How Did You Replace God?

[Random]

Smells like propaganda.

I have no idea what you mean.

 

[Melissa G]

Since leaving Christianity totally within the last year I've been asked several times what secular belief system replaced my belief in God. I have no answers other than to say.....I'm searching but haven't gathered up enough information to form a definitive opinion yet.

If you were once a theist and left behind your belief in a Supreme Being, what replaced God? Please be as specific as possible.

Myths of the Ancient Goddesses, they maybe only myths, but I enjoy them. Back in the day when the Goddesses hald sway over all beautiful thing. Celebrating woman. Aphrodite, Isis, Hathor, Laksmi represent love and beauty, sensual delights. Far better than some patriarch inspired old man full of fire and brimstone.

Melissa

 

[Smoke]

I haven't replaced God with anything; nor do I feel as though I need to. There's just not a big gaping hole where God used to be. I don't mean to be dismissive, Rhonda (seriously), but the question kind of hits me as if I had taken a burlap bag off my head and somebody asked, "What did you replace the bag with?" Well, nothing.

I already accepted evolution and other discoveries of modern science, so there wasn't any change there. The biggest differences, I guess, are:

1. I don't spend a lot of time in prayer.
2. I don't hope for anything beyond this life.
3. I don't hope for god to make things right, redress wrongs, or restore balance in the world.

I do sometimes miss the assurance you get from believing in god, the comfort of believing in some ultimate balance, but I don't know of anything I could replace it with, and I think it's better to have no assurance than to have false assurance.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Does anyone envision their views changing back to theism like Stephen?

I certainly envision it as possible.

 

[Buttercup]

Okay, so, to be blunt, then what's the problem? (Really not trying to sound like a jerk--failed miserably).

There is no problem....it's called curiosity.

Short period of time? To me, being twenty years old, approximately sixteen years isn't necessarily a short period of time of my life. In fact, it's 4/5 of it (yay, I learned something in math). But perhaps youth does leave one more flexible towards changing beliefs than someone who has made them a routine "habit."

I didn't realize you and your family were consistent church goers all your life. Or, perhaps you just simply mean that your parents brought you up to believe in God. Still, I think there might be vasts differences leaving God behind for a person who went to church and Sunday school routinely than for those who vaguely believed in the Christian God. I'm not sure which category you fit into.

To me, arriving at a place suggests stopping. I hope my belief system never becomes stagnant like that.

What I meant more succinctly with the question is, where are you now at this point in time regarding your belief system. I am aware that opinions vacillate or change.

Myths of the Ancient Goddesses, they maybe only myths, but I enjoy them. Back in the day when the Goddesses hald sway over all beautiful thing. Celebrating woman. Aphrodite, Isis, Hathor, Laksmi represent love and beauty, sensual delights. Far better than some patriarch inspired old man full of fire and brimstone.

Aint that the truth! Sounds kinda fun. Only problem is.....I couldn't buy it.

 

[Buttercup]

I haven't replaced God with anything; nor do I feel as though I need to. There's just not a big gaping hole where God used to be. I don't mean to be dismissive, Rhonda (seriously), but the question kind of hits me as if I had taken a burlap bag off my head and somebody asked, "What did you replace the bag with?" Well, nothing.

If that's how people are taking my question, I don't mean it in that vein at all. I'm not asking from a pitiful, lonely or confused perspective. I'm not desperately wondering what to fill this gaping God hole with....in fact, there is no hole. I'm surprised people don't think a new perspective took the place where God used to be however. An ever evolving and changing perspective. That's what I'm trying to discern.

I already accepted evolution and other discoveries of modern science, so there wasn't any change there. The biggest differences, I guess, are:

1. I don't spend a lot of time in prayer.
2. I don't hope for anything beyond this life.
3. I don't hope for god to make things right, redress wrongs, or restore balance in the world.

I do sometimes miss the assurance you get from believing in god, the comfort of believing in some ultimate balance, but I don't know of anything I could replace it with, and I think it's better to have no assurance than to have false assurance.

And voila....you just explained a portion of what happened after you dropped kicked God. Thanks.

 

[Buttercup]

I certainly envision it as possible.

Briefly, or as loquaciously as you care to, could you explain what it would take for you to reunite a belief in God or Gods?

 

[gnomon]

I have found that all who dispense with belief in GOD replace it with egoistic self-belief in one form or other. No value judgement there, just an observation.

I can see some truth in this statement. I know that when I first had a conscious break from any belief in the supernatural, religious or spiritual...however one wishes to word it...it was the recognition of my own ego rather than the reliance of others beliefs that led to my recovery. Recovery from manic depression and addiction, that is.

But rather than self-belief, I've always despised that phrase "Believe in yourself", I would call it self-knowledge. Nor would I say such a thing is replacing God. For some the development or recognition of the ego is an act of recovering from self-delusion, inferiority and despair. Of course, I guess some would say the same thing for finding God.

Funny, I think I'm starting to go in circles.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

Nothing really replaced God. I just saw It as a symbol and concept that can be simply accepted by some, rejected by others, and puzzled over by those who think too much. I'm in that later category.

In other words, "God" the being was replaced by "God" the puzzle.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

Does anyone envision their views changing back to theism like Stephen?

It does so on a day-by-day basis.

 

[Valjean]

I put the whole concept on a back shelf and bought a toaster oven....

 

[Smoke]

I'm surprised people don't think a new perspective took the place where God used to be however. An ever evolving and changing perspective. That's what I'm trying to discern.

Maybe that's what it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. I wasn't one of those people who think Jesus is their best friend, and my perspective changed over time. Once I got to the point of renouncing Christianity, losing God was surprisingly easy.

 

[Smoke]

I have found that all who dispense with belief in GOD replace it with egoistic self-belief in one form or other. No value judgement there, just an observation.

Not a very astute one, though. Egoism is easily as much at home among theists as among atheists.

 

[Buttercup]

I haven't replaced god with anything. I found a different way of understanding the universe that didn't require an all-powerful being at the center of it.

But, that explanation is replacing your old beliefs in God with something new. Somehow you arrived where you are in Buddhism.

What kind of theism did you leave?

How long afterward did you find relevance with Buddhism?

 

[Buttercup]

Maybe that's what it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. I wasn't one of those people who think Jesus is their best friend, and my perspective changed over time.

I'm sure there are differing levels of "withdrawals" so to speak when one abandons belief in God. I'm thinking the more "devoutly religious" a person was, the more apparent the change.

Once I got to the point of renouncing Christianity, losing God was surprisingly easy.

I hear ya. Once I decided the place of Hell was an erroneous teaching, I came to the conclusion not too long afterwards, "why do I even need a God if there's no punishment for not believing?"

 

[blackout]

when my whole world structure colapsed...
(which included of course the "church/world" definition/understanding of God),

I simply found myself standing there in a whole new reality.
A kind of "wonderland"....
A reality that talks and bends and moves with me.
For me... that reality IS now my OWN experience of God.

For me ... God is now the very fabric and heart of life itself.
The living universe. The source.
Nothing ever changed but my own perspective.

 

[standing_alone]

I didn't realize you and your family were consistent church goers all your life. Or, perhaps you just simply mean that your parents brought you up to believe in God. Still, I think there might be vasts differences leaving God behind for a person who went to church and Sunday school routinely than for those who vaguely believed in the Christian God. I'm not sure which category you fit into.

This probably ain't too relevant to your thread, but since you made this response^, here goes:

My parents were not so much consistent church goers, though when I was younger it was almost every Sunday except in summer. When I got to my early teens, I got really devout and made sure to find ways to get to church. Even if I wasn't in church, I spent a lot of my time thinking about God and reading the Bible (it's so true what "they" say about reading the Bible making atheists ). I used to be a very conservative, evengelical (Lutheran) Christian. Bet that would blow some minds around here. My social/political philosophy began to "liberalize" over time, but I thought I could reconcile it with my religious beliefs and did a fair job at it (except for that one thing about me ). I had an atheistic agnostic friend during this time who was on a spiritual journey and had me attend a Unitarian Universalist church with her. I went, liked it, and attended it as well as my Lutheran church. Then, one night sitting in the pews at my Lutheran church, I was listening to the Pastor reading one of the bloodier Bible passages and I just found believing in and worshiping that absurd. I discarded my belief in God along with other beliefs that made no sense holding anymore (creationism, anyone?--yes, I was a creationist at one time, too ) with little detriment to my belief system (perhaps due to gradual changes in other parts of it over time?) and felt more content.

I don't know if this helps you figure out which category and how all that applies......?

What I meant more succinctly with the question is, where are you now at this point in time regarding your belief system. I am aware that opinions vacillate or change.

Ah, now I get it. *is stupid* Already answered this one then; my belief system's gettin' renovated--parts of the foundation and everything. Maybe I'm at a minor transition point--I don't even know where I am, pretty much. Kind of exciting, if not confusing at times.

This is where you are, too, I bet--in the midst of a transition point. I wouldn't get anxious over it; things will slide into place and, in time, will slide around some more again.

 

[Buttercup]

Then, one night sitting in the pews at my Lutheran church, I was listening to the Pastor reading one of the bloodier Bible passages and I just found believing in and worshiping that absurd. I discarded my belief in God along with other beliefs that made no sense holding anymore (creationism, anyone?--yes, I was a creationist at one time, too ) with little detriment to my belief system (perhaps due to gradual changes in other parts of it over time?) and felt more content.

Seems like I've heard time and time again (mostly IRL) once a crack of genuine disbelief starts, your eyes open to all the other inconsistencies and before you know it, the entire theory goes, kabooooom! It was that way for me too. You reach this point where you finally say to yourself, "Did I really believe all that crap?" Now, when I look back at my Christian life, I'm reminded of how many times I basically told my subconscious to shut up and quit trying to look for flaws. It was like I wanted to "hush" the truth.

This is where you are, too, I bet--in the midst of a transition point. I wouldn't get anxious over it; things will slide into place and, in time, will slide around some more again.

I'm not the least bit anxious...for the first time in a long time. I feel liberated as I'm sure others felt as well. It doesn't bother me at all to say, "hell, I don't know" when it comes to questions about God. Nobody else knows either.

 

[Buttercup]

For me ... God is now the very fabric and heart of life itself.
The living universe. The source.
Nothing ever changed but my own perspective.

I really like how you phrased this.....and, it's so true.

 

[eudaimonia]

If you were once a theist and left behind your belief in a Supreme Being, what replaced God? Please be as specific as possible.

I find that an odd question. I don't feel like I have replaced God with anything. I don't have some alternate way to get to a blissful afterlife, or any God-substitute to Serve, or any magical way to correct a "fallen nature", etc. I have left these behind and replaced them with nothing.

I have what I have always had, even when I was a Catholic -- a human life.

But I am not a nihilist. I have meaning in life. I have ethics. I have ideals. I have a path to tread with eager feet.

What I live now is a human life... on a philosophical path. I suppose I could also call this a spiritual path.

Seen in the simplest way possible, my path involves three basic activities or goals. I'll describe them like this:


Self-examination is a rational reflection on one's worldview, pursuits, and personal psychology.

Self-actualization: An episode...in which the powers of the person come together in a particularly efficient and intensely enjoyable way, and in which he is more integrated and less split, ...more perfectly actualizing his potentialities. -- Dr. Abraham Maslow

Self-esteem is the disposition to experience oneself as being competent to cope with the basic challenges of life and of being worthy of happiness. -- Nathaniel Branden


My meaning is found in this life -- in understanding and appreciating myself and the world around me, in pursuing and accomplishing what matters to me, and in appreciating the fact that I was born and have been able to make good use of my life. I follow my callings the best that I can, and seek to be true to myself.

I haven't replaced God with something else... I've shifted my focus and my perspective. God is no longer needed. I realized I had the wrong product, put it back on the shelf, and realized I should have been looking at other shelves.


eudaimonia,

Mark