Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Takes alot of courage and morale fiber to believe in nothing.
No clue how people live their lives with no moral compass to guide them
I hear this all the time, yet it always surprises me that people actually believe this.
That moral compass inside of you is not "god" or anything similar, it's simply instinct, an evolutionary by-product of our species, and has a lot to do with your environment and the people you surround yourself with.
People need to stop focusing on the "atheists believe in nothing" phrase. So many people seem to misunderstand us and think we see no wonder or beauty in the world. Quite the opposite. Without the burden of a religion fulled with ridiculous stories and contradictions pressing down on us, we see things for what they are, and appreciate what is right in front of us, the beauty of nature, and the one life we are fortunate to be living.
While others are at church appealing to a fictional being, we are at home with our family and friends, immersing ourselves into relationships that we can see, touch, hear, and know is real.
Takes alot of courage and morale fiber to believe in nothing.
No clue how people live their lives with no moral compass to guide them.
Just because you might not believe in Big Foot, does that mean you believe in nothing? I don't get the correlation here. Why would not having a belief in one particular thing, mean that you believe in nothing else? That doesn't make sense.
As far as a moral compass, I get my morals from my parents and society (man)....the same as you, yet you don't even realize it. You "believe" you get it from some god, but where's your proof for this? The bible sure 'aint proof, as it was written by man.
I'm not trying to make one point or another about religion and if you are going to respond to this thread, I would appreciate objectivity, open-mindedness, and the absence of preaching.
I'm not Christian or any particular faith. My parents started going to a Christian church after they retired around 2000 and were baptized but as a family unit, we weren't really exposed to religion (I went to AWANA as a kid but that was mainly to keep me off the streets!). I've always thought about this question and since my Dad's passing 2 years ago, I guess it's a question that's been burning my brain.
I do believe in God. My theory is that there is only one God and when we all die one day, no matter what religion you are, we'll all end up in the same place. (Whether there is a hell, that is a whole different topic for now!)
Here's my rationale: What's the point of life if there's not something to look forward to later? I guess that's what fuels my opinion about faith. As an atheist, do you think it's a sad thought that you just live and die and that's it? The idea that you die and nothing happens afterwards just breaks my heart. How do atheists cope with death? Even though I'm not of a certain faith, it's nice to believe that my Dad is in heaven. I guess for me the idea of heaven and God is something I need to believe in to keep me sane.
Honest responses are appreciated but I do ask everybody to be respectful. Thanks.
Why does life have to have a point? What is the point for a child to get cancer? What is the point for a loved one to die due to a drunk driver?
What was to point to all the people lost on 9/11? The answer is that there is no point. If there does happen to be some kind of life after death why the need for any kind of god. Does the afterlife require some sort of CEO? And if there is a god I certainly have some issues with his job performance thus far!
I look at it with this sort of example: say you went on vacation to Disneyland. Would it make the experience sad or unenjoyable because it will end or would you simply enjoy and make the best of the time you are there? It's a common misconception that life becomes sad and pointless if there is no afterlife. It's more of an incentive to live this life to the fullest because it's the only one you will have. The fact that it will end only makes your time here more precious. I cope with death by living this life and focusing on the here and now rather than dwelling on what may or may not happen after.
Takes alot of courage and morale fiber to believe in nothing.
Herd animals are not known for their courage, relying on the shepherd for everything. Requirement, a shepherd that really exists, a shepherd that has the power to intercede, and finally even cares.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vanskills
No clue how people live their lives with no moral compass to guide them.
Thus you behave in a moral fashion only out of fear of consequences from an imaginary god, and if you didn't think your god existed, you would rape, murder, pillage, and spit on sidewalks. You are the one that should be questioning your own morality.
Here's my rationale: What's the point of life if there's not something to look forward to later? I guess that's what fuels my opinion about faith. As an atheist, do you think it's a sad thought that you just live and die and that's it?
Just for the record, I want to point out that being an atheist does not necessarily mean rejecting the possibility of an "afterlife" of some sort. I am an "atheist" in the sense that I do not believe in the idea of an intelligent being that created the world for a purpose, but for a variety of philosophical reasons I believe that experience (or "qualia" or "proto-qualia" if you prefer) are fundamental to being. If I am right about this, then there are a variety of ways in which our memories (and thus in some sense possibly our "souls") could be immortal. Until we have a credible theory of mind, it is hard to rule out any such options.
"God" in any traditional/theistic sense is not necessarily required for certain interesting forms of immortality. Also, God is not required for "purpose" in the world. Purpose could emerge along with intelligence.
Here's my rationale: What's the point of life if there's not something to look forward to later? I guess that's what fuels my opinion about faith. As an atheist, do you think it's a sad thought that you just live and die and that's it? The idea that you die and nothing happens afterwards just breaks my heart. How do atheists cope with death? Even though I'm not of a certain faith, it's nice to believe that my Dad is in heaven. I guess for me the idea of heaven and God is something I need to believe in to keep me sane.
Honest responses are appreciated but I do ask everybody to be respectful. Thanks.
I'm an atheist and I lost my twin almost a year ago. It's incredibly difficult to deal with the loss; that he no longer 'is'. Something a colleague said at work not too long ago, since she just lost her mother, was that life has a cost and that cost is death.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vanskills
Takes alot of courage and morale fiber to believe in nothing.
No clue how people live their lives with no moral compass to guide them.
Like others, I think we all have an inner moral compass that isn't necessarily at the mercy of outside forces.
I'm atheist but I don't necessarily believe we just rot away once we die. Atheism doesn't imply not believing in some sort of afterlife and believing in an afterlife doesn't require a belief in a God or gods either.
I'm not trying to make one point or another about religion and if you are going to respond to this thread, I would appreciate objectivity, open-mindedness, and the absence of preaching.
I'm not Christian or any particular faith. My parents started going to a Christian church after they retired around 2000 and were baptized but as a family unit, we weren't really exposed to religion (I went to AWANA as a kid but that was mainly to keep me off the streets!). I've always thought about this question and since my Dad's passing 2 years ago, I guess it's a question that's been burning my brain.
I do believe in God. My theory is that there is only one God and when we all die one day, no matter what religion you are, we'll all end up in the same place. (Whether there is a hell, that is a whole different topic for now!)
Here's my rationale: What's the point of life if there's not something to look forward to later? I guess that's what fuels my opinion about faith. As an atheist, do you think it's a sad thought that you just live and die and that's it? The idea that you die and nothing happens afterwards just breaks my heart. How do atheists cope with death? Even though I'm not of a certain faith, it's nice to believe that my Dad is in heaven. I guess for me the idea of heaven and God is something I need to believe in to keep me sane.
Honest responses are appreciated but I do ask everybody to be respectful. Thanks.
There have been a lot of good responses here, but I think perhaps there is room for my Reverse Pascal's wager or 'Atheists can have a warm, fuzzy, feeling, too.
(Quote from my own material)
"There is no really sound evidence for an afterlife. (1) If we all lived after we died, you'd think like real gods or real aliens we'd have had some lockdown indisputable proof by now. That this life is all there is probably true and we had better make something of it while we can.
That said, if there was an afterlife, then it is not the gift of any god. It is as natural as birth and death and not for any god to give or withold on the basis of who has sucked up to it during their life.
If so, there's nothing to worry about, if there is an afterlife, you got it already.
If here isn't better make the most of the one you have.
Therefore, reverse Pascal's wager. It is better that you live this life as though there wasn't an afterlife than waste you life trying to qualify (in a very imperfectly understood way) for the afterlife of one of the religions picked at random.
The point of life is that there is no point.
Let's assume that there is no point. so what do we all do? Yes, we can all say 'no point in living' and immolate ourselves. However, thanks to evolution, we have a drive to live. So we find reasons to live. These have no intrinsic validity but they are meaningful for us.
What else is on offer? There are those who say that God has a plan for us. I'm not sure whether that is a good or bad thing. I'd rather decide what's important in my life than have someone (even a god) tell me what I
should consider important.
I can even say that living because we want to and trying aspire to better things, even if there is no supernatural being using stick and carrot on us, is better behaviour than trying to please a god, just as behaving in a
moral way, even if one doesn't believe in chalking up brownie points with the deity, is better morality than doing good in trying to win a ticket to heaven.
I think the point about this 'meaning of life' argument is that it isn't valid to try to prove God through the backdoor by saying that, since life makes no sense/is futile, sad and desparing without God, so there HAS to be
a god.
Since life is not without meaning for us (though it is only meaningful FOR us) the point cannot be used to argue that God is real on the pretext that He needs to be."
I am agnostic about ghosts as I am about UFO's. I am aware of a lot of claims but I have not seen persuasive substantiation. It may be just because the phenomena is as hard to demonstrate as dark matter. There may be some other reason. Like Voices or the feeling of an 'angelic presence' or NDE's it cano be ruled out that such may be one of those human experiences which are only down to human experiences. So, have to remain agnostic and therefore cannot admit them as proof of anything.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
