I still can't let go...

[Ihateyoumike]

Saying that it is logically impossible that a god exist is simply false, but that isn't directly relevant the point of the thread, so I will just note my contention, and move on.

Saying that it is logically so improbable as to completely discard the notion that a god exists is simply true. But that isn't directly relevant to the point of the thread, so I will just note my contention, and move on.

My suggestion would be to think about the specific god concept that you have, and attempt to analyze what it is about it that gives you this feelings. If there is some aspect of the concept that you find desirable, or would like to be true, then it is only natural to feel a kind of longing, or something about the rejection of it that carries implications that you do not favor.

Bertrand Russel once said that despite the evidence, and the reasoning supporting it, he found it impossible to believe that what was and wasn't good was a matter of opinion.

"The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true." - Carl Sagan "Wonder and Skepticism", Skeptical Enquirer Volume 19, Issue 1, (January-February 1995)

The more I think about it, the more I think that Carl Sagan sure was a smart guy.

I think that we all have things that we deeply care about, and the idea of their falsity is extremely hard to except, on a visceral level. I doubt that it is god specifically that this is for you, but it very well could be something that you see as intrinsic to a god concept.

You are saying that we all have false things which we deeply care about? If it's not a god or god-concept, then what? The only things in my life which I deeply care about actually exist, there is no falsity to accept.

This is what I would look for, if I were you. If you manage to find it, you can either attempt to find a way to remove to from the god concept (whatever it is there are probably already good arguments for it that stand by themselves), or learn to let it go, no matter what kind of grief it causes you.

I'm not sure how rationally coming to the conclusion that there is no god will cause grief, it sure didn't for me. But hey, I'm just one guy.

That is, if you are committed to you atheism to the extent that you are willing to suffer the grief.

Nice little passive-aggressive statement here. Keep coming with jabs like this and you might need to change your worldview to "full blown christian fundie."  

What grief do you attribute to being an atheist? Because the only grief I can think of is the grief that comes from putting up with religious people telling me everything from "you're going to suffer for eternity" to "you're only an atheist because you've chosen a life of sin."

[Hitsumei]

Saying that it is logically so improbable as to completely discard the notion that a god exists is simply true. But that isn't directly relevant to the point of the thread, so I will just note my contention, and move on.

Please outline how you have accomplished this probability assessment. If you don't mind. A mathematical formula would be excellent.

You are saying that we all have false things which we deeply care about?

Yeah, basically, only without the "false" part, that you slipped in there.

If it's not a god or god-concept, then what? The only things in my life which I deeply care about actually exist, there is no falsity to accept.

Well, I don't know all of your beliefs or positions, though I am more than confident that you hold at least a couple false ones. No one is perfect. Damn, if everything you think is true, is true, then you should write a few books, and teach us mere mortals how to make it so we also are incapable of holding false beliefs.

I'm not sure how rationally coming to the conclusion that there is no god will cause grief, it sure didn't for me. But hey, I'm just one guy.

The OP suggested that there was something about the belief in god that they found hard to let go. If, in fact there is something about it that they want to be true, and would be unpleased if it turned out to be false, then I think that it is reasonable to assume that this would cause them some amount of grief. If it isn't true of you, then I'm happy for you, but my post was not addressed to you, so you should not expect my comments on someone else's state of mind to necessarily translate to yours.

Nice little passive-aggressive statement here. Keep coming with jabs like this and you might need to change your worldview to "full blown christian fundie."  

You're so good at reading between the lines that you can see what isn't there.

What grief do you attribute to being an atheist? Because the only grief I can think of is the grief that comes from putting up with religious people telling me everything from "you're going to suffer for eternity" to "you're only an atheist because you've chosen a life of sin."

In the context I was talking in, I was referring to the grief that would be caused by having to let go of a belief, that one wanted some aspect of it to be true. It is simply a neurological fact that concluding that something we want to be true is false causes a certain amount of grief, while rationalization holes in our reasoning triggers the reward centers of our brain and causes a certain amount of pleasure.

What I said no more implies that concluding that something one wants to be true is in fact false is bad, then that implies that rationalizing holes in one's reasoning is good.

I really think that this defensiveness is unwarranted.

[Lilbeth]

Hi, Kevin....You seem quite mature for your age......It is very impressive how you are able to verbalize your feelings.
I am a bit of a romanticist myself, and would LOVE to think ghosts exist, too.....as that way...the ones that died are still around.....great thought.......immortality is such wishful thinking.
I was in the sleep/awake state once and was paralyzed, but I saw a thin woman approaching my feet , and I was too paralyzed to move, but finally did...sat up quickly, terrorized....and screamed..."What the hell do you want?" She disappeared, immediately then.....I have also thought ....and think it was some chemical trick my brain may have been playing with me or something......but then......we really don't know ALL of the answers, do we.....? I have also pondered that sitings of ghosts could be the result of parallel universes....or something other than what we have considered.......other than spirits walking around who are dead......Funny thing is....the apparition I saw was of a female I knew, who was still very much alive....Anyway....there is your logical self and feeling self....Feelings are very real to those feeling them.......Are you lonely? Frightened about something?....
We aetheists would LOVE to believe in the things Christians do, as someone said earlier in this thread......too....There would be a comfort in thinking you would see someone again you loved  after they died......but it just doesn't make sense to many of us.......I love a good fairy tale, too, but just don't believe in them......It is lonely not to, sometimes, too.

[G.ENIGMA]

I was in the sleep/awake state once and was paralyzed, but I saw a thin woman approaching my feet , and I was too paralyzed to move, but finally did...sat up quickly, terrorized....and screamed..."What the hell do you want?" She disappeared, immediately then.....I have also thought ....and think it was some chemical trick my brain may have been playing with me or something......but then......we really don't know ALL of the answers, do we.....? I have also pondered that sitings of ghosts could be the result of parallel universes....or something other than what we have considered.......other than spirits walking around who are dead....

I thought maybe this would be interesting to you

Some day there will be a scientific explanation for why we see ghosts and maybe then we will all find the event as breathtaking as a lightning storm or a sun rise..