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Former Atheist Struggling with Faith

For Fapstronauts who are disciples of Christ

  1. Bullarrd

    Bullarrd Fapstronaut

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    “Can't tell if I (lost)
    My mind or just made it (lost)
    My faith or misplaced it (lost)
    My pain or upgraded,”


    The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis has proved to be a good read for the Christian and atheist alike. I’ve heard good things about Mere Christianity too, another read by C.S. Lewis. Hope these help
     
  2. Hi @Newman5678, as well as @Jason_Tesla_19 and @kropo82:

    I just ran into this thread, after just now learning about the groups. I just joined a new group for married guys in recovery, and then browsed some of the groups. I thought it was interesting to see some positive interactions between Atheists and Christians around the struggle to quit porn, and I saw this thread.

    I'm a Christian myself, but one of the things that really attracted me to NoFap was that it wasn't started by Christians. I've struggled with porn my whole life, and being in the Church gave me a moral vision to see it as destructive, as well as some community support around fighting it. However, there just wasn't the tools, and there wasn't a good scientific/pragmatic culture that could develop those tools. We knew Jesus was the answer to every question, and that simplistic posture (combined, I think, with the sense of shame pushing these discussions behind closed doors between small groups of people), kept us from doing the hard experimental work to find out what techniques and methods we would need to really kick this thing.

    NoFap started really with secular guys at the forefront, and they were open to discovery, and they got results. It was then that guys like Mark Queppet could come along, and integrate these discoveries and methods into a larger (dare I say "theological") high-level framework. Christians jumped on board, bringing that qualitative high-level framework, community rootedness, and moral vision with them. And here we are.

    Anyway, great to have you atheists and former atheists in conversations like this. It's pretty cool to be able to be respectful and constructive - don't get that very often between our groups on the internet.

    As to the main question here: how has faith helped? My answer is reasonably complicated, in that my own faith has been badly shaken over the last ten years or so. But one aspect of faith that has helped tremendously is an implicit trust I've been able to have in this process. I saw real changes happening in my life, as I got further and further through reboot, and that became a basis of faith for better things moving forward. Nihilism can't really give you that. Faith in God is, among other things, a conviction that the same force that brought life into being is drawing and urging me personally toward what is good, for myself and for the world, and that this power is ultimately stronger than the forces that want to hold me back.

    I'd say that, for atheists and former atheists, who want the good of faith without the crazy stuff they can't possibly accept, a good gateway drug might be Jordan Peterson. He's a Christian in a sense, but coming at it from a very different angle than most. He doesn't "believe in God" dogmatically - he can't say in any scientific sense that God exists. But he chooses "to act as if God exists", and argues that this choice is rational. I know that as a Christian, I've gotten a lot out of him, and I think he could be a very useful bridge if you want to dip your toes into the waters of faith.

    Good to meet y'all! Feel free to take a look at my journals as well - I hope they are encouraging!
     
  3. Esteban

    Esteban Fapstronaut

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    well, that's not going to get him to heaven !...
     
  4. You can't really know that for sure.
     
  5. The Wrestler

    The Wrestler Fapstronaut

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    Late to the party, thanks for being patient.
    Try this: http://www.themeetinghouse.com/pageid/1738/sex-identity-4785
     

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