'I can't explain why, I just do': Ex-believers share 'the sense'?

[Undesired Walrus]

I used to read Matthew, and was honestly moved by Jesus and his sermon on the mount. I was 14 or 15 at the time, but if I described it, it was an extremely comfortable feeling, perhaps like warm chocolate flowing through my body. It appears to make you feel like everything inside 'fits'. Even though I knew I did not agree with 'If you are forced to walk one mile, walk two', I couldn't help being reassured by Jesus' words.

My reason for posting this is to get down to why (for many but not all), a skim across the start of Matthew or anywhere can fill you with a content joy and happiness. Of course, this may be the problem with religion, the 'feeling' of oneness that can overthrow rational questions about the horror of the Old Testement. Ask 9 religious blokes out of 10 and and they will say 'Oh I don't know why I believe the New Testement is right but the old is wrong, I just do'.

I noticed that as I rejoiced in the wonder of a universe without God, the breathtaking beauty of looking at the Hubble images is very different from the feeling within yourself whilst being consoled by religous faith.

It would help if all ex-believers came to consensus on what the 'feeling' of religous contentness is, and if it is the 'warm chocolate' feeling, as then it may be possible to find out why that is. Could ex-believers here describe if that is a correct description?

Could it simply be the body relaxing itself being reassured that Jesus loves you, and if you follow these simple rules that reflect very closely the kind of society you would like to live in (No greed, anger, hurt etc), especially if you have had a rough time of it in life, you can get into a heaven which is his?

What is it about Jesus (Or Mohammed for that matter)?

[Bikewer]

Such feelings are not unique to religion, of course. Many people (including myself) have experienced powerful emotional reactions to music, art, literature, or whatever.

We are all familiar with the power of charismatic speakers, for good or ill.

We might call these things "psychological triggers" that resonate in some way with deep memories or associations.
In addition, neuroscience has recently been showing that powerful and emotionally-effecting halucinations are very common. These are temporal-lobe anomalies, and often give the individual a potent feeling of a "presence" they find comforting and benevolent. These hallucinations can be triggered by outside factors, and the results are predictable. Many devout folks have reported "feeling the presence of God"; they may be experiencing random firing of neurons.

[Apathia]

Back in my Theist days, I could often feel the presence of God when I was spilling out my emotions in prayer. Of course that was a personally persuasive to believe.

But two things:

As I traveled and got my culture shock treatments, I discovered that many others claimed this experience: catholics who felt the presence of Mary, Buddhists who felt the presence of the Bosatsu Kannon or Kobo Daishi, when on pilgrimage. And people who said they felt the presence of their departed.

I figured out how to induce that warm fuzzy presence without the religious trappings, or the chocolate. Since I realized this "sense" is actually an emotional projection, I'm not moved to belief by it. But still wallow in it sometimes as an expression of my personal engagement with my reality.

In my opinion this kind of experience is far more persuasive for most believers than intellectual arguments, and as the emotional cretures we are, they cling to belief to retain this in spite of cognitive dissonace.

There's also a sense of "transcendance" connected with the "God" experience that they fear losing in a scientific explanation. One cannot underestimate how important this transcendental encounter is to human psychology. So importtant that people will believe all sorts of nonesense to hold onto it.

[ExMinister]

Aside from the obvious spiritual/religious search for meaning in life, I think maybe there's something comforting in believing there is an all-powerful if not totally comprehensible mystical presence or force "out there" that cares about you and has your best interests at heart.

To me, the Old Testament spoils Christianity. I enjoyed much of the New Testament, and I like what Jesus taught (though I think it's a far cry from what the average person lives, with Mother Theresa having been a good example of what it would actually look like to live what he was saying). Unfortunately, Jesus himself was Jewish and quoted from the Old Testament, so you really can't have one testament without the other and still be Christian. I realize that's the sort of cognitive dissonance that many Christians seem happy to live with, but it was too much dissonance for me.

I sometimes feel that same sort of presence/feeling when hiking in the mountains, sitting beside a waterfall or the ocean, even staring up at the night sky at the stars. It's a sense of wonder and mystery. I suppose people take that fundamental sense of wonder and mystery and add all sorts of creative trappings to it, and then we have religion.

[Minarvia]

Way back when I was religious, or rather, thought I was and tried to be, I never felt the contentment you describe. I never could feel that there was a "great diety" or that the bible made any real sense.

When I gave up trying I realized I could only feel the "warm chocolate" type of feeling when I listen to certain music and sometimes when I play on one of my instruments.

As Ex-Minister says, staring up at the night sky fills me with wonder. And so does sitting with one of my puppies and just loving him up.

[Nihilus]

The concept of theism can cover so many emotional soft spots...things that can genuinely affect how one acts/reacts on a functional level. Reality is not so motivational as hope in darker moments.

The euphoria of your first kiss. The personal elation (and glee of self worth) at your first competitive victory. The feeling of mental kinship when you find someone else that feels about a certain topic just as you do. The hope and solace of a phone call from a friend when you are desperately sad from crap in your life.

Since the real world is not actually concerned with catering to our fickle emotions (and, to be fair...said emotions can make or break us), perhaps it's necessary to some to find/fabricate those feelings if they will help motivate us again. It offers a salvation to most every deep-seated fear humans have/create.

[Moochie]

Back in my Theist days, I could often feel the presence of God when I was spilling out my emotions in prayer. Of course that was a personally persuasive to believe.

But two things:

As I traveled and got my culture shock treatments, I discovered that many others claimed this experience: catholics who felt the presence of Mary, Buddhists who felt the presence of the Bosatsu Kannon or Kobo Daishi, when on pilgrimage. And people who said they felt the presence of their departed.

I figured out how to induce that warm fuzzy presence without the religious trappings, or the chocolate. Since I realized this "sense" is actually an emotional projection, I'm not moved to belief by it. But still wallow in it sometimes as an expression of my personal engagement with my reality.

In my opinion this kind of experience is far more persuasive for most believers than intellectual arguments, and as the emotional cretures we are, they cling to belief to retain this in spite of cognitive dissonace.

There's also a sense of "transcendance" connected with the "God" experience that they fear losing in a scientific explanation. One cannot underestimate how important this transcendental encounter is to human psychology. So importtant that people will believe all sorts of nonesense to hold onto it.

I think this goes some way toward explaining the attraction of those "mega-churches," where people seem to drift into some sort of ecstatic trance while singing/speaking in tongues.

I sometimes wonder how many of those people actually believe, and how many are there simply for the animal pleasure of getting their rocks off.

M.