I know that this doesn't always mean that my plan are going to work out the way that I want them to. Sometimes I am going to fail, or something is going to happen to block my way, but this doesn't mean that I am going to give up and say "well I guess God didn't want me to do that." No, if it is something that I really want to do I am going to pick myself back up and try again.
Growing up I was always really confused about what I was supposed to do. I could never figure out what God's plan was for my life. It seemed as if I was playing a huge game of guess and check with God. I never seemed to get a clear answer like some of my other Christian friends said they got. I was told that I wasn't praying hard enough or studying the Bible often enough. So I would try to get closer to God, but still I wouldn't get any clear answers. This was all very frustrating and scary for me. I thought that God didn't care about me, or that maybe I wasn't saved at all since I wasn't getting answers like all my friends.
Now that I am an Atheist I feel free to make my own decisions and write my own life. I know that I am not following a script that has been written for me. My life has a lot of empty pages that I can use to live out all my dreams. I really wish that everyone knew they are the only ones that hold the key to the rest of their lives.
11 comments:
Indeed. The "I felt God's calling" nonsense always bothered me too. Nobody ever had a straight answer to the obvious questions raised by such an assertion.
I'm glad that we've finally allowed ourselves to adopt the worldview that neatly resolves that paradox (and many others). :-)
Kevin, thanks for the comment. I am very glad that you are my husband and that you will be by my side as together we write the story of our lives.
Great post! I found you though Atheist Revolution.
Even as a youngster I could never understand why anyone would "give up" their independence so readily for a god that isn't obvious. And it disturbed me that they were actually proud of this stance on life.
I still struggle when a family member give credit to god when something good happens and also says god has a mysterious plan when things go wrong. I want to shake them (figuratively, of course!) and say "WTF are you thinking?!"
I'm much happier being an atheist and having control of my life!
Thanks for the comment! I have often wanted to ask Christians when the give credit to a god for something how do they know which god did it? Seriously where is the proof that it was the Christian god, for all they know it could have been Zeus.
Anyway, I hope that you continue to visit my blog.
Thanks for the visit and the post. I'll be visiting often!
The freedom to be myself and the freedom not to worry about meeting arbitrary standards set by others are two of the greatest things I've gained since renouncing Christianity.
Chaplain, Thanks for your comment. I would have to agree that those are some great freedoms that come along with this perspective.
True freedom comes from knowing God and being restored to Him. It is far more confining and limiting to live life apart from knowing Him. Truth is such a freeing thing. However, I have no qualms with your questioning of hearing from God and His existence. Keep looking for truth in all you do.
"True freedom comes from knowing God and being restored to Him. It is far more confining and limiting to live life apart from knowing Him."
Let me get this straight: to increase my level of freedom, I should submit to the restrictions of an invisible sky fairy.
How exactly does that give me "true freedom"? What is "true freedom", anyway, in comparison to regular freedom? How exactly is it "confining and limiting" to reject the shackles of a (fake) deity?
You are presupposing God doesn't exist. Your argument in that context is logical. But if He does indeed exist then your argument for finding freedom apart from Him doesn't work. How can one be free when they are in constant conflict with the way they were designed?
If you are correct and there is no God then it would follow it would be pretty restricting to live like there was for we would not be living in accordance with truth. However, it all comes back to God and who He is, if He is. All else builds apon that starting place.
"You are presupposing God doesn't exist. Your argument in that context is logical. But if He does indeed exist then your argument for finding freedom apart from Him doesn't work. How can one be free when they are in constant conflict with the way they were designed?"
Even if we assume, without proof, that God exists, and we assume, without proof, that he designed us, and we assume, without proof, that he has laid out a clear set of rules to be obeyed, it doesn't follow that being constrained by those rules gives more freedom or true freedom or anything of that sort.
Restrictions on freedom cannot possibly increase freedom. They might, under your hypothetical and unproven worldview, increase happiness, satisfaction, or peace, but it is blatant doublespeak to say that adding restrictions contributes to what is, by definition, a lack of such restrictions.
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