It's harder when I don't believe in a higher power

[JoeFailure]

Not necessarily in the sense of not having something to believe in...but because I can't direct my anger and frustration to anything.

I find myself less and less believing in a God or higher power(s). But for a while that belief was kind of an outlet. I had someone to be mad at and rant about. If you don't believe in anything though...that acceptance that things are just the way they are is even tougher for me.

Now many times when I hear about something awful happening or look at the state of the world...it's almost an emptier, sadder feeling.

 

[thethatsitboy]

I get you. Same here. Even considered believe in something just in order to have faith in it and not to be jus "me and the world".

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

Wall of angst:

I totally get it. For most of my life, I've been very spiritual. Now I have no one and nothing onto which I can discharge blame, anger and impotence. And I have no one and nothing to embrace and thank for things I (rarely) perceive as a blessing or gift. It's lonely and I've had nothing satisfying to replace it with. I have a concept that's akin to religion for me, that guides me, and Stoicism has become like my Bible, but there is no entity, not even the idea of one like a shared human spirit or something. I got ripped off, perhaps, by being raised by a Christian family and going to a Christian school so that from an early age I was pursing connection to god (I had plans to go into ministry), and now that I'm in my late forties, I don't function as well without the lie even as I'm better off (I think) without it. I feel off balance without the false foundation, without the idea of a higher power holding my hand like a parent holding the hand of a child learning to walk. It's way worse than losing Santa Claus, I wasn't nearly as invested in that, he only came once a year, he wasn't there every day and night, knowing me from the womb and every hair that's ever been on my head. I'm untethered and it sucks equally to the illusion of being tethered.

 

[timf]

One thing to consider is that without a "higher power" one is left with the possibility that they are the "higher power". This can possibly redirect anger at oneself or leave one feeling helpless at the whim of chance.

Anger has a usefulness insofar as it can motivate us to change. Anger that is held on to can become a growing and invasive root of bitterness that can poison an entire life.

Many people are raised with Christian traditions that prove ineffective for real life or even result in a handicap. Much of this is because our traditions may not accurately reflect true Christianity. There are some that are trying to find their way through a less than helpful Christian heritage. One web site is;

Christian Pioneer

Christian Pioneer - Answers to questions about Christianity

christianpioneer.com

If someone is not interested in Christianity, no problem. I just think it is sad that something that might be helpful for someone is overlooked because someone else presented it poorly.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

I envy those with faith or those who believe...in anything, really. I can't. It's a feeling that is utterly alien to me.
I do wonder sometimes why we are so eager to abdicate responsibility to 'a higher power.' It's almost as if we secretly know we are children and are subconsciously aware that we need someone else to be ultimately responsible for 'a greater plan.'
How many times have I heard the logic "But there has to be a reason, otherwise what's the point?" If you think about it, that statement kind of encapsulates a possible explanation of everything, which is something I'd rather not contemplate.
No, I genuinely envy those who can feel faith.

 

[everydayiloveyou]

I believe in God, but I don't believe He has anything to do with the badness of the world.

Instead I direct my anger to the rich! If you think about it, a lot of our problems are directly caused by the rich and powerful minority of people who run businesses and/or have some other kind of financial connections. The selfish decisions and policies that they entact to boost their own profits cause direct suffering to a lot of people. These policies might've affected you personally as well. The crazy thing is that it hasn't always been this way. I believe the current state of the world is can be traced back to millennia of class conflict, and it's perfectly reverseable if we just stopped pointing fingers at each other and united to fight against it.

I know it sounds crazy and all, but it helps me. Blaming God made all the problems of the world feel so distant and fake. Like it's all because of some guy who's pulling the strings up in space, and there's nothing that can be done about anything. But we share the world with other beings, and their good and bad decisions affect us and vice versa. Similarly, the Earth operates by the laws of math and physics and biology. There is always someone or something to blame that isn't yourself or some God (or lack thereof), just like how there's solutions to a lot of the problems in the universe.

It's still just a simple distraction from the senselessness of reality, but it's another way to think of it I guess!