Former believers: do you have feelings of self-hatred?

[SuperSoul]

Originally Posted by TRANSPONDER

Well, I'd say I got onto box 4 early on, then fiddled around with Backslider efforts for a decade or so, and then moved onto atheism and stayed there. As to 'spiritual development' I'm inclined to think the answers are found in humanist ethics and biological research into the way the mind works, rather than mystical browsing, but that's just the way I see it.

Of course, what works for you works! Personally, I do refer to research occasionally, but it doesn't motivate and inspire me much.

I'm also very interested in the way the mind works, and after questioning everything, I still reject many religious interpretations, but I now see some "functional illusions." I see everything as illusional - it's all subjective -we're not objective thinkers really - if we're honest. We see things how we see them, even scientists are biased. So, IMO, since our thinking is subjective anyway, we might as well have our thoughts work for us rather than against us with "functional illusions."

[TRANSPONDER]

I think I get you. Science itself has a bias against the non -material, but that is really because what is known appears to work naturally and the supernatural is untestable almost by definition. Individual scientists can be biased, but others will argue with them! I'm just happy that the mind and stuff like NDE's is being researched now. Whatever comes out of it.