Fizix,
I think God provides a fairly incremental path for atheists, though. Read some scripture. I'd recommend 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon or Matthew 5-8 in the Bible. Pray to have the truth of it revealed to you (if it's, in fact, true), then make one change in your life to put your life more in harmony with what you've learned. Would that be so hard? I could do that with Islam or even with atheism. What would I read and how should atheism change my life?
Wow! Zero to preachy in minutes. Cut it out, please. If I feel I need something from your belief system, I will ask. I promise.
I am not interested in getting you to "try atheism". Not my point, sorry if I wasn't clear. I appreciate there is very little I can do to help you out there, given you learning history, anyway.
I was zeroing in (I used zero twice in my post, and I feel dirty) on your implication (I read elsewhere on the forum) that one must believe before one can perceive the spiritual benefits of belief behaviour. I wanted to see if you actually thought that was feasable. You don't seem to believe that, at least at first, it is necessary. Sounds like a very practical gradient instead. "Just read some bible-advice, apply it in your life, and see what happens" to paraphrase.
For me the "see what happens" component is the kicker, as you feel that expectations are necessary as well, going into it. In the pseudo-science of psychology, it is known that expectation is a strong determinant in perception. Tell people who believe in ghosts that your house is haunted, leave them be for a while, and guess what they'll tell you they saw in your house, and believe it wholeheartedly?
I'll ask you later what exactly are the success criteria for the spiritual sort of benefits one gets? What is the objective scale of measurement?
So, how about you, Ambassador Pony. I think it's fair of me to ask, what's your background? Where did your faith go and do you miss anything about it? How do you make sense to a world with no purpose, or do you find some purpose in all of this? Oh, and what makes you so excited to have a Mormon in the forum?
Lab rats don't ask questions!
My backfround is culturally French-Catholic. In Canada, it used to be that French school was catholic school. As a child, I suppose I had faith, but, as I recall, it was the same kind as a child has in the easter bunny and in santa. It went away not long after santa and EB. I honestly, never bought into any of it. And, I've heard that the catholics were the best at inoctrination and/or destroying cultures that were not the same as them (google: "canada" and "residential schools" for your edification). I think mormons are better at running a religion, BTW.
No, I do not miss any behaviour related to belief without evidence (faith).
At the heart of existence itself, I can only relate my most honest, "I don't know". Being human and in posession of a brain frames purpose perfectly, IMHO. I don't see a need to pile on faulty axioms.
mormons are an exotic species at WWGHA. When you leave, I have to go back to poking mouth-breathing fundy creationists with sticks. No one likes that.
Did I answer your questions?