Faith after doubt: Why your beliefs stopped working & what to do about it

[Syne]

Just like the theists who made many of the earliest scientific advancements, the consistency and order of the world is more remarkable the more you understand.

At some point you have to just accept consistency and order as given aspects of reality. The world may be thought to derive its order from God, but where does God's order come from? It's given and assumed right? Just like the atheist sees the order of the world as given and assumed. No matter what our cosmological view, there is always a self-existent substrate of order.

In a universe in which entropy is always increasing, you can't just accept consistency and order as a given unless you're done with scientific investigation. God's order comes from reason, no matter how arbitrary some people present or see it. Order is not without cause.

[Leigha]

I’ve read that the universe merely has the “appearance” of order, but that it’s really in disorder. Maybe how we are defining order (or perceive it) might be more of the issue?

Having said that, for many theists (myself included), I’d say that belief in God isn’t an abstraction or some arbitrary choice; there is a desire within me to believe that a higher power is a supreme creator. I think you have to desire to believe it, before you can actually believe it. I remember you posting a while back MR, that you no longer felt the need to believe and that freed you. (I’m paraphrasing) Do you remember that?

When I left faith for a few years, there was a void that I can’t explain, an emptiness that not believing, seemed like it required more effort. More effort to convince myself that somehow this ordered/disordered universe that seems to exist in perfect proportions and follows incredible laws of physics, is all just random.

[Magical Realist]

I think you have to desire to believe it, before you can actually believe it. I remember you posting a while back MR, that you no longer felt the need to believe and that freed you. (I’m paraphrasing) Do you remember that?

That sounds like me. Giving up religion and God freed me from the narrow and moralizing mindset of the religious mindset. No sin, no wrathful punishment, and no hell. All my reasons for condemning others and myself faded away, though vestiges of that inner critic still survive. I could open myself up to the beauty and positivity of the universe itself, which is how I remain spiritual. I find reasons in the everyday to be inspired and to have hope of more beyond this world. That's freedom enough for me.

[Leigha]

Rereading the OP...I don't think that doubt by itself means you're questioning everything about your belief system. It's healthy to have doubts, to question. To wonder if what you've been holding true is of your own perception, or are you merely following handed down faith beliefs as to not disappoint your parents, friends, etc.?

Sometimes, people follow traditions and rituals without questioning...do I actually believe this? It's not a bad thing to question why we believe, what we believe. I'd say the same holds true for why people may leave certain beliefs - if they are doing so at the urging of others, and they are afraid of not fitting in or whatever, that can be problematic because you're conforming to others' beliefs, and not finding your own way.