# Premiss: "Atheism" is for people who can't handle "Religion".

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/premiss-atheism-is-for-people-who-cant-handle-religion/609199>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [January 11, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/premiss-atheism-is-for-people-who-cant-handle-religion/609199 "2012-01-11T19:47:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 233

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**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/premiss-atheism-is-for-people-who-cant-handle-religion/609199/233 "2012-01-12T21:18:40Z")

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> [@mishagoe](#):
>
> Reply to Buck Godot:  
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Great! have fun with that. Given that you aren’t trying to convert anyone or say that this is the only way to believe or that laws should be changed to reflect this world view I doubt that any atheist would really complain one way or another about this. In another thread I expressed the following belief which sounds very similar to yours and got nary a peep of complaint.

> [@Question on the meaning of Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-the-meaning-of-life/536933/78):
>
> I’m largely an atheist, but have developed the following world view which, whether or not its accurate, seems to work pretty well in its ability to give me a fulfilling life.
> 
> I imagine the whole universe like a fixed tapestry in space/time. The notions of past and future are largely irrelevant. The fact that my 13th birthday happened is fixed in the tapestry and is no less real now than it was then. My goal in life is to make the tapestry as pretty as possible over the 80 odd years I have that I can influence its shape. I do this by trying to maximize the happiness of those who I can influence, myself included. Based on this view I would probably take you up on your 6-month memory free holiday as my pleasure would also be recorded in space/time regardless of whether I remember it. I don’t fear death because my life will stand on its own as it is/was.
> 
> When I’m feeling particularly philosophical, I believe (again without proof, but just for the fun of it) that my consciousness is basically the attention of the universe to this particular point in the space/time framework, and that this attention is also displayed in all other people (maybe animals and possibly even rocks?), and so by assisting in their happiness I assisting my own as well.
> 
> This provides me with a pretty strong basis for morality, and gives my life meaning without resorting to a divine god,unless you view god as universal attention in which case its pretty impersonal. I may be totally off base but if it makes me feel good, do good, and hurts no one else then who can complain.

I don’t think atheists have that much of a beef with agnostic theists as long as they don’t claim to have that they have evidence that their belief is correct and so should be held by others.

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