Feeling Empty?

Several times since becoming an atheist, or at least a naturalist, I have felt a kind of longing for the divine and sacred, not in Christianity no, but in a path a began to step down three years ago, before backing out due to fear that it was demonic, fear handed down from Christianity. I'm talking about paganism.

I've always had an affinity with the religions of the past and the gods of ancient cultures. Part of me wants to throw aside my reason and embrace this pull that I feel toward nature religions. The other part of me knows that I have no good reason to involve myself in another superstition, and I have experienced the results of accepting things by faith, without evidence. If I don't allow myself to give in to the desire that I have for this, I will continue to be drawn to it. If I do embrace it, then my rational mind will ask me why I am bothering with something that cannot be shown to have any worth. It seems to be a battle between my left and right brain.

The answers that are given by the spiritual are usually something like this:
"This is just my path, it's true for me."
"I feel within me that this is true."
"My experience has proven it to me, against evidence."

But is it true? Can I be satisfied living a comfortable delusion? I must admit that I feel a little bit empty since losing my religion, but in a way it is a reasonable sacrifice to liberate myself from irrationality. I just wish that my atheism could be as fulfilling as my faith had (until I began to suffer at its hands). I suppose I am still young, and with many years ahead of me I have plenty of time to discover just how fulfilling a life based on reason and rational thought can be.

When watching Phil Hellenes video 'Science Saved My Soul' on YouTube, I feel the emptiness evaporate and I'm filled with a sense of awe at what I am really a part of, where I came from, my cousinship with all life and my origins in the stars. I am the universe, and that is truly grand; far more so than being the sentient fired mudbrick of some celestial potter.

Atheism Flyer

Reading God is Not Great, by Christopher Hitchens, who is undergoing treatment for cancer. Get well soon Hitch.

Refining my argument

I apologize for posting the same point repeatedly, I have been trying to refine my argument.

If evolution is a fact then Adam didnt exist and there was no original sin. This means that we have not inherited sin from Adam and nobody is born sinful and guilty and the moral code of the Bible is false and is not based in reality, furthermore it has no basis on which to call natural human desires and imperatives sinful. It also means that Christ died for a sin that never occured, and for a sinful nature of man that is contrary to reality. The entire redemptive narrative of the Bible seeks to restore man to a state of grace from which he never fell, nor was he created in.

The moral code of the Bible is that we have all inherited original sin from a man that never existed and that we all need redemption for a sin that was never committed.

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Why Don't You Believe in God?

When I am asked 'why don't you believe in God?' my first reaction before giving my reason would be 'I presume you mean the God of the Bible; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; of Moses and the Prophets; Jesus and the Apostles. The God of Judaeio-Christian tradition; to a lesser extent, the God of Islam.' Once this has been determined I begin 'Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection has been proven beyond reasonable doubt. The evidence of descent with modification is incontrovertible. Now then, let's assume that we both agree that evolution is a fact, for the sake of argument. What does this mean for the God of the Bible? Well, it would mean that Adam and Eve, from whom all humans are descended according to the Genesis account, never actually existed. We don't see humans coming from two individuals in evolutionary history. Presume that's correct. This would mean that the account of Adam sinning against God in the Garden of Eden did not occur in reality. So the original sin never happened. The Bible teaches that all are born in sin, passed down from Adam to each successive generation. If Adam never existed then this sin nature has not been inherited by all humanity. Come to the question of Jesus, sent to die for the sins of man, specifically as the Apostle Paul puts it, the sin of Adam. The reality of evolution would have Jesus Christ being executed for a sin that never occurred. The entire Christian faith is founded on redemption for the sin of man. But if man has not inherited sin from Adam, who evolution who have us believe wasn't real, then the moral code of the Bible is the product of a falsehood. It has no foundation in reality and therefor cannot be trusted to determine what moral or immoral, nor for that matter has it any right to declare any behavior sinful or wrong. The Bible is held to be an accurate portrayal of the character of the Christian God. But if the very foundation of its moral code (sanctioned by God by the way) is a falsehood, then what credibility can, or should, I lend to anything else it says about God?
To summarize, if evolution is true: Adam didn't exist. There was no original sin, and no sin being passed on to all men. If we are not born in sin we don't need a saviour. Jesus' death was in vain. If we are not born in original sin then the entire redemptive narrative of the Bible seeks to restore man to a state of grace from which he never fell, nor was he created in.