Struggles of being an Atheist.

[Year of the Rooster]

Quote: Unfortunately though, there are people out there that think THEIR way is the RIGHT way, which is definitely not the case. And hence why there are so many conflicts in the world.

 

[nok13]

hi thanx...

truthfully i think is a royal pain in the butt to live in a religous/state society. simple things become difficult: my parents here from america , although jewish, dont follow kosher laws, and here practically every restaraunt is either dairy OR meat, not both. so we had a hard time finding food mom and dad would eat. also, on sabbath from friday to saturday all stores and venues are closed here in jerusaelm (well, most), but at least in the moslem villages and east jerusaelm things are open. but then we went to go to the shuk (open market) in east jerusalem and i hadnt remembered that is its the russian orthodox (or maybe greek orthodox?) good friday and easter sunday so the entire east city was closed for all the pilgrims coming to the sacred city...
im not religious be we still light friday night shabbat candles and say blessings over the wine and bread/salt, which my parents arent used to doing... here, even non religious folks tend to do this as a friday family ritual , it separates weekdays (work strife etc) from sabbath days (quiet/or fun time for one and half days)...

here, clothing , head coverings, types of skull caps, all identify someone as part of one sect or an other, or non at all, regardless of what they internally think.
for americans , religioun is something u take for granted as having the freedom to do it, or not, and its something that is not 100% part of your identity. here, everyhting is so very much more complex, not just relagated to 'what religioun are you?' but to "what sect/community/how strict/rigid/in practice/what leaders do u believe in? "
and i am only talking about judaism. not to mention muslem types. here, religioun is strongly identified with nation and family, and not just if and where u pray on a particular day.
an other comment: u can be religious and not believe in god (in judaism for the most part it is the practice not the belief that is important.) in theravada budhism it is the intent not the action that is important (the opposite really of jewish practice, if taken dryly). in the states, u can believe in god without the 'wrapping' around it, because the 'wrapping' is not part of daily life. no one will make a fuss if u bring a ham sandwich to school, buries you outside teh cemetery because u 'dont belong' by blood relation from the maternal side of the family even if u served in the army; the list goes on.
americans take their 'freedoms' to believe as par for the course. here i had to get married out side the country because i was marrying someone outside my born in to faith, because religioun is part of state.
believeing in a greater being does not have any connection whatsoever to organized religioun; or un organized religioun for that matter. but in the states, what u do in your own home doesn not much matter to others. here, it is part of who u are... regardless of your actual beliefs. people here tend to react with incredulousness when finding out that someone doesnt believe in a 'supreme being' since it is so ingrained in everyday living from school to work (someone wants to go off to pray for a few minutes wether they are muslem or jewish , no one bats an eye, its par for the course); here during holidays, if u are not religious in some way at all, during holidays your main desire is to go somewhere neutral... the best was when i was in the states and forgot about some holiday (not some holiday actually it was yom kippur, which i never fast or go to pray. here, i kind of 'hide' at home, rather like muslems 'hiding' when they eat during ramadan. in the states, no one paid any attention what soever. it wsa like WOW ... freedom. no one is looking to see if i am eating today. nver mind that i didnt go to pray, but to not eat in public, or at work, or to make an excuse (low blood sugar). or eating bread in public on passover. thses are religous aspects of things that have nothing whatsoever to do with supreme beings/god or any one else. .. even though of course there are lots of religious anti types in the states,ive met them as a young child, but still, religioun, belief, and state are separate in most of america for good and bad.

 

[DennisK]

Hopefully this thread will not become a problem. But I acknowledge, fully, that it may. I am not creating it in hopes of such an outcome. I would much rather this become a place where those of no religion can come to discuss their struggles in life. Struggles with rejection, misunderstanding, and the like. Personally I could probably write 20 pages worth of my experiences of being atheist. And I have only identified as such for about 3 years now. But I would like to get other non-religious'/atheist's views of life.



The more I think of this subject, the more the labels we give to ourselves and to others seem to diminish in meaning. You appear to have come to the point where the religious dogma that you grew up with no longer works for you; so in search of a greater truth, pronounce yourself an Atheist – all in the name of, and in the search for truth. Even though I consider myself faith based, I think we have that in common. Your love of truth is like my love of God, because, as I see it, both are the same. Look for the truth in all that you do, brother – I’ll do the same. We’ll just give each other different names.