# Non-believers: Ever wish you \*did\* believe? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 12, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283 "2017-12-12T15:19:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/61 "2017-12-13T18:43:42Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I’ve lived in medium-sized towns and cities, and most recently Ottawa. Religion never comes up in any type of conversation. > Well, maybe after you’re good friends it might, but never at work or any social event. It would be considered very rude, in my opinion. My experience is different. When I lived in Vancouver for I noticed that trend, but in the smaller towns, ( \< 5,000 or so) not going to church was a “thing” and what church you went to mattered not only for your social connections but for your job as well. It’s probably less true now than it was 20 years ago, but it’s definitely a thing. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/62 "2017-12-13T18:53:39Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Hey, what are we, chopped liver? 😃 This being the internet, I can’t definitively prove you’re _not_ chopped liver. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/63 "2017-12-13T18:58:28Z")
I’m going to have disagree with you Crazy Canuck. I lived in a town of 8,000 people for a couple of years (30 years ago) and no one I knew even went to church - at all. This was in Ontario. Are you talking British Columbia? I can’t imagine it’s that much different. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/64 "2017-12-13T19:03:26Z")
I would love to believe that there is a powerful being looking out for both humanity in general and for individual people. And I’d love to believe that some form of existence is possible after we die. These are comforting beliefs. But there’s no evidence that these beliefs are true and I can’t force myself to have the faith needed to believe them without evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/65 "2017-12-13T19:10:26Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I’m going to have disagree with you Crazy Canuck. I lived in a town of 8,000 people for a couple of years (30 years ago) and no one I knew even went to church - at all. This was in Ontario. I remember visiting Toronto (granted this was a couple of decades ago) and I wanted to drink a soda. But I couldn’t buy one. Because it was Sunday and all the stores were closed. Now granted, not being able to buy a soda is not a serious form of oppression. But it clearly was an example of religious people imposing their beliefs on non-believers. The story had a happy ending. I was able to defy God through the use of an outdoor vending machine. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/66 "2017-12-13T20:56:36Z")
There are some, shall we say, conveniences of Christianity as it is practiced that appeal to me. I like the term and the concept of “blessing”, for example - wishing someone every reasonable boon by virtue of their decency, or acknowledging that something nice you have is largely the good work of someone else. “That software you wrote for Omaha Humanists has really been a blessing to me. Bless you!” It is also encouraging and humbling to see the good work in the community that many churches do - sponsoring homeless shelters, for example. Secular organizations do this as well, but the churches seem to get a lot of momentum going that I really envy. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/67 "2017-12-13T20:58:47Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Now granted, not being able to buy a soda is not a serious form of oppression. But it clearly was an example of religious people imposing their beliefs on non-believers. “Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system!” ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/68 "2017-12-13T21:02:41Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > No way, I don’t want to go to hell! > > Seriously, when I was able to admit to myself that I didn’t believe, it was a huge relief. It really does comfort me to know that there is no plan and none of this shit is on purpose. Amen. I feel exactly the same way. [Lex Luthor was right](https://thewrenproject.com/2014/01/21/superman-were-all-weve-got/). It’s just us, and we’re all we’ve got. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/69 "2017-12-13T21:12:33Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > “Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system!” I acknowledged it’s a trivial issue. Unlike the people who declare that coffee cups are part of an organized War on Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/70 "2017-12-13T21:26:50Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Ever since my [ayahuasca trip well over a year ago](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=802434), I’m like that. Religion finally makes sense to me. If I had to name my religion, it’s probably a kind of [pantheism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheism). I think I now_understand_ many religious concepts, like prayer, sacrifice, heaven, hell, afterlife, body vs soul, good vs bad. I’m still integrating the instinctive sense they make now, with all the knowledge I have as an biologist and psychologist. I see most organized religions are an human and fallible attempt at sharing and perpetuating faith. I pray usually alone, but I find myself drawn to people with similar experiences and outlook, for instance to the lectures of [Alan Watts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Watts), many of which have been put up on [Youtube.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mfcOS86pBU) I have never tried any type of illicit substance, but I gotta admit that I find ayahuasca a tad intriguing. ---
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/71 "2017-12-13T22:03:45Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Are you talking British Columbia? I can’t imagine it’s that much different. While I have seen it in northern BC, where I really noticed it was the time I spent in Alberta. It’s really that different there. I can see why people call Alberta Canada’s bible belt. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/72 "2017-12-13T22:34:29Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I remember visiting Toronto (granted this was a couple of decades ago) and I wanted to drink a soda. But I couldn’t buy one. Because it was Sunday and all the stores were closed. > > Now granted, not being able to buy a soda is not a serious form of oppression. But it clearly was an example of religious people imposing their beliefs on non-believers. > > The story had a happy ending. I was able to defy God through the use of an outdoor vending machine. Quite true. The Sunday shopping law was repealed in 1992 after years and years of public pressure. We also used to have no alcohol served at sporting events, no alcohol sales on Sundays, and no drink in a bar on Sunday without ordering a meal. I grew up with all of that, but we still didn’t discuss religion. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/73 "2017-12-13T23:20:49Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I acknowledged it’s a trivial issue. Unlike the people who declare that coffee cups are part of an organized War on Christmas. You did. Laughing with you, I hope. There is the point of giving labor the weekend that goes along with the religious aspects of sabbatarianism,\* but conversely, what fun is the weekend we work so hard for if nothing is open? Or am I too tied to the capitalist definition of recreation if I’m even asking that question? \*That’s what the books about the history of Sunday blue laws called it back when I did my thesis. Glad to see that [at least one online dictionary](https://www.thefreedictionary.com/sabbatarianism) cites this as a meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/74 "2017-12-14T01:46:42Z")
> [@Gus\_Gusterson](#): > > Sometimes I hope that the Christian idea of Hell is correct and that some people (mostly politicians lately) will suffer forever for their sins, but I know it’s not true and these people will never be punished, either during life or after. Mostly this, and I’m surprised that more posters aren’t taking this angle. In the Pit the sentiment is expressed frequently. I’m not looking for immortality or an eternal dopamine buzz, but it would be comforting to know that Orel Roberts and similar slime got a touch of post-death judgement. Not an eternity of burning and hopelessness, but maybe a month of eating shit sandwiches until they died the real death. ---
**Author:** ![AngryBlonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f475e1/32.png) [@AngryBlonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngryBlonde)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/75 "2017-12-14T03:19:28Z")
My parents were agnostic. Consequently, I’ve ended up agnostic. A lot of the friends I grew up with were catholic so I’ve attended a handful of services but got nothing out of it and in fact found it boring. A few years ago after the break up of a long term relationship I was feeling like something was missing and I attended the local UU a few times thinking I would meet some less conservative people in the reddish state I live in but it didn’t work well for me. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/76 "2017-12-14T04:05:59Z")
I’ve always wondered where “up” into Heaven is. Is it straight up from where I’m standing? What about people who live at different latitudes and or longitudes? And The rising “through the clouds” thing. What if I croak on a beautiful, sunny, cloudless day? Never bought in and will never look to cash out as far as organized religion goes. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/77 "2017-12-14T04:20:30Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Ever since my [ayahuasca trip well over a year ago](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=802434), I’m like that. Religion finally makes sense to me. If I had to name my religion, it’s probably a kind of [pantheism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheism). I think I now_understand_ many religious concepts, like prayer, sacrifice, heaven, hell, afterlife, body vs soul, good vs bad. I’m still integrating the instinctive sense they make now, with all the knowledge I have as an biologist and psychologist. I see most organized religions are an human and fallible attempt at sharing and perpetuating faith. I pray usually alone, but I find myself drawn to people with similar experiences and outlook, for instance to the lectures of [Alan Watts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Watts), many of which have been put up on [Youtube.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mfcOS86pBU) Alan Watts would call you out. Get real. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/78 "2017-12-14T04:56:14Z")
I feel the need to offer Maastricht an apology after reading her post once again (this time for comprehension). I’m sorry and I apologize for being a jerk. She nailed it however by suggesting Alan Watts. ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/79 "2017-12-14T05:09:51Z")
Only every day. My life would have at least 90 percent less anxiety if I were wired in a way that made me capable of believing in an afterlife. ---
**Author:** ![Razncain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@Razncain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Razncain)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283/80 "2017-12-14T12:19:34Z")
You don’t think eternity would get boring eventually? The unanswered questions of the reality of an afterlife of which there would be aplenty, I would think cause more anxiety, especially if it is the same gods man has imagined here in this world, would be the same assholes running the next life too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-believers-ever-wish-you-did-believe/804283.md?page=5)