Does this really happen?

[Buttons*]

Well, as a kid my interest in science made me question the claims made by my religious upbringing. Even while still a believer I drifted over to the idea that the fables of the bible were meant to be figurative and metaphorical, since they made no sense in a literal context.

So I'm guessing that you had quite a literal Christian upbringing?

I guess I want to know (this is for everyone) how a spiritual feeling can be destroyed by facts. Was there never any spiritual feeling behind your beliefs? Or was it that you had felt betrayed by your former belief, which killed any spiritual longing? This is really amazing to me.

 

[Buttons*]

Well, I did used to believe in literal gods, until I learned more about the human psyche, and revised my views.

What was it about the human psyche that caused you to change your views?

 

[Buttons*]

Learning about science has certainly influenced my concept of God and universe but not eradicated it. I do believe in evolution, by the way but a lot of things in science compliment Hindu concepts.

By the way, a lot of people leave religion after learning about science. My partner is an example of one of these people. They are very common! But that is after a lot of education and realisations.

I gather that perhaps the literal-ness would be defeated. I even get that the study of the mind would help people to see what can actually explain religion... but I wonder.... when one changes to this point of view, does everything then go through a filter of science?

 

[Riverwolf]

What was it about the human psyche that caused you to change your views?

Well, when I say "learned more about the human psyche," that really means that I read through Joseph Campbell's The Masks of God. (Well, halfway through Primitive Mythology, anyway.)

 

[Buttons*]

Well, when I say "learned more about the human psyche," that really means that I read through Joseph Campbell's The Masks of God. (Well, halfway through Primitive Mythology, anyway.)

Ah yes, he's a good one to learn about cultures. So once you read it, did you go, "Oh, so that's where that comes from!" and realize that the things you once believed could be rationally explained? How did that change your outlook?

 

[meogi]

How did it crush your belief though? There are people who reconcile science and a belief in any number of gods/God/goddesses. It's curious to me that spiritual faith can completely disappear simply because of a science lesson.

It really didn't. Like I said, it was a gradual change and science wasn't the only factor. The complete lack of any personal interaction was perhaps the larger roll.

Science was the catalyst: that existence can be described so well through natural laws. From this, I saw no need to attribute existence to any personal supernatural being, and gradually to any supernatural being. But if there is such a being, I hope we're all giving him a good show.

[edit]

I never saw the two in conflict.

My thought process: If natural processes can and do occur naturally in semi-predictable patterns, then why attribute an agent to a natural process? Do you attribute some supernatural force is always making objects fall toward the earth, or that a naturally occurring phenomenon is simply following natural processes? That's why I don't.

 

[Buttons*]

It really didn't. Like I said, it was a gradual change and science wasn't the only factor. The complete lack of any personal interaction was perhaps the larger roll.

Science was the catalyst: that existence can be described so well through natural laws. From this, I saw no need to attribute existence to any personal supernatural being, and gradually to any supernatural being. But if there is such a being, I hope we're all giving him a good show.

lol fair enough thank you for sharing that with me. Do you ever feel a spiritual lack? Did you ever have a spiritual side? (Not just a belief in God or the supernatural) If you did, and you don't now, do you attribute that feeling to the brain?

 

[meogi]

Do you ever feel a spiritual lack? Did you ever have a spiritual side? (Not just a belief in God or the supernatural) If you did, and you don't now, do you attribute that feeling to the brain?

Not really, I'm a pretty (self) spiritual person, just not with the supernatural. More of a "Wow, I'm astonished to be alive. We take it for granted, being alive; waking every morning. Be good and to others, for they share this same wonderment." kinda person.

 

[Riverwolf]

Ah yes, he's a good one to learn about cultures. So once you read it, did you go, "Oh, so that's where that comes from!" and realize that the things you once believed could be rationally explained? How did that change your outlook?

Well, I went from believing in almost literal gods to believing that the gods are personifications of aspects of the human psyche. I hold to that this day.

I think it helped prepare me for Hinduism, which I had not studied, yet.

 

[Galileo]

To address the original post of this thread, you should read Dan Barker's "Godless." Dan Barker was once a fundamentalist preacher who later became an atheist. "Godless" is his biography, it tells how he went from being a fundamentalist preacher to a leading member in the atheist/agnostic community.

 

[logician]

Another thread got me thinking. Has it been the case for anyone on this forum who once believed in some kind of higher power, to have left it due to learning about things within the scientific realm? I've heard of it, but never had testimony from an actual person. Meaning, no one has ever said to me, "Yeah, I actually heard about the laws of physics, and my bad habit of religion was cured!" I was wondering how often this happens. Has it happened to any of you?

I was a strong Xian when yonger, but am an atheist now, as I have been in a mathematical and scientific career for a long time, and have become a skeptic.

 

[chumleypm]

I was born and raised in a southern baptist community, with more churches than gas stations. I went, because I was supposed to, on Sunday mornings to church. The older I got the more I studied science and history, and the bible seemed more and more like some sort of illogical fantasy story. I have became a believer in proof, it's actually a curse since there is not enough evidence to form any conclusion about religion. But, I left organized religion because of science and lack of historical evidence. I do have beliefs, but they are not at all the ones I was taught as a child.

 

[The_Evelyonian]

Another thread got me thinking. Has it been the case for anyone on this forum who once believed in some kind of higher power, to have left it due to learning about things within the scientific realm? I've heard of it, but never had testimony from an actual person. Meaning, no one has ever said to me, "Yeah, I actually heard about the laws of physics, and my bad habit of religion was cured!" I was wondering how often this happens. Has it happened to any of you?

Learning about science wasn't the sole cause of journey from belief to non-belief but it did make the transition easier.

 

[Tiapan]

I find I might fall into the category you mention in the OP.

I was brought up anglican, attended Sunday School and eventually attended church services. By age 8, first the easter bunny went, then father Christmas, then Jesus and god. I heard Aesops fables and they were as interesting as the parables, so I realized the bible was just another book. Then I would get up early on Sunday mornings and watch Julius Sumner Millers "Summer School of Science" and "Why is it so" these dozen or so, fantasic old B&W TV programs showed me more than 20 lifetimes of church services. I never looked back. Science is so much more incredibly interesting and beautiful than any religion, why would I bother going back.

Cheers

 

[dust1n]

OP. I was an atheist until 13, became Christian of my own device, and went back to atheist at 15.

 

[Rev. White]

I personally don't see any conflicts between a belief in God, and science, but then I've always been very flexible about my interpretations of religious texts. For example, I don't see a creation/evolution conflict because I see evolution as a tool used for creation, sort of "God's Paintbrush." A few years ago I was lucky enough to accidentally meet Dr. Francis Collins, the Director of the Human Genome Project, and I was fascinated to learn that he held beliefs similar to my own , in fact he wrote a best seller, The language of God", that outlined his reasoning, including how he felt he sees God's hand in the human genome, the universe, and here on Earth. Interestingly, I met him on a visit to the Crystal cathedral in garden grove, California. Hmmmm.