If God Exists, Why Isn't It Obvious?

Such a huge topic, almost as big as how did life start. Am glad there are enough questions, to answer, and while doing so examine one's thoughts all over again!

Why are you an atheist? Happened little by little over time, like a child taking tentative steps towards the deeper side of the pool. There were many factors. Couple of the main ones were specific incidents in my and one sibling's lives. Another was reading and interacting with other non-believers. I wish I could say it was logic and thinking that made me an atheist, but that's not how it happened. I became an atheist (effectively) and then looked for reasons and identified some that suited me.

Tell us: about life as an atheist/agnostic, on reconciling with the religious underpinnings of our culture
Life is pretty straightforward as in there is not much of "conscious atheism". It is very similar to that of family friends who are believers but low key on rituals/observances. We live far from our parents/siblings, and locally not into any specific Indian language/community groups. So, any reconciliation is mostly needed only in our minds! There is no pressure or expectation from anywhere/anybody to follow any thing. Plus, we are not very analytical in this respect. So, never did any too deep thinking about it. I occasionally wonder about the after-life, and heaven/hell, but there is rarely enough contiguous time for that thought train to go far.

On raising a family as a nonbeliever
This is where I second-guess myself the most. If one parent is a believer, and the other a non-believer or half-believer : ) the child gets to examine both ways of life, and can make his/her choice. In our case, it is a very atheist household. I wonder whether we are short-changing the kids in one way. But I guess, we (parents) had the opportunity to choose atheism in adult life, the kids will have the opportunity to become believers if they choose to.

What does spirituality mean to you?
I am going to skip this question. It is a bit beyond my current self-examination. And I have a certain disdain for the (rather cliched) term that needs to be cleared up before I can fairly think what it means to me.

Morality:
Mine usually matches the laws of the land where I live. : )

More later....

 

Adding - I personally don't think morality, kindness, personal ethics etc are based on spirituality. Spirituality is just like any other personal trait. It's not more important than any other and its absence does not mean someone is lacking morally. Some people give it too much importance. My God should never over shadow my common sense. If that happens then it's called being irrational. Isn't that what is happening with radicalization in the name of God?
I also don't think things are always black and white. What to me is a small thing is quite big for someone else. I cannot stand the holier than thou attitude of people, spiritual or not.

Regarding bad and good - I'm not always good. I'm sure I can find a good and a bad in me today. Isn't that the same with everyone? I can never understand how being good is attributed to being religious or spiritual. I am my own worst critic so I don't need some external force to make me tow the line. I don't believe in eternal damnation if I do something that the creator has said shouldn't be done. I do believe my conscience will do enough.

Why do little kids undergo horrible unspeakable things? I don't know. The other day I read the blog of a mom who lost her 5 year old to DIPG. Read this -
Hey Krishna Hey Krishna

Sometimes God doesn't give answers but provides the crutch to rationalize the unimaginable. Maybe faith provides a way to go on with life when the unthinkable happens. Don't doc's put people in induced comas to deal with brain injuries? Something like that? To surrender to something even if it gives some solace for a brief period.

 

@Gauri03 - Personal experiences are what makes us who we are. Even our belief system is based on our life experiences. I don't think any one side can rationalize and prove to the other. It's what you feel and you have every right to feel that way. I'm assuming you have found the way to cope with your past difficulties without needing God as the medium. That to me is even harder than having a belief system. When I pray, I don't really pray for a miracle. I do pray for the strength to cope with my inner turmoil. You found ways to get that strength from elsewhere. That's all that matters.

Regarding why evil exists, it's nothing the rational or spiritual mind can explain. I read about brain studies of serial killers being done to figure out what makes them kill(someone once told me autistic individuals are more prone to become killers, I almost became one that day!). Apparently nothing in those studies could pin point to why some people are the way they are. Their brains are not different from ours, nothing stood out. Then why? Who knows. Hopefully our kids will find some more about the human brain and its wiring and then they can explain it all. Why some people feel the need to kill, why some want to believe, why some others cannot - Afterall, it's all hidden in our neural networks somewhere!