Hello, I will give a short introduction to myself and why I am here.
So, to begin I am a young college student living in the US. I grew up with little bias or coaxing into religion or theism, but in my younger teen years began searching for one. From around 13 to 17 I studied and practiced various forms of Hellenism. While on a discuss/debate form I was challenged in a friendly way to consider and provide how much evidence I really had, and so I did. To make a long story short, I spent several months battling my doubt, but it grew into skepticism and atheism. I have been an atheist for about a year now and during that time I have gone through bouts of disillusion with periods of moral apathy. But on that religion forum, which I am still active on, my attention was drawn to the underused Humanism section.none of those members were very active anymore but my interest was peaked and so I began researching, and based on what I have read so far I have been a secular humanist for a while. But it is easy to biasly read into things, so I wanted real people I could talk to about it, and so I looked and stumbled onto here. I hope to find the forum active and rewarding to my goals.
That’s me in a nutshell, hope to find friends here.
Welcome, Achrelos. There is quite a variety of people here so there’s a good chance that you’ll find some of them willing to discuss your ideas. How about you starting by stating some of your views or better yet, asking some questions about them?
Occam
Welcome!
I find it interesting that you state in your atheism journey this last year that you had episodes of moral apathy. My morality has never been related to a belief system as I have always been a very moral person but have never had god beliefs. In fact I think as I grew up and understood more about my non-belief my morals became even stronger. There was no one but my own mind to decide my moral values and ethical codes, no god to hold hell eternal over my head like a sharpened blade, no deities to proffer the rewards of heaven for my righteousness. I think my profile signature pretty much sums up my feelings on this.
I hope you worked past that and have come to terms with the reality of morals and how our survival demands them, not the imaginary man in the sky. Morals are actually the pivotal structure of how we thrive as a thinking animal. Without a moral compass we would surely kill ourselves in short order. We do have some that are amoral and that damage of our intelligence without morals is evident and it’s not hard to find the headlines or news events from around the world.
This is not a fast paced place of exchange but it does get lively. I look forward to reading your posts in future.
MzLee
When I went through my bouts of apathy it was mostly a result of losing my faith. At first it was a problem of transition from an absolutist moral system to a subjective view. The apathy came in when I would question if morality even mattered or existed because there was no absolute. I didn’t act any differently, I just stopped questioning whether it really mattered beyond what I thought. I still did what seemed right to me, but I didn’t stop and think about what made it right.
I didn’t mean to imply I lived in a moral vacuum, if that’s what I did, it was more or less I stopped thinking about it and just acted as I saw fit, which always involved certain values like altruism and empathy. But since those times I have embraced a consequentialist ethical/moral framework, and it is always on my mind when acting. I am long over the problems I encountered when I had only recently left religion. You are lucky to have always been atheist, because the process of leaving a religion for it was, in my experience, very tough.but like in said, long since over it (six months or so firmly set with many of my conclusions), and it was completely worth it.
Yes, in many ways not having any religion or god beliefs was quite wonderful. However in some, I naturally lack a perspective that others have. For instance, it is very hard for me to comprehend how anyone can actually believe this stuff. Seriously, I just don’t get it. I mean I know a lot don’t really believe but say they do and a lot more purposely “choose” to believe which means to me they don’t but it comforts them to make-believe. I can’t really wrap my head around it. That being said it’s also hard for me to have empathy for the ones struggling to leave religion behind. Not that I’m not sympathetic but I’m simply ignorant of the effects and lure of the obsession. This can be an issue for me.
As for the moral apathy, I didn’t for a minute think you acted on your apathy only that you experienced it. It must have been very confusing and I’m sure this is one of the common struggles that people of doubt have. “What is the point to morality if there’s no just reward?” Just like “What is the point of life if there’s only death awaiting?” Personally, I never really felt the need of a point but that too may have to do with my life-long atheist pov. The point to life is to live it, survive, help others to survive, about modeling morality and leaving behind a legacy of ethics and responsibility.
Overall though, I have been fortunate to not have the struggle of parting from mythological thinking. My empathy comes not from experience of previous religious beliefs but rather from the pov of a mature person acknowledging the growing pangs of a not yet mature person. That I can relate to. 
MzLee
It is sort of ironic, because once I had accepted that I was an atheist and started piecing it back together, I felt more free and at peace and connected to the world than I ever had before, which is what religion is suppose to offer. I think in the end it boils down to human beings seeking human desires and emotions, and for many religion offers them those things with a lot less effort and work behind it. They don’t realize how much they miss out on them though. At least I didn’t.
Achrelos, It seems to me that your development to a non-supernatural based worldview, has happened at a relatively young age. So, perhaps you are the lucky one. IMO, the most important thing that religious persons deprive themselves of, is intellectual integrity. Welcome to this forum.
It is sort of ironic, because once I had accepted that I was an atheist and started piecing it back together, I felt more free and at peace and connected to the world than I ever had before, which is what religion is suppose to offer. I think in the end it boils down to human beings seeking human desires and emotions, and for many religion offers them those things with a lot less effort and work behind it. They don't realize how much they miss out on them though. At least I didn't.Yes, being or finding your authentic self is key to being really happy without the community of religion, especially if you were connected to it previously, IMO. Self examination is substituted for god worship in the religious doctrine and that is where they lose. I feel so alive and treasure nearly all moments because I know I am finite and life is fleeting. Some of that comes naturally with age, I think but a great deal of it comes with self knowledge of my place in the universe as a human being. I am very good with the knowledge that when I am gone it will be as if I never existed except for some loving memories. My ego does not need to feel related to a god (one of gods children) so that I can imbue myself with god-like or immortal qualities. There is, as you stated, immense freedom and peace living in a state of temporary. MzLee
Achrelos, It seems to me that your development to a non-supernatural based worldview, has happened at a relatively young age. So, perhaps you are the lucky one. IMO, the most important thing that religious persons deprive themselves of, is intellectual integrity. Welcome to this forum.TimB, That is so true about the personal integrity. It's such a scheme of dishonesty upon ones self that I just can't fathom how people accept it. MzLee
Achrelos, It seems to me that your development to a non-supernatural based worldview, has happened at a relatively young age. So, perhaps you are the lucky one. IMO, the most important thing that religious persons deprive themselves of, is intellectual integrity. Welcome to this forum.TimB, That is so true about the personal integrity. It's such a scheme of dishonesty upon ones self that I just can't fathom how people accept it. MzLee I have come to view it as a sort of stunted development. I also think that it is perpetuated, to a great degree, by a profound emotional dependence on the particular supernatural beliefs.
I can confirm that. The hardest thing in the beginning was that I was so attached to it that I was unwilling to let go of it. Once in accepted it and did I was able to start mending myself, but that was by far the largest hurtle.
I can confirm that. The hardest thing in the beginning was that I was so attached to it that I was unwilling to let go of it. Once in accepted it and did I was able to start mending myself, but that was by far the largest hurtle.I am so please to see another free themselves from the shackles of mystical beliefs. :)
I was having an issue posting in another thread. This is a test post.
I was having an issue posting in another thread. This is a test post.
Arch, the program that runs this website is a free one given to non-profit organizations. It does have a few glitches so we just have to work around them. What thread was giving you problems?
Occam
I was attempting to respond in my Where should I begin looking thread, and it told me that my response was being flagged as possible spam. I am on a mobile device and thought that may be an issue but since this is working I am not sure what the issue was.
I was attempting to respond in my Where should I begin looking thread, and it told me that my response was being flagged as possible spam. I am on a mobile device and thought that may be an issue but since this is working I am not sure what the issue was.Certain words or symbols trigger that. When I try to send links I often get a message that my post is suspected spam. Sometimes I can post them and sometimes not. It's impossible to figure out. Sometimes it says it won't post but it does anyway. Like god, CFI forums work in mysterious ways, Lois