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The thing is, one doesn't choose to become an atheist because it has a comforting message. Instead, one becomes an atheist because that is what logic dictates is the truth. Atheism doesn't guarantee a soothing, comforting payoff, like religions do.
But heck, if you find it easier, just halfheartedly believe in a feel-good religion like Reverand1111's. It's all about peace and love, and her God doesn't hate anyone, and even if you don't understand the science behind it, somehow you get to live forever. LOL.
you know there are other religions/myths other than christianity right? lol i wasn't a christian.
i don't think i'd ever go back willingly to believe something i understand to be a myth.
however, i challenge you to explain to me why "life really doesn't matter" is not spot on. (we may be referring to "mattering" on different levels though. i'm talking "ultimately")
Oh. Whoops. Yeah, of course I know that there are other religions besides Christianity. I guess this forum gets so jammed up with recovering Christians that I somehow translated the OP to mean that.
RE your challenge: If you are asking me to give you other possibilities beyond life besides plain-old death - I can't give you any. But still, to me, "ultimately" doesn't just mean "upon death". It means the "ultimate" outcome of each and every living moment. I believe that every imperceptible moment matters because what happens in each of those moments (what we do, what we think, etc) equals who we are and how we operate. And that matters because it has effects that are felt in real life. So "life doesn't really matter" doesn't sound like a spot on assessment to me at all.
If you are simply saying that we all die and there are no eternal rewards or punishments - I agree with that.
Why should anyone be disappointed as long as they lead a fulfilling and challenging, pleasurable life ?
I have no problem with living and then dying. Circle of life and all that. For me life is to be lived as fully as possible, to have loved and been loved, to have fun and hopefully be a decent , kind human being and try my best. My worst disappointment woudl be to die with too many regrets ( "I wish I had done this/that") and to have left this world worse off than it was when I came into it.
I don't need eternal life. As long as I die peacefully and without pain , keeping my dignity I am ready to go today if that is my time to go. Death only frightens me if it involves loved ones.
I find life ( as in biology) an amazing process , it fascinates me and I only wish we made life on earth a lot more pleasant and kind for others . That is my idea of Heaven.
Anyway being an Atheist is not about wishful thinking but about what hands life deals us right here and right now. Wishing to be immortal is not going to make it true so why agonise over it ? To me there is no god, no eternal life therefore I might as well concentrate on the here and now.
My purpose in life is to be happy and not deny happiness to others. Eternal life sounds really, really boring and tedious actually.
I would much rather have my 40/50/60/70/80/90 years full of love and laughter, kindness and try to be a good human being than living for eternity. I fail to see the attraction, hence maybe my potent lack of disappointment in its non existence !
Live life now. Travel , enjoy those you love, ignore those you hate, and try to make a difference. Seems like a pretty good plan to me.
if you don't believe in god then you must belive in Satan. (as i am only 17 and not going to throw scripture at you just because i cant memorize please do not speak against my religion with all do respect.) but i still don't understand why you cant belive in God although you cannot see him. would you worship a golden calf?
if you don't believe in god then you must belive in Satan. (as i am only 17 and not going to throw scripture at you just because i cant memorize please do not speak against my religion with all do respect.) but i still don't understand why you cant belive in God although you cannot see him. would you worship a golden calf?
A few pointers:
1) Your post is completely off-topic (see pointer #3)
2) Your first and last sentences make absolutely no sense.
3) Your wonder over why people don't believe in God has been addressed in many other threads in which that is the topic. (This thread is about whether being an atheist feels disappointing).
believe that every imperceptible moment matters because what happens in each of those moments (what we do, what we think, etc) equals who we are and how we operate. And that matters because it has effects that are felt in real life. So "life doesn't really matter" doesn't sound like a spot on assessment to me at all.
If you are simply saying that we all die and there are no eternal rewards or punishments - I agree with that.
agree with you completely. i think we 'were' speaking on different levels of "mattering"....see, i'm all FOR living/enjoying every moment and it's better to enjoy it and be miserable in it....agreed......but what i often ponder upon is the fact that when we're gone, we're gone.....our actions may affect others who live after us, but again, if you think about that, So what? so what if this world/earth is a better place or a worse off place? we are NOT the center of the universe....nothing revolves around us! (well, 'cept the moon lol but you know what i mean).
it's as if wondering wheather what an "ant" does matter! well, yes in the sense that it's helping its relatives in expanding.....does an ant colony matter? well, yes, because it's fulfilling its purpose towards nature....but ultimately, what they do or don't doesn't matter.
agree with you completely. i think we 'were' speaking on different levels of "mattering"....see, i'm all FOR living/enjoying every moment and it's better to enjoy it and be miserable in it....agreed......but what i often ponder upon is the fact that when we're gone, we're gone.....our actions may affect others who live after us, but again, if you think about that, So what? so what if this world/earth is a better place or a worse off place? we are NOT the center of the universe....nothing revolves around us! (well, 'cept the moon lol but you know what i mean).
it's as if wondering wheather what an "ant" does matter! well, yes in the sense that it's helping its relatives in expanding.....does an ant colony matter? well, yes, because it's fulfilling its purpose towards nature....but ultimately, what they do or don't doesn't matter.
Yeah, definitely different perceptions of what "matters". Also, I wasn't talking about living/enjoying every moment. I don't believe we should strive for that. But I do think that reality exists expressly because of each of those moments. All we "should" do is experience them and move on. To me that somehow equals life mattering (same goes for the life of an ant). I don't think about "purpose" and I don't think that we are "supposed" to do anything in particular. Yet, everything matters even though we are just one small part of this universe. Everything will be gone eventually. I don't see how that means that nothing matters. It sounds like you are still struggling with (or against) some kind of religious beliefs if you are concerned with life's purpose.
For me, the kind of existential thoughts that you are having can be fun to ponder but those thoughts are far less meaningful than, say, brushing your teeth.
if you don't believe in god then you must belive in Satan. (as i am only 17 and not going to throw scripture at you just because i cant memorize please do not speak against my religion with all do respect.) but i still don't understand why you cant belive in God although you cannot see him. would you worship a golden calf?
You're a bit off topic .
How can I believe in Satan when only people who believe in God do ? I do not believe in ANY supernatural creatures whether deities, trolls, fairies or Water Sprites . Satan is yet another fictional character dreamt up by the Abrahamic religions to keep their followers in check through fear of eternal damnation and hellish retribution.
To believe in Satan would be an act of faith and religion. Atheism is the absence of Faith.
Faith would be required to a very high degree to believe in something which has no basis in logic, common sense, reason or science.
I don't believe in heaven, nor do I believe in hell.
I believe in reality. I am concerned with real people in my life, I have no need of superstition and supernatural non-sense.
Satan is something only a religious person can believe in. Satanists ( and I don't believe many of them exist on the planet as most satanism is simply social posturing) do not deny the existence of god - they simply reject god.
Atheists do not accept that god exists. Neither does satan.
Your post makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
I would no more worship a golden calf than god/gods/trolls/fairies/demons or anything for that matter. I don't worship anything. Nada. Zilch. Nichts. Rien.
I think you have a profound lack of understanding regarding Atheism. Atheists are not Pagans, Satanists, Animists, or anything else.
We have no faith. In anything except perhaps human nature ( but not in the sense you take "faith" to mean). You obviously need to research Atheism a bit more because you have obviously been sold some non-sense about what an atheist is.
We are simply human beings whose philosophy does not include a deity of any sort. We don't roast babies, we don't hang crosses upside down and we don't chant in dark vaults wearing masks and long robes.
We lead our lives like everybody else following the dictates of our own conscience. Some of us are good people and some of us are bad. Just like every single other human being on the Planet we are all different. We are all individuals with no creed.
We come in a myriad of races, colours, nations, shapes, forms, sexual orientations and morals.
The only thing which unites us is the lack of faith .
I would suggest you contact a local Humanist or Rationalist group and try to learn about something oyu obviously have no idea about.
We might not even bite !
Last edited by Mooseketeer; 05-08-2009 at 09:58 AM..
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i wasn't a christian.
