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What made you find faith, or what turn against it?

I am not and have never been religious, though I guess I am somewhat spiritual.
I grew up with a father who was strongly atheistic, which influenced me greatly. I really looked up to him. Later, as an adult, I shocked him but saying that I identified more as an agnostic ( " hey", I told him "maybe there is a god, probably not, but how am I supposed to know?") He thought that was absurd
Interestingly (to me), very late in life he started going to Unitarian Universalist church services. In case you don't know about them, they are kind of a groovy all-religions-are-equal sort of church, that is squishy about believing whether there is a god or not. Still a step up from being hard core atheist.
I was shocked, to be honest, to see him go this route. I kinda figured it was a way to make friends and meet chicks. Old chicks, and he did manage to get laid, he told me.
I'm very sad, though, that he died without me ever getting any clarification as to what he believed about it all. I think it was kind of a reaction to him wondering about the meaning of Life, with Death staring him in the face ( plus, you know, chicks as a bonus)
 
What made me find faith? The unanswerable mysteries of the universe and life.

What made me turn against faith? Humans writing books about it and telling me they understand God more than I do.

"God doesn't play favorites, you fucking sycophants."
 
chippermonk said:
I am not and have never been religious, though I guess I am somewhat spiritual.
I grew up with a father who was strongly atheistic, which influenced me greatly. I really looked up to him. Later, as an adult, I shocked him but saying that I identified more as an agnostic ( " hey", I told him "maybe there is a god, probably not, but how am I supposed to know?") He thought that was absurd
Interestingly (to me), very late in life he started going to Unitarian Universalist church services. In case you don't know about them, they are kind of a groovy all-religions-are-equal sort of church, that is squishy about believing whether there is a god or not. Still a step up from being hard core atheist.
I was shocked, to be honest, to see him go this route. I kinda figured it was a way to make friends and meet chicks. Old chicks, and he did manage to get laid, he told me.
I'm very sad, though, that he died without me ever getting any clarification as to what he believed about it all. I think it was kind of a reaction to him wondering about the meaning of Life, with Death staring him in the face ( plus, you know, chicks as a bonus)
Click to expand...
I wasn't sure how to react to this one, and decided put a laughing face under it despite the last paragraph. Other than that reading this made me laugh.

I'm quoting this to first say: sorry about what you wrote in that last paragraph.
But also to mention that something similar happened to my agnostic grandfather. He never showed signs of spirituality until his last lucid days when he said something along the lines of "I am sure that there is some source of power and wisdom looking over us".
 
chippermonk said:
I am not and have never been religious, though I guess I am somewhat spiritual.
I grew up with a father who was strongly atheistic, which influenced me greatly. I really looked up to him. Later, as an adult, I shocked him but saying that I identified more as an agnostic ( " hey", I told him "maybe there is a god, probably not, but how am I supposed to know?") He thought that was absurd
Interestingly (to me), very late in life he started going to Unitarian Universalist church services. In case you don't know about them, they are kind of a groovy all-religions-are-equal sort of church, that is squishy about believing whether there is a god or not. Still a step up from being hard core atheist.
I was shocked, to be honest, to see him go this route. I kinda figured it was a way to make friends and meet chicks. Old chicks, and he did manage to get laid, he told me.
I'm very sad, though, that he died without me ever getting any clarification as to what he believed about it all. I think it was kind of a reaction to him wondering about the meaning of Life, with Death staring him in the face ( plus, you know, chicks as a bonus)
Click to expand...
My grandmother was a strict agnostic. She kinda raised me because of family situations. She would tell me when you die, that's the end.

I'm RC by my own choice and when she died, I think I cried for a month. I still pray for her and it's been almost 50 years now.
 
lecroute said:
I wasn't sure how to react to this one, and decided put a laughing face under it despite the last paragraph. Other than that reading this made me laugh.

I'm quoting this to first say: sorry about what you wrote in that last paragraph.
But also to mention that something similar happened to my agnostic grandfather. He never showed signs of spirituality until his last lucid days when he said something along the lines of "I am sure that there is some source of power and wisdom looking over us".
Click to expand...
Well, it is a poignant and emotional story for me, but I also found it amusing. You have to experience a Unitarian service sometime! I went with him once. They started off giving thanks to a long line of religious figures: Jesus, Allah, Buddha, Shiva, etc I half way expected them to include Satan in the list. They were very nice, sweet, goofy people I thought but they seemed all over the map to me. He was always a hyper-logical person so it was an odd fit, to my mind. Why?
Interesting about your grandfather. I wonder if some day I will have some similar reaction. If anything, though, as I age, I feel more strongly in the meaningless of it all, beyond saying that I believe that we should all be kind and loving to each other and to this whole big web of all living things. Kinda of hard to pull it off, though. Just be mindful of it and try, however inadequately
 
I'd really love to see a thread about the differences and similarities of atheism and nihilism.

Maybe I'm unique, but I hate organized religion just as much as I hate nihilism. Two different extremes that blindly navigate away from logic (in my opinion).

I truly believe that your relationship with God is a uniquely individual thing. Abrahamic religion and nihilism both equally steal that experience from you in different ways. They tell you that someone else knows better, or that you don't know any better, respectively.

Both are a bane of society IMO.

Humans should exist in a constant state of awe of our universe, not trying to define it too much....
 
Quasimoto said:
I'd really love to see a thread about the differences and similarities of atheism and nihilism.
Click to expand...

Nihilism is an interesting topic.
Feel free to make a thread.
otherwise I can do it, but not now. that's something I need a little to formulate as a question or thread starter.
 
I don’t know how to answer this right how but half my ancestors Catholic/ other half Taino/Native Culture and beliefs. I definitely have a strong connection to animals and nature … in a deep way that feels like they have saved me a number of times and watch over me and trying to tell me something. Nature law and cycle can teach you things too. I don’t know, I probably should come back and explain this another time when I’m more clear on it weather it’s next couple days or months.
 
I think nihilism is an interesting idea to think about. I'm not saying I necessarily understand what it means but to me, I see it in mindless consumerism, destruction of the environment for selfish desires without thinking about the future. And in losing one's self in drugs. But some of that behavior can be seen as a reaction to the angst of living in world that defies our ability to understand it. When in pain, go shopping and fuck everyone else. Or get high and fuck yourself
But, I dunno. Droogz! I want 'em
 
Yeah, a connection to nature and to other people always seems like the healthy antidote to whatever ails me. The only temporary bandage that works. Reapply as necessary
I don't know if that counts as a real religion but there is something deeply essential about it
 
lecroute said:
I anything, I consider myself animistic.

Animism - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
The first time I felt a real, deep connection and something like "unification" was one day when I was lying on the floor while my dogs were playing around me while I watched sea gulls flying in the sky and their reaction when birds of prey came to join.
Click to expand...
Hermana 🌺💜🌙🍀🦋🪶
 
I can see where you are coming from snafu. It's easy for nihilistic feeling to lead to hopelessness.
On the other hand, I believe there are tenants in Buddhism that say that life is meaningless, nothing we do has affect, there is no afterlife, but there is still value in action, out of symbolism. We acknowledge the meaninglessness of action, even as we take action with mindfulness. It's kind of a positive nihilism maybe? That tries to come to terms with an existence that we can't understand?
I'm not saying I understand the precept that well
 
chippermonk said:
Buddhism that say that life is meaningless
Click to expand...

This is a misinterpretation IMO. Buddhism also partly invented the concept of Karma. Buddhism is very far from nihilism. Taoism is conceptually closer to nihilism, but still very farm from it.

Buddhism does NOT insinuate life is meaningless, only that suffering is part of life, that suffering has just as much meaning as joy....
 
lecroute said:
I can relate to this.
I go even further and say I can feel a connection to inanimate things like stone or metal, too.
Click to expand...
I always carry a different stone (or stones) on me or in my pocket and wear bracelets made of different stone like turquoise ect. When I am having a hard time with PTSD, flashbacks, panic attacks, ect … I’ll take the stone out of my pocket and hold it. I use it for grounding purposes to try to calm or bring me back by touching the edges and feeling the smoothness or ridges, or just feeling it in my hand. I usually have two different kind of stones for different texture and looks to help. If it’s really bad I will go outside in nature and just breathe and to distract myself feel the ridges with my fingers and notice the patterns on the stone (or like I said notice where it’s smooth). Or have a crystal of some sort and hold it up to the sky to see the parts that I can see through or the parts that the light goes through. It’s all kind of a direct way nature helps me with some pretty extreme PTSD episodes.
 
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