I went through this process and ended up fully converting to Catholicism.. in fact my case was even _more_ extreme as I was also born in an Islamic country. So I went from someone who REALLY hated religion (I literally lived everything Hitchens was talking about) to a confirmed Catholic by doing RCIA..
The process really started for me when I realized that God is ultimately a philosophical question (God is Ipsum Esse) rather than a scientific one. If science could answer everything, then we might as well throw out the entire field of philosophy after all..
This is how I started to study philosophy and theology (both _serious_ Atheist philosophers such as Jean Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, .. as well theologians).
I think it has been an absolute net positive in my life. I've gained a wealth of knowledge, significantly grown my network and feel much more grounded in my spiritual well being.
You should however, be prepared to be ridiculed if you outwardly practice your faith. I was surprised how many people would essentially conclude that I am either not educated or "brain washed".
I was also an atheist fundamentalist, I still don't think I believe in God, but that book showed me how Christianity shaped the west. The history of Christianity is fascinating.
Oh wow, I would love to hear what made you change your mind. I can understand the progression from a believer to an agnostic or an atheist, but am fascinated by the evolution in the opposite direction.
I'm not part of this group myself, but I've seen this quite a lot as people get older. My anecdotal evidence is that it's less about becoming a "believer" in the supernatural, and more about realizing that many of the traditions and practices can be useful for personal happiness, mental health, and sense of belonging, regardless of the science behind them. Praying is not so different from e.g. meditation or yoga, just a different type of practice.
I believe that Atheism already achieved its peak on Western world.
Anecdotally, I don't know anybody that became Atheist recently but many that embraced some kind of Theism. No matter how we deal with it, Atheism is linked to individualism and it may make your existence more difficult than it needs to be. By the other hand, Theism is linked to communities. There's nothing better to unite people as a shared belief.
> No matter how we deal with it, Atheism is linked to individualism and may make your existence more difficult than it needs to be. By the other hand, Theism is linked to communities. There's nothing better to unite people as a shared belief.
I see what you are saying; but this idea, which I have seen expressed many times, has always perplexed me. I understand that, pragmatically speaking, having a shared belief in a supreme being may be beneficial; but one cannot just turn a belief on or off based on how beneficial it is. Even if it is true that the believers live a psychologically better, healthier and more fulfilling life (as opposed to, say, agonizing whether they will end up in hell), it is only a statement about their mental state rather than about the truth of what they believe in.
> one cannot just turn a belief on or off based on how beneficial it is.
True, but you can soften your views. I soften mine after sharing my life with a Christian for several years. I used to assist weekly mass - as a non believer - with an open mind. I didn't convert but it changed me. I morphed from a raw Atheist to an Agnostic. She made me understand that I don't need to believe, only respect to be included in the community.
It started when I stopped seeing religion as an "edgy atheist" that would make fun of everything. Then I listened to Jordan Peterson's "Biblical Series" podcast which made me see the contents of the Bible from another perspective.
That made me read and listen more to religion related stuff. I'm also very analytical and critical with everything and if something doesn't make sense I won't simply accept it because I should believe it.
I wouldn't consider myself religious but I wouldn't dare say God doesn't exist because I'm pretty sure He does.
I see it as a journey, now. And it doesn't have to do anything with getting older and being afraid of death. I made my peace with the ending of my own existence/conscience when I was an atheist. That doesn't scare me at all.
I've gone the other way as I've gotten older, which is not unusual - however I've not built up the vehemence that I see with many other ex-religious. I sometimes quip that I'm more of a "there but for the grace of God type of atheist."
I recommend "Can a Scientist Believe in Miracles?" by Ian Hutchinson, physicist and professor at MIT. It covers the rational arguments for Christianity and how to integrate a scientific and Christian view of the world.
And C.S. Lewis, of course, but you're already reading him.
> Is it also the Guinness record holder for worlds shortest book?.
I'm also a non-theist, but I think there's something to be gained by reading the apologetics, in part to understand the motivations and perspectives of theists, but failing that, to sharpen one's own rational thinking skills. There's also a lot of history of the philosophical traditions to appreciate.
It seems that way but I think the virtual machine (universe) we run on just has some emergent constraints on possibilities and outcomes and we are just observing them.
I don’t think there’s a cosmic operating system. It’s more a meta-stable Conway game of life type environment. Either that or I drank too much funky tea once.
It’s a mishmash of things and I’m only scratching the surface, sorry can’t give a coherent answer.
But some books (Mere Christianity, The Case for Christ, The Believing Scientist, stuff by Garry Habermas, etc.), Wikipedia, the Bible (especially letters of Paul and historical analysis of them), Reddit, going to Church, taking Alpha course provided by it, talking with pastors, with Christians, random articles (e.g. https://faculty.som.yale.edu/jameschoi/whychrist/), thinking about things myself, etc.
