Erebus
Well-Known Member
In my experience many on the LHP tend to somewhat blur the lines between theism and atheism in a great number of ways. This ranges from autotheism and the appreciation for the power of symbols through to explaining deities as both internal and external beings simultaneously. There are countless ways to blur the lines, but what I'm interested in here are people's thoughts on the pro's and cons of atheism and theism on their own in a LHP context.
Note that I'm not asking for people's opinions on atheists or theists themselves, instead I'm looking at (to provide an example) the benefits and negatives of believing in *insert Devil of choice here* as being a literal or figurative entity.
To provide a little background behind why I'm asking this, I haven't performed rituals for some time as I've been quite rundown with university work and not in the right frame of mind. At the same time I have explained the psychological benefits of suspension of disbelief and placebo to people in and out of RF as it was the easiest element for them to get their heads around.
This has resulted in me having quite a rational, metaphoric view of my gods for some time. The positives of this are that it's an easy position to defend and is much safer for me while I'm in the wrong frame of mind to use ritual and magic. The downside is that I feel stagnant and bored. To me rationality is restrictive but safe, unnatural yet acceptable and I feel I now need to reawaken my wilder, irrational side and bring the gods back to life.
The situation I have found myself in sparked my interest in how others view the pros and cons of this dichotomy and whether they lean more to one side than the other or try to maintain a balance.
Note that I'm not asking for people's opinions on atheists or theists themselves, instead I'm looking at (to provide an example) the benefits and negatives of believing in *insert Devil of choice here* as being a literal or figurative entity.
To provide a little background behind why I'm asking this, I haven't performed rituals for some time as I've been quite rundown with university work and not in the right frame of mind. At the same time I have explained the psychological benefits of suspension of disbelief and placebo to people in and out of RF as it was the easiest element for them to get their heads around.
This has resulted in me having quite a rational, metaphoric view of my gods for some time. The positives of this are that it's an easy position to defend and is much safer for me while I'm in the wrong frame of mind to use ritual and magic. The downside is that I feel stagnant and bored. To me rationality is restrictive but safe, unnatural yet acceptable and I feel I now need to reawaken my wilder, irrational side and bring the gods back to life.
The situation I have found myself in sparked my interest in how others view the pros and cons of this dichotomy and whether they lean more to one side than the other or try to maintain a balance.