Is anyone nostalgic about their former faith?

Tupins

Ok this sounds like a strange question but like many people born in Ireland in the 70's I was raised as a practising Catholic, went to Catholic school etc. My parents have a strong catholic faith and regularly go to Mass. We were always taught to pray at bedtime and generally to trust God as a good thing in our lives. Up until my mid-late teens I was a practising catholic with full faith. I later became what you would label a lapsed catholic and now I would describe myself as agnostic.

I am very interested in psychology and I fully believe that people will always see what they want to see and believe what they want to believe regardless of evidence contrary to those beliefs. I have lost all respect for that catholic church over the past years and am sceptical about the existence of 'God'. I now live my life without religion (in it's traditional sense) but lately I have started to miss my old faith.

What I mean is, I miss the comfort of 'knowing' that there is a God who is looking out for you, that anytime you feel afraid or alone you can pray for help and above all the comfort of believing that your loved ones are gone to a better place when they die (as you also will). The fear of death is removed. I never realised how much a part of my life this was until I basically removed it. I actually felt a little sad at Christmas too, as it all seems so meaningless now.

I could never see myself going back to catholicism as I just disagree with so many of it's teachings and beliefs. And I can't just force myself to believe in God, just because I miss having him around - same as I can't force myself to believe in Santa Clause anymore no matter how amazing it was to believe in him as a child.

Someone recently posted in the Christianity forum with the question 'Atheists, why do you live when there is no final reward?' but I believe it's easy to be good when you are getting something in return - but to live a moral and good life without expecting any 'reward' is a true virtue.

Sorry for the long post. I just wanted to know if there are others out there who miss their former faith (it did have some good points!)

robindch

Tupins wrote: »

I just wanted to know if there are others out there who miss their former faith (it did have some good points!)

Good: feeling like a member in good standing of the most honorable club in town.
Bad: Learning that this was false.

Nodin

Tupins wrote: »

What I mean is, I miss the comfort of 'knowing' that there is a God who is looking out for you, that anytime you feel afraid or alone you can pray for help and above all the comfort of believing that your loved ones are gone to a better place when they die (as you also will). The fear of death is removed. I never realised how much a part of my life this was until I basically removed it. I actually felt a little sad at Christmas too, as it all seems so meaningless now.

I could never see myself going back to catholicism as I just disagree with so many of it's teachings and beliefs. And I can't just force myself to believe in God, just because I miss having him around - same as I can't force myself to believe in Santa Clause anymore no matter how amazing it was to believe in him as a child.

You miss the comfort of innocence, and a simple faith. Unfortunately like childhood, its gone and will not return. I understand this nostalgia, mind you.

oshead

I don't miss it one bit.

Maybe you need to explore the wonders of rational thinking in relation to the Cosmos, Darwinisim and the like. You may realise there is so much more to believing that there is no God. There is so much more to life than simple (religous) explanations to big questions regarding our existance.

Dave OS

Goduznt Xzst

oshead wrote: »

I don't miss it one bit.

Maybe you need to explore the wonders of rational thinking in relation to the Cosmos, Darwinisim and the like. You may realise there is so much more to believing that there is no God. There is so much more to life than simple (religous) explanations to big questions regarding our existance.

Dave OS

It sounds like you are more telling yourself this than telling the OP, you are also completely missing the point.

You can be nostalgic about something whilst also looking back and accepting that its false. I'm nostalgic about the imagination I had as a child and how I trusted every adult to tell me the truth. I don't hold it against them being thought that a God existed because they didn't know any better, plus I have the same feelings about my childish belief in a God and angels as I do about drifting off to sleep listening to Rupert and the frog song and imagining it was all real.

MackDeToaster

Absolutely not, it was a load of old cobblers into which I was involuntarily indoctrinated when I had neither the right, the knowledge, nor the cognitive capacity and ability to reject it. I just wish I could go back in time to when I was being baptised so that I could piss in the font, splash it on the priest and tell him from my toothless lips that he's been baptised into satanism and see just how he likes that.

I don't miss the 'comfort of knowing' there's a god about. I've moved beyond it, I can look back and think it was nice at the time, but that 'comfort' has been superceded and is now completely irrelevant.

I'm far more comfortable with the fact that I've grown to the point where I can acknowledge that I'm ephemeral; where I'm independent and can stand alone to face the wonders of the universe without having my hand held. A god just diminishes the grandeur of it all, reduces it to being an egotistical toy, mere wallpaper around a cot, I find it far more wonderful to look the universe and life through the pageantry of cosmology and science, to realise that it simply 'is', and doesn't need a meaning.

CerebralCortex

There was no comfort in it which means no nostalgia for me. The church itself began to represent everything I hated about humanity (not exclusively) and so much bad **** happened out of my control when I was a "theist" that there is no nostalgia.

ChocolateSauce

As for all intents and purposes I was raised an atheist and never had any faith, I can't really say.

Rev Hellfire

Can't say I look back at the religion from my childhood any differently to most other events and things back then. Perhaps if I had a more difficult or stressful existence back then it may have been a bigger issue for me, but I was fortunate and I guess still am.

Malari

CerebralCortex wrote: »

There was no comfort in it which means no nostalgia for me. The church itself began to represent everything I hated about humanity (not exclusively) and so much bad **** happened out of my control when I was a "theist" that there is no nostalgia.

What he said ^^

Of all the emotions I felt when I was told repeatedly that a god existed, comfort was definitely not one of them.

philologos

OP: You don't have to miss anything. If you come to God with a honest heart, and if you are willing to see the God of reality, He will show Himself to you. It is only those who will for God to reveal Himself to them that He will ultimately reveal themselves to.

As a child, I had a very simplistic faith, such as "God if you do this for me you'll be the best God ever". I never really understood Christianity as a child, I just remember being told parables and Bible stories from King David and Goliath, Samson, and Jesus' parables in the Gospels, but I didn't know much more than that. I didn't even know who the Apostle Paul was really until I started to read the Bible for myself in my teenage years after not really caring about God or religion at all.

I think part of the reason why so many people are falling away from Christianity is that they don't really know what it is indepth in many cases, part of becoming a Christian adult I think anyway is to discern for yourself instead of trusting on your priest or your pastor and to read the Bible for ones self, and to repackage the beliefs they have been handed down from others, or come to a faith all on their own and to accept Jesus Christ as their own personal Lord and Saviour, and to see how Jesus can impact their own lives.

If you are starting to miss your Christianity, I'd suggest talking to your local pastor or priest, maybe move out of Catholicism if it isn't for you, many Christians practice differently in terms of worship maybe even check out the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian Church or Evangelical congregations, and to seek the answers that theists can give by checking out some Christian apologetics, by C.S Lewis, Lee Strobel and so on.

I would say to you first and foremost, do not listen to what people will tell you, but to discern and to seek Christianity for yourself.

I know the atheists here aren't going to appreciate this, but the topic did warrant a response from a Christian.

CerebralCortex

I think your missing the point J. There are certain aspects of the catholic faith he liked which were ultimately taken from him because he found out like many that its not true. Or else I've missed the point.

Dades

CerebralCortex wrote: »

I think your missing the point J. There are certain aspects of the catholic faith he liked which were ultimately taken from him because he found out like many that its not true. Or else I've missed the point.

That's how it reads to me. The key part of the OP being this:

Tupins wrote: »

I can't just force myself to believe in God, just because I miss having him around

Yah, I doubt he's looking for reasons, or indeed help, to convert.

aidan24326

Tupins wrote: »

I just wanted to know if there are others out there who miss their former faith (it did have some good points!)

Don't miss it in the slightest. I'm very glad I saw through it for what it is.

And as for the good points you mention, I don't recall many to be honest. I would look back on my religious upbringing (to be honest, not overly religious) with indifference. It didn't mean alot to me at the time.

philologos

CerebralCortex wrote: »

I think your missing the point J. There are certain aspects of the catholic faith he liked which were ultimately taken from him because he found out like many that its not true. Or else I've missed the point.

How did he find out this was untrue? By what objective scale did one "find out" that this was untrue, or how does one come to know? You say "it is not true", like it is a factual statement, however it is clear to everyone surely that the God question is still wide open, and I have no doubt that it will always be wide open.

I think there is always a possibility of God's existence, and I would deem it rather probable, probably the reason why I came to faith myself. It is basically impossible to fathom a universe coming into creation through only a naturalistic process. I guess it is a question on how determined one is to seek a reason for all of this, rather than anything else.

As I say there is a lot of room for theistic discussion on this issue, and it is an opportunity to urge people to think about their decision on the God question seriously if they do feel this way. If you feel this way it is most probably due to your search for meaning being fulfilled, or you resigning your reason to seek and find the answers that could well be out there for you.

seanybiker

I can see where the original porter is coming from. Personally I never missed my faith.I'm fairly happy with my life now and dont belive or feel the need to belive in god to give me reason/sense of bla bla to live my life. It does sound a bit of a balls what original poster is going through.
Could it be possible that op feels guilty about giving up on his faith? I dunno. Hope ya get sorted though

philologos

What would you define as "getting sorted"?

Jakkass

Jakkass wrote: »

How did he find out this was untrue? By what objective scale did one "find out" that this was untrue, or how does one come to know? You say "it is not true", like it is a factual statement, however it is clear to everyone surely that the God question is still wide open, and I have no doubt that it will always be wide open.

I think CerebralCortex meant that the OP has came to believe it's untrue - once that happens, I don't think you can turn back. It's similar to finding out about Santa Clause, once it happens I don't think you can ever go back (and no, I'm not comparing God to Santa Claus).

I think there is always a possibility of God's existence, and I would deem it rather probable, probably the reason why I came to faith myself. It is basically impossible to fathom a universe coming into creation through only a naturalistic process.

I would imagine that's more to do with the limitations of the human mind than it is to do with the possibility of it happening.

I guess it is a question on how determined one is to seek a reason for all of this, rather than anything else.

It is. And after much searching, some people become atheists; others become theists. A deep search doesn't guarantee to find you God.

PDN

I get nostalgic for my old faith of atheism sometimes.

There's times someone really ticks me off and I'd like to give them a good belt round the ear, but then I remember I'm a Christian and so I can't.

PDN

PDN wrote: »

There's times someone really ticks me off and I'd like to give them a good belt round the ear, but then I remember I'm a Christian and so I can't.

Ah yes, because atheists lack morality - so they're free to do what they like.:rolleyes:

oshead

Goduznt Xzst wrote: »

It sounds like you are more telling yourself this than telling the OP, you are also completely missing the point.

You can be nostalgic about something whilst also looking back and accepting that its false. I'm nostalgic about the imagination I had as a child and how I trusted every adult to tell me the truth. I don't hold it against them being thought that a God existed because they didn't know any better, plus I have the same feelings about my childish belief in a God and angels as I do about drifting off to sleep listening to Rupert and the frog song and imagining it was all real.

Sorry you picked up on it that way. I wasn't missing the point. You seem to think the OP was talking only about his childhood, he wasn't. He was a practising catholic with full faith when he became an adult. He later lost faith in God, and my guess is, over a many number of years.

Most of my religous memories are as an adult. Why should I be nostalgic about living with religous guilt and the repression of free thinking. To look back at childhood years and not think in nostalgic terms is a very difficult thing to do. Seems the only way most of the posters here can remember religon is to look back to this period and remember it in this way.

It wasn't till I discovered the works of the likes of Carl Sagan among others back in the late 80's that I realised there really is no such thing God.

Dave OS

philologos

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

I would imagine that's more to do with the limitations of the human mind than it is to do with the possibility of it happening.

It is. And after much searching, some people become atheists; others become theists. A deep search doesn't guarantee to find you God.

As for the limitations of the mind? How come you were able to overcome this alleged limitation of the mind? How come it isn't a limitation of your mind not to be able to perceive God? There are many questions that could be raised in terms of a suggestion that theists are some how "limited" compared to others in the population.

As for deep searching, if one seriously wishes to look, and if one wishes to find God there, I believe that He will open your heart to find Him. I haven't seen otherwise. Generally the people who demand of theists to "prove" God's existence have already shut the door to God a long time ago, before they even want to discuss with theists at all.

Jakkass

Jakkass wrote: »

As for the limitations of the mind? How come you were able to overcome this alleged limitation of the mind? How come it isn't a limitation of your mind not to be able to perceive God? There are many questions that could be raised in terms of a suggestion that theists are some how "limited" compared to others in the population.

I didn't say that I was able to overcome this limitation, did I?

You said it's impossible to fathom the universe coming into existance by a natural phenomenon. I said that's more to do with the limitations of the human mind than it is to do with the actual "impossibility" of it happening.

And where did I say that theists are more "limited" than atheists? I'd like to know where you're getting all of this from; because I certainly didn't say it.

As for deep searching, if one seriously wishes to look, and if one wishes to find God there, I believe that He will open your heart to find Him. I haven't seen otherwise. Generally the people who demand of theists to "prove" God's existence have already shut the door to God a long time ago, before they even want to discuss with theists at all.

I'm sorry, but that's just absurd. If somebody looks hard enough for God, then they obviously want to believe; if somebody wants to believe something that much then they're more likely to trick themselves into believing it.

You can't say that deep searching leads to God; from my experience it leads away from God. But, I guess each person is different.

PDN

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

Ah yes, because atheists lack morality - so they're free to do what they like.:rolleyes:

You got that from what I said? :eek:

All I was thinking was that my morality, when I was an atheist, never stopped me hitting anyone (but fear of getting hit back sometimes did). I made no mention of anyone else's morality at all.

PDN

PDN wrote: »

You got that from what I said? :eek:

All I was thinking was that my morality, when I was an atheist, never stopped me hitting anyone (but fear of getting hit back sometimes did). I made no mention of anyone else's morality at all.

I know, I was only messing with you; you know how some religious people say that atheists have no morals etc.

If your religion is all that's stopping you hitting somebody, then I imagine you aren't a very good person.:p

MrPudding

I don't miss the whole catholic thing, but I have to admit I do miss the idea of life after death. At the time it seemed very "cool." The chance to see the friends and relatives that have passed on. Sometimes now I find myself thinking that I wish it was true, particularly when I think about my children. Ah well.

Jakkass wrote: »

I think there is always a possibility of God's existence, and I would deem it rather probable, probably the reason why I came to faith myself.

It is unlilely and non-rational, IMHO.

Jakkass wrote: »

It is basically impossible to fathom a universe coming into creation through only a naturalistic process.

Your incredulity and lack of imagination has no impact, thankfully, on what can and cannot come into existence.

Jakkass wrote: »

I guess it is a question on how determined one is to seek a reason for all of this, rather than anything else.

But you are not seeking a reason. You have stopped. The moment you said "god did it" you stopped looking. Atheist are still looking, we are determined.

Jakkass wrote: »

If you feel this way it is most probably due to your search for meaning being fulfilled, or you resigning your reason to seek and find the answers that could well be out there for you.

To embrace religion is to stop seeking answers. It provides all your answers, to your satisfaction.

PDN wrote: »

There's times someone really ticks me off and I'd like to give them a good belt round the ear, but then I remember I'm a Christian and so I can't.

I feel the same way sometimes, and then I remember that it is simply wrong to hit someone, so I don't.

MrP

Dades

Jakkass, try not to derail the thread too much. Nobody minds a bit of Christian input, but don't keep pressing what is essentially a much more complicated agenda than what people simply miss about a religion they no longer believe in.

And people - stop feeding PDN.

philologos

Fair enough Dades, I just thought it warranted a different perspective. As for an agenda, I don't deny that I have one by any circumstances, I suppose the one thing that is in common between me and the atheists is that I want people to think consciously about their faith or lack thereof and make sure they have made the right choice and I think that is just as poignant for atheists to think about also.

PDN

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

I know, I was only messing with you; you know how some religious people say that atheists have no morals etc.

If your religion is all that's stopping you hitting somebody, then I imagine you aren't a very good person.:p

You're right. Left to my own devices I'm really not very nice at all.

PDN

PDN wrote: »

You're right. Left to my own devices I'm really not very nice at all.

It's all coming out now, PDN!