An Atheist Soul-Searching
-
Peace All,
The following is a clip I cut from an all-in-one forum. It's taken from a conversation between 2 atheists. I found it fascinating and honest, and just thought I'd share, as I rarely see atheists so open...
But what if God is not about any of the things we envision? What if all our expectations of God are like a child's thoughts of what it means to be an adult? What if God is a timeless collective embodiment of what it means to be alive and conscious? What if suffering and pleasure are merely lessons to learn in one experience to be applied to the next?
I have no answers. I preach no religion, but yet....... whether through my own limited intelligence or profound cowardice, I have personally felt a connection to something outside of my own personal desires. Something that calls out to trying to do more than I did the day before.
Each religion I've looked at has had its merits and its drawbacks, and in religion it is all to easy to see the hand of man, not God. Yet there are inspirations within many of them that transcend obedience and control.
If you counter by saying "you just believe because you want there to be a God" I would only offer this in return Yes I WANT there to be a God. But that desire does not blind me to the fact that is plenty of reason to agree with the atheists. Still, there are things beyond pure logic..........and those things can't always be written off as coincidence or a lack of total knowledge.
Maybe blind obedience to a religious authority is naive. And maybe analysis and logic are gifts from God.......but not the only ones? Maybe our understanding of our place in the universe should not stop at logic anymore than it should have at blind obedience. Maybe there's a step beyond logic? One that incorporates it and builds on it? A blend perhaps of thinking and feeling, being analytical and skeptical, while still being open to more than we can explain at the moment.
I don't know. I believe I have felt a connectivity to something beyond myself at times.........but not all the time. Maybe it's a delusion? And maybe I want to hang on to the delusion because I don't 'like' the alternative? It's certainly possible. I'm just trying to find my way like everyone else I guess? -
Peace be upon you,
They don't sound like "atheists", they sound like people who ponder and do not follow blindly.
-
I don't know. I believe I have felt a connectivity to something beyond myself at times.........but not all the time. Maybe it's a delusion? And maybe I want to hang on to the delusion because I don't 'like' the alternative? It's certainly possible. I'm just trying to find my way like everyone else I guess?
I was gonna say, agnostics. Perhaps if the questioning is genuine, they will find a way. It's a shame that most of em see the alternative to be only "religion". (
-
Peace be upon you Zenje,
It's a shame that most of em see the alternative to be only "religion".
Thats why we all have to realize that we must become MESSENGERS, as you have been doing.
-
Peace Kyle, Zen, Asdf,
I'm glad you enjoyed the post. The gentleman who posted this was in the middle of a debate about the possibility of the existence of God. He proclaimed himself an atheist at some point, but judging by his words, I think he may be on the right path. Only God know for sure
I just enjoyed the way he articulated his thoughts and I always find it fascinating when folks outside the fold of any religious indoctrination express a genuine connection to God.
Anyway, peace be upon you all,
Tay