I miss God

The conception of 'God' I have, is very different to that offered by the Judeo-Christian tradition. Furthermore, of the hundreds of religions in the world - remembering that whilst religions are man-made, the Divine is not - not all are homophobic. Maybe you don't need to miss God at all...maybe that power which set, and keeps, all of this in motion - the wonder of of our own consciousness, and the Universe we inhabit - is closer to you than ever before.

 

I couldn't do it either. Been a full blown Atheist for years now. The whole thing never made much sense to me, even as a boy in church. Always something there to condemn someone else, but protect the persecutors. It's all about power and control in my opinion, but... I've always wondered what gods alien life might believe in.. Somewhere in this massive universe there has to be something else intelligent... well... with the capability for intelligence.

 

For morality:
Secular Humanism
They take all the good bits and put away all the bad.
For security :
Trust your fellow human being, they're more likely to save you then yawhovlah.
For community:
Come here!
We are friends!

These should suffice to replace religion if you feel it doesn't make sense

 

This is why I've kinda given up on religion, but still try to keep in contact with God. I seriously doubt that that is what "God told them", but rather some insecure monks in the 11th century who just wanted to hide their own prejudices by making God a scapegoat. I was told that God loves us no matter what.

 

I also recently figured I couldn't believe in Catholic God, so I switched to Episcopalianism. It's basically the same thing, except more accepting of LGBT people.

 

Bud, you could decide to be a deist. While I'm absolutely fine with people believing in god, I think scriptures are often interpreted in a way that leads to hate, and are often self-contradictory, and that organized religion has too much of an affect on society. Deism is basically a belief that a god exists, that reason and observation proves this, but a rejection of religious authority and purported sources of religious knowledge.

 

Think about the universe a bit...
If the theory was that all is random, its like a book writing itself, using random letters added together, making words, then sentences, which all have a meaning. This is not random stuff.
To me there is an energy behind that which is called love.

If you look for it, you can find it... in plants, around you, inside of you...

There are many aspects to this... god, goddess, what you want to call it...

There are people who twist images and use it to control other people.
There are people who have a genuine interest to help, educate people, etc...

To me, during the last years, it was like a slow waking up... its more and more easy to identify those people... to see the motives...

If you reach out and look around a bit you will see other likeminded people...
you will see what does you good, what nourishes you...

and some people are changing, some to a big extent in the right direction...

 

It's funny, as I've presented all the points you mentioned before. Of course, there is no evidence or reason to justify belief in deities. Also, as you point out, the bible is a morally depraved book and it's lucky most Christians haven't read it or don't know what it says, let alone follow it.

You are quite right about your point in accepting god and Jesus, based on no real evidence I may add, as the only criteria for getting into heaven. To be honest though, the way heaven is described, as endlessly worshipping god with no free will, then I think I'd rather spend my time in hell with all the fun cool people (not that either exists).

You can also demonstrate the futility of prayer. Just ask this: do you believe everything goes to gods plan. If they answer yes, then state that prayer is a waste of time because, if it's part of their gods plan it will happen anyway regardless of their prayer and if it's not part of gods plan then it won't. So prayer is an absolute waste of time (plus it's been demonstrated that prayer doesn't work any better thsn random chance anyway.

That all being said though, there is nothing real about god to miss. What I think a lot of people miss is the sense of community of being part of a church. However, this can be replaced if you go out there and fine like minded people who accept you for who you are. That way you can have a group of friends and still be a rational, logical and intellectually honest person whilst maintains that sense of community.

Happy days

 

I think the world would be a better place without religion

 

Jahow, so do I, but I recognize that people will have their differences and will find purpose in different things, which is why I recommend deism, because it allows a belief in a god without advocating anything, without organized religion, and without hindering freedom or science.

 

The Bible is a mistranslated version of a doctored mistranslation of a book written based on people's memory in a language that didn't have a word for "day". One of the earliest parts of the Bible is "God created the world in seven days". Personally, I went through the same dilemma you did and in my experience (what worked for me, at least) I found that abandoning the Bible and organised religion did me a lot of favours. A personal relationship with God works wonders, rather than praying how and about what people tell you to. I feel I got a much more positive and productive experience this way. Also, never feel guilty for wanting to pray. If you want to pray, then pray!

Interesting fact about Mother Teresa there. My personal belief is that there is no hell. Not a permanent one at the least. I think the concept contradicts with the idea of loving God.

 

I can empathise with OP, there is something about being part of a religious community - with its sense of belonging - that's difficult to replace.

Some people like Unitarian Universalism; it's like being part of a church but without all the horrible bits.

If you're happy to embrace Atheism, that's cool too. There are more of us about than you might think

 

If you are sufficiently close to God, there is no need for a church or a bible. You will get your answers in forms that are as effective as they are unexpected.

Personally I feel that God (and his indirect offspring, science) have led me away from the same kind of religion that we've seen for all of human history. The clergy make it so absolute, where some things are always good and others are always sinful. People like the security of doing the same thing every time. However, for our purposes, the world is not a spreadsheet. A rational, credible thought process and a leap of faith are sometimes both necessary.

And for what it's worth, I don't begrudge atheists. They are justified in their conclusion that there is no God. What gets me are the people who defy science. Because that crap is literally right in front of our faces.

 

It sounds to me like you want to retain a relationship with God through prayer, so why don't you? Just make it a personal relationship with God. You'll get more out of it if you make it personal.

What you have experienced so far, is an interpretation of Christianity that sets a literal translation of the Bible above everything else. Well, that's just blind faith and silliness. There is no wonder you feel so dejected if that's how Christianity has been framed throughout your life. As you say, you are no longer a child or teenager, so it's entirely right, that as an adult you take a more mature look at Christianity and question what you have been taught by the Catholic heirarchy. Instead of accepting a literal translation of the Bible, or reading it like a novel (as so many do) do some research into the history, context and original language it was written in and you will see things quite differently. You see, it's possible to take the Bible seriously without taking it literally.

Remember, the Bible is not, of itself a religion. A Bible believing Christian is simply worshipping words in a book and that amounts to nothing more than idolatry. You can't have a proper, modern, meaningful relationship with God on that basis. If you can dispense with some of the nonsense fed to you by the Catholic Church and read the Bible with new eyes, you may re-discover God and a method of prayer that really works for you... if that's what you want.

 

God doesn't exist. Not because of evil, not because the bible is crazy, not because you don't like what it asks people to do, or what it condones. Not because gay people are persecuted, not because people are suffering. All of the above would make god bad, if one existed. God just doesn't exist. This is a universe without a creator. That's hard for people to accept sometimes, and when they do, it can feel as though you've lost someone. In a way, you have. Maybe you miss god now, but all you can do is live. It'll pass. You'll find you can be a good person, and not because you're afraid of hell. You'll find that the goodness comes from you.

 

Religion or churches do not represent God or even the bible. They use whatever verses fit their needs and use them to hate others. Those kind of people which includes ministers and church members are not true christians. You cannot go into a church and receive the truth about God and christianity because it is based on their perspective and that is not a accurate one.

Homosexuality was never condemned in the bible. The bible in its original language never spoke about homosexuality in a bad way and if you translate the bible your mind will be transformed into what really is the truth. Ministers or priests use whatever tactics they can to brainwash people into believing what they want them to believe. If you think a minister gives you the whole picture they really don't. When you see a minister or anyone other bigoted person railing against homosexuality do you see love in their heart. No you don't all you see is hate and God was never about hate.

There are a lot things in the bible that most people would not agree with today and most of it was not God's doing but man's. The bible was written by man and and it also told about the laws of man which were not exactly the laws of God. The troubling actions for man is why Jesus came to earth and died for our sins which made us all saved if we believed in him. God's words of love and mercy for all speak louder than anything else and no hatred of any kind is tolerated in God's eyes. So what you would is not too follow religion or a minister but to follow God.

When people speak of hatred for gays or anybody it is based on what their minister tells them or their nieghboor next door. It is not based on any logic and still today they will come up with any theory as to why there should be no rights for gay people. They are the opposite of what God and Jesus were and the opposite of who is in heaven.

 

One man Army, I go to a UU church!
To those who don't know, UU churches are basically nonreligious churches, including atheists, theists, and spiritualists, but they all focus on acceptance, mindfulness, helping others, etc.
There are also a LOT of Priuses in their parking lots.

 

Rofl. So it's basically a positivity-based social group who cares a whole lot about car emissions?

 

I still wish I could believe in a god to make me feel better about many of my issues. But it leaves me no other option: to deal with them myself in a healthy, positive manner.