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I think this is a scummy reply because it is purely written to exploit vulnerable people and provide them baseless hope. You do not say how, what, or why your

I think this is a scummy reply because it is purely written to exploit vulnerable people and provide them baseless hope. You do not say how, what, or why your religion has done to help you and you make a broad sweeping statement that some thing (a god) will magically solve mental illness. If anything this sort of crap will prolong suffering, and or exacerbate the problems associated with mental illness because it's not a solution or treatment. Tangentially (off topic), I'd argue you were never truly an atheist if you could be "converted." There is no turning back, I won't one day believe in Santa Claus again.

anon_christian 9y ago
A story I noticed yesterday, in times past these symptoms would have been described as an evil spirit, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/magazine-40647530/should-people-with-a-mental-illness-be-helped-to-die http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/magazine-40647530/should-people..., similar to the symptoms I used to experience. Carl Jung in part overturned Freud in his confirmation of the spiritual nature of experience, however he erred in confining his analysis to the mind alone, which is a small but significant component of the totality of human experience.
- rubyn00bie 9y ago
  I honestly have no idea what you're trying to say here. I'm not trying to be rude, right now, I just cannot coalesce those words into a coherent thought. Please edit and revise or elaborate in another comment.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
Stratoscope 9y ago
A programmer once believed in the God of Spaces. But they were never quite sure how many spaces were the One True Number. They grew up with Four. Younger believers told them Two. They even tried Three in their wilderness years, but that made them feel odd. Then a stranger asked, "Why do you worry so with your counting? Do you ever expect to find the right number? Just use a tab, my friend, and the number will always be One." In that moment, the programmer was enlightened. But in their previous days, was this programmer not a true Believer of Spaces?
- taneq 9y ago
  And that's why you don't trust random strangers spouting wise-sounding sayings.
Noos 9y ago
If Santa Claus showed up at your doorstep and took you on a ride in his sleigh, you'd stop being an atheist. You no longer become an atheist when your experiences or reason casts doubt on it, same as no longer being religious. For some people, atheism is really weak, and tends to be held culturally in the same way religion used to be. I think personally in the west atheism is more akin to victorian christianity..it's just a baseline belief "cultured" people hold, and generally is held without thinking much about the consequences as people go about their daily lives.
taway_1212 9y ago
> Tangentially (off topic), I'd argue you were never truly an atheist if you could be "converted." There is no turning back, I won't one day believe in Santa Claus again. Even more tangentially :), someone who does not believe in the existence of a god is an agnostic. An atheist is someone who believes that god does not exist (which is just as unproven as the opposite claim that god does exist).
tnzn 9y ago
"no true scottsman" fallacy lol. Life experiences can change people deeply... That's a pretty religious way of seeing atheism you have here. Not to mention the analogy between religion and santa claus belief not only suggests contempt but is very cheap. Religion is much more than the belief in a supernatural being. And that's coming from and agnostic person.

anon_christian 9y ago

A story I noticed yesterday, in times past these symptoms would have been described as an evil spirit, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/magazine-40647530/should-people-with-a-mental-illness-be-helped-to-die http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/magazine-40647530/should-people..., similar to the symptoms I used to experience. Carl Jung in part overturned Freud in his confirmation of the spiritual nature of experience, however he erred in confining his analysis to the mind alone, which is a small but significant component of the totality of human experience.

rubyn00bie 9y ago
I honestly have no idea what you're trying to say here. I'm not trying to be rude, right now, I just cannot coalesce those words into a coherent thought. Please edit and revise or elaborate in another comment.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

Stratoscope 9y ago

A programmer once believed in the God of Spaces. But they were never quite sure how many spaces were the One True Number. They grew up with Four. Younger believers told them Two. They even tried Three in their wilderness years, but that made them feel odd. Then a stranger asked, "Why do you worry so with your counting? Do you ever expect to find the right number? Just use a tab, my friend, and the number will always be One." In that moment, the programmer was enlightened. But in their previous days, was this programmer not a true Believer of Spaces?

taneq 9y ago
And that's why you don't trust random strangers spouting wise-sounding sayings.

Noos 9y ago

If Santa Claus showed up at your doorstep and took you on a ride in his sleigh, you'd stop being an atheist. You no longer become an atheist when your experiences or reason casts doubt on it, same as no longer being religious. For some people, atheism is really weak, and tends to be held culturally in the same way religion used to be. I think personally in the west atheism is more akin to victorian christianity..it's just a baseline belief "cultured" people hold, and generally is held without thinking much about the consequences as people go about their daily lives.

taway_1212 9y ago

> Tangentially (off topic), I'd argue you were never truly an atheist if you could be "converted." There is no turning back, I won't one day believe in Santa Claus again. Even more tangentially :), someone who does not believe in the existence of a god is an agnostic. An atheist is someone who believes that god does not exist (which is just as unproven as the opposite claim that god does exist).

tnzn 9y ago

"no true scottsman" fallacy lol. Life experiences can change people deeply... That's a pretty religious way of seeing atheism you have here. Not to mention the analogy between religion and santa claus belief not only suggests contempt but is very cheap. Religion is much more than the belief in a supernatural being. And that's coming from and agnostic person.