# Atheists and agnostics: do you wish there was a god?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [November 20, 2005, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888 "2005-11-20T05:51:20Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/1 "2005-11-20T05:51:20Z")
It is impossible for me to delude myself into thinking there is a god (or gods). I simply can’t; and yet _sometimes_ I find myself wishing I did believe. I wish there was something after death, I wish there was really such thing as Karma, I wish the answers were just as simple as “god intended it that way”.
Am I alone?
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/2 "2005-11-20T06:06:13Z")
Minor god or major god? Goody two-shoes or malevolent bastard? Intergalactic nosey Mrs. Cravitz or laid back _Really_ big Lebowski?
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### Author:  [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/3 "2005-11-20T06:11:53Z")
Only every so often, when I hear of some particularly heinous act (especially one undertaken in the name of some god or another). Or when I need a miracle at the poker table. There are no atheists in poker.
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### Author:  [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/4 "2005-11-20T06:18:55Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#):
>
> It is impossible for me to delude myself into thinking there is a god (or gods). I simply can’t; and yet _sometimes_ I find myself wishing I did believe. I wish there was something after death, I wish there was really such thing as Karma, I wish the answers were just as simple as “god intended it that way”.
>
> Am I alone?
It’s part of the growth process, you’re quite normal in your confusion (for lack of a better word). After all there is a limit to human understanding, but there is no limit to human curiosity.
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### Author:  [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/5 "2005-11-20T06:19:29Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Minor god or major god? Goody two-shoes or malevolent bastard? Intergalactic nosey Mrs. Cravitz or laid back _Really_ big Lebowski?
Well take your pick. 😃
My question is more about desire to believe in whatever god you choose, it doesn’t matter, your believing in a god (or gods) won’t change the world, just your perception of it.
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### Author:  [@AdmiralCrunch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdmiralCrunch)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/6 "2005-11-20T06:21:01Z")
Not at all. It’s one of the biggest things I struggled with as a Christian. Once I got fed up with Christianity, it was a very easy transition to atheism. I’ve never looked back on the Christian part, but I’ve always wished for a God. I’ve also always wished for superpowers.
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### Author:  [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/7 "2005-11-20T06:23:02Z")
> [@AdmiralCrunch](#):
>
> **Not at all**. It’s one of the biggest things I struggled with as a Christian. Once I got fed up with Christianity, it was a very easy transition to atheism. I’ve never looked back on the Christian part, **but I’ve always wished for a God**. I’ve also always wished for superpowers.
Is that a yes or a no?
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### Author:  [@AdmiralCrunch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdmiralCrunch)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/8 "2005-11-20T06:23:47Z")
> [@AdmiralCrunch](#):
>
> Not at all.
Sorry for the doublepost, but I was responding to the question, “Am I alone?”
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### Author:  [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/9 "2005-11-20T06:29:13Z")
You bet.
What a deal. For little more than not acting like a total fool/ass/sociopath/whatever you get very heavily rewarded.
Having a clearly defined set of moral values that everyone knew of and were at least nominally trying to follow would be a plus also.
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### Author:  [@Kaotic\_Newtral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaotic_Newtral)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/10 "2005-11-20T06:33:40Z")
I would love a God who could hear my pleas, my prayers…and answer them. I’ve sadly found that it doesn’t happen though.
How cool would it be to have a God who was a Vikings fan…and to know it! To me, it’d be a blast.
Back to answering the question…I’d love to live as the Romans, Greeks and Native Americans did. I’d dig having the belief that something was there. As it is, I’m happy knowing that ‘something’ may be there but I surely can’t understand it.
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/11 "2005-11-20T06:55:01Z")
Not even slightly. Nor do I have any desire to worship anything; I find the idea emotionally and philosophically disgusting. In essence, I’m not only an atheist, but I’m an antitheist.
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### Author:  [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/12 "2005-11-20T07:45:52Z")
I’ve never wished there was a god, but I do sometimes wish there was church for atheists. I would love to have a little club to go to on Sunday mornings where we sang songs and had coffee, but that had no religious affiliation at all. I’ve thought about going to a UU church, but even that’s too centered on religion for me.
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### Author:  [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/13 "2005-11-20T07:58:40Z")
No. Once I got over the inertia of being a one-time believer, I never looked back.
You know what would kick ass, though? Elves.
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### Author:  [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/14 "2005-11-20T08:08:40Z")
When I was younger perhaps, but not now and not any time recently.
The very idea of kismet or predestination, or whatever you want to call it, is offensive and depressing. The concept of free will is great and all, but it seems to me to be a backtracked rationalization formulated to belay any latent hopelessness at not having the ability to choose one’s own destiny.
I suppose if I were an atheist who sometimes wished there were a god, besides being contradictory, I would also be neither a very good atheist nor a very good member of any church because I’d obviously be of a conflicted mind about the whole thing.
Concerns with fate aside, I’d rather dislike owing fealty to anyone or anything. I suspect that my anti-authoritarian streak and dislike of hierarchal organizations would have me lined up with the first batch of heretics to be sacrificed at the altar.
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### Author:  [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/15 "2005-11-20T08:10:42Z")
I certainly wish there were a heaven, and that I’d get to go there. The God business - nah, I’ll pass.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/16 "2005-11-20T08:17:12Z")
Never for a second.
As far as an afterlife goes, I’d be willing to continue existing beyond the normal human lifespan - and I’d like to live a long time - but even with life and death being what they are, we’ve got a pretty good system going. But heaven and hell? Screw it. The world’s got enough nastiness without eternal payback for people I don’t like, and somehow, doing good deeds to earn a heavenly reward strikes me as childish.
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### Author:  [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/17 "2005-11-20T08:25:46Z")
Agnostics are not atheists. I consider myself an agnostic, who has a feeling that there is an undetermined higher power. Why is it assumed that agnostics don’t believe there is a god?
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/18 "2005-11-20T08:36:11Z")
> [@Ice Wolf](#):
>
> Why is it assumed that agnostics don’t believe there is a god?
Because if you go by the meaning of “agnostic,” they don’t?
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### Author:  [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/19 "2005-11-20T08:42:43Z")
I sometimes wish _i_ was a god. But of the Greek type. As long as it doesn’t involve cleaning out horse stalls.
As for any of the offerings of the world’s religions, no.
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### Author:  [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2005, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-and-agnostics-do-you-wish-there-was-a-god/331888/20 "2005-11-20T08:46:12Z")
One (the agnostic) is sceptical as to the existence of God, and the other (the atheist) does not believe there is a God. Eh, you’re right, they’re close. Guess I just get touchy when I say to folk that I’m non-Christian, with agnostic leanings, and they say, “Oh, so you’re an atheist?” I’m not the latter, but it’s not enough t’ cause fuss over.
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