If there is such thing as a faith crisis, people are placing way too much importance on the idea of faith. That phrase sounds equivalent to a sports fan crisis or a Star Wars plot crisis.
Is it a crisis to learn? To become aware? If it feels tragic to someone to lose a belief in something that's not real, then they are way too attached to their ideas and living an unnecessarily burdened life. You have to be able to change your mind.
Yes it can be a crisis to learn. Haven't you read all of the accounts up in Terrestrial (and other boards) of the shelf breaking? It's not just about being attached or living a burdened life. I've had private correspondence (not private messages) with folks who wanted to talk to me about what was going on in their journey out of Mormonism and you know good and well how they fear losing their own loved ones and even business connections. If you don't know, then you aren't paying attention to the rest of the Ex-LDS world. Your experience may have been different from the get but you cannot rightly dismiss the experiences of others as you seem to be doing here. For some people their discoveries that lead to non-belief are extremely painful.
Come on.
I've talked to some folks who lost their belief in God who were happy and felt that a weight had lifted off their shoulders. Others who were in concerning mental states. I feel like you are writing people off here and robbing them of their individuality.
We only get stronger when we are lifting something that is heavier than what we are used to. ~ KF
Some Schmo, why do you think that such a deity would be a piece of crap?
Because there seems to be an inordinate amount of pain, inequality, and tragedy in this world for something purported to be omnipotent and loving to be running the show.
Some Schmo wrote:Thinking there's a god allowing the earth to happen as it is only leads to imagining a sick, sadistic bastard (or, at best, something that created and forgot about us).
So you think that deity would be able to allow a better Earth to happen? If so, why do you think so?
As mentioned... the god most people have invented is omnipotent and loving. That doesn't jibe with the world in which we live.
Like I alluded to, if a creator did get this started, it's impossible for me to believe it would be omnipotent and loving.
Religion is for people whose existential fear is greater than their common sense.
Yes it can be a crisis to learn. Haven't you read all of the accounts up in Terrestrial (and other boards) of the shelf breaking?
The crisis isn't the learning. The crisis was being raised with BS. You're trying to blame hearing the message.
It's like learning you have cancer. Learning about it isn't the crisis, having cancer is.
ETA: And by the way, this may seem like a distinction without a difference, but it isn't. It would be a much bigger crisis if you never learned about your cancer. The learning allows you to do something about it.
Religion is for people whose existential fear is greater than their common sense.
Some Schmo, why do you think that such a deity would be a piece of crap?
Because there seems to be an inordinate amount of pain, inequality, and tragedy in this world for something purported to be omnipotent and loving to be running the show.
Who creates the pain, inequality, and tragedy you are talking about?
We only get stronger when we are lifting something that is heavier than what we are used to. ~ KF
Yes it can be a crisis to learn. Haven't you read all of the accounts up in Terrestrial (and other boards) of the shelf breaking?
The crisis isn't the learning. The crisis was being raised with BS. You're trying to blame hearing the message.
It's like learning you have cancer. Learning about it isn't the crisis, having cancer is.
ETA: And by the way, this may seem like a distinction without a difference, but it isn't. It would be a much bigger crisis if you never learned about your cancer. The learning allows you to do something about it.
How is the crisis being raised with BS?
I submit to you, Schmo, the crisis isn't being raised with BS. It's having your shelf break and losing the familiar foundation you once relied upon. That's the crisis point. Not the stuff you're trying to lay down here.
Being raised with BS doesn't create the crisis. The crisis is created by the shift.
We only get stronger when we are lifting something that is heavier than what we are used to. ~ KF
Because there seems to be an inordinate amount of pain, inequality, and tragedy in this world for something purported to be omnipotent and loving to be running the show.
Who creates the pain, inequality, and tragedy you are talking about?
There are several sources, the biggest one being Mother Nature.
Religion is for people whose existential fear is greater than their common sense.
I submit to you, Schmo, the crisis isn't being raised with BS. It's having your shelf break and losing the familiar foundation you once relied upon. That's the crisis point. Not the stuff you're trying to lay down here.
Being raised with BS doesn't create the crisis. The crisis is created by the shift.
Your "shelf breaking" is another way of saying you just found out you were raised with BS. Essentially what you're trying to assert is that the crisis is truth getting in the way of the precious lies you'd like to believe. And maybe to someone, that is a true crisis (in the same way a midlife crisis is a true crisis).
There is a crisis, and then there's the way you react to the crisis. The way you react could represent a mental crisis, but that's a separate crisis. For instance, Hurricane Katrina was a crisis. What it did to people could have caused them great despair, or individual crises. But for many people, there was no mental crisis, because they weren't directly affected by it.
Like I said to get this started, if you're having a faith crisis, it's because you're too attached to dubious beliefs. When I found out it was all BS, I was happy. A crisis was the last thing I'd call it.
Religion is for people whose existential fear is greater than their common sense.
I submit to you, Schmo, the crisis isn't being raised with B.S.. It's having your shelf break and losing the familiar foundation you once relied upon. That's the crisis point. Not the stuff you're trying to lay down here.
Being raised with B.S. doesn't create the crisis. The crisis is created by the shift.
Your "shelf breaking" is another way of saying you just found out you were raised with B.S.. Essentially what you're trying to assert is that the crisis is truth getting in the way of the precious lies you'd like to believe. And maybe to someone, that is a true crisis (in the same way a midlife crisis is a true crisis).
There is a crisis, and then there's the way you react to the crisis. The way you react could represent a mental crisis, but that's a separate crisis. For instance, Hurricane Katrina was a crisis. What it did to people could have caused them great despair, or individual crises. But for many people, there was no mental crisis, because they weren't directly affected by it.
Like I said to get this started, if you're having a faith crisis, it's because you're too attached to dubious beliefs. When I found out it was all B.S., I was happy. A crisis was the last thing I'd call it.
I think it's a mistake to draw sweeping conclusions like this from one's own personal experience. For me, it was a full blown crisis, but I've seen enough people to go through the process that I get that the range of responses include me, Schmo and everyone in between. Regardless of the nature of the beliefs that have been shattered, the process is real and, to some, it is devastating. It seems callous to me discount the pain and trauma that some folks experience by claiming it isn't a "crisis."
he/him When I go to sea, don’t fear for me. Fear for the storm.
Jessica Best, Fear for the Storm. From The Strange Case of the Starship Iris.
If I can't ask God some questions and count on God answering those questions, then how can I ever figure out what that obligation is? Atheism doesn't do me any good; my obligation is still there, and all atheism does is unload the whole weight of that obligation on my own shoulders, and my opinion is that that's too much weight for any individual to carry.
KevinSim, as God is not going to do any work (‘obligation’) for you, then isn’t the whole weight of whatever that obligation is already on your shoulders?
You - just like any other person - will do what you will, and no deity will force you to do anything any different.
We see this every day all around us. You are not living in a bubble that allows you to escape the same reality.
Are you instead looking for a way to rationalize your decisions by casting God as the one deciding your choices for you?
Yes. I asked the mentioned deity if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, which for me meant if God had chosen the leaders of that church to speak for Her/Him, and was therefore using that church to lead me to the truth about Her/Him. God said yes.
Some Schmo wrote:Atheism isn't really a choice. It comes with a particular mindset, where evidence is paramount to accessing the truth.
What I know is that I often get doubts about God's existence, but that my official position that God does exist never changes. I am determined that I will believe in God. As I said to Jersey Girl, I see no productive alternative.
Some Schmo wrote:And the fact is, your obligations to humanity are solely up to you no matter what.
Some Schmo, I find myself disagreeing with that. Was Adolf Hitler's obligations to humanity solely up to him? I have a strong belief that he had obligations to humanity that he not only ignored, but worked at cross purposes to.
Some Schmo wrote:I will say, if a god helps you do that job better, then more power to ya.
