingly dragged to church each Sunday.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
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#19
RE: Relapses of a recovering god-aholic
(March 31, 2012 at 10:16 pm)Blanca Wrote: has anyone else de-coverted but struggled with unexplainable powerful experiences from their religious days?
No, once I de-converted and stopped feeding the brain cancer that is religious beliefs the "experiences" ceased altogether.
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#20
RE: Relapses of a recovering god-aholic
(April 3, 2012 at 3:57 pm)reverendjeremiah Wrote: but maybe you havent convinced yourself if you have problems sticking with it.

Perhaps you should call yourself a deist instead of an atheist.

I read the wiki article for Diesm and I dont think that fits. It explicitly says a Diest does not believe in supernatural and if anything i'm talking about a supernatural experience.

It's not that I believe in god but that i don't want to let go of this experience. The hard part is that I had the experience while religious and so attributed it to a 'god' but have since realized there is no god. It is a little emotionally confusing. I was just wondering if someone else had found an answer that explained their experience so they could replicate it.
(April 3, 2012 at 4:03 pm)Mister Agenda Wrote: I haven't had any experiences that seemed supernatural since I became a skeptic. When I was a Pentecostal in my youth, I did some speaking in tongues, and I had a disturbing experience as a boy that I now think was a night terror of some sort. I think different people are differently prone to have these kinds of experiences. I think a skeptic could be one of those prone people, but I think it would be a struggle for them to become a skeptic in the first place under those circumstances, and of course they would consider hallucinations a likely explanation, unlike a non-skeptic.

Never spoke in tongues but I did have the night terrors. They got really bad when I was in college. Of course I thought I was just getting so close to god that the devil was tempting my resolve. but when I dropped religion all of that just stopped. I was talking to some missionaries from my church a few months ago and I asked them to explain that when i prayed to god my terrors got worse (because god is supposed to banish them if you use that one prayer) and why they are completely gone now that I've left the church and haven't prayed in years. Silence...guess that wasn't in the scripts they were taught. Unfortunately for them I know more about their religion then they do.
(April 3, 2012 at 2:15 pm)Voltair Wrote: I don't have religious experiences in that sense but I still find that I have read/experienced things that could be compared to "spirituality". For example I read the book Tuesdays with Morrie and to be honest that book moved me. It may not be a crazy experience but that experience and others will probably profoundly change my perspectives/attitudes towards life in general.

There is much inspiration/positive experience outside of religion.

Can one be spiritual and atheist? I think Earkhart Tolle is probably a spiritualist.
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