How often do atheists think about God? Perhaps an even more interesting question is – how much thought does a typical atheist give before denying the existence of God?
My reasons for asking aren’t intended to provoke a decision one way or another on if there is or is not a God. But I will admit something: I think about God quite a lot.
But my real question is – why wouldn’t you think about God?
I believe most of us are agnostic – meaning we all have different degrees of doubt in our beliefs about a God. Only the most devout atheists and most devout followers of religion can truthfully say they are fully confident in their beliefs regarding God.
But to be completely and fully confident in something where there is so much uncertainty seems deluding, and I believe it is even a suppression of one’s will to avoid thinking about God – regardless of which side of the fence he clings to.
I believe it is not only completely natural for a human to question the existence of a God (just as it is natural to question the meaning of life, why am I here, or what is good and evil), but mandatory for any healthy mind.
For one thing: there are so many aspects of God to question.
Before we can accept or deny the existence of something we must first try to find out and define what it is we are accepting or denying.
I will not go into what I believe a God is, as I am inclined to think that this is something better left for one’s own personal exploration and good judgment, and I don’t intend this article to favor either decision; I am only writing to decide what there even is to decide.
So first, we must ask ourselves, “What does the term ‘God’ mean to us?” This question is not something one can simply answer with ease.
We are constantly bombarded with various and conflicting ideas of what God is all the time. For this sole fact I find it important for any man to spend time unraveling the twists and knots of ideas in some measure of solitude, meditation, or prayer. This way we give the mind a fair chance to first define what is meant by “God” before rushing to any judgment on the concept of “God.”
Many people, due to the natural and ever-changing relations between mind and language, will likely have ill-defined Gods. At times we may believe God is always loving, yet other times we think God is punishing us. Sometimes the existence of God depends on our mood, what we want, or how fortunate our lives have been recently.
Others believe God is a metaphysical or supernatural force, as true in the eyes of many organized religions. While others, who may look at God from a more scientific, skeptical, or unorthodox point of view may play with the idea that God is nature and physical law, or God exists only as a symbol in society’s collective unconscious, or God is a feeling of happiness and appreciation.
For many, our Gods are probably mixtures of these things depending on our personalities.
When it comes to God, we must all be philosophers. Only through a sense of introspection and meditation can we clearly define our terms, beliefs, and reasons for these beliefs. Beliefs are often very flexible things that can change depending on one’s experience and perception. But beliefs are especially flexible when we don’t take the time to come up with our own personal “concrete” fundamentals and reasons for why we think the things we do (whether it is about God or anything else). And do these beliefs make sense from a rational or from an emotionally or spiritually satisfying way?
There is no one strategy to go about defining God. Every individual will have his own mode of thinking, some more consistent than others, some more critical, while others more flexibly and freely. We can think about God however we want. We can take a practical approach or dogmatic approach or even the approach of avoiding the topic altogether.
But if there is only one valid point I make throughout this writing then I hope it is that: God is worth thinking about. Call it prayer. Call it meditation. Call it science. Call it whatever you want, but don’t be afraid to let it occupy the mind. Don’t be afraid to change beliefs, even just for the sake of changing perspective, even to just end up going back to a firmer position on the beliefs you already had. Get a feel for God, what you want it to be, or what you may call ‘God’. It’s food for the mind and makes it strong. Thinking about God is often a pleasant and rewarding experience no matter what conclusion you reach, or even if you end up choosing to never use the word again.
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