I'm Excited! (Deconversion)

Im super excited for you to explore this. Exploring atheism, going through the deconversion, finding out who you are outside of your old systems is a really incredible journey to take. Very eager to see how it unfolds.

Ritual is deep in human nature, a part of our pre-human inheritance. But it doesn't have to be tied to religion at all. Some people need to have a particular kind of coffee before getting down to work in the morning, or do several things before they can unwind when getting home. These are rituals, habits that help us. I wouldn't worry about ritual. I grew up in a Catholic household and went to a Catholic school, got deep into the mysticism and symbolism of it. Meh, over it. But I still love the benediction ritual, such great showmanship and spectacle. And I still find sitting in a church relaxing. It has nothing to do with religion, though.

Congratulations! You've been blessed by YouTube algorithms! We're probably going to have atheist christians soon

Congratulations! good thing about being an atheist is simply just allow things we don't know become things we don't know instead of some made up idea. we can still be curious about he world and try different things, even "magical things". Only different thing is we don't have to believe in a pre-determined explanations from old books. Ritual is just a part of our normal life. we don't need to believe in anything supernatural to enjoy its benefit and comfort. We can say "shit, that was weird, what the hell was that and let do it again" instead of "oh, that must be god/ghost/magic/pixies etc." Atheist is the most honest thing toward to the god question. If you even have a way to know something exist or not, how can you honestly believe it...

Hi Tricia, i've seen this before so many times...a person find something he did not know, and because it seems logical and there are people who believe that too, they take it as truth and get excited. When it is people coming from a religious background, they often dont know very deeply their own beliefs and how to defend them(very comon among catholics btw) and so instead of research more about their religious beliefs up until that point and confronting with that "truth" they have recently found, they embrace that "truth" and goes deep into it, forgeting about confronting that. And end up on the same situation as before, in a belief with no questioning. It looks like the path you are taking...kinda been there and i've seen it many times. I'll just say it: if you try to defend catholicism you wont be able to, as a christian who study christianism i can say that catholicism doesnt make any sense but you still need to confronting your beliefs, so i recommend you this, ask God that, if he exists, show you the truth, and be open to and answer. If he exists he should be able to do that right? so is not asking much, just be open and honest. I wish you well and i hope you find the truth on that journey of yours. btw, recommendations: william lane craig ravi zacharias(dont like him personally but as an apologist hes very good) and the channel Cross Examined

You don't miss the rituals, you miss the presence of God. I hope you're ok now, but I just believe you may find your path back to believing one day