If you lost your faith.. do you think you would become depressed?

[MehGuy]

Well I asked a mod if I could make this thread, and she said it would be fine as long as I don't promote anything.

Anyways if you lost your faith somehow do you think you could handle living in a life with no divine purpose *of course this would assume you didn't join some other religion or something lol*

Would you be depressed and mopey, enjoy the depression and go on with your life, perhaps being a more cynical person towards others?, or just not really care at all?/ out grow it fast?

IDK I guess that's it, nothing much, I just always wondered if some of you fear the above, or would really care, maybe its hard to answer where you are but I'm still interested in hearing your responses.


I guess a little bonus question is, if you lost your faith how would your life change? Would you be a little less forgiving? Would you cheat more? Would you pretty much stay the same?

 

[GoodNewsJim]

If I lost my faith, it would have to be some test I'll assure God I'd fail because it would involve brain trauma so I forget that God let me know he is real.

 

[MehGuy]

If I lost my faith, it would have to be some test I'll assure God I'd fail because it would involve brain trauma so I forget that God let me know he is real.

I know but this is hypothetical. I just want to know how you would handle the situation.

 

[Lord Herdsetk]

I lost my faith, but it wasn't permanent. I guess you could say i took a break from christianity for like 4 or 5 years. I'm more so rediscovering what it means to follow God.

But yeah, i lost my faith because something terrible that was going on in my life along with a lot of people i thought whom i thought were strong christians just completely and utterly failing me. it was VERY similar to the story of Job (guy strongly believes in God, Satan challenges God that Job would lose his faith if he messed with Job, Job loses everything, struggles, but ultimately keeps on praising God and is rewarded 10 told at the end)

During that time where i just turned my back on God, it was pretty grim for me. As far as I was concerned, God was a lie, my beliefs were a lie, I had to go find new ones. It didn't help that I was just entering high school and I hung out with pessimists. I grew up a lot in those high schools years, and ultimately I became a much more bitter person. Well I guess cynical is a more proper way of putting it.

I was just miserable. Everyone had their own take on life, and was busy telling me how i should get myself out of this mess, but they all failed to do one thing. Actually help me, and be there for me. I was fed up with it all. I just didn't care about what others thought and even to a degree what happened to them. Selfish, cynical, and just wanting to move on with my life so I could be done with all that crap.

Well something did happen to me late in my high school career that changed me. I started looking for God again, and slowly, oh ever so slowly, began to put that crap behind me and straighten up. I'm still in the process of recovering to be honest, but I'm making progress.

So yeah, losing my faith was most definitely a bad thing. It didn't help that the ones I depended on were too busy playing high and mighty.....or worse, were just simply not giving a damn.

 

[Keri]

I don't understand the whole idea of "losing" my faith. I didn't "find" it in the first place. It's always been part of me. I've always believed.

Romans 1:19‑20
What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature‑‑have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

 

[Blank123]

if I ever lost my faith, I would just be exchanging one faith for another. Either I have faith there is a God with whom I can have a personal relationship with or I have faith that that God does not exist. But either way I'd be following my convictions, right? I'm not sure why that would lead to depression, unless I actually did still believe in God but was fighting to suppress that for whatever reason.

 

[MehGuy]

I don't understand the whole idea of "losing" my faith. I didn't "find" it in the first place. It's always been part of me. I've always believed.

Romans 1:19‑20
What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature‑‑have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Alright you always believed, I don't see why that matters in this thread, it's just a hypocritical situation I brought up, to see how members here would react to certain situations.

 

[Keri]

Alright you always believed, I don't see why that matters in this thread, it's just a hypocritical situation I brought up, to see how members here would react to certain situations.

As a member, I stated what I think. Was that wrong? I just don't understand how someone can lose their faith.

I have been in situations when I was angry with God. And yes, I was depressed through that time. Separation from God, through disbelief, sinning, not surrendering, etc., in my opinion causes despression. I suffered with it for years. Trying to do things my own way. The day I gave it all up to Him, fully surrendered to Him, my depression lifted.

If I went back to that way of living selfishly, then yes, I wouldn't doubt if the depression returned.

 

[Oddish]

Definately.

 

[Isambard]

Why be depressed? You arn't any different by not having faith.

 

[Miles]

Probably not. Exchanging one set of beliefs for another isn't inherently depressing. If I'm convinced of something, if I truly think my new views are correct, then what's there to feel bad about?

I would feel awful if I believed that I was letting Jesus down by losing my faith... but in that case, I would still be somewhat of a believer.

 

[miss-a]

Depressed, absolutely, with a gruesome side order of anxiety, knowing I was alone, no miracles available. I wasn't saved until my thirties, so I've lived both ways. The faithless, "You got yourself into this; you get yourself out" life is a terrilbe way to live. "You got yourself into this, Jesus will get you out and bless you along the way", there's nothing better!

 

[Beauty4Ashes]

God is my best friend other than my husband of course. I would not find life much worthwhile without my faith in God as it means everything to me.

 

[LoneSheep]

I don't understand the question. Faith isn't like a cell phone that you can just "lose", it's something that takes time to build up and takes time to lose (if anyone actually does lose it). Why would anyone become depressed over a conscious decision?

 

[lone soldier]

I'm losing my faith now... in christianity... and I am actually happier than ever! I think religion binds us to our true nature and cuts us off from our true selves. We miss out on so much being bound by religion.

 

[Im_A]

Well I asked a mod if I could make this thread, and she said it would be fine as long as I don't promote anything.

Anyways if you lost your faith somehow do you think you could handle living in a life with no divine purpose *of course this would assume you didn't join some other religion or something lol*

Would you be depressed and mopey, enjoy the depression and go on with your life, perhaps being a more cynical person towards others?, or just not really care at all?/ out grow it fast?

IDK I guess that's it, nothing much, I just always wondered if some of you fear the above, or would really care, maybe its hard to answer where you are but I'm still interested in hearing your responses.


I guess a little bonus question is, if you lost your faith how would your life change? Would you be a little less forgiving? Would you cheat more? Would you pretty much stay the same?

I think a slight 'depressed feeling' or whatever the proper term should be used is normal. If you seriously base your views in something and then end up at a point in your life where you can't support those views any longer, and you invest hopes, goals etc. it is to be expected.

When I lost faith, my initial reaction wasn't so much depression but a relief. The last several years of believing, I was really struggling with that belief, with believing. There was a time of frustration and maybe a little anger. The sadness for me came when I realized my relations with people in my past are now forever changed. My relationship with my father, my old friends, everything changes. As we know, having faith goes beyond having a simple idea in your head about something.

My morality has stayed the same and also evolved. I do not believe my loss of faith caused this. My morality did the same thing when I did believe. Morality and ethics in my opinion is something that does change, and does evolve, but losing faith doesn't give one rational reason to just start living the way that you didn't believe in before. It is one thing to change but it is another to simply just start doing something you disagree with simply because you no longer believe. It makes no sense in my opinion to give up belief in a god or gods, and then you live a way that is anti what you used to be. It would show that you actually haven't stopped believing.

 

[Sketcher]

Anyways if you lost your faith somehow do you think you could handle living in a life with no divine purpose *of course this would assume you didn't join some other religion or something lol*

I suppose I would get used to it, but I'd always long for a sense of purpose.

Would you be depressed and mopey, enjoy the depression and go on with your life, perhaps being a more cynical person towards others?, or just not really care at all?/ out grow it fast?

Having been depressed before, "enjoy the depression" truly makes no sense to me. I'd have to say I would be depressed, and probably very bitter, to the point of irrational hatred of my hypothetically-former religion. This is what I've observed in people who have turned from Christianity to no real faith in particular, so I can't presume that I would react any better than they would.

And I just have to throw this in there - there was a period in my life when I lost faith - not as in I became an atheist or whatever, but I did not believe that Jesus had the power or the will to save me for a while. And that was very depressing. I have strong faith in him now, and that has given me peace. I still get down sometimes about life's hardships, but those are just minor bouts compared to the overwhelming depression I used to have.

Would you be a little less forgiving? Would you cheat more?

If I thought I could get away with it. I'm the kind of person who thinks about things before he makes a move, so I wouldn't turn into Tony Montana, but I would give more serious thought to seeing what I could get away with and how I could get away with it.

 

[Wren]

Would you be depressed and mopey, enjoy the depression and go on with your life, perhaps being a more cynical person towards others?, or just not really care at all?/ out grow it fast?

I guess a little bonus question is, if you lost your faith how would your life change? Would you be a little less forgiving? Would you cheat more? Would you pretty much stay the same?

I imagine that I would feel lost. I think that I would feel like I was missing an anchor. I've been a Christian for so many years and for that faith to go completely away would probably leave me a little shaken. The people I know who are former Christians haven't seemed depressed to me, though. They seemed fine and just went on other paths: Wicca, Buddhism, Atheism, or left in a state of being unsure about spiritual matters and not really caring to seek a particular path. Maybe I, too, would end up seeking a different path...so that I didn't feel lost anymore.

I don't imagine I would become a different person. Yes my faith is very important to me and a big part of me, but I wouldn't suddenly become a liar or a cheater or whatever. It's not like being a Christian makes me perfect and I'll suddenly start doing bad things if I were to lose faith. Besides, I know plenty of good people who are not Christians. I don't believe we (Christians) are the only ones capable of morality.

 

[Themistocles]

I think most people go through "the dark night of the soul". Usually this isn't permanent. If it was, if I was convinced, intellectually, that God didn't exist, yes, I'd be quite depressed. I'm convinced that all human attempts to make sense of life, absent God, end in vanity (to quote The Preacher). A few poets have made a good run at it, to no avail I think; the philosophers haven't come close; and man himself, when not concerned about permanent things, descends into decadence and decay- as the last doleful century proved.

 

[Apollo Celestio]

Bitterness, Nihilism, then searching. Some people are not wired to get depressed about stuff. It's not really that they're mentally strong, it's just anything can get them excited. I'm not like that..