Seriously. I’m not evangelizing. I am an atheist. But the truth is, I hate it. I wish I could believe in a loving personal God. In a supreme goodness. In an eternal celestial battle between good and evil. In an afterlife. In the divine mystery. In a great cloud of unknowing. In miracles and saints and prophets. In revelation. In grace.
Sure of course there are still mysteries when you’re an atheist. The occasional awe in nature. But it’s so lukewarm. Not satisfying.
But I’m a puritan about it. I feel (but don’t necessarily believe) there’s something morally, fundamentally wrong in believing in something just because you want to believe it.
I get the sense that the theists (or some) think that atheists are essentially hedonists. That we reject god because we get a rush out of glorifying ourselves rather than “humbling” ourselves to God. The whole secular humanism rant.
But I always look at it the other way - that the cozy, self-glorifying, pleasurable, and self-indulgent move would be to believe in all those seductive fantasies of religion. To delude yourself to feel better.
I’m not trying to moralize. I think my take is puritanical and more reflexive than thoughtful. But I wonder if any other atheists relate?
Yeah, back when I was an atheist I used to wish I had some faith to help me deal with the fact of my own mortality. Now I’m more agnostic and I just don’t care…if my God really is out there, he doesn’t really care what I believe, and I don’t worry about dying because I figure now that they will cure death within my lifetime.
Yeah, mortality is a big one, I guess. But it’s not the only thing. Religion seems to find a nice comforting answer for every conceivable misery. I guess that’s it’s point.
Well, of course theists would argue that what they have found is the truth, not just comforting answers (and therefore the point is to connect with that truth, rather than just feeling nice about some comforting lie), and that atheists are in denial (or something) ho hum.
Believing in an invisible being that can(and did) do everthing, can make no mistakes, is as big as the universe, and has fixed it so that we can live forever AFTER we die in an impossibly large magic city in another dimension, with absolutely no evidence, comes easy to you?
I have to admit that I sometimes wonder how much “blind” faith it would take to believe that many impossible things just to feel better about life after death, and all I know is that I couldn’t do it as a child, and I certainly can’t do it now.
Self-sacrifice? Self-denial?
1.
Q.) What do I sacrifice?
A.) Belief. No big loss.
Q.) What do I deny myself?
A.) Pushing responsibility for my actions off onto the shoulders of some all-mighty god. Again, no loss. As an adult, I am responsible for my own actions.
2.
Huh? I would rather say that followers of religion sacrifice their ability to critically view and analyze the world around them (as opposed to analyzing just those things that don’t contradict their beliefs.) I would also say that they deny themselves the chance to become full adults. They stunt the growth of their own sense of responsibilty by pushing the final responsibilty off onto “The Lord.” Killed anyone lately? Hey, don’t feel too bad about it, The Lord ™ will forgive you.
Who says I have absolutely no evidence?
If I really thought it wasn’t true, I wouldn’t be able to make myself believe it no matter what [sub](I’m talking about what I believe, which doesn’t necessarily correspond with the description you gave).[/sub]
I think he means no unambiguous physical evidence, Mangetout.
I’m right with you in what you say, uglybeech. The reasons you state in your OP are exactly why there aren’t more atheists, IMHO, and largely why it took me until I was 19 to throw off religion and realize there’s no one out there.
You’re right, Mort Furd, that only atheists can truly become full adults. But who wants to be an adult? Kids have more fun and don’t have to take responsibility for themselves. I wish I had someone, or some One, to shift my adult burdens onto.
No, actually I think it’s pretty darn nifty being an atheist. Seriously.
I grew up in a Christian environment, and only recently deconverted. Let me tell you, I don’t miss theism at all.
The real mystery is not the “impossibly large magic city” (that’s a great line) but comprehending life evolving over countless millions of years. The mystery is the structure and processes of the world around us.
Being an atheist, I feel I have to disagree with this. Look at the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer or Martin Luther King, Jr. These men were both Christians, and I think you’d be hard-pressed to say that they weren’t adults (and probably head and shoulders above the rest of us).
It is true that some forms of religion do tend to encourage a childish sort of belief system, and people tend to have more trouble growing spiritually than in other directions, but it’s unfair to say that all believers are childish.
No. It’s an opinion, a feeling, a guess. I don’t choose my opinions based on their practical benefits.
No. It would be self-indulgent for you to pretend to believe something you don’t, to make yourself feel better.
I was raised Methodist. I’m now an atheist. I’m happy with who I am. There are aspects of religion that I envy, mostly the sense of community and having something comforting to say at funerals. There are aspects I don’t miss at all, such as the sermons and off-key singing. But that’s all irrelevant – I can’t change what I believe. Why would you?
Do I sometimes long for a comforting answer to hard questions. Yes. Does that mean I would prefer a comforting lie[sup]1[/sup] to a hard truth? No. My “atheism” is an honest expression of how I perceive reality. I do not hate the truth. Sometimes my truth is unpleasant, but often it is sublime.
[sup]1[/sup] [sub]“Truth” and “lie” in the above post refer to my own honest appraisal of my perceptions. I make no claims for apprehending a Universal objective.[/sub]
“Life is pain and suffering, highness. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something.”
–The Princess Bride
Have you considered repeatedly whacking yourself in the head with a large mallet? After your IQ drops 20 or 30 points, you’ll believe in invisible pink unicorns, too.
Not me, sorry. Life (and reality) is the way it is, and there’s no point moping otherwise. Besides, there are plenty of awe-inducing and pleasing things in everyday living; why do I need a mythological being to make me feel good?
Great OP. I wonder if more first-generation atheists feel that they wished they could be religious (more than 2nd, 3rd etc generation)? I tried for many years to be religious, it just didn’t work. Really, I wanted to be religious to fit in. But guess I grew out of that.
But, I am completely lost about the OP part about Lukewarm mysteries in atheism. I’ve never felt that the world is less mysterious without religion – just more full of opportunity.
After your IQ drops 20 or 30 points, you’ll believe in invisible pink unicorns, too.