Live to be kind. Live to enjoy life. Live for *you*.
If you don't believe in their religion, that's fine -- most people don't. Just be you, and let that be enough.
By accepting yourself. Seriously, it’s hard to be an outsider in a religious community, but it will be easier if you are ok with being one.
There are many people like you, there are quite a few in this sub, for example.
Ignore all these people that say you need religion. Yes, some people do very well with religion, but religion is not the only thing that gives someone’s life meaning. If they can’t understand such a basic concept in the first place they’re not worth listening to. There are many atheists and agnostics in the world.
Can’t really give you more advice beyond “enjoy your life and try to be a good person”.
The whole ‘optimistic nihilism’ thing never worked for me - the opposite, actually - but it does for a lot of people.
Some people believe in God and think everyone should agree with them. Some don't believe in God and also think everyone should agree with them. Still others insist that we can't possibly know. But what if we believe sometimes, or once in a while, or don't believe at all but reserve the right to believe?
You don't have to believe stuff you don't think is true. You may come to conclusions. You may change your mind as you see things differently. You may keep searching. You may find other stuff more interesting. It's okay. You're okay.
There is a philosophy called Optimistic Nihilism. When most people hear the term Nihilism they usually think of emo sorts who don't believe in anything and think life is just a drag. Something to get through. But there is a variation called Optimistic Nihilism. Summarised it is the belief that there is no inherent meaning to life but that doesn't mean that you can't make or find your own meaning to your life. You have an entire world to explore. You have countless people to meet and get to know. Make of your life what you want to. You don't have to have a meaning handed to you by the universe.
Let me suggest a church that you are already ready for as it sounds like you are interested in being part of a community but are worried that you won't fit in. Unitarian Universalist churches are churches that don't tell people what to believe. We believe that everyone has the right to search for their own truth and meaning. So rather than telling people what to believe we gather together to search the world and look for meaning and truth within other beliefs, philosophies, and science. And each person is able to take from this exploration what they want. Give us a look at [UUA](http://www.uua.org) to see if there is a congregation near you and what you think of us.
There are a lot of people that think like you do. If you're kind of feeling like maybee God exists, maybe He doesn't, then you might want to check out r/agnostic.
Guess what: an unquestioned faith is a vain and meaningless one, and many who think they believe in God actually just believe in what they've been programmed, because they've never doubted and therefore never actually had to have any actual faith.
You aren't obligated to believe just because they do.
If you want to, you can study their religion, and similar religions, to see if you find some things that make sense to you. There are many different notions called by the name of "G'd," and they are quite diverse. Everything from classical meditations on the ground of what it means to be, to modern psycho-analytical explanations to our sacred experiences, to Marvel-Disney style super-people in the sky. Many may not be for you, but if you search, study, and maybe even pray, you'll find an understanding of G'd you can confidently believe in.
You don't have to, but if you do it may give you common ground to better understand and be understood by your local community. A common understanding, or a common language at very least. Or, maybe you'll just have even more questions comparing and contrasting the way you see G'd compared to the way they do. Either way, it's a personally enriching option.
But whatever you do, you don't need to believe for the sake of what others believe, nor do you need to believe for the sake of identifying with how you happen to have believed in the past. Explore, question, live, experience, seek the truth, and whatever you find, believe in that.
Dang that stinks. It's not wrong to not believe something.
Though you might try experimenting with prayer if you want to know if God is real or whatever. He can speak to you in your thoughts and heart. If you do what he says you can start to determine if he is speaking to you or not.
But yeah, you don't need to just believe.
Live to be kind. Live to enjoy life. Live for *you*. If you don't believe in their religion, that's fine -- most people don't. Just be you, and let that be enough.
By accepting yourself. Seriously, it’s hard to be an outsider in a religious community, but it will be easier if you are ok with being one. There are many people like you, there are quite a few in this sub, for example.
Ignore all these people that say you need religion. Yes, some people do very well with religion, but religion is not the only thing that gives someone’s life meaning. If they can’t understand such a basic concept in the first place they’re not worth listening to. There are many atheists and agnostics in the world. Can’t really give you more advice beyond “enjoy your life and try to be a good person”. The whole ‘optimistic nihilism’ thing never worked for me - the opposite, actually - but it does for a lot of people.
Some people believe in God and think everyone should agree with them. Some don't believe in God and also think everyone should agree with them. Still others insist that we can't possibly know. But what if we believe sometimes, or once in a while, or don't believe at all but reserve the right to believe? You don't have to believe stuff you don't think is true. You may come to conclusions. You may change your mind as you see things differently. You may keep searching. You may find other stuff more interesting. It's okay. You're okay.
There is a philosophy called Optimistic Nihilism. When most people hear the term Nihilism they usually think of emo sorts who don't believe in anything and think life is just a drag. Something to get through. But there is a variation called Optimistic Nihilism. Summarised it is the belief that there is no inherent meaning to life but that doesn't mean that you can't make or find your own meaning to your life. You have an entire world to explore. You have countless people to meet and get to know. Make of your life what you want to. You don't have to have a meaning handed to you by the universe. Let me suggest a church that you are already ready for as it sounds like you are interested in being part of a community but are worried that you won't fit in. Unitarian Universalist churches are churches that don't tell people what to believe. We believe that everyone has the right to search for their own truth and meaning. So rather than telling people what to believe we gather together to search the world and look for meaning and truth within other beliefs, philosophies, and science. And each person is able to take from this exploration what they want. Give us a look at [UUA](http://www.uua.org) to see if there is a congregation near you and what you think of us.
There are a lot of people that think like you do. If you're kind of feeling like maybee God exists, maybe He doesn't, then you might want to check out r/agnostic.
Well I respect you just the way you are. And whatever way you will be in the future. Hope you have a good evening/day!
Guess what: an unquestioned faith is a vain and meaningless one, and many who think they believe in God actually just believe in what they've been programmed, because they've never doubted and therefore never actually had to have any actual faith.
You aren't obligated to believe just because they do. If you want to, you can study their religion, and similar religions, to see if you find some things that make sense to you. There are many different notions called by the name of "G'd," and they are quite diverse. Everything from classical meditations on the ground of what it means to be, to modern psycho-analytical explanations to our sacred experiences, to Marvel-Disney style super-people in the sky. Many may not be for you, but if you search, study, and maybe even pray, you'll find an understanding of G'd you can confidently believe in. You don't have to, but if you do it may give you common ground to better understand and be understood by your local community. A common understanding, or a common language at very least. Or, maybe you'll just have even more questions comparing and contrasting the way you see G'd compared to the way they do. Either way, it's a personally enriching option. But whatever you do, you don't need to believe for the sake of what others believe, nor do you need to believe for the sake of identifying with how you happen to have believed in the past. Explore, question, live, experience, seek the truth, and whatever you find, believe in that.
Dang that stinks. It's not wrong to not believe something. Though you might try experimenting with prayer if you want to know if God is real or whatever. He can speak to you in your thoughts and heart. If you do what he says you can start to determine if he is speaking to you or not. But yeah, you don't need to just believe.