Hello to you all on what I hope is an auspicious day. As can probably be deduced from my title, I’m not religious. As with most who turn out like me, I was born into a religious home but over time, I’ve scrutinized my Catholic roots enough to question the very foundations and premise of its teachings. Consequently, I’m now agnostic with heavy leanings towards atheism.

I must admit though, there are a couple of things I miss so much about my former faith. You tend to look at the very meaning of life VERY differently when you practise no faith. It can feel rather empty and ultimately without purpose. You can yield to depression when faith no longer provides the succor it once did: you know, the belief that however bad it’s going, that there’s a light at the end of that dark tunnel. The belief that however miserable and dark this world is, there’s an ultimate aim and purpose that brings eternal reward which justifies all the toil. I’m not saying it’s any more than a delusional fantasy, but it was a comforting fantasy nonetheless. These days, I’ve become a bit of a cynical pessimist in my approach to everything. I scoff and sneer when I see people pray or pass blessings, or offer messages of hope, or say Nigeria would be better.

I’m 22 and all through my childhood, up until 2 years ago, one of my favourite hobbies during Christmas was lying alone in my room late at night listening to carols heralding the coming of the “savior” or “messiah”. The songs not only had brilliant, infectious melodies but the optimistic messages of hope were uplifting and inspiring and I was really soaring spiritually on the wave of the good tidings. These days, those carols have about as much meaning to me as the songs about Santa Claus, Rudolph the Reindeer, Christmas trees etc.

My feelings can basically be summarized thus:
Once, I had hopes of an eternal life in paradise after death if I was a good Christian. This made me less scared of death, knowing I was destined for greater things.
Now, my vision of myself after death is worms, maggots, all manner of creepy-crawlies and microbes feasting on my decaying body and placing me at the bottom of the food chain to add to the circle of life in the ecosystem. This is a bit of a macabre, depressing outlook that renders life meaningless.

That is quite a bit of a departure from the life I’ve always known and is a difficult image to adjust to. However delusional religious fantasies are, you gotta admit they were damn good fantasies. Are there any of you who feel this way? What do you miss most about your religion? Do you ever feel like that guy in the Matrix film who was in a dark reality but wished he could be plugged back in the virtual reality of the matrix to live out a fantasy life? Do you wish you hadn’t taken the red pill?

Mazaje, Logic Mind, logicboy, emofine, Kay etc. This is particularly addressed to your lot. Just wondering what your experiences are like.

I don’t particularly miss anything about my forced upon “faith” (and I use the word “faith” for the sake of communication but in retrospect it was anything but faith)
If anything I felt this indoctrinated dogma was inhibiting me. I was actually wrestling with some of the tenets and my questions were building. I believe one does not need religion to have “faith” in that in which they call “god” and not all religious people have "faith".

That does not mean I don’t believe that there were no elements of truth in my former belief system. Although I felt this thing of a religion was stunting my growth.
But there are certain things that perhaps I look back in my life and breathe a sigh of relief and say thank goodness I had been trained in that “faith” else I may have just invited something injurious in my life because I wouldn’t have thought to be cautious then (which is ironic as now I’m cautious of religion lol) and other times I despair that it had inhibited so much of my personal being.

I don’t feel empty quite the opposite rather and my appreciation for life has soared, maybe because I’m still conscious of a creator as opposed to limiting the span of my existence to the physical senses alone or the perimeters of religion.
I felt empty with religion. I still believe there is light at the end of every tunnel – religion was my dark tunnel. Just before I finally severed all ties with my former belief system I fell into a morbid depression and I felt my spirit was being sapped. But during my dark episode I was being encouraged the more to be dependent on a god I wasn't in love with thus compounding my misery and of course contempt. I mean how dare I not adhere to a god that sees me as second-rate. How satanic of me.
However I would not say that religion was the sole reason for my depression perhaps just a catalyst. But currently I’m happy and thinking back in the past when I was struggling with my unbelief it was pretty tough having to force a smile whenever I bothered to attend church because inside I was crying. I was hurt because I knew nobody would understand and the pretence was killing me. I was extremely conflicted.

I know that some people in my life were disappointed with my departure from that “faith” and whilst I never intended to cause deliberate grief for anyone, leaving my former belief system was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

emöfine2: I don’t particularly miss anything about my forced upon “faith” (and I use the word “faith” for the sake of communication but in retrospect it was anything but faith)
If anything I felt this indoctrinated dogma was inhibiting me. I was actually wrestling with some of the tenets and my questions were building. I believe one does not need religion to have “faith” in that in which they call “god” and not all religious people have "faith".

That does not mean I don’t believe that there were no elements of truth in my former belief system. Although I felt this thing of a religion was stunting my growth.
But there are certain things that perhaps I look back in my life and breathe a sigh of relief and say thank goodness I had been trained in that “faith” else I may have just invited something injurious in my life because I wouldn’t have thought to be cautious then (which is ironic as now I’m cautious of religion lol) and other times I despair that it had inhibited so much of my personal being.

I don’t feel empty quite the opposite rather and my appreciation for life has soared, maybe because I’m still conscious of a creator as opposed to limiting the span of my existence to the physical senses alone or the perimeters of religion.
I felt empty with religion. I still believe there is light at the end of every tunnel – religion was my dark tunnel. Just before I finally severed all ties with my former belief system I fell into a morbid depression and I felt my spirit was being sapped. But during my dark episode I was being encouraged the more to be dependent on a god I wasn't in love with thus compounding my misery and of course contempt. I mean how dare I not adhere to a god that sees me as second-rate. How satanic of me.
However I would not say that religion was the sole reason for my depression perhaps just a catalyst. But currently I’m happy and thinking back in the past when I was struggling with my unbelief it was pretty tough having to force a smile whenever I bothered to attend church because inside I was crying. I was hurt because I knew nobody would understand and the pretence was killing me. I was extremely conflicted.

I know that some people in my life were disappointed with my departure from that “faith” and whilst I never intended to cause deliberate grief for anyone, leaving my former belief system was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

You just said it all #RegretNothing

Unfortunately, I miss the fine girls in church.......

But then again, the next friday, I see them in da club


I love my atheist life

...

emöfine2: I don’t particularly miss anything about my forced upon “faith” (and I use the word “faith” for the sake of communication but in retrospect it was anything but faith)
If anything I felt this indoctrinated dogma was inhibiting me. I was actually wrestling with some of the tenets and my questions were building. I believe one does not need religion to have “faith” in that in which they call “god” and not all religious people have "faith".

That does not mean I don’t believe that there were no elements of truth in my former belief system. Although I felt this thing of a religion was stunting my growth.
But there are certain things that perhaps I look back in my life and breathe a sigh of relief and say thank goodness I had been trained in that “faith” else I may have just invited something injurious in my life because I wouldn’t have thought to be cautious then (which is ironic as now I’m cautious of religion lol) and other times I despair that it had inhibited so much of my personal being.

I don’t feel empty quite the opposite rather and my appreciation for life has soared, maybe because I’m still conscious of a creator as opposed to limiting the span of my existence to the physical senses alone or the perimeters of religion.
I felt empty with religion. I still believe there is light at the end of every tunnel – religion was my dark tunnel. Just before I finally severed all ties with my former belief system I fell into a morbid depression and I felt my spirit was being sapped. But during my dark episode I was being encouraged the more to be dependent on a god I wasn't in love with thus compounding my misery and of course contempt. I mean how dare I not adhere to a god that sees me as second-rate. How satanic of me.
However I would not say that religion was the sole reason for my depression perhaps just a catalyst. But currently I’m happy and thinking back in the past when I was struggling with my unbelief it was pretty tough having to force a smile whenever I bothered to attend church because inside I was crying. I was hurt because I knew nobody would understand and the pretence was killing me. I was extremely conflicted.

I know that some people in my life were disappointed with my departure from that “faith” and whilst I never intended to cause deliberate grief for anyone, leaving my former belief system was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Wow! so eloquently put, and I can TOTALLY relate.

i thought this thread was about Lost faiths such as Traditional Religions. smh what a waste of time. .

Obi1kenobi: Hello to you all on what I hope is an auspicious day. As can probably be deduced from my title, I’m not religious. As with most who turn out like me, I was born into a religious home but over time, I’ve scrutinized my Catholic roots enough to question the very foundations and premise of its teachings. Consequently, I’m now agnostic with heavy leanings towards atheism.

I must admit though, there are a couple of things I miss so much about my former faith. You tend to look at the very meaning of life VERY differently when you practise no faith. It can feel rather empty and ultimately without purpose. You can yield to depression when faith no longer provides the succor it once did: you know, the belief that however bad it’s going, that there’s a light at the end of that dark tunnel. The belief that however miserable and dark this world is, there’s an ultimate aim and purpose that brings eternal reward which justifies all the toil. I’m not saying it’s any more than a delusional fantasy, but it was a comforting fantasy nonetheless. These days, I’ve become a bit of a cynical pessimist in my approach to everything. I scoff and sneer when I see people pray or pass blessings, or offer messages of hope, or say Nigeria would be better.

I’m 22 and all through my childhood, up until 2 years ago, one of my favourite hobbies during Christmas was lying alone in my room late at night listening to carols heralding the coming of the “savior” or “messiah”. The songs not only had brilliant, infectious melodies but the optimistic messages of hope were uplifting and inspiring and I was really soaring spiritually on the wave of the good tidings. These days, those carols have about as much meaning to me as the songs about Santa Claus, Rudolph the Reindeer, Christmas trees etc.

My feelings can basically be summarized thus:
Once, I had hopes of an eternal life in paradise after death if I was a good Christian. This made me less scared of death, knowing I was destined for greater things.
Now, my vision of myself after death is worms, maggots, all manner of creepy-crawlies and microbes feasting on my decaying body and placing me at the bottom of the food chain to add to the circle of life in the ecosystem. This is a bit of a macabre, depressing outlook that renders life meaningless.

That is quite a bit of a departure from the life I’ve always known and is a difficult image to adjust to. However delusional religious fantasies are, you gotta admit they were damn good fantasies. Are there any of you who feel this way? What do you miss most about your religion? Do you ever feel like that guy in the Matrix film who was in a dark reality but wished he could be plugged back in the virtual reality of the matrix to live out a fantasy life? Do you wish you hadn’t taken the red pill?

I don't miss anything about religion. For me, things have never been clearer than after discarding religion. Now I'm able to see evil behaviour and its consequences for what they are and not something God intended as a test for someone else. Purpose for me has become something that has to do with humans living or yet to live in the near future rather than something that is supposed to span millions of years. This has to happen when we realize that it is very difficult to actually imagine 1000 years ago or 1000 years in the future. Seriously just think about the fact that the time span from the extinction of the dinosaurs till today is less than the length of time those dinosaurs actually lived on the planet. When one thinks of the numbers and distances involved in comprehending the universe, one must be humbled.

I have no problem with hope but I do expect a certain degree of internal reflection and proper consideration of the facts available. I find it difficult to be pessimistic because I'm alive and in a relatively good state of health and I do listen to Christmas carols myself. The fact that I don't believe in the stories behind it doesn't mean I cannot enjoy good music for its own sake or give and receive gifts.

Actually, in my religious days, death was problematic because of the portrayal of hell and even by thinking, I could figure out that I didn't want to be with some people when I found myself in heaven. Obviously I had to be in heaven but of course with some reading you find that eternity as proposed by religion cheapens everything.

I'm one of those people who would rather know than not know. i.e I would choose to know regardless of how painful the knowledge may be because I really find it difficult to deal with self deception. To conclude, I don't miss anything since whatever I want from I can take after all, the generally acceptable concepts in religions were human concepts before religions snatched them up and spread. It is up to me to take back what I want to use.

Obi1kenobi:
Now, my vision of myself after death is worms, maggots, all manner of creepy-crawlies and microbes feasting on my decaying body and placing me at the bottom of the food chain to add to the circle of life in the ecosystem. This is a bit of a macabre, depressing outlook that renders life meaningless.

A good snapshot of what atheism portends.

Uyi Iredia:

A good snapshot of what atheism portends.

Yawn.

All humans die. So unless the body is cremated i guess it will happen to all.

Uyi Iredia:

A good snapshot of what atheism portends.

A good snapshot of reality, you mean?

Atheist:-D:


Yawn.

All humans die. So unless the body is cremated i guess it will happen to all.

I was considering the latter part of that statement.