Jamie_L

So much so, I believe, that we often strive for answers where there aren't any, or invent answers when none can be found conventionally.

Well, asking "What does a square circle look like?" would not be a meaningful question. Asking "Why is the universe here?" may be a similar question, only we don't realize it. The questions may evoke real emotions and responses, but apart from the conceptions and emotions of human beings, these questions may not represent inquiries about objective reality.

Jamie

Mageth

the_cave:

What I mean by that is, whenever I try and let go of any theistic thoughts, I'm directly confronted by an existential reality so enormous, I can't help but experience it as a religious experience.

Joseph Campbell, in The Power of Myth quotes Carl Jung, who said that a religion, as in a system of beliefs, "is a defense against the experience of God."

I think there is much truth to that - and one could substitute "mysticism" or "the mystery of the universe" for God and not lose the meaning.

I agree with Jung; the trappings of theistic thought and religious systems of beliefs, as you indicate in your statement, inhibit one from experiencing the "mystical" in the universe.
Theism is like a pair of sunglasses worn to keep the bright, mystical light of the universe from burning your eyes.

the_cave

Sure, possibly. But how can we tell when to give up? I'm not even sure giving up is a real possibility, because what I'm talking about is everyday life...telling me to stop searching for answers to these questions is like telling me to stop living, or feeling, or being human. I live, I feel, I'm human--therefore, I search for answers to these questions. I guess I could turn off my emotions, but that would make for a rather diminished life...

Also true enough, but I'm not torn by the question of a square circle the way I'm torn by the big questions...I can sort of intellectually ponder a square circle, but the big questions are something that are a fundamental part of my existence...besides, why shouldn't the objective reality of my conceptions and emotions be important? Surely they are objective, just as I am objective...I exist, my emotions exist.

But then, you have sort of recast my question...if "We'll never know the answers to some very important questions" is in fact the only answer to those very important questions, is there any single way atheists think we "should" respond to that? My impression is no: they're as diverse in their reactions to such questions as "religionists" are. (And rightly so, of course, as we're all only human...)