Being an atheist led me to have no values on sexual health

I find this Fedora thing fascinating because I'm used to a setting where being irreligious is the norm while believers are the uggos with weird fashion choices.

 

I think you are overthinking dude. After a while you just don't care about relapses and even NoFap in general, you just stop touching and that's it.

 

Yeah I was in the same boat, the watched the amazing atheist (banana man for those in the know) growing up. Shit sucks.

 

Hey man If you are having any doubts about the possibility of God or if there is any scientific arguments for God's existence I highly recommend you to watch the Inspiring Philosophy channel on Youtube. It's one of my favorites. Keep soldiering on and don't give up!

 

I think that's a refreshingly honest acknowledgement. Many atheists get offended at any suggestion that they lack a foundation for values. It's a challenge because [I believe] all people have an inner conviction/conscience that generally tells them right from wrong--but with an atheist, it isn't based on anything objective. Right and wrong become subjective matters of "whatever seems best."

(Obviously an atheist will not agree that my God is objectively true either, but that's another conversation. At least I can say that within my own worldview, I'm basing my values and morals on an objective standard).

I think having a faith has been foundational for my recovery. If you think about it, we're all here because we recognize 1) that PMO is making our lives miserable, and 2) we want more out of life than empty addictive pleasures. But even when I use words like "empty" and "miserable", I'm attaching values to the behaviors.

If I'm here because I'm trying to live a more fulfilling life, I have to believe that fulfilling actually has meaning. I have to believe that life has a purpose bigger than my own pleasure, because if it didn't--if life was all about enjoying myself as much as possible on earth before I die--then why not lead a life of greed and hedonism? Get as much money, sex, and pleasure as possible, because when we die, that's it. Or as the Bible describes it, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."

No. We don't live that way because we recognize that life is about more than that. We might disagree on it, but we can usually agree that life has some kind of meaning or purpose. And meaning and purpose are transcendent ideas. They are bigger than our material existence. They necessitate a belief in something greater than the physical world--some people call that God, some people call it "energy"--different religions approach this issue in different ways. I'm a Christian, and I personally believe the Christian version is the correct version--but I'm also quite biased. But as a matter of general philosophy, I think you'll have a much better chance at rebooting if you believe in a sense of meaning and purpose in life that's greater than the physical/material world.

 

Dude, show me how to do that. 20 years after discovering masturbation, I still want to touch it.

 

Seconded

 

Just don't do it. You realize that you have to do a lot of things in order to M? It is a drag.

 

"Just don't do it" is pretty cheap advice for someone who's struggling with a real addiction.

Addiction hijacks the brain. As much as I loved Nancy Reagan, "Just Say No" isn't a very effective plan.

 

I really don't know what else to tell you man, I just thought "I'm not doing it" and then I didn't.

 

I agree that growing up without a religion left me very clueless in life. I had not values, had no beliefs. I was just kind of drifting through life like a river made of streams of pain and pleasure. Very often illusory.

I would however pick that kind of upbringing (of being lost) over being raised in a religion. Growing up in a dogmatic religion is worse to me. Because that puts you in a place of know-it-all illusory, willful ignorance, for the lack of a better term.

I feel it's different if you choose it knowing other options and understanding other world views. Then it is your truth. But if you do not choose it consciously, you are just brainwashed onto it while growing up, then it is not your truth, it is somebody else's lie. I hope I make sense...

We need some time of structure and meaning in life I guess. Religion is one way. You might also get it through philosophy, like Stoicism for example, or any other philosophy. Without something like that we end up lost, angry, depressed, destructive.

Growing up lost put me on a path to find myself. I still quite haven't, but it is a life long journey. And it's been way more interesting than a comfy shroud of illusion could give me. I just kind of look around at many different religions and practices, and take things from them that appears to be true to me. Benefits of nofap is one truth. I guess I value truth these days. I don't need a religion for it.

 

I say this as a Christian, Christians also have no value on sexual health. They most likely masturbate just as much as atheists. They do have that one rule about no sex before marriage, but that's rarely followed. This addiction is a problem that affects all.

 

Although I grew up in a quite secular home I saw great value in the many protestant (in my case Lutheran) ideas, ideals, teachings, morals and life-patterns that have been part of the Swedish mentality and folk-soul for the past 500 years.
Despite living a quite secular life during my PMO-days, those values were still there (although buried deep down) and they were part of the reason for why I many times (on a subconscious level) questioned the PMO-habits as they felt innately wrong. I was just not capable of pointing it out or confessing it at the time since I was afraid of facing myself, my actions, take the accountability and realizing the dire consequences my own destructive actions and decisions have had on my life.
When reconnecting with my spiritual faith during the first year of NoFap (hard-mode), I began to realize there actually is a benevolent and meaningful guideline for people behind every message in the Holy Bible.

My plan for the next year is to start reading it from the beginning (a few pages every day) for the entire year so I can reconnect with my faith even more and better.

 

Hi there, I appreciate your thoughts, but you are showing some lack of knowledge on religion. Your opinion on this matter is very interresting and I respect your journey, but perhaps you could investigate more what the world religious are and what they teach. For example, comparing Jesus to Mohammad.... Mohammad said "This is the way", Buddha also says "This is the Way" Jesus said "I am the Way". Those are VERY different things.