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Ok, so most people on this forum currently practice a religious view different than what they grew up in. Does anybody think they are less happy in the long run after their conversion? My guess is no.
So, from this I conclude that emotions are the decider in what people believe religiously. Logic is only important to those who must have a logical belief to have the happiest state of mind.
Deconverts such as myself obviously think they were less happy as converts. Or at least that they are now more happy as deconverts. People CAN change.
Religious (dis)affiliation IS largely an emotional decision, not a rational one. In fairness, even business activities and affiliations are far less objective than most want to think that they are. Certainly, marriage is all about rose-colored glasses, particularly for first-timers.
In multiple realms, some people trust their intuition far more than their five senses and their rational minds, and some of them actually aren't badly served by it ... in my view probably because their intuition is far more informed by common sense and pragmatism than they are willing to admit ... sometimes because of blind luck. But at the end of the day we are emotional creatures, and our hopes, yearnings, and fears are the controlling factors.
In my case, that my faith stopped meeting my emotional needs, and that some of my emotional needs included the need to avoid cognitive dissonance (the clash between my worldview and actual reality), is what made my faith untenable. It dragged me kicking and screaming out of the fundamentalist echo chamber and into the Real World -- a place that is, by turns, scary, clinical, and awesome compared to theism.
Ok, so most people on this forum currently practice a religious view different than what they grew up in. Does anybody think they are less happy in the long run after their conversion? My guess is no.
So, from this I conclude that emotions are the decider in what people believe religiously. Logic is only important to those who must have a logical belief to have the happiest state of mind.
It's an interesting topic and one to which I give a lot of thought. As to my own personal story (told while looking back without referring to any documentation, so my fallible memory may have altered some specifics), I was converted during a time when I was depressed (which was then a recent condition for not long before that I was quite satisfied with life), and I have become more depressed since then (though cyclically: not feeling that horrible feeling all the time, just having acute attacks of it which come up from time to time).
I don't think being converted brings about worldly happiness, though I suppose it can. It just seems from what I can understand thus far that God does not intend for those He calls to be satisfied by the world. Now what does "satisfied" mean? Is it satisfied emotionally, or spiritually, or both? What does it mean to be satisfied spiritually? How does such a thing actually feel, or is it not felt for that would then been confusing the spirit with emotions.
You mentioned being happy in the long run then. Am I? I don't know--I'm not in the long run yet. I certainly want to be happy. Like I mentioned though, I think the happiness in the long run is brought about only by God fulfilling us, satisfying us. And when I consider that idea, I wonder what that entails for it is very unspecific.
I can tell you that what I believe is not what I want to believe. My impression (and perhaps it is an erroneous one) is that people tend to develop beliefs which are satisfying to them. They search for things which are satisfying to their mind, their feelings. In this condition then, I do agree with you that this becomes a belief system which is based upon emotions.
Deconverts such as myself obviously think they were less happy as converts. Or at least that they are now more happy as deconverts. People CAN change.
Religious (dis)affiliation IS largely an emotional decision, not a rational one. In fairness, even business activities and affiliations are far less objective than most want to think that they are. Certainly, marriage is all about rose-colored glasses, particularly for first-timers.
In multiple realms, some people trust their intuition far more than their five senses and their rational minds, and some of them actually aren't badly served by it ... in my view probably because their intuition is far more informed by common sense and pragmatism than they are willing to admit ... sometimes because of blind luck. But at the end of the day we are emotional creatures, and our hopes, yearnings, and fears are the controlling factors.
In my case, that my faith stopped meeting my emotional needs, and that some of my emotional needs included the need to avoid cognitive dissonance (the clash between my worldview and actual reality), is what made my faith untenable. It dragged me kicking and screaming out of the fundamentalist echo chamber and into the Real World -- a place that is, by turns, scary, clinical, and awesome compared to theism.
Wow! You put into words what I couldn't.
ETA: After leaving religion, not theism though, I suddenly knew how to raise my child, fix the problems in my marriage and actually form a group of friends. Although I do believe in a god, I don't really give him credit for these things.
Last edited by elyn02; 11-14-2013 at 04:36 AM..
Reason: My daughter was calling for me.
Ok, so most people on this forum currently practice a religious view different than what they grew up in.
How did you come to this conclusion?
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