I am not an atheist by choice

a reply to: BlueMule

is ego death the same thing as not having the presence of mind to question what your told?

a reply to: TzarChasm

the difference between your god and gravity.

My God is God.

a reply to: randyvs

i would bet you your god isnt stronger than gravity, but gambling is against your religion.

Let's not devolve into personal jabs now.

@BlueMule

So you're saying it's something I shouldn't worry about, that it'll come on it's own time?

originally posted by: randyvs
a reply to: TzarChasm

If you keep bang'n your skull you're only going to be more
senseless then you already are.

ah, but i am not the topic.

ScientificRailgun questioning everything is a god way to test everything.

From my point of view you prove what you are in action/works. Faith can lead to action/works. But anyone who is wise would not care about you not believing in him/her/it even if you follow what he/she/it teaches.

If you wanna play around with energy body states then I would recommend you to find a tool that works for you to experience energy states. . It can be very relaxing and very creative.

I do believe that Buddha/Nanak/Rumi/Yeshua had a divine part in them that flourished. I also believe there is a divine part in you that can flourish if you want to. You can choose to use the scientific method in spirituality. Test a spiritual tool and see what you can do with it.

Namaste (I bow to the divine in you)

I'm with you. Fortunately, I wasn't in a fundamental environment. However, I was in a middle income, all white, Christian environment of the 50s. There was stigma because my parents were divorced.

I'm lucky in that I was raised in a spiritual positive thought type thinking. But, also Christianity.

I wanted to believe. I wanted to be a minister. But, research made that impossible ---- as nothing made any sense. It's all made up.

I compare the Jesus story to the Johnny Appleseed story. But, John Chapman's factual life is well documented. It's easy to see the embellishment and distortion.

I was 60 when I finally stepped completely out of the "God circle", admitting I am atheist. Can't say I didn't give it time.

a reply to: LittleByLittle

Questioning god usually results in disbelief since no evidence for god (even no abrahamic ones) exists.

a reply to: Annee

By now I'm of the idea that I'll never have the faith I am seeking. At the moment I've given up on searching, as I can't find it within me to believe in something or someone based on faith alone. Like you I was looking for evidence, reaching at straws, going through the motions. I'm (mostly) comfortable with my lack of faith now, though at times I still feel pangs of jealousy for the truly devout. I want that kind of certainty in my life.

a reply to: Annee

I want to have that faith, but I just ...can't. It's like I was born without some required faith organ. I feel defective, like there's something wrong with me.

theres nothing wrong with you, but society will tell you differently because it makes money. your clothes are too old, your hair is too bland, your skin is too dry, your belly too big, your car is too slow, your insurance is too expensive, your house is too small, your blood pressure is too high and your blood sugar too low.

originally posted by: ScientificRailgun

@BlueMule

So you're saying it's something I shouldn't worry about, that it'll come on it's own time?

Absolutely.

"Worry is faith in the devil".

I don't believe in a literal devil, but please do let go of worry anyway. Go visit your family in the U.S.. put aside a week and some money and swing by Arizona for a spiritwalk with the peyote spirits. They will teach you things you can't learn from books or apologetics.

👣

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
a reply to: LittleByLittle

Questioning god usually results in disbelief since no evidence for god (even no abrahamic ones) exists.

I see the same One that is all hiding behind in Jewish and Yeshua:s teaching as in Hindu/Buddhism/Sikhism. Different stories, different words same end point. The spirit that brings oneness.

www.blueletterbible.org...
Jehovah = "the existing One"


Rumi

“What can I do, Muslims? I do not know myself.
I am neither Christian nor Jew, neither Magian nor Muslim,
I am not from east or west, not from land or sea,
not from the shafts of nature nor from the spheres of the firmament,
not of the earth, not of water, not of air, not of fire.

I am not from the highest heaven, not from this world,
not from existence, not from being.
I am not from India, not from China, not from Bulgar, not from Saqsin,
not from the realm of the two Iraqs, not from the land of Khurasan.

I am not from the world, not from beyond,
not from heaven and not from hell.
I am not from Adam, not from Eve, not from paradise and not from Ridwan.

My place is placeless, my trace is traceless,
no body, no soul, I am from the soul of souls.
I have chased out duality, lived the two worlds as one.
One I seek, one I know, one I see, one I call.

He is the first, he is the last, he is the outer, he is the inner.
Beyond He and He is I know no other.
I am drunk from the cup of love, the two worlds have escaped me.
I have no concern but carouse and rapture.

If one day in my life I spend a moment without you
from that hour and that time I would repent my life.
If one day I am given a moment in solitude with you
I will trample the two worlds underfoot and dance forever.
O Sun of Tabriz, I am so tipsy here in this world,
I have no tale to tell but tipsiness and rapture.”

Sikhism

originally posted by: ScientificRailgun
a reply to: Annee

By now I'm of the idea that I'll never have the faith I am seeking. At the moment I've given up on searching, as I can't find it within me to believe in something or someone based on faith alone. Like you I was looking for evidence, reaching at straws, going through the motions. I'm (mostly) comfortable with my lack of faith now, though at times I still feel pangs of jealousy for the truly devout. I want that kind of certainty in my life.

I consider myself a Spiritual Atheist. I've had "paranormal" (for lack of a better word) experiences since first memory. There is more going on then what we see physically in this dimension - IMO.

I lean toward we are monitored and perhaps created by beings more evolved then us. Not "gods". Earth is one of the newer planets. I tend to believe ancient myths of battles in the sky are real events.

That seems logical to me. There's no faith belief involved.

a reply to: LittleByLittle

Right and I see them as all just a bunch of stories with no evidence in support of them. When you group them all as the same god with different variations, you just make it easier to disbelieve all religions. You aren't exactly giving support for believing in them.

As an atheist, and in communicating with others with similar thinking I find this to be true of many, I would very much like to be given some sort of revelation/proof as to the existence of a deity. To date, this has not occurred, and I somehow doubt that it ever will. I hope you do find it! But you won't find it in Christianity.

Now, even though I have no belief in gods, I have experienced other 'paranormal' - but I cannot take the leap that such things are more than a natural occurrence, and not something supernatural.

That's where I believe there's an immense problem with those who claim to "know god" and claim to be Christians.
Even if there were an all-powerful, all-seeing, all-knowing deity that did create the universe, there is still absolutely nothing that can link him/her/it to ANY of the books claiming to be his/her/its word. Not the Torah, not the Bible, not the Quran. Not one shred of evidence exists that proves these books any more than apocryphal, plagiarized, and poorly written efforts by men. Having faith is simply adhering to the words of men, in vain hope that you'll please your deity.

Which branch of Christianity does your god favour? There are 41000 types.
Which are the 'good' Muslims? The Sunni? The Shia? The Sufi?
Which ones does their god favour above all others?

This is where I have the problem. The Bible is the true 'word of god' (according to some), yet seems to have many versions.
Did god edit them? Of course not. The god of Abraham - and subsequently Jesus - appears to be a "Robin Hood."
A personification of a collection of unrelated stories.

So many people claim to have been Christian as children. You were not born a Christian. You were indoctrinated with your parents' favourite version of a man-made tale.

It really does chafe me when people use the line, "I see god in the eyes of a baby...." Like that's proof enough, and case closed for faith. Do these same people see god in the eyes of a baby with toxoplasmosis? Didn't the same god create the parasite?

To the OP, I'm simply asking you to not take anyone's word for anything. Research. Study. Ask questions. Make sure you are given answers only that can be proven. Don't listen to the rote "strange ways" type responses. Don't take a profound feeling of something or other as proof of Jesus in someones heart. It's probably just indigestion. Look for answers in the real, not the supernatural. Value common sense, logic, and science above superstition, and you will have begun your journey.
And, true to my opening, I hope you do find your god. Please share your evidence with the rest of us.

originally posted by: Badgered1
That's where I believe there's an immense problem with those who claim to "know god" and claim to be Christians.
Even if there were an all-powerful, all-seeing, all-knowing deity that did create the universe, there is still absolutely nothing that can link him/her/it to ANY of the books claiming to be his/her/its word. Not the Torah, not the Bible, not the Quran. Not one shred of evidence exists that proves these books any more than apocryphal, plagiarized, and poorly written efforts by men. Having faith is simply adhering to the words of men, in vain hope that you'll please your deity.

Keep in mind that even if these books ARE the word of god, there is no way that we can confirm if this god is lying to us about what he can do and has done. All we have is god's word that he is telling the truth. Going by how often his creations that were "made in his image" lie, that really doesn't give me a lot of faith in the honesty of the parent.

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
a reply to: LittleByLittle

Right and I see them as all just a bunch of stories with no evidence in support of them. When you group them all as the same god with different variations, you just make it easier to disbelieve all religions. You aren't exactly giving support for believing in them.

I am not telling you to believe in them since they are all just a piece of the bigger puzzle. "The all spanning truth of everything" that our views are a small part off. Religions are for me like maps. They can be used to guide you to something. That something is important from my point of view what map you use is totally unimportant.

a reply to: Badgered1

I hope I find my faith soon too. And I'll be sure that if I do find it, I'll share it here first. Thanks for your input. I felt good knowing there people in the same boat as I am.

originally posted by: ScientificRailgun
a reply to: Badgered1

I hope I find my faith soon too. And I'll be sure that if I do find it, I'll share it here first. Thanks for your input. I felt good knowing there people in the same boat as I am.

why do you want faith? what makes you think you will be any better off?