What to do when you've lost your religion?

Hey yall, im coming to you all with a question, how do you find your religion? i was raised Catholic by my grandmother and mother, my father is druid and my last 2 girlfriends were pagan, my current gf is a witch. i lost my religion along time ago after some traumatic events. but now i've been asking people in my life what to do, im lost. im not sure what to believe anymore. i still wear my st michael, but i feel thats only out of security. idk just wondering if any one has any advice. im lost, i just feel dark, like i'm missing a huge part of me!

a reply to: SSFFlood

Just let go. Religion is all flawed anyways. Just find happiness in something you enjoy and do it. Worry about what happens to you when you die, when you die.

originally posted by: SSFFlood
Hey yall, im coming to you all with a question, how do you find your religion? i was raised Catholic by my grandmother and mother, my father is druid and my last 2 girlfriends were pagan, my current gf is a witch. i lost my religion along time ago after some traumatic events. but now i've been asking people in my life what to do, im lost. im not sure what to believe anymore. i still wear my st michael, but i feel thats only out of security. idk just wondering if any one has any advice. im lost, i just feel dark, like i'm missing a huge part of me!

you dont know what to believe anymore, so you came to a conspiracy forum to be told what to believe.

...this oughta be good.

Feel free.

a reply to: SSFFlood
Maybe that's where you need to be.
why ask how to find your religion without exploring the new path you are on?
granted i am giving you an atheist prospective, but once you let go to what is, at best, speculation, you will gain a better understanding of the world around you.
The biggest problem with religions is that they promote, by design or otherwise, isolation. There is little sense of community to be had when you are stuck in a us vs them type mentality.
maybe this detachment from religion is what allowed you to meet such diverse people and learn from them.
Travel on this new path and don't ask questions. you will find your way home.

Start to live your life free of the crutch of religion. Life as an atheist is FAR better.

Establish your relationship with God and not a religion. You and God don't need a middleman.

a reply to: SSFFlood

Actually made a recent friend in your same situation. My personal belief is that it is ok to let go of religion. You can always pick it back up as you learn more about yourself. Letting it go may allow you to be more open minded which may lead you to the religion you want to be part of. I personally believe there may be a god but most likely there isn't. I also believe there is no handbook on earth telling us how to get in touch with that god if they exist. Anyway just know you aren't alone and there are many in your boat and you are allowed to change your mind as many times as you want on the subject.

What to do when you've lost your religion?

I made up my own. Granted it has some strange components involving brown shoes, visa cards, masking tape, 2 flashlights, a pint of Empirical grow plant food and a short piece of bamboo, but essentially it is a "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" approach.

If the rituals are performed while riding a mountain bike the results are greatly enhanced.

I have been going through something similar, I also created a thread, and I found some good advice so you might want to revisit what others said, www.abovetopsecret.com...

The truth will set you free from Religious Programming. So, I suggest you go to the ancient texts like the Nag Hammidi and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Learn the truth about the Catholic faith. Maybe you are missing being a part of a community and Church provides that. You dont need a Religion to have a Relationship with your creator.

a reply to: SSFFlood
Have no belief system.

Be nothing.

a reply to: SSFFlood

Take some time to find your true faith I say.

I was born and raised a Catholic as well and I was force fed religion to a point where I saw through the charade and became an atheist. Strangely enough It was astronomy that opened my eyes and nowadays I'm somewhat of an agnostic. Faith comes in many forms and it's up to you to find it-don't let anyone impose their faith upon you.

a reply to: Itisnowagain

"be nothing"

dont EVER tell ANYONE to be nothing.

originally posted by: TzarChasm
a reply to: Itisnowagain

"be nothing"

dont EVER tell ANYONE to be nothing.

There is no one really - there is nothing. Nothing just hears a word and then identifies itself with the word.
What is seeing these words??

Just keep going.

originally posted by: SSFFlood
Hey yall, im coming to you all with a question, how do you find your religion? i was raised Catholic by my grandmother and mother, my father is druid and my last 2 girlfriends were pagan, my current gf is a witch. i lost my religion along time ago after some traumatic events. but now i've been asking people in my life what to do, im lost. im not sure what to believe anymore. i still wear my st michael, but i feel thats only out of security. idk just wondering if any one has any advice. im lost, i just feel dark, like i'm missing a huge part of me!

A good place to start is to examine carefully your own belief systems. What do you believe? How do you identify yourself based upon morals?

You don't have to have religion to be a moral person, but you should know where you stand. Do you believe in a god, gods or spirits? The answer you seek, is definitely inside of yourself. It's just a question of when and where and how you can identify that answer.

I'm sorry you're in a distressing time. If I were you, I'd take the time to learn about everything you can. Most religions tend to teach not to ask questions, considering you're currently in a situation where you're unsure where to turn, simply ask questions. You're doing a great job with this topic for starters, but you must realize that now you don't have the restrictions of religious concepts holding you back from exploring new things.

I'm not suggesting you do anything dangerous or illegal, but you're free to study things that would otherwise be deemed controversial. You don't need to accept them, but at least you're free to learn about them.

You're finally capable of thinking in a new way. You can discover things on your own instead of being told what others say is absolute fact, when really all they have is faith. When you actually look at what faith is, it's belief without any absolute knowledge, proof, or evidence. People who have faith don't have the answers, because if they did, it wouldn't be faith in the first place.

Instead, you're free to use another form of mentality: rational thinking. It sounds a little harsh saying it that way, but it is the opposite of faith. You can evaluate what's around you and form your own conclusions. You can use reason and intellect without the burden of being told that anything outside of the church is somehow the work of a magical being, set out to drag you down to fiery pits.

If I were you, I would take you're time and enjoy being unbound to religious scripture. The Universe is so much more interesting when you get the chance to figure things out on your own, rather than being told what others belief is absolute truth, when they themselves hold beliefs without evidence.

Good luck! Being outside of religion is far more amazing than those who are in it say it is.

a reply to: SSFFlood

Deism
Deism: Deism is the recognition of a universal creative force greater than that demonstrated by mankind, supported by personal observation of laws and designs in nature and the universe, perpetuated and validated by the innate ability of human reason coupled with the rejection of claims made by individuals and organized religions of having received special divine revelation.
"My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God." -- Albert Einstein
(The following is from Einstein and Religion by Max Jammer, Princeton University Press)
"I'm not an atheist, and I don't think I can call myself a pantheist. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see the universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws but only dimly understand these laws. Our limited minds grasp the mysterious force that moves the constellations."

a reply to: SSFFlood
I went from "forced"christian to agnostic/borderline atheist a while back.
I felt liberated rather than unhappy,when I realised all religions are the product of the human mind,rather than some external,omnipotent being.
Just do whatever makes you happy as long as it doesn't harm others,you pretty much can't go wrong.

But do try not to disrespect those who feel religion helps them through life.
It takes all sorts,and we are one FUBAR and at the same time incredible species,all stuck on the same rudderless space station.

A love for nature and the experience of life seems to work for me,although I have my dark times just like any religious person has.

If we go off to some jolly otherworld after we die-great,but I won't spend my life worrying about if I will or won't get a ticket just because I may once in a while commit something deemed a sin by long dead humans.

If there is some other place after we die,we will all be going there regardless of religion IMO.
No offence to religious people intended.

2 Pagans and a witch as girlfriends and a druid in the family. At least one of them ought from my point of view know at least a little about energetic body states and what the light is thru experience. Understanding the light is the starting point of understanding.

Those who truly seek shall find......