# What’s the worst thing about being an atheist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 25, 2023, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166 "2023-04-25T13:18:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/101 "2023-04-25T20:41:24Z")
I tend to assume it was for a long time the cultural norm in many many cultures to embellish the factual parts of our heroes’ tales with a lot of puffery and bullshit. It’s not enough to tell the kids that George Washington stepped down and let the nation persist as a democracy instead of attempting to hold onto what could have become a throne easily enough, no, we have to tell them that good o’l George never ever told a lie and he threw a silver dollar across the river. And that’s post-enlightenment era and concerns a figure that was a hero to some pretty intellectual sorts. Now try Paul Bunyan, more of a folk hero. Probably had some real exploits and admirable characteristics but the exaggeration stuff like creating the Great Lakes? Some of the smartest people in history have focused on the Sermon on the Plains and the Sermon on the Mount and what they perceive to be the general message, and that’s what brought them in; they may or may not even believe the gee-whiz stuff like virgin birth or resurrection from the dead, but even many who believe treat that stuff more as “God underlining that this is God speaking to us” than as reasons in and of themselves to embrace Christianity. There were many who didn’t go that far, even in eras when it was still way way socially unacceptable to not believe in the religious miracle stuff. Thomas Jefferson took a pair of scissors and clipped out what Jesus of Nazareth had actually said (well, according to the gospels at any rate) and discarded the rest as irrelevant and unimportant. It may be hard for some of you to realize this, but up until the mid-70s or thereabouts there were a lot of people in Christian churches who did not believe in any of the miracle stuff, including that Jesus of Naz was inherently different from the rest of us; they believed in love your neighbor, they believed in forgive those who’ve done you wrong, they believed we could all live in peace and set aside our competition and distrust, and the rest was just inherited cultural stuff that made for some nice songs and pageantry. (You see a lot more of this attitude in Judaism towards the legacy of Yahweh’s miraculous interventionlist powers if you go into an American temple; probably less so if you do so in Israel these days). It became simultaneously more acceptable to discard the entirety of religion and be an atheist, and less acceptable to be in a church congregation and not be a Biblical literalist believer. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/102 "2023-04-25T20:52:04Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Perhaps a more enlightened view would be that since religion is a key part of human civilization pretty much everywhere, perhaps it serves a purpose you don’t understand. Perhaps belief is not _stupidity_, but a reflection of some deep need in humans that is not served well in modern society. A lack of scientific method and rigor, and a whole lot to explain. It’s perfectly reasonable to come up with myths to explain what you can’t explain. It’s less reasonable to hold onto those myths when you _can_ explain. > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Also, modern political tribalism is becoming increasingly religious in nature, so be careful about dissing the religious. MY tribe will bring us to the promised land. YOUR tribe will take us to hell. Policy discussions? Actual math? Never heard of it. Economics? It can be re-invented to fit what we desire. Human Nature? It can be subverted, suppressed, or forced to change. The important thing is to believe that your side is right. Questioning your own side is not allowed. Some ideas and words are too dangerous to be allowed to be uttered. We need an elite class telling us what to do, and if we don’t listen the world will end. That’s less politics become tribal as it is the Republicans catering to the religious right and taking on those aspects. > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > but for me there is no option because I can’t force myself to believe and Pascal’s wager is a ridiculous concept. Especially for the reasons that most religions find gambling to be a sin, and also it’s not a straight wager, it’s a roulette wheel, as it doesn’t inform you as to _which one_ to believe in. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/103 "2023-04-25T21:02:34Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Especially for the reasons that most religions find gambling to be a sin, and also it’s not a straight wager, it’s a roulette wheel, as it doesn’t inform you as to _which one_ to believe in. Also because it assumes that God cannot see into your soul and recognize that you only pretend to believe so you can get into heaven. And God, like Santa Claus, is supposed to be able to see into your soul and know what you are thinking. That’s one of his bigger party tricks. Pascal’s wager never made sense logically or theologically, and I have no idea how it has endured so long. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/104 "2023-04-25T21:06:01Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > it assumes that God cannot see into your soul and recognize that you only pretend to believe so you can get into heaven. That’s kinda what I meant by gambling is a sin, if less flippant. If there _is_ a god, then he knows that you are believing what you believe out of cynicism, not faith. > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Pascal’s wager never made sense logically or theologically, and I have no idea how it has endured so long. People are pretty terrified about what happens to them when they die. It’s probably what held me to religion longer than I should have let it. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/105 "2023-04-25T21:14:21Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I have to agree though that one of the worst things is watching authoritarian Christians take over the country and shove their horrible laws down my throat. > [@Procrustus](#): > > Christmas music. What they said. But not just the music – everyone’s assumption that you love the holiday as much as they do. At least Easter and other religious holidays are easy to ignore. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/106 "2023-04-25T21:35:08Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > This isn’t restricted to just atheists. That’s the important part. All believers are not the same and I think mostly dislike outright proselytizing as atheists do. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/107 "2023-04-25T21:36:59Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > Actually I am banking on living again after I die, but God won’t be part of the equation, just physics. > > If the universe is infinite in time and space, somewhere, sometime, an exact replication of my sub-atomic particles will pop back into existence (perhaps due to a vacuum fluctuation) and I will live again…maybe many times. I love to hear a Tegmark fan! But, you’re not going to experience this. You’re just going where the candle flames go when you blow the candles out. How do you bank on a replica if you don’t get to be that replica? It’s not like they’re good for anything else to you. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2023, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/108 "2023-04-25T21:48:33Z")
I hate the fact that when I die I and there is no afterlife I won’t be able to tell all of the those people who do believe in an afterlife that I was right and they were wrong. 😉 More seriously, I was raised a wishy washy Methodist, who finally lost the last bits of belief in a higher power when he read about the anthropic principal, which eliminated the lingering doubts of the improbability of intelligent life. But I still occasionally pray about things that worry me. I recognize intellectually that it won’t change anything but it gives me something to do when I can’t do anything else. So I would say that the worst thing about being an atheist is that there is final entity to go to to take care of the things you can’t. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/109 "2023-04-25T21:48:38Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Also because it assumes that God cannot see into your soul and recognize that you only pretend to believe so you can get into heaven. And God, like Santa Claus, is supposed to be able to see into your soul and know what you are thinking. That’s one of his bigger party tricks. Pascal’s wager never made sense logically or theologically, and I have no idea how it has endured so long. Presumably, God can also see into your soul, and recognize that you only pretend to believe because someone has a gun to your head. And yet, “conversion by the sword” is still a thing that a lot of theists have done historically, and there’s still a lot of far-right types who think state mandated religion is a good idea. Which suggests that their version of god, at least, is satisfied with following the forms without underlying genuine belief. I suppose the whole, “Why do atheists behave morally if they don’t believe in hell?” is part of the same logical fallacy - God can certainly tell if you refrained from sin because you hate sin, or if you refrained from sin because you fear God, and you’d think the second wouldn’t get you any credit, but a lot of Christians insist that’s how it works. So, I submit that the reason Pascal’s Wager has stuck around is that it’s a fundamentally accurate parody of a subset of theist beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![Apodder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apodder/32/17727_2.png) [@Apodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apodder)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/110 "2023-04-26T02:53:46Z")
This. This exactly. Even amongst the people who know what I am I need to keep mum to keep the peace while still having to participate in the common religious observances, namely, Xmas celebrations. For us in my nuclear family, it’s a cultural observance only. For my religious parents and pastor brother, obviously it’s more to them, but we’ve seemed to come to an understanding and not talk about it. The atheists are the ones who have to give, unfortunately. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/111 "2023-04-26T03:08:58Z")
> [@NinthAcolyte](#): > > Relatedly: Many, many (I would even wager “most”) people have a broadly unhappy life that is characterized by scarcity and hardship. Most people die powerless and afraid, with little understanding and no control over what is happening to them. Agree. This is where I think technology is the great lifter, though. The world is still a brutal, miserable place, but with each successive decade more and more billions of people are getting better and better access to food, medical treatment, information tech. A mere half-century from now, we could be at a point of global prosperity where people suffering in misery and poverty becomes the rare exception rather than the norm. Not all suffering is about economics, of course - there’ll always be racism, sexism, bullying as long as human nature exists - but it will do away with a huge cause of suffering. So, in many ways, one of the biggest atheist goals/ideals should be all about tech, tech, tech. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/112 "2023-04-26T03:10:39Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > _Way_ before the coming of the “Religious Right” atheists were expect to bow their heads and pretend to believe and pray when dining with others. They were expected to do the same or be shamed by both students and teachers during school prayers in public schools. They certainly couldn’t organize any clubs on school grounds. Say what you will about Ayn Rand, she gave an interview to Playboy in 1963, and when she was asked if she believed in God, she didn’t just say “no,” she said “of course not.” That was a life changer for me – I was already most of the way into atheism at age 13, but this showed me that I wasn’t alone. In 1967 she said about the same thing on the Tonight Show to Johnny Carson. edited to add: this wasn’t directed specifically at Czarcasm, his post just provided the impetus. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/113 "2023-04-26T03:14:02Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > A mere half-century from now, we could be at a point of global prosperity where people suffering in misery and poverty becomes the rare exception rather than the norm. I mean, we could be there today. We produce more than enough for everyone to live a comfortable life. > [@Velocity](#): > > So, in many ways, one of the biggest atheist goals/ideals should be all about tech, tech, tech. How that tech is used is as, if not more, important as its development. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/114 "2023-04-26T05:37:50Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Say some sicko kidnaps you right now and gouges out your eyes, hacks off all your limbs but you somehow survive. And let’s say you’re young, at age 20. > > Well, sorry, but you’re in for a horrid 60 more years of life. You won’t ever walk or move, you’ll never see again, you’ll be nothing but the most pitiful of people - and there’s no Heaven, there’s no compensation, you’re just simply fucked. That’s just it. If that happened to me as an atheist, I’d just say shit happens, and try to deal. It seems far worse of the lord of the universe, who is omnipotent, let it happen. After 60 years I’d want to know why god thought it was good for the cosmos for me to suffer. Multiply that for the real examples of kids with cancer, babies drowning in tsunamis. There had better not be a god, because I’d be tempted to punch his face in. “Your arms too short to box with God?” Try me, mofo. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/115 "2023-04-26T05:43:40Z")
To answer the question in the OP, the worst thing for me is knowing that the relgionistas will never find out they are wrong. Wouldn’t it be great if some entity dressed in black with a scythe greeted the newly dead with “I DO NOT KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING, BUT IT IS NOT WHERE YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE.” I never liked Christmas music, but that is from being Jewish, not atheist. And I can eat both gefilte fish and bacon. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/116 "2023-04-26T06:36:56Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > So, for you other atheists, what’s the worst part of atheism for you? Tombstone for an atheist: “All dressed up, and no place to go.” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/117 "2023-04-26T07:10:15Z")
It beats playing one of the leads in “Waiting For God…Oh, well.” ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/118 "2023-04-26T07:24:31Z")
“Atheists Don’t have No Songs” I disagree and so does Tim Minchin [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA5lIFUply0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA5lIFUply0) ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/119 "2023-04-26T08:37:30Z")
As to the OP - the social side of things especially when I was an introverted teen. The church long ago worked out how to breed their introverts. Atheists hadn’t yet invented the internet to allow their introverts to find one another. We stayed at home on weekend nights reading SF books extolling free love. Meanwhile our churchgoing friends were screwing like bunnies at church camps at which they were taught that premarital sex was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166/120 "2023-04-26T09:12:15Z")
Theism isn’t really a thing much in Australia. Oh, ang btw @Princhester, many thanks for the Minchin link, you made our dinner late tonight because of! I don’t know the religions or religiosity of any of my friends. They might be churchgoers, they might not. None of my immediate family are religiously affiliated, but late uncles, aunts and perhaps their kids might be (Pentecostals). There’s no ‘worst’ thing about being an atheist. It’s not an issue. My atheism is about as important in my life and my kid’s lives (and their kids) as what brand of toothpaste we use. It’s just irrelevant. It’s a nothing burger. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-worst-thing-about-being-an-atheist/983166.md?page=7)