Regaining religious faith: Why would an Atheist return to church?

[rug]

by Don Lacey on May. 03, 2013

Last night at Caffeinated Godlessness, we discussed the reasons why someone that came from a church might return. What would it take? Is it even possible? Rarely folks that say that they tried Atheism return to their Christian beliefs. It was pointed out that there is a tendency to paint these “re-converts” as not ever being Atheists. It is tempting and natural to pull out the “No True Scotsman” arguments in these cases. Most Atheists that have had a religious upbringing find that their Atheism won out after a struggle that could have taken years to resolve and most of the Atheists at the Fronimos Greek Café last night agreed that the evidence persuasive enough to force a return to religious belief would be hard to come by and it is improbable that the potentially persuasive evidence would be believed at first. It could only be believed after ALL natural explanations have been researched.

Some of people admitted that they can’t imagine what it would take while others were very inventive and very specific. For example, one individual said God would have to appear as a burning bush at a Karaoke bar and sing “I’m Blue.” By the way, he also said other people would have to witness it too so that he’d know that he wasn’t hallucinating.

There was some discussion of what an Atheist might be missing that the church normally provides the believer. For example, some remember the almost indescribable feeling of ecstasy that sometimes accompanies religious devotion. Others appreciated the religious rituals and consistency of regular experiences. The Catholic Church has seven sacraments that are designed to give a human life a structure and makes them dependent on the Church. They are baptized, receive communion (the first one is a REALLY big deal), confess sins to the priest, get confirmed, get married, some get ordained, and may receive last rights (Extreme Unction) just before their last breath. A religious person can be comfortable in the knowledge that ALL things have been answered. There are no unsolvable mysteries and death, the biggest mystery of them all, is no big deal. It’s just the next phase of their eternal existence. Religious people often have a strong community.

But religions are not derived from reason or from the logic of human philosophy. Many of the pat answers have no basis in science. Religious dogma, while providing a strong often safe foundation, limits the human experience, and it has prevented or at least delayed advancements that are beneficial to all mankind. Also remember that while every religion on earth tends to call itself peaceful, Lilliputian differences have led to incalculable human suffering and death.

http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/2013/05/03/regaining-religious-faith-why-would-an-atheist-return-to-church/

[stopbush]

1. One of the side benefits I've found from being a non-believer is losing all that ritual crapola.

I know many humans enjoy ritual, but I do not, whether it be religious or patriotic. The corporate emptiness of ritual is very off-putting to me. The old moment-of-silence tends to annoy me.

[Thats my opinion]

9. Betcha any of us could list 10 rituals you would not want to do without. nt

[okasha]

2. Why don't they just ask

someone who has had the experience? That should be fairly easy to do.

[Phillip McCleod]

3. i never went back to *church*..

.. but i did flip-flop for a few years as i've mentioned elsewhere around these parts. that said i don't expect that my 'reasons' for flopping back to belief could be generalized any more than my reasons for flipping over to atheism. for instance i have heard many atheists express a desire to continue having the sense of community they enjoyed when they believed.

not me.. not even sort of. other than the wiccan coven when i was 19, all my post-atheist religious practice was solitary to the point of hermeticism. last thing i wanted was someone telling me i was doing it wrong .. or right.. and i usually identified as 'agnostic' so i could remain vague in my responses when the topic did come up.

.. my point is that there is no one set of reasons why people drop their religion like a hot tater .. or why they think it's cooled off. me, i kept thinking.. 'well, that tater was hot, but maybe *this* one isn't'.

it was.

[skepticscott]

4. It's not at all clear what the author means

when he talks about folks that have "tried" atheism. One really doesn't "try" to lack belief...as Yoda said, you either do, or do not believe...there is no "try". There are certainly people out there who have "tried" to live their lives without any or much formal religious affiliation or participation, but that's not necessarily the same thing as being an atheist, and when such a person goes "back" to church because they find they miss the ritual and the community, it's not really the same as an atheist embracing belief again (though that can certainly also happen).

[goldent]

5. I've seen interviews with former atheists becoming Christians.

I don't remember ever hearing about a "new atheist" (or whatever) who converted. The ones I heard about just never had any exposure to religion and so were atheist by default. So I agree that one might argue "no true Scotsman" if it was in their interest.

[Jim__]

6. "Religious dogma ... limits the human experience ..."

Yes, it does. But then, every choice we make limits our experience. That includes refusing to make any choice. I'm not sure what point he is trying to make.

[skepticscott]

7. He's making the point that

if certain things are forbidden simply because "god" says they are, or if certain questions cannot be asked, or if the answers to those questions can never change, no matter what reason and evidence may tell us, we have limited ourselves. Lack of dogma, the refusal to take anything as "sacred" or unchallengeable does NOT limit one, despite your rather lame attempt at a sideswipe at atheism.

[Jim__]

10. Well, if his point is that we are limited because certain things are forbidden by god ...

... then he is certainly wrong.

For instance, in Genesis, god forbade Adam and Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Yet, that didn't stop them.

Given that I didn't say anything about atheism, your claim that I made a rather lame attempt at a sideswipe at atheism is somewhat pathetic.

[No Vested Interest]

8. Regarding Extreme Unction - in the article

"Last rights" should be "Last rites".
Big difference in meaning.
This sacrament can be administered to any elderly person, or to a younger person with illness but well before drawing their last breath.
(I've probably had the sacrament a few times and I don't believe my last breath is nigh - but who knows?)