A question for y’all Atheists / Agnostics

[phoenix1]

I think the same way. It does help sometimes is to put life in its true perspective and realize how little we all are in the comparison to the trillions of lives that have lived on this earth. Even how we are just one species among millions, one lonely planet among more than we could ever count. It does help to face fears to realize we really are not as great as we think we are and simply just do the best we can do and not worry so much. None of us get out this existence ‘alive’ anyway.

Religion does create anxieties, especially the ones the focus on all the specific do’s and don’t that blatantly contradict human nature. You grow up thinking you are born ‘evil’, or born a sinner. I think that’s disgusting in itself. You learn to hate parts of yourself, and judge others harshly as well – not to mention all the anxiety of sinning or being ‘tempted’ and the only thing that brings relief is to accept that you are a bad person and lean on god’s grace. That creates an incredible bond with your religion, but it also, in my opinion, creates constant anxiety and intolerance to others.

I think pure faith in god without all the bullshit religion seems to be the most effective from what I’ve seen. Personal belief that someone is taking care of you and there are reasons for everything without going into specific rules, pains and anxieties. I think I envy these people the most, because most of them can use god to get them through the hardest times in life without the pain of religion. Many believe that their belief is personal, so they don’t really judge others either.

I think we are hardwired to want to believe in something. There’s a reason why most of us soak up the beliefs of those around us. We want to feel important, we want to feel like there’s a reason and we need something to keep going in the face of extreme uncertainty. Its refreshing to me to realize that I don’t need to be important or there doesn’t have to be a concrete reason for everything. I think it makes me be more open to the world and more ready to embrace a stranger in this strange cold existence.

But its still difficult when faced with uncertainty. I can’t march forward believing that something or someone is taking care of me. I want so bad to just submit to uncertainty and let life sway me around me around so I don’t have to fight so hard and feel so much pain. I cant seem to submit though. I want to create order in my life and stability and know that I have control over my own destiny / happiness. Every time when I think I’m content with where I’m going, fate deals me a harsh blow and my world is turned around. So most of the time I just sit like a caged beast, afraid to build or do anything out of fear of it been blown away. Doing nothing - just watching the years go by.

 

[BornAgain]

From the dawn of humankind, religion has played a significant role as an anxiety killer. Death, famine, pain, suffering was all part of a ‘bigger picture’ and people were able to get through much of it with the idea that there’s a bigger reason for it all and that after death, there’s wont be pain and suffering. People didn’t need to worry so much about their lives and their problems, because their lives where guided by a higher force and for the better – if not in this lifetime then certainly the forever after part.

Remember when we were all growing up and we did crazy things, got hurt, got sick. We never really had any anxiety, because we knew our parents would ultimately take care of us and protect us and make sure everything was alright. Religion to me seems like the adult version of parents, where we go about our days and not worry so much because God will take care of us in the end, so we need not worry so much.

Alas, I’m a ‘heretic’ non-believer in the ways of religion and God. I consider myself a good person and always tying to do the best I can, but I’m fairly sure I will never be able to use a ‘higher power’ like many others to help combat my anxieties and pain.

So my question to others who aren’t religious, do you have a guiding force that makes everything less painful and less anxious? Something to tell you that it’s alright when things go chaotically bad? Many times I look to nature as a greater force that bends me to its will. But unlike God, nature certainly doesn’t have my best interests at hand, and many times I feel myself feeling bitter towards the harsh realities of nature rather than submitting to its will (like you can do with God).

This isn’t meant for a religious debate or to criticize anyone’s personal beliefs. But I was wondering if anyone has any advice or personal thoughts on the subject? What do you use to help you get through the times when nature turns against you? How do you submit to ‘uncertainty’ or the will of nature without a personal belief in a benevolent higher power?

I believe in God, but not the same God that people read about. It is more like the "higher force", but I hate using either of those terms because there is to much of a negative connotation, or any kind of connotation, attatched to it. To me, God is the top thing, it's everthing. Oh yeah, and also to me, God is not at all a humanoid figure, it's a thing; it's an it, not a he or she. Anyways, everything in this reality pretty much follows the same pattern. There are slaves, slave owners, ranch owners, mayors, district attorneys, governers, presidents, and so on. Same thing in chemistry, there are quartz, electrons protons and neutrons, nuclei, atoms, molecules, compounds, planets, galxies, universe, and so on (if there is a so on). There is alot more I can tell you about this, but it is quite complicated, and I would have to go way beyond topic.

Also, I believe that everything is meant to be and that time is, in some sort of unexplainable way, set in stone. It's like skipping a rock. Once the rock has left your hand, it has begun its inevitable fate, which is sinking. But between the throw and the sink, are the skips. Since it was thrown with a predetermined force and angle, it will skip a predertermined amount of times, predetermined space between every skip, and predetermined location of sink.

Keeping all that in mind, I have pretty much nothing to fear. Whatever happens, was pretty much due to something I did, i.e: the way I thew the rock, and whatever happens is going to happen, and there's nothing I can do about changing it. This can either make you feel hopless, or faithful, depending on the situation and the way you perceive this phenomenon.

So in conclusion, if you want to benefit from this, then look at it the positive way. I think I'm missing a bunch that I couldve included, but if something is unclear, just tell me.