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I had this vague non-denominational assumption (rather than a belief) that a god existed - of some sort. But I didn't read holy books or go to church or do anything with this vague sort-of belief in some higher power.
Then I hit a really craptastic part of my life -- tried converting to Christianity. Because ... you know how you always here these stories about how, "Oh I had hit rock bottom and my life was in shambles, so I asked God for help and now I'm the CEO of my own company and make a googol-plex amount of money every year and blah blah blabbity blab" So I thought ... okay, I'll do that.
And ... umm, nothing happened. In fact life got even worse. And in the process of figuring out why, I began to realize how batcrap crazy religion actually was and just didn't believe it anymore.
Of course that's the super duper condensed version.
I can relate. I seemed to develop an intellectual aversion to the religious thinking around me very early and it only intensified as my intellect matured. By the time of my encounter, my atheism was absolute which is why it was such a game-changing and disruptive event motivating decades of effort to reconcile.
To the bolded, I could have said the exact same thing. I'm fortunate to have a brain in my head, considering where I came from.
To the bolded, I could have said the exact same thing. I'm fortunate to have a brain in my head, considering where I came from.
I turned away from God at the age of 22 while I was in college. At the age of 66, I took a trip to the Holy Lands at the request of my wife and due to that trip, God brought me back into his fold.
I was an atheist from the first time I heard about religion. I grew up in a non-religious household. I never recall anyone in my family talking about religion, not even once. Even as a kid, I always wanted evidence in order to believe something I thought did not make any logical sense (a supernatural being). I never found evidence so I've always been an atheist.
I turned away from God at the age of 22 while I was in college. At the age of 66, I took a trip to the Holy Lands at the request of my wife and due to that trip, God brought me back into his fold.
Calling that area "the Holy Lands" before you went over there means you didn't put up a fair fight.
I'm dating myself here but I was raised a catholic. I went to catholic grammar school, HS and college. Although in college the indoctrination wasn't nearly as bad as in grammar school and HS. I think the real reason I moved to Agnosticism is because one day I started looking at the world through clear glasses. If there was a just god how do you account for all the hardship and misery in the world. Babies that are born either deformed, mentally compromised, or with some terrible disease. If there is a just god how do you explain brutal dictators, people imprisoned and tortured. All the animals in the world that are killed or abused just for someones sick entertainment. The list goes on and on. Of course, we all heard that it is part of gods plan. Well to me, it sounds like a pretty screwed up plan. So, after 16 years of a catholic education, I moved on to Agnosticism. For me, there is too much suffering in the world to justify the existence of a compassionate god.
I turned away from God at the age of 22 while I was in college. At the age of 66, I took a trip to the Holy Lands at the request of my wife and due to that trip, God brought me back into his fold.
It seems that college is when most people who are becoming an atheist, finalize the deal. I guess yours didn't stick. You obviously were not a full-fledged atheist in college, part of you still believed or you would not have gone back to it. Trust me. But it's nice that you found the path right for you.
It seems that college is when most people who are becoming an atheist, finalize the deal. I guess yours didn't stick. You obviously were not a full-fledged atheist in college, part of you still believed or you would not have gone back to it. Trust me. But it's nice that you found the path right for you.
I wonder about that. Or is it later on when one is further along in the school of hard knocks?
I wonder about that. Or is it later on when one is further along in the school of hard knocks?
Well the guy she's responding to is in his 60s now so how many hard knocks does one need. It may be that his wife's desire for him to "return to the fold" was also a "hard knock", lol.
People do leave and return to religion all the time. The reasons are as varied as people are. Religion might serve a purpose in your 20s, and not in your 30's, 40's or 50's, but you have different needs in your 60's.
People like myself are highly unlikely to feel the pull of religion ever again but some do not leave because of toxicity or trauma or disappointment or cognitive dissonance; some simply "drift" away and those are the ones who could "drift" back.
I do my best to avoid falling into the atheist version of the theist trope, "you were never really one of us". Yeah I really WAS one of them, and now I'm really NOT. But that doesn't mean everyone feels as strongly, in either direction.
I'm not an atheist or even an agnostic, but I got out of the Christian faith in my 50s. Wish it hadn't taken me so long.
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