Slightly confused atheist

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As of late my religious beliefs are becoming confused and eroded. The only constant is my Atheism. I'm drowning in the sea of choices. I went from LaVey Satanist to Regular Atheist and then to Jainist. I need to regain my spiritual center, without it my thoughts become confused and muddled.

Suggestions?

I like atheistic buddhism without the mediatation.

When you realize just how pointless things are you tend to choose one of two paths.

1) Hopeless and depressed.

Or

2) Very calm and not worried about much.

P.S. I remeber from a past thread I had were you were at conflict with my thoughts "that nothng matters" so my guess it will take you time to get to choice 1 or 2.

Maybe stop labelling your religion and keep an open mind for a while. You then open yourself up to the possibility of something new giving you a sense of the spiritual?

Perhaps religion is confusing you? Why the need for "spirituality"? I reckon that if you just be yourself, and think logically, then you don't need things like that. Yet again, I can understand why some people need spirituality to give them hope. I've remained sane being a complete Atheist, with no need for any sort of spiritual "enlightenment". My beliefs are purely in science and knowledge.

What led you to Atheist spirituality in the first place?

I don't know if I am atheist, but I am a very secular person. If I move to Boise, I am worried about how this will affect my social life there.

Tim

Flagg are you serious? Only because now your title reads 'slightly confused atheist'

And sometimes people use sarcasms as joke-well really because I am going to reply to this and ...


I've found atheists to be profoundly spiritual people-so full of depths that traditional religions have no place for them within their restrictive mores and standards and stories and laws. Your 'jainism' proves that.


Don't worry-you'll find what works for you. Jainism doesn't make the fit either-not when it comes to taking a shower.

But you are on the right tract-why be worried?

you know you have a passion and respect and commune with the divine. roll with it and see where it takes you.

satanism to jainism. is it true that satanists believe 'they' are the god.

I found kabbala appealing-not sure how it would work for a non jew.
jainism is lovely

Maybe try not to worry so much about what label to put on your own personal spiritual convictions.

What you might end up with (or have now) is a mixture of a variety of "belief sets" that you yourself might not be able to tease apart and figure out completely.

They are yours and they get you through life, they make sense to you if you look at them as a whole, though when you (or any of us) start to look at them under a magnifying glass, all we might see is a horse's mouth.

We go through life and we learn new things from new situations, and in the process our beliefs change and our behavior and worldview change, if ever so slightly. Perhaps the whole important point of many things is that we seek to learn and understand, that we constantly refine our thinking, and not so much that we reach a final refined thought.

A recent event through me for a loop. Now I'm not sure about much anymore - the only thing I'm sure of anymore is there is no "God"

someone told me not to become an autotheist because he was the only god. I don't know if that was reverse psychology but it seriously got me considering the faith.

Don't feel guilty about your torn spirituality, I am currently going through the same feelings of being torn between religion and secularism. I myself am an agnostic, and that is just the easy part of the equation, there are quite a few members of my family that are fundamentalist, evangelical Christians who have absolute convictions that if you are not saved you are going to hell and that the rapture and end-times are near. I have to struggle even just to not feel "unsaved" most of the time as again the idea that you have to be saved to attain entrance to heaven or to be enlightened is so inculcated in me by my aunt. I suggest that you not look without at your confused spirituality but look within at where your real heart is, that is where your treasure lies.

Last edited by animeboy on 25 Jan 2007, 1:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

Good advice. It is dangerous to sink into a sea of choices, getting lost in your own subjectivity. I suggest you actually write down what you firmly believe at this moment. Choose what works for you and what doesn't. Writing is a great way to clarify our thoughts, and something as concrete and cut-and-dry as a list may help you gain some direction. (In other words, draw up a map of your geist.) Get a practical framework in place, a starting point. You already have #1: 'the only thing I'm sure of anymore is there is no "God"'

If I remember correctly, you admire Tom Paine. What can you learn from his life to incorporate into your own? (And I refer to his LIFE too, not just his ideas. I love the philosophy of Rousseau, but the man's life was miserable. I wouldn't follow his example.) I like Paine too, but probably for different reasons. My world-view framework starts with the opposite of yours: "I'm sure there is a God." The starting point narrows our choices and gives us direction right off the bat. One thing leads to another. Nietzsche said to "re-evaluate all values"; he didn't say throw them out. One thing at a time. What can you use and what should you save?

In my book, any belief can said to work only if it helps me deal with real, being-in-the-world. To choose everything is to choose nothing. The idea of unbridled freedom is an illusion. It's a Faustian bargin. Men are not gods; we cannot know or do everything. A man who isn't aware of his limitations is going to have a tough time with reality. (Such is the lesson AS has taught me over the years.)

That is a very accurate thought.

I have not had a label since about 2004, and I think I feel better this way. I am a constant visitor, but never a member. I am still tormented by religious questions, but I feel less compelled to "call" myself something.

I think it's safe to say I can live without the sarcasm, especially in a place called The Haven.

Last edited by MeshGearFox on 22 Jan 2007, 10:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Try learning about Judaism. You can be an atheist Jew. Judaism is a very diverse religion. And it's all about making the world a better place.

I have regained my center. After a run-in with a Bible-Basher I was reminded why I was Atheist in the first place and regained the will and strength of a Strong Atheist. Never again will I subscribe to that spiritualism BS.