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Atheist and don't like it.
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10-01-2013 6:00am#1Okay I am a long time lurker no time poster. I still have a lot to learn but here is my standpoint.
I am 100% atheist I do not beleive there is any higher being watching over us.
What I want to ask is are my fellow atheists not bothered by this fact?
I mean the beleifs of others are that when we die we get reunited with lost loved ones. So far so good. (for some)
We also get to live an eternity of bliss. Nice one.
I sometimes, rarely but still, find myself getting upset because of the fact that when life ends that is it, goodbye, nice knowing you.
Sometimes I am jealous of the faithful. Is no one else not enjoying being an atheist? I had a longer post planned but I do not have a keyboard. It took me twenty minutes to get this far
Are other atheists happy with being atheists apart from being liberated from their religions?
Are you okay with the fact that this is it for better or worse rich or poor when we die it is all over?
I know that a lot of the faithful fear death but given their beleif system they shouldn't. As an atheist death does not scare me. It is the nothingness that comes after that does.
Apologies for the long flaky post but that is the best I can do so far.
Be gentle. :pac:2
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I remember when I first realised that if God/afterlife etc doesn't exist, then there is absolutely nothing once I die, etc.
It was one of the most terrifying moments of my life. What the hell was I living for?
But after reading a lot about atheism and religion, I've come to realise that since I don't believe in any form of afterlife, that it definitely means I should make the most of now, and try and do something of worth in my life, whether it be my job, creatively, or family.
Which is why I now have a master's in music and live in Japan. :v (seriously, I would have pissed away doing some sort of degree based on a future, solid career if I hadn't have said '**** it, life is too short').
Anyways, it may seem idealistic and a little faffy, but there you have it.
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I have found atheism to be exciting, liberating, and comforting. It gives one a wonderful sense of perspective.
I'll be sorry to leave this life, but I accept that the party has to come to an end sooner or later: I hope the rest of you drink and sing in my memory after I am gone.
OP, your life is here and now. Carpe that diem for all you are worth! 0 -
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aaronjumper wrote: »I sometimes, rarely but still, find myself getting upset because of the fact that when life ends that is it, goodbye, nice knowing you.
You're looking at it wrong.
Think of all those sperm and eggs that never amounted to anything.
I consider it a minor miracle that I exist at all. I am alive!
That I exist in a part of the world where I get to have a roof over my head and food on my table makes me one of the most privileged humans on this planet.
I couldn't be luckier (unless I win the lotto).
For me, this is heaven and life is as good. I am happy with my lot.
If I died right now I would regret nothing and would consider that I had a great (if a little short) life.
I got to live, love, laugh, drink great wines and eat fantastic food. I got to travel and experience many parts of the world.
It would be terribly greedy of me to expect more than that.I know that a lot of the faithful fear death but given their beleif system they shouldn't. As an atheist death does not scare me. It is the nothingness that comes after that does.
I would fear a long protracted, slow death, especially as we don't have euthanasia in this country.
A quick, fast death I do not fear. As for the nothingness, I won't notice it, I'll be dead.
Consider what you felt before you were born... It will be the same as that, no?
Enjoy your day and make the most of it. 0 -
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I'm only an atheist when I post here. Other times I'm a father, footballer, petrolhead, moviegoer, writer...aaronjumper wrote: »Sometimes I am jealous of the faithful. Is no one else not enjoying being an atheist?
Don't be defined by what you (don't) believe, just be proud your beliefs are honestly held.
And as I read on a bus once (and bought the t-shirt) - Stop Worrying and Get on With Your Life. 0 -
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As I've said every time this has come up really the only thing I "fear" about death is the knowledge that I don't get to see how this ball of bat**** chaos that we call earth, turns out. I would love to see what happens next and have the time and the means to explore the entire universe, to expand my knowledge of reality.
But I can't. In fact, nobody can, which gives me some solace - I'm not "missing out" on something which another person will do, I'm pointlessly lamenting that I can't do something impossible. It would be like being pissed off at not being able to fire lazer beams from my arsehole.
Looking up at the stars actually is something which I find bittersweet. It brings home the reality of the enormousness of everything, and our complete unimportance, but it also brings home the reality of how I will never get to go there.
Though one video I saw recently which has brought me some surprising comfort in that regard made me consider this:
You look at the stars and the incomprehensible distances between us, the sheer enormity of not just our star system, but our solar system and the universe as a whole. Distances where the numbers are effectively meaningless.
There was a time when we were all together. All of the stars you can see in the night sky, all of those galaxies that hubble sees, everything. We were all together in the one place at the same time, side-by-side, atom to atom.
For some reason that brings me enormous comfort; I don't need to go to the stars, cos I've already been there, I just don't remember it 0 -
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Hi Aaron,
Yeah, it is kind of depressing at times. There is a whole lot about reality that just sucks, plain and simple. The question I ask myself is; would I choose the lie if I were actually offered the choice or would I prefer to live the hard truth? I honestly don't know! I like to think I would choose the truth but I can't be certain. It is entirely academic for me though as the whole paradise after death thing is so incredibly childish and so obviously invented a fantasy that I simply ccouldn't believe it, no matter how much I might want to.
It is even more depressing than it seems at first. There is no ultimate justice. Tyrants live perfectly happy lives, torturing and killing those around them and they often get away with it, scot-free. Christianity doesn't do a whole lot to address this but more morally enlightened religions do.
There is a little justification for the religious perspective that there is a nihilistic aspect to atheism but the true comlpaint of course is that there is a nihilistic aspect to reality.
Possibly the worst thing is, that even though you know that this life is all you get and you really ought to make the most of it. You will find you squander it to much the same extent as those who believe in an afterlife. Atheists often talk about siezing the day but in my experience you are as likely to find them wasting away on the couch as anyone else!
Some atheists seize the day as do some religious. Some of both stay home and watch coronation street too. Neither worldview seems to have much effect on how someone lives.
It's not all doom and gloom though!
You do begin to appreciate the marvels of nature more I think. The universe seems much more full of possibility when there is no, laughably human-like, mind dictating ludicrously specific rules. You begin to understand that the world really is what we make of it. We are flawed creatures but we are hard at work trying to be less so. The accomplishments of humankind are ours alone. So too are our failings, of course, but the better angels of our nature, involve no angels, no divine spark, no elevating impetus. Life as we are does not need some exterior force to raise it out of the muck. We can do that ourselves. Our potential is not limited and we are not the playthings of gods and demons. The more people who realise this, the faster the world is likely to become a better place. Religion encourages the view that we are nasty, sinful cretins and the only good we do is thanks to some better entity that holds it's nose and tries to drag us out of the filth we would chose to wallow in without it's magnaimous intervention.
You are free to do whatever things brings happiness without bizarre restrictions imposed by long surpassed authorities. At the same time, you can't seek forgiveness from anyone except from those you harmed and this I think makes people more considerate of their actions. You understand that the time you have with family and friends is very limited and I think this encourages you to cherish the time you have with them.
Only the atheist, I think, can truely understand just how true the statement "knowledge is power" really is. That is one of the reasons I think they tend to often be great respecters of science. They are more likely to understand that mankind's lot is something we have a measure of control over. The more we know the better we can make life for everyone and the richer the experience will become.
For all the downers its comes with. When I look up at the milky way and understand just how tiny I am, I am filled with inspiration and awe, not self-pity or a sense of dinunation. I am small and have very little power, but with the help of my fellow humans I have the potential to even stand on the moon. I think in general you feel a little better about your fellow prmiates! 0 -
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There was a great bit in a recent Idiot Abroad episode where Karl was talking about heaven, and how there's people you'd never want to see again who'll be there and you'll have to be around them for all eternity, made a great point lol "oh christ they let you up here did they?"
Brilliant!:pac:
Just imagine being up there, blissfully living some Carlsberg ad for about five minutes, until the discovery comes that Hector and Gay Byrne are your next door neighbours for all eternity.0 -
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