Is a delusional purpose better than no purpose?

[Christopherhays]

I’ve struggled with depression for years and all my friends and family’s support has felt hollow since I left their religion. I know I was able to cope with this better before I lost my faith... my question is: Do Christians feel more meaning/purpose/fulfillment in life? If they do, should we encourage religion even if we know it’s delusional? 

 

I personally have trouble setting goals and motivating myself to achieve them. Nothing seems as meaningful anymore and that sorta sucks... 

[midniterider]

17 hours ago, Christopherhays said:

I’ve struggled with depression for years and all my friends and family’s support has felt hollow since I left their religion. I know I was able to cope with this better before I lost my faith... my question is: Do Christians feel more meaning/purpose/fulfillment in life? If they do, should we encourage religion even if we know it’s delusional? 

 

I personally have trouble setting goals and motivating myself to achieve them. Nothing seems as meaningful anymore and that sorta sucks... 

 

Is this depression under a doctor's care? If not, that might be the first place to start. 

 

Did you set goals and motivate yourself ok as a Christian? Were they Christian goals? Or non-Christian goals? Recent deconverts frequently mention having problem with finding meaning in their life as an ex-Christian. One reason might be that Christians are programmed to believe that life meaning is an important consideration and that Christianity is the only thing that provides it.

 

I was raised agnostic and there was little talk of 'life meaning' other than to find some career and hobbies I liked. From this perspective I understood it was up to me to find fulfillment in life on my own, not that there was a big urgency to it. For Christians it's pretty cut and dried. It's a no-brainer. Every Christian does some similar kind of thing to get into heaven. 

 

Now that you're an Ex-Christian, take some time to find out what you like and what you want. Maybe not put as much emphasis on 'life meaning.' I believe Alan Watts said the meaning of life is to live it. Maybe also deconstruct the Christian meaning of life. Why do you feel Christianity gives life meaning? Maybe remind yourself why you left the religion. Kissing Jesus' ass for eternity has zero meaning to me.  Jesus could have at least provided the residents of heaven with 72 virgins like in Islam. 

 

Do Christians feel more meaning/purpose/fulfillment in life? I dont think so. I stepped into Christianity for 10 years during my 30s and stepped back out. I havent missed it either. Ok, maybe the potlucks. There are certainly highly goal oriented and motivated people who do not believe in Jesus. 

 

After being in an organized religion I would never recommend it to anyone. Church is a system of control and financial income. If your favorite delusion causes you no harm, then go for it. I personally suffered from fear and guilt and shame in Christianity, though. If you want to rewrite your own religion, go ahead. Make it positive, dont allow toxicity, and most of all make sure YOU are the supreme leader of your belief system. Dont let it rule you. You rule it. And make common sense and reason be your primary guide in life. 

 

Midnite Rider

Fellow Agnostic

 

edited. Left out "YOU"

[TEG]

You lost your crutches and now you can’t walk.  Alternatives to going back to the crutches:

 

1.  Use a scooter or wheelchair.  Find (or better, make) a new purpose.  For some, it is what is at hand:  work, family.  Others find a philosophy or even a non-theistic religion like buddhism.  A community or some sort of support network sounds like it might help given that your old support feels hollow.  I have known people who sought out buddhist meditation groups, and I have known at least one atheist quaker.

 

2.  Fix your legs.  As Midnite Rider said, maybe it is time to see a physician or therapist.  Maybe it is biological; maybe it is something else in your life; maybe it is your old religion itself, or having left it.  As evidenced by the existence of exchristian.net, religious trauma is a thing . . . .

 

Having left theism, I am still fascinated by religion and the things that people come up with, most recently hinduism.  And I still like some of the trappings of the old religion like christmas music.  But there is no way I could turn to christianity to find actual purpose in my life; besides the fact that it is all made up, the faith I was raised in was just too toxic.

[Christopherhays]

32 minutes ago, midniterider said:

 

Is this depression under a doctor's care? If not, that might be the first place to start. 

 

Did you set goals and motivate yourself ok as a Christian? Were they Christian goals? Or non-Christian goals? Recent deconverts frequently mention having problem with finding meaning in their life as an ex-Christian. One reason might be that Christians are programmed to believe that life meaning is an important consideration and that Christianity is the only thing that provides.....

Thanks for the reply! I was very motivated to achieve Christian goals back in the day. I  remember a few days where I woke up and started studying biblical scholarship or biblical languages and it would be midnight before I realized I never ate anything or left my desk lol. I was very passionate and obsessed. I think I can still recite the sermon on the mount from memory. All that probably got my idea of “purpose” messed up... every major decision my family makes is in an effort to “follow gods plan.” My brother is even in the Middle East right now trying to convert Muslims because it’s “gods calling.” I too started seriously studying Christianity with the idea that I had supernatural calling to fulfill some higher purpose... I guess I’m still working to rethink some things.

[Wertbag]

When god doesn't communicate, we can't understand His ways, and He works in mysterious ways, what real meaning of life can you gain? If He has a plan then He hasn't told us what that is. Christians who claim purpose are still making that up for themselves. Whatever they want to do with their lives they can slap a "calling" label on it and justify anything. There have been serial killers who claimed they were doing gods work, so what is the difference between the plan they pulled out of thin air and a Christian pulling missionary work out of thin air? 

 

I too have depression, but what you need to know is it will get better. It may not feel like it but we often look so short term we don't see how our lives can change. Think back 5 years, there is a good chance your life was quite different. Maybe you had a different home, job, school, pets, hobbies, goals, love life, style or priorities. There is alot that can change and alot we can influence. Talking to a professional can help, there are coping mechanisms that can be employed or drugs to help balance your mood. 

Personally I found I suffered the most when I sat and dwelt on my problems. An idle mind goes to bad places, so keep active. Keep your mind busy and you won't dwell on the negative. I started martial arts and found that had many positives (fitness, flexibility, new friends, goals to achieve and useful skills), even just working out keeps your mind busy. Find your joy. 

[Astreja]

Christopher, think back to earlier in your life.  What are non-religious things you wanted to do when you were younger?  I've found that to be a fairly dependable starting point, and in fact my top three current avocational activities (music, writing and astronomy) are all things that I enjoyed in my pre-teen years.

[Christopherhays]

1 hour ago, Wertbag said:

When god doesn't communicate, we can't understand His ways, and He works in mysterious ways, what real meaning of life can you gain? If He has a plan then He hasn't told us what that is. Christians who claim purpose are still making that up for themselves. Whatever they want to do with their lives they can slap a "calling" label on it and justify anything. There have been serial killers who claimed they were doing gods work, so what is the difference between the plan they pulled out of thin air and a Christian pulling missionary work out of thin air? 

 

I too have depression, but what you need to know is it will get better. It may not feel like it but we often look so short term we don't see how our lives can change. Think back 5 years, there is a good chance your life was quite different. Maybe you had a different home, job, school, pets, hobbies, goals, love life, style or priorities. There is alot that can change and alot we can influence. Talking to a professional can help, there are coping mechanisms that can be employed or drugs to help balance your mood. 

Personally I found I suffered the most when I sat and dwelt on my problems. An idle mind goes to bad places, so keep active. Keep your mind busy and you won't dwell on the negative. I started martial arts and found that had many positives (fitness, flexibility, new friends, goals to achieve and useful skills), even just working out keeps your mind busy. Find your joy. 

 

I agree. Thanks for the reply I really appreciate it

[Christopherhays]

19 minutes ago, Astreja said:

Christopher, think back to earlier in your life.  What are non-religious things you wanted to do when you were younger?  I've found that to be a fairly dependable starting point, and in fact my top three current avocational activities (music, writing and astronomy) are all things that I enjoyed in my pre-teen years.

 

My main hobby was wildlife photography. Idk if I’m less amazed by wildlife or not now that I believe in evolution... it’s just a bit different. I suppose I have other hobbies that haven’t changed though. Thanks for the reply!

[older]

21 hours ago, midniterider said:

Maybe not put as much emphasis on 'life meaning.' I believe Alan Watts said the meaning of life is to live it.

 

One of my favorite quotes:

 

What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night.

It is the breath of a buffalo in the winter time.

It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.

— Crowfoot, a Blackfoot chief

 

And one more:

 

Start where you are.

Use what you have.

Do what you can.

— Arthur Ashe

[Hole_In_My_Heart]

Is enjoying hobbies the same thing as having a purpose? Enjoying life is great, but that doesn't sound like a purpose exactly. I think a purpose has to extend beyond yourself. Something like serving your country, your community, trying to make the world a better place, doing some kind of volunteer work to help the less fortunate, that sounds like a purpose to me. Just my opinion.

[florduh]

The purpose of music is the playing. The purpose of dance is the dancing. The purpose of life is the living.

 

I recommend you stop trying to make more of it than it is. It is enough, really.

[Lerk]

On 8/26/2019 at 11:09 PM, Christopherhays said:

I’ve struggled with depression for years and all my friends and family’s support has felt hollow since I left their religion. I know I was able to cope with this better before I lost my faith... my question is: Do Christians feel more meaning/purpose/fulfillment in life? If they do, should we encourage religion even if we know it’s delusional? 

 

I personally have trouble setting goals and motivating myself to achieve them. Nothing seems as meaningful anymore and that sorta sucks... 

 

I've never set goals, really! Oh, I did finish college (after changing my major 3 times), but I've always lived my life a day at a time. And I've always found my "meaning" in my responsibilities. I have work, I have family, and I have things to do. What more meaning do I need? Well, I know what's going on in the world and have discussions about it, and contribute to causes and organizations that I feel are important -- so there's more meaning. I'm thinking more and more about how I'm going to be able to retire (I'm 59 years old) and I should have made that more important many years ago, but even now I wouldn't call it a goal. I need to get as much put away as I can, but I don't really think I want to retire. I just know that I'll have to some day.

 

The meaning in life, I think, just comes along. I have grandchildren and I love to spend time with them. I love having grown-up conversations with my kids and their spouses. I enjoy spending the evenings with my wife, even when it's boring, because we're together. I enjoy listening to music, but not as much as I used to. I listen to podcasts in the car while commuting every day. All of that stuff is just there, but it has meaning.

 

Largely, this day-to-day attitude that I was either born with or picked up somehow has meant that I never thought about Heaven or Hell, and certainly never imagined what they would be like. Apologists sometimes say that without eternity, life is absurd, but I think eternity is every bit as absurd. How can sitting in front of a throne worshiping a deity forever and ever be meaningful?

 

"Meaningful" is making things work, getting things done. Meaningful is enjoying a good meal. Meaningful is enjoying a fast-food meal. Meaningful is laughing with your friends and family. Meaningful is laughing at a TV show or a movie. Meaningful is experiencing anything -- a relationship or a story or anything -- that brings out emotion, happy or sad or just deep. Meaning and purpose are found in the everyday tasks and entertainment and relationships we experience. No ultimate goal is required. In fact, believing that there's an ultimate goal takes away from the true meaning, which is found in the everyday.

 

So I guess you're young and don't have some of those things, but you still have a 24-hour day that's full of meaning. Over time, the meaning changes, but it's there already, every waking hour.

[TruthSeeker0]

On 9/7/2019 at 9:37 PM, florduh said:

The purpose of music is the playing. The purpose of dance is the dancing. The purpose of life is the living.

 

I recommend you stop trying to make more of it than it is. It is enough, really.

I agree with this. @Christopherhaysi have depression as well. It comes and goes, some days are better than others. It came about partially as a result of not having enough of a support network after leaving my ex church, health challenges and the difficulties that created in my life. Mine is relatively mild but I can say that I think it would have gotten a lot worse had I stayed in the church. Yes, the meaning of life has changed for me but in a good way. While before the meaning and purpose was to be a good little Christian and make it to heaven, now I get to really ask myself "what do I want" or "what's important to me." The latter question in particular has helped. It has meant less guilt over taking more time for myself and my hobbies, clarifying what values are important to me, which opens up

new ideas such as volunteering or helping others. 

Ask yourself such questions. What does a good life look like? What do you enjoy? What's important? For me the secret was shedding the guilt I felt over focusing on truly answering these questions as I wanted, without giving thought to what I might think was expected of me. 

[Christopherhays]

I think I got the final answer to this question in the worst possible way. My pastor committed suicide this week. He left his wife and young children behind. Depression is really an issue and I’ll support almost anything that motivates people to keep going... but I don’t think Christianity is a solution anymore. Another pastor with young children committed suicide about 2 blocks away from me last year. It seems like Christians struggle just as much as the rest of us. Christianity may help some people but it’s definitely not a “one size fits all” solution to depression or purpose. I think the suggestions you all posted would be much more beneficial. I definitely appreciate everyone taking the time to share their thoughts. 

 

[Joshpantera]

On 8/27/2019 at 12:09 AM, Christopherhays said:

I’ve struggled with depression for years and all my friends and family’s support has felt hollow since I left their religion. I know I was able to cope with this better before I lost my faith... my question is: Do Christians feel more meaning/purpose/fulfillment in life? If they do, should we encourage religion even if we know it’s delusional? 

 

I personally have trouble setting goals and motivating myself to achieve them. Nothing seems as meaningful anymore and that sorta sucks... 

 

It's a matter of perspective. There is a sort of meme that goes around suggesting a false dichotomy: either there is a supernatural purpose or no purpose at all. 

 

People come in to this thinking either from hearing others express similar sentiment, or just coming to this general conclusion on their own. But you have to factor in that christians themselves spread this false dichotomy of despair AND a lot of atheist's tend to play lip service to it as well. So it comes from both popular fronts. 

 

But is it true? 

 

While debating with LuthAMF, he kept trying to pin me to the ropes with this false dichotomy. The truth is that this is something that we don't actually know for certain. How could anyone possibly know for certain whether or not there is any kind of purpose for life aside from a mythological, and supernatural set of assumptions and assertions? 

 

Because just off the top of my head I can think of several scenarios that could have purpose involved in them without any mythological or supernatural assumption and assertions. 

 

1) We exist in a simulation, and the simulation in and of itself has a purpose involved. 

2) We exist in an eternal multiverse where infinite replication paradox exists. Everything would happen for a reason, even if the reason is simply because replication will necessarily play out over and over again. 

3) We exist in a universe which evolves in the direction of self awareness and the evolution of self aware creatures is pivotal to the life cycle of a given universe. Perhaps self aware creatures playing key roles in the grand scheme which, may also involve repetition. 

4) We exist in a universe which has as of yet unknown and /or unforeseen purpose, reason and meaning. 

 

Aside from that, Florduh's right. Life is what you make of it. Purpose is also what you make of it, whether it's happening per free will or deterministic factors. It's what ever you are making it out to be. It doesn't have to be any more complicated than that. 

[♦ Fuego ♦]

The other animals on Earth seem to spend their time living rather than looking for any greater meaning or purpose. The flip side is that they may not be able to look for any such meaning. But the forte of humans is abstraction, which gives us language, math, and sometimes overactive imagination from which we get religions and other cults. Humans forget that we abstract things, and treat those concepts like they are real instead of imaginary. Even money is an abstraction, a useful one, but ultimately just a mostly non-perishable convenience to which we assign value and use instead of hunting our own meat and veggies. Gold has no inherent value for human life, only value which we assign to it. 

 

So we are alive, and if we had not been conditioned to think of imaginary purpose, be it political, religious, caste, or other abstraction, we would simply live and go about living enjoying our other abstractions like music and culture. Coffee is real, though. 

[TheRedneckProfessor]

I have had to relearn how I define meaning, based on learning (or, rather, attempting to learn) to live in the moment.  To center myself in the now.  According to one particular Zen philosophy, one should do whatever one is doing in the moment with as much perfection as one can, be it making a cup of tea or negotiating a corporate takeover.  Because it is only in the moments that such perfection can be found.  At this moment, I am at a local Asian market eating a lunch of steamed buns and kimchi and watching a little Korean boy who is just starting to interact with his world.  This is the most meaningful experience of my life; because my life consists of this moment.

[LogicalFallacy]

I am reminded of something I wrote about meaning and purpose on my site back when I was considering the question. I think it is as relevant today as back then:

 

Quote

 

Some Christians say that the atheist viewpoint on life is that it is ultimately meaningless. They quote Richard Dawkins in Unweaving the Rainbow who hints at such when he says “We are going to die…. how dare we whine at our inevitable return to that prior state…? That prior state he is referring to, is of course is nothingness. If you ultimately return to nothingness and the whole universe will one day be nothingness does that mean life is ultimately meaningless?

 

To many Christians, William Lane Craig included, feel that if there is no god with no ultimate purpose then everything is ultimately meaningless, even “depressing” according to Dr Craig. And yet, when you look at a beautiful red sunset and a tear rolls down your eye, or you listen to music that uplifts your spirit, or watch children at play and smile, do you feel that life is meaningless? Of course not. It is these very things that give life meaning.

 

Christians have a different problem on their hands. For a great many unfortunate people in this world, life does indeed seem meaningless. Millions die each year of starvation, disease, war and disaster. If it is the ultimate plan of God that gives meaning to life, yet the vast majority don’t get to go to heaven because they either didn’t believe in god, or believed the wrong god, or the wrong doctrine of the same god, then where is the meaning for them? I think when Christians say their god gives meaning to life, what they mean is God gives them meaning for their life. There is no over arching God gives meaning to life.

 

Ultimately the universe does not care whether you live or die. If you want meaning from life you have to find it within yourself. Certainly a non existent god or gods won’t give meaning to you.

 

 

And to quote the great Carl Sagan: "“The significance of our lives and our fragile planet is then determined only by our own wisdom and courage. We are the custodians of life's meaning. We long for a Parent to care for us, to forgive us our errors, to save us from our childish mistakes. But knowledge is preferable to ignorance. Better by far to embrace the hard truth than a reassuring fable. If we crave some cosmic purpose, then let us find ourselves a worthy goal.”"

[TruthSeeker0]

On 9/14/2019 at 1:33 AM, Christopherhays said:

I think I got the final answer to this question in the worst possible way. My pastor committed suicide this week. He left his wife and young children behind. Depression is really an issue and I’ll support almost anything that motivates people to keep going... but I don’t think Christianity is a solution anymore. Another pastor with young children committed suicide about 2 blocks away from me last year. It seems like Christians struggle just as much as the rest of us. Christianity may help some people but it’s definitely not a “one size fits all” solution to depression or purpose. I think the suggestions you all posted would be much more beneficial. I definitely appreciate everyone taking the time to share their thoughts. 

 

There are many here who have stated that their depression lightened or disappeared when they left Christianity, particularly the fundamentalist controlling variety. I think Christians are brainwashed in regards to life's purpose and thus they feel at loose ends when they leave and don't know how to think for themselves because they're so used to group think. Those who have rebelled against the group think in secret for years, as was my case looking back on it, they feel the load lighten when the depression is related to not being able to be true to who they really are. 

[trashy]

I ran into this issue shortly after deconverting. Most of my non-working hours were tied up in church. I spent the last five years of church life as the worship leader, which ate up a significant number of hours, receiving exactly zero dollars for that time. It gave me a *sense* of purpose, outside of the general *meaning of life* that comes from religion.

 

Most of this *sense* of purpose transferred over to my career once I settled into I.T. My non-working hours were spent pursuing fun things. Eventually we set a goal for early retirement and achieved it in a series of faltering steps. Now a *new* problem has arisen in that I have found that having lost both religion and my career, I actually feel a profound sense of just drifting through life without *any* sense of purpose.

 

I'm not talking about cosmic level purpose. There is none. There is no designer or creator, therefore our existence is pure chance, and when we die we slowly return to the stardust we came from. I'm fully comfortable with that. But a *sense* of purpose is basically the emotional feeling that others want or need you or your services, your time. To feel needed/wanted. Church often provides this for a lot of people. Lately I am feeling a strong need to find a non-religious substitute. Purpose and Legacy. These are the things one dwells on in their later years. 

[♦ Fuego ♦]

Trashy,

3 hours ago, trashy said:

My non-working hours were spent pursuing fun things.

 

You led worship, so you play an instrument and/or sing? Music can be a great way to spend time with others doing something fun. I've wondered what I would do if I didn't have a day job, and I'd try to pour myself into singing, since that is my main hobby. My Facilities work for the last 8 years gets me up early and to bed early, so I can't even go to the jams where I used to sing. But being around other legit musicians makes me up my game in musicianship. I also video performances by singers as a part time side job. I keep it affordable and get some free shows out of it. I live near Portland and we have an absolute glut of musical talent of every kind here. I'm mostly in the jazz-standards realm.

 

Cooking is my other love, and learning to perfect simple cooking (like BBQ) is a great use of time. I'm going to venture into fermented foods now, since that is a very old way of preserving food and the natural probiotics are good for the gut. It can be a great social thing when done in large quantities and working with others. 

 

I spent 20+ years in IT myself (HP manufacturing and office, then county gov't) I stopped fixing other people's computers about 4 years ago even though I could pick up easy money that way. I just got tired of dealing with computer problems. 

 

EDIT: Oh, and I keep up my geekery by doing electronic projects and building my own computers for video editing.

 

Anyway, just throwing a few ideas out there. 

[Myrkhoos]

I know something of that feeling.  But you see the purpose of dancing IS NOT dancing, the purpose of dancing is pleasure of some sort. All these answers above amount to that actually, pleasure of different kinds. Getting into heaven is also pleasure. We are pleasure seeking beings that much is obvious. I disagree about the whole you make your own purpose thing. In a sense yes but we live in a community and kind of need common goals. If not , a nation of individuals seeking their own thing is going to be replaced so easily by something like Islam with a certain central authority. Or china. Meaning is also about order.  We do not like chaos, at all and seek order. Our pattern seeking abilities attest to that. A religion providrs basic world structure. A basic map of reality. As saud by TEG many turn to some of non religious buddhism and /or modern physics. We are by nature religious  and have basic myths that drive our life. One modern one is human rights. Many fight for that but it is as abstract and lacking in solid facts as many religious claims. The Us Constitution is a myth making entity the we consider self evident that people have certain inalienable rights stuff. It is as self evident as the existence of God. We have a huge symbolic side to our nature which needs tending and us as important as our logical side. Carl Sagan is just a modern mythmaker because guess what? That is how our minds work. In grand narratives. I am pretty sute evolution is just that a replacement myth. We make sense of the world and interact with it in a combination of symbols and logic. Some people may have a stronger need for transcendent meaning. Idk.

[ConsiderTheSource]

On 12/9/2019 at 3:42 AM, Myrkhoos said:

I know something of that feeling.  But you see the purpose of dancing IS NOT dancing, the purpose of dancing is pleasure of some sort. All these answers above amount to that actually, pleasure of different kinds. Getting into heaven is also pleasure. We are pleasure seeking beings that much is obvious. I disagree about the whole you make your own purpose thing. In a sense yes but we live in a community and kind of need common goals. If not , a nation of individuals seeking their own thing is going to be replaced so easily by something like Islam with a certain central authority. Or china. Meaning is also about order.  We do not like chaos, at all and seek order. Our pattern seeking abilities attest to that. A religion providrs basic world structure. A basic map of reality. As saud by TEG many turn to some of non religious buddhism and /or modern physics. We are by nature religious  and have basic myths that drive our life. One modern one is human rights. Many fight for that but it is as abstract and lacking in solid facts as many religious claims. The Us Constitution is a myth making entity the we consider self evident that people have certain inalienable rights stuff. It is as self evident as the existence of God. We have a huge symbolic side to our nature which needs tending and us as important as our logical side. Carl Sagan is just a modern mythmaker because guess what? That is how our minds work. In grand narratives. I am pretty sute evolution is just that a replacement myth. We make sense of the world and interact with it in a combination of symbols and logic. Some people may have a stronger need for transcendent meaning. Idk.

We don't exist.  Then we do exist.  Then we don't exist.

 

Given we are all held to facts above, expressing and executing empathy for our fellow travelers stuck with the same finite reality would seem to be a very high, and worthy, purpose.

[Myrkhoos]

1. I really am not sure your facts are true. What is this " we"  anyway? 2.Empathy is a feeling which normally arises in humans when one recognises wnd " feels " the suffering of others. I would not consider a high and worthy purpose, no more than any other involuntary acts like being attracted to beautiful females. Executing that , through relationships and family is something many ppl also find meaningful aka pleasurful. I sometimes feel angry at others and executing that brings some pleasure aka meaning. Look on wars, many people found great meaning in fighting in wars. Plus helping others does not answer the big questions. Why help him exist? Why exist? And the answer is, you guess it, pleasure.  Because if you alkeviate suffering you automatically cause a flood of feel good chemichals in you, if you liked it. We are all drug addicts in a way and the biggest dealer and consumer is our own neuroendocrine system. Christianity promises eternal conscious inimiginable bliss. After giving that up withdrawl should probably kick in. Plus giving up you are chosen of God playing a role in a mega cosmic drama full of excitement to you just a bunch of atoms who came together and will shortly dissolve is again a letdown. I mean after cocaine addiction of several years a nice hot cocoa would not make you feel good until your circuitry settles down. One of the reasons that also contributes to post war PTSD. your system is used to one level of excitement. Coming back to wife and children , a job seems pointless in comparison. Drinking and hard drugs keep your brain that state again.

[LostinParis]

On 8/27/2019 at 2:09 PM, Christopherhays said:

I’ve struggled with depression for years and all my friends and family’s support has felt hollow since I left their religion. I know I was able to cope with this better before I lost my faith... my question is: Do Christians feel more meaning/purpose/fulfillment in life? If they do, should we encourage religion even if we know it’s delusional? 

 

I personally have trouble setting goals and motivating myself to achieve them. Nothing seems as meaningful anymore and that sorta sucks... 

 

Does the fact that Christianity provides people with purpose and comfort out-weigh the need for Christianity to be true? For me the answer was no.

Bringing children into this world, helping to ease the suffering of others...  By focusing on the needs of others my life now has REAL purpose and meaning.