Category: Atheism

No matter where you are on your personal journey—whether you consider yourself religious, non-religious, spiritual, or something else altogether— I think everyone can find something worthwhile to take away from The God Delusion.

Even if you think you do not, I guarantee you have friends and family members who identify as atheists. Or, at the very least, those who intellectually do not believe gods exist, even if they cannot make themselves say the A word. Or maybe you are the non-believing one and you feel like nobody else gets it. But someone probably does—someone else very likely feels the same way you do. They may just be uneasy being the first to admit it.

When you first let go of your faith you can feel very alone. You might believe nobody has gone through exactly what you have, that no one has felt the same overwhelming grief. {And, yes, it is still a grieving process even though you made a conscious decision to leave your faith willingly.}

Do you spend much time thinking about death? What do you think happens after we die? Do you believe in an afterlife? What about angels or ancestors watching out for you? Have you ever considered what dealing with death as a non-religious person might be like? Are you not religious yourself and looking for where to turn during a difficult time?

Part of the process of navigating life after faith will involve practical and self-care matters you may have never consciously considered simply because you never had to. If you followed a religion for as long as you can remember, it likely fulfilled a lot of roles without you realizing.

When do you cross the line from believer to non-believer? At what point can you put a label on your new feelings and identity? How do you know if you are ready to let go of your faith for good?