Atheists: Do you feel good about your beliefs?

[The Humanist Federation]

I don't find it depressing at all. It took billions and billions of years to produce Homo Sapiens and another 50,000 years or so to produce me. Statistically speaking, the fact that I exist, and have enough consciousness to type this sentence is extremely slim. I have a minuscule amount of time to savor the great experiment of life, and it's all the sweeter when you realize that there is no invisible hand arbitrarily ruling over your life.

Also, I don't want to think there is a god. It's a waste of time and the fact that he doesn't exist doesn't phase me.

Well, the invisible hand of the market does rule over your life.

I knew somebody would make an Adam Smith joke.

[Samuraikoku]

and it's all the sweeter when you realize that there is no invisible hand arbitrarily ruling over your life.

I have been chosen by the metal hand in the sky!

Or a green hand, a skeletal hand, or a purple hand, depending on the race.

[The Humanist Federation]

and it's all the sweeter when you realize that there is no invisible hand arbitrarily ruling over your life.

I have been chosen by the metal hand in the sky!

Or a green hand, a skeletal hand, or a purple hand, depending on the race.

But does the Emperor protect?

[Samuraikoku]

I have been chosen by the metal hand in the sky!

Or a green hand, a skeletal hand, or a purple hand, depending on the race.

But does the Emperor protect?

The Emperor protects... but having a loaded bolter doesn't hurt, either.

The reference here was to Warcraft III, which they stole from Toy Story too. The Human Priest says that if you repeatedly click on him.

[The Humanist Federation]

I'm a devout Christian and I've never understood how someone could happily live as an atheist who believes that they won't go to heaven. When I say atheists I don't mean Buddhists or anything, I mean the ones who think that death is the end.

Are you happy thinking that? Does it make you feel more intelligent? Would you LIKE there to be a God?

Personally if I was atheist I'd be depressed as hell going through life thinking like that. What are your opinions?

Can we stop with these threads please they have established one fact DON'T debate religion or a lack there of.

Oh I don't mind these sort of topics, just as long as they stay civil, which is a rarity.

[Dyakovo]

Can we stop with these threads please they have established one fact DON'T debate religion or a lack there of.

Oh I don't mind these sort of topics, just as long as they stay civil, which is a rarity.

These are my favorite type of thread whether they remain civil or not...

[The Humanist Federation]

Oh I don't mind these sort of topics, just as long as they stay civil, which is a rarity.

These are my favorite type of thread whether they remain civil or not...

I tend to lose my inhibitions once civility goes away. For better or for worse.

[Samuraikoku]

Can we stop with these threads please they have established one fact DON'T debate religion or a lack there of.

One fight. One more step on the path to becoming a true warrior!

[Renegade Island]

I found profound spirituality only after rejecting all religions.

With enough knowledge of science, you come to the understanding that the human body is the universe arranged in such a way that it is able to gain an understanding itself for a short period of time.

Also, in a very real sense, reincarnation exists. The atoms that make up human cells break down and return to the planet, to be reused and reborn as other living creatures.

There's a sense of global connectedness that you can't find in any religion I've ever looked at (although I confess I haven't studied them all. Who has the time?)

And just as people live and die, so do stars, and solar systems, and in all probability the universe itself. What's even more fascinating is the realisation that life on Earth was made possible by the death of a star, some billions of years ago.

We are the children of a supernova. We can witness time travel as the light from stars trillions of miles away reaches the Earth and interacts with our eyes.

Who needs religion and faith when all of this is well established fact?

[Afartica]

Why would atheists not feel good about their beliefs? Christianity denies the life and reality we're in now for a faraway posthumous dream world. To me that seems nihilistic.

[Gercanem]

I am an atheist but i don't fear death because i know my family and friend will remeber me

[Degeso]

To begin, the question is loaded with the assumption atheism is a belief, which it is not. To answer the question though, absolutely I am content with my lack of faith and secular humanist philosophical worldview. I do not need to practice cognitive dissonance, nor do I have to deny logic, science and reason.

[The Empire of Pretantia]

You know, even if there isn't a god, the bible would still be the most awesome book ever. I mean, have you ever read the thing?
Just a little taste:
Mark 16:18-"they will pick up snakes with their hands; even if they drink any deadly poison it will not hurt them; and they will place their hands on the sick, and they will recover."

II Kings 2: 23-24-From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. “Go on up, you baldhead!” they said. “Go on up, you baldhead!” He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.

Jesus friggin' Christ

Judges 15:15-16-Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.

Then Samson said,

“With a donkey’s jawbone
I have made donkeys of them.a
With a donkey’s jawbone
I have killed a thousand men.”

Wow. There are variations in translation(for example, sometimes it's "ass" instead of donkey; or it's a number not as huge as 1,000) but you gotta admit the bible doesn't care for modesty. And you know what? I don't care if it's all true.

[Dyakovo]

You know, even if there isn't a god, the bible would still be the most awesome book ever. I mean, have you ever read the thing?
Just a little taste:
Mark 16:18-"they will pick up snakes with their hands; even if they drink any deadly poison it will not hurt them; and they will place their hands on the sick, and they will recover."

II Kings 2: 23-24-From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. “Go on up, you baldhead!” they said. “Go on up, you baldhead!” He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.

Jesus friggin' Christ

Judges 15:15-16-Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.

Then Samson said,

“With a donkey’s jawbone
I have made donkeys of them.a
With a donkey’s jawbone
I have killed a thousand men.”

Wow. There are variations in translation(for example, sometimes it's "ass" instead of donkey; or it's a number not as huge as 1,000) but you gotta admit the bible doesn't care for modesty. And you know what? I don't care if it's all true.

1: False assumption that atheists have not read the bible.
2: I've read many books which are both better written and more interesting than the bible.

[TechTown]

...no, I don't. I wish there was something else, as this world kinda sucks at times. All that scary shit in space and people suffering down here on Earth.
But every religion just seems like a waste of time. Pointless. And the faithful really rather unnerve me, to be frank. They actually take it seriously.. without proof.. and it.. it just freaks me out.
Though it is fun to point out huge gaping holes in their arguments, that's something.
And the internet is a neat distraction until my body breaks down as evolution dictates I should die to allow my -hopefully by then produced- offspring to use the resources I was until then consuming to increase their chances of survival and reproduction. Which is one of the things that is kinda sucky about this world. Our bodies have planned obsolescence.

[Samuraikoku]

You know, even if there isn't a god, the bible would still be the most awesome book ever.

[Veceria]

You know, even if there isn't a god, the bible would still be the most awesome book ever.

[Murray land]

Can we stop with these threads please they have established one fact DON'T debate religion or a lack there of.

One fight. One more step on the path to becoming a true warrior!

"Big mouth don't make a big man." John Wayne

[Farnhamia]

One fight. One more step on the path to becoming a true warrior!

"Big mouth don't make a big man." John Wayne

"If you find the thread silly, don't post in it. Posting only keeps a thread from sinking to the bottom of the pit that is NSG." ~ Me

[Kubrath]

And that's still a belief system. It's something you believe in. You believe metaphysics are bullshit, you believe you're not here for a reason, you've believe there's no higher purpose, and you believe that you just live and die.

Denying metaphysics, to eliminate competition, and give materialism more ground doesn't remove metaphysics being present, and it doesn't withdraw materialism from still being something people believe in.

Buddhist monks are a hell of a lot more wiser than most pretentious, stuck up western youths. And they will claim materialism is an illusion.

Isn't it great, how different philosophical doctrines, are present in the land of free information, to let people decide for themselves what they want to adhere to?

And scientists know a hell of a lot more about this universe than Buddhists. Thus far, no evidence for a metaphysical plane of existence, therefore no reason to believe it exists or even propose hypotheses on the grounds of its existence.

Also, let's define what we're talking about here - concepts or scientific theories? If it's theories, you don't really have a case.

[Not Safe For Work]

I think it's cute the way atheists don't think atheism is a belief.

Some atheists have a belief - some believe that there is no god or gods.

Most simply lack belief, which is a different thing.

[Vecherd]

I'm a devout Christian and I've never understood how someone could happily live as an atheist who believes that they won't go to heaven. When I say atheists I don't mean Buddhists or anything, I mean the ones who think that death is the end.

Are you happy thinking that? Does it make you feel more intelligent? Would you LIKE there to be a God?

Personally if I was atheist I'd be depressed as hell going through life thinking like that. What are your opinions?

I don't think about it, that's why I am a non-believer. Sounds much more depressing hiding in a fog of a god.

[Priory Academy USSR]

I don't think about it, that's why I am a non-believer. Sounds much more depressing hiding in a fog of a god.

Makes science exams a hell of a lot easier, though

[Seperates]

One fight. One more step on the path to becoming a true warrior!

"Big mouth don't make a big man." John Wayne

How un-Aristotilian.

[Blouman Empire]

Why not? Are all the people who say they are agnostic not?

Because it is impossible to neither believe nor lack belief.
A majority of the people who say they're agnostic are agnostic atheists.

And the rest are?

Anyway if you shorten it then agnostic is a perfectly acceptable word and is easy for everyone to understand the need to go into specifics