Comments on: Were You Better at Something When You Had Religious Faith?

By: christina

christina — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:51:02 +0000

I wonder…is it possible to be religious and atheist at the same time? Is that a dumb question? Maybe religiously atheist? hah.

By: To Each His (Or Her) Own

To Each His (Or Her) Own — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 06:21:37 +0000

I am not an atheist (I am in fact a Christian) but am an avid believer of question. Always question! Question your government (which is why I’m liberal), and question what people tell you religiously. NEVER just take things for what people say, because humans are still humans and tend to put their personal interpretations into messages when that may be their mere opinion. If you simply take to heart whatever you’re told, then you never know WHY you believe something. Only that you’ve been told to. It sounds like the bulk of you guys are not so much angry with your previous faith but at the leaders of it. Because the qualities you guys are saying you possessed while believers are not qualities of the Bible, this I know. In fact, Jesus taught AGAINST self-righteousness (encouraging the service of others) and arrogance, as we are ALL imperfect sinners, including Christians. ESPECIALLY Christians. If your church encouraged “high noses” among others different from you, then that is an error of the leader, NOT the faith. That is a core example of the necessity to always QUESTION QUESTION QUESTION! The very same way you may be armed with an artillery of evidence against religion, when you did believe you might have benefitted from having strong evidence supporting your faith.

By: WK

WK — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:36:12 +0000

I’m bipolar, and my natural writing style, nay, the way I think, tends to read, to others, like a freshly manicured nail sliding down slate at a perpendicular angle. When I was religious, I’d be up one day, down the next, it was bad and painful for me and everyone around me but I wrote, and wrote and wrote. One day I figured I’d share some of the collected writings. Upswings aren’t always happy, so some of it is optimistic, some of it pessimistic, alot of it sardonic, but according to a few people, all bipolar, the mania shows through pretty darn clearly.
I never made any real money (other than enough for a hamburger or two), or even thought of myself as an artist, but there were alot of people who seemed impressed with what I had to say, or how I said it, or both. I feel I should note that when I recited, I did so with all the fervor I had when I wrote them down.

When I finally gave up on faith, the mood swings went too. I’ve leveled out and no longer take any psychiatric medicine whatsoever. I still get little “manic lite” days, but they’re mild enough that I can deal with them using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. When the mania left, the writing left, and so did the screaming on the top of my lungs about wittgenstein and winnie the pooh wearing a 5x shirt and boxer shorts to 30 to 40 people in a coffee house.

I’m pretty embarrassed of it now, but it was passion and I think that’s what attracted people. Well, okay, honestly it could have been like watching an emotional trainwreck, or it could have been the fact that on a few occasions I’d wear a mumu with a bright yellow speedo temporarily hidden underneath, but I’d like to think that it was because I had passion.

I still have passions, but it’s not the same thing. I’ve become interested in science, studied, graduated, found work, but my passion for understanding the world around me is nothing like thinking that waterboarding a stuffed animal is somehow an expression of my inner turmoil.

Long story short, or All the Teal Deer Look Here: Manic Depressives will tell you that the feeling of mania, the happy euphoric mania, is addicting. Some people will go off of their meds to feel the highs only to realize how their memory downplayed the lows. I miss the mania sometimes, even though I remember the rock bottoms all too well, and it was religion that seemed to be what made me manic. In a way I miss religion, like an ex addict misses his/her poison of choice.

By: hoverFrog

hoverFrog — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:44:59 +0000

I’ve never had a religion and I can’t imagine any benefits to having one. Karen mentions death being easier to cope with but I think I would blame a god if I’d had faith and watched my mother wither away from cancer and die in pain and my grandfather and partner’s father fade away with alzheimer’s till there was nothing but a shell left. I think if I’d believed in a god I’d end up hating him for that.

It is much better to believe that there is nothing protecting us and nothing singling us out. It is simply nature at work. I think this is one way that religion can really harm people.

By: DGKnipfer

DGKnipfer — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:07:41 +0000

Nope, can’t think of anything. I haven’t changed that much by letting go of the last dregs of religion.

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 06:46:14 +0000

I was better at feeling soul-crushing guilt (no pun intended) for things which were perfectly natural. Like not wanting to go to confession.

I was also better at getting really excited about certain things having to do with my religion, such a those religious advice books.

Also, I used to really like anything that was essentially secular, but which had a slight air of religiosity to it. (Think books like “The Moviegoer,” “Chronicles of Narnia,” etc. Or musical artists, like Sufjan Stevens.)

Although, now I have just moved those interests into things like science, history, and philosophy.

Also, during my “transition” phase away from Catholicism, I spent about a year being REALLY into “woo” stuff, like Taoism, and meditation, and Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Tao Te Ching, etc. While I recognize it’s basically homeopathy wrapped in Eastern Mysticism, I still catch myself getting excited, even when just vaguely thinking about it.

The stuff from Catholicism, though, I’m so detached from it now, I can’t even remember how or why I was ever really excited about it. I just remember that I really, really was. Now, I don’t think I could get into this stuff even if I wanted.
Sorry, I just can’t turn my brain off any more.

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:09:48 +0000

I guess I was better when confronted with death. Since I came from a large extended family, someone was always dying. We were always going to funerals. I suppose it is easier to say to someone “He/She is in a better place” even though I didn’t believe it. Now, I usually say nothing. Awkward silences are a lot of fun .
So, I guess you can say religiosity helped me at funerals.

By: efrique

efrique — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:15:04 +0000

The only thing I lost was fear.

By: We Are The 801

We Are The 801 — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:58:09 +0000

To echo a recurring sentiment here: I was better at having low self-esteem.

Also, I was better at being dishonest with myself.

Other than that, no.

By: RG

RG — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 16:48:44 +0000

I was much better at ignoring scientific facts.

I was also much better at not annoying people by questioning their beliefs.