This article brings up some good points regarding strict atheism, things that affect me personally.
I don't really believe in any God, to the extent that if someone were to ask me on the street if I believed then I'd flatly say "no", and explain a few reasons why I don't believe.
However, this article brings up some good points -- like the fact is that I find myself asking for help from God when I'm going through difficult times, wondering why God did this to me, etc... Sometime I can get behind God in a "power greater than myself" sense of the term, even if I don't exactly know what that is. Not all the time, but sometimes I also find myself wanting that feeling of connectedness that religion seems to bring. If I had to really describe my feelings on God, i'd say I was mostly an atheist, especially about any objective aspect of God, but, on a personal level, atheist-ish with a lot of confusion and uncertainly.
The article points out that in fact you are talking with your inner self. You have been introduced to the concept of God and when turn to your inner self, you may instinctively give it a name.
As article points out, it can be also name of your spouse, but if you train your self, then perhaps it could be also be your name.
Also please mind that this connectedness may be created on other grounds than religion. For example between people speaking the same language or having other cultural similarities. For example during the concert of your favourite band.
I agree that, in any objective sense, God doesn't exist outside of the human mind.
But there is the rub -- the way I experience my own existence is largely through my own mind. Sure, sometimes I'm aware of senses like physically feeling a texture, or smelling or tasting food. But, say, approximately 90% of the time I experience the world through my thoughts and emotions and whatever else would fit into the rough category of "mind". So it's easy to get confused.
Like I said, I don't really believe in God, but I also don't want to throw out the baby with the bathwater, as it were. Spirituality and religion are still very powerful forces in people's lives, and are interesting subjects of study. For example, I have found Buddhism and mindfulness meditation to be especially helpful in my life. But the benefits have come from more than an academic study -- it has required actually meditating and struggling with ideas and changing.
I think that it's important to study them in an academic sense, and also really dive in and live the experience. Ideally there is a sensible balance between the two extremes.
I guess that this post was more of a way for me to share that I'm not a strict atheist, like it seems a lot of people are here on HN. I think there is a lot of valuable discussion and understanding still to be gleaned from the topic.
If I had to sum it up in one sentence I'd say: "God doesn't exist, and God doesn't exist in a really interesting way"
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 21.0 ms ] threadI don't really believe in any God, to the extent that if someone were to ask me on the street if I believed then I'd flatly say "no", and explain a few reasons why I don't believe.
However, this article brings up some good points -- like the fact is that I find myself asking for help from God when I'm going through difficult times, wondering why God did this to me, etc... Sometime I can get behind God in a "power greater than myself" sense of the term, even if I don't exactly know what that is. Not all the time, but sometimes I also find myself wanting that feeling of connectedness that religion seems to bring. If I had to really describe my feelings on God, i'd say I was mostly an atheist, especially about any objective aspect of God, but, on a personal level, atheist-ish with a lot of confusion and uncertainly.
As article points out, it can be also name of your spouse, but if you train your self, then perhaps it could be also be your name.
Also please mind that this connectedness may be created on other grounds than religion. For example between people speaking the same language or having other cultural similarities. For example during the concert of your favourite band.
Also if we know existence of such behaviour, we can more easily protect us against groups that try to exploit this behaviour to get control over us.
But there is the rub -- the way I experience my own existence is largely through my own mind. Sure, sometimes I'm aware of senses like physically feeling a texture, or smelling or tasting food. But, say, approximately 90% of the time I experience the world through my thoughts and emotions and whatever else would fit into the rough category of "mind". So it's easy to get confused.
Like I said, I don't really believe in God, but I also don't want to throw out the baby with the bathwater, as it were. Spirituality and religion are still very powerful forces in people's lives, and are interesting subjects of study. For example, I have found Buddhism and mindfulness meditation to be especially helpful in my life. But the benefits have come from more than an academic study -- it has required actually meditating and struggling with ideas and changing.
I think that it's important to study them in an academic sense, and also really dive in and live the experience. Ideally there is a sensible balance between the two extremes.
I guess that this post was more of a way for me to share that I'm not a strict atheist, like it seems a lot of people are here on HN. I think there is a lot of valuable discussion and understanding still to be gleaned from the topic.
If I had to sum it up in one sentence I'd say: "God doesn't exist, and God doesn't exist in a really interesting way"