Pinnacle of Reason wrote:
I’ve gone. I’ve fasted. I’ve felt deeply within my being the closeness to god. I was touched in a profound way inwardly. Why? Because that’s what not eating and standing for a day, coupled with enormous amounts of guilt over commited “sins,” and memories of dead loved ones, and prayers (hopeful pleas) to an ideal idea of the divine, will do.
Was it beautiful? Yes. Was it pollyanna, and a psychlogical/phsyiological response to emotional stress? Yes. So do I believe in God?
No. Has this eliminated guilt – a major source of terrible emotional stress and pain?
Yes. Do I feel lighter, more free, more authentic?
Yes. Can I still feel these same beautiful emotions, these religious experiences, outside of the place of worship?
Yes. However, I grant that the negative aspect to this loss of faith, is my optimism is now a pessimism. Is this good or bad?
Depends on how you look at it.
I can find the optimism, the postive, within the pessimistic world view – and believe me, there is a lot of nourishment for my being to be found, even within an ultimatly pessimistic framework.
So please, do not make the inductive jump, that because one experiences, what some term a “religious experience,” that it is a justification, or proof, for his royal holiness.