december_solstice ([personal profile] december_solstice) wrote2015-09-29 01:31 am
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I'm an atheist that prays in desperate situations.

You're probably thinking -- She's been born again! God has spoken to the poor girl!.

Er...not exactly, fam.

Actually, the exact opposite has happened.

I think embracing (more like humoring) the idea of faith pushed me further towards the reality that our lives are very much our own and there is no outside force leading the world in which we live in. That our reality has ultimately been created by us. Our reality is of our making.

I realized humans reach out for faith, for comfort, in a time of great need. In a moment of desperation, when we feel powerless, when we believe ourselves to be weak, we want it so desperately for God, religion, and such to be true -- that a higher power will save us. Will love us. Will make us IMPORTANT. Will make us MATTER.

Similarly how we want so desperately there to be life after death, to be forgiven for our sins, that there is more to our existence than this -- that we are NOT insignificant in this great wide indifferent universe. A universe that has thrived without us for billions of years before we entered the picture, and ultimately, will thrive without us, for billions of years after we are out of the picture.

This is a hard to swallow. No human heart wants to feel this way -- wants to accept that life goes on once we're dead. That the plants, trees, planets, and so on are unaffected by our existence.

And, I get that. I can understand why faith exist. Why gods have been a part of our lives for hundreds of thousands of years. Why we worshiped the sun. Why we worshiped the stars. Why we worships gods. Because life is hard. Because we're HUMAN. We feel things. Because feeling obsolete is difficult. Because hope feels good. Because God is a beautiful delusion.

[identity profile] wosny.livejournal.com 2015-09-29 10:51 am (UTC)(link)
I have been thinking a lot about religion and God, and such.
I wonder how people choose their God and their religion, should one choose the oldest or the newest? Should one be prepared to die for one's beliefs, or to kill for them?
If there were no religion, in the fashion of John Lennon's Imagine, would there be other ways of making differences, in order to bring about groups that fight each other?
Yes, brains need a spirituality...but...

[identity profile] outerspace-bae.livejournal.com 2015-09-29 04:46 pm (UTC)(link)
I believe most people don't usually "choose their religion". Of course, there are situations where a person may convert to another, marry into another, ect. ect. But, for the most part, the religion in which we follow is very much a result of what we have been taught to believe. What we believe in comes down to geographical luck. You'd more likely be Muslim if you were born in Iraq. You are more likely to be Christian/Catholic if you were born in the US.

When people hurt others based on their beliefs, I think there is something fundamentally wrong with them. This could apply to simply supporting the taking away of someone else's rights, to the taking away of someone else's life.

Personally, I cannot quite fathom a world without religion. It has been a part of us since the beginning of time, and I don't think we will leave this part of us for a long time more.

But, in the same light, I do think humans are capable of great things without faith. Morality, emotions such as empathy, are not at all created by religion. I consider myself a Humanist. Being so, I tend to feel very protective of other humans and will act to protect the rights and lives of others.

Great thoughts, thanks for sharing!!