The advantages of being Atheist

[ThePinsir]

Don't feel guilty looking at porn anymore.
Sleep in on Sundays.
Feel motivated to actually help people rather than just pray for them.

Not afraid of learning actual science!

[Bob Kelso]

Please tell what has improved in your life and how Atheism benefits those who know you and society at large.

My deconversion from Christianity has served me in a number of ways; I'm more thoughtful (both in my thoughts on various subjects and towards others in my life), I'm demonstrably better from a moral standpoint, and I enjoy and cherish my life far more than I ever had when I thought I'd live forever in an afterlife.

I can't speak for society, but I hold to my conviction that it would be far better off with a lack of religion. The evidence that this conviction is based upon is my experiences thus far as an atheist and that of others.

[Phatt Matt s]

Please tell what has improved in your life and how Atheism benefits those who know you and society at large.

My deconversion from Christianity has served me in a number of ways; I'm more thoughtful (both in my thoughts on various subjects and towards others in my life), I'm demonstrably better from a moral standpoint, and I enjoy and cherish my life far more than I ever had when I thought I'd live forever in an afterlife.

I can't speak for society, but I hold to my conviction that it would be far better off with a lack of religion. The evidence that this conviction is based upon is my experiences thus far as an atheist and that of others.

Thank you sir! That was very thoughtfull and edifying!

[OGirly]

Wait...you were a drug addict or alcoholic and a Muslim?...interesting

Yep. I was addicted to heroin well before I became a Muslim. I managed to kick the habit before converting or reverting as they like to call it. My drinking I've struggled with my entire life, and still do to this day, but I've got a bit more control on it now that I have something to loose (school, family etc). It was hard to hide the drinking while a Muslim because if anyone found out it would be a horrible experience I'm sure. Muslims are very harsh to other Muslims. :\

[LastPoet]

Yep. I was addicted to heroin well before I became a Muslim. I managed to kick the habit before converting or reverting as they like to call it. My drinking I've struggled with my entire life, and still do to this day, but I've got a bit more control on it now that I have something to loose (school, family etc). It was hard to hide the drinking while a Muslim because if anyone found out it would be a horrible experience I'm sure. Muslims are very harsh to other Muslims. :\

Chasing the dragon huh? Sometimes I draw an analogy between the feeling addicts (like me) had and religion. The issue is not as much as the physical withdrawal, but more of the psychological one. Like "I can't imagine life without god" so do addicts "Can't imagine life without heroin". I had both of these thoughts removed and I'm doing pretty well for now.

[Jacob(smooth)]

So far, have experienced minor benefit in the form of less cognitive dissonance. Still experiencing substantial Disillusionment and minor moral anxst.

So far it sucks but since I am still "installing the drivers" , I'm optimistic it will improve.

[LastPoet]

So far, have experienced minor benefit in the form of less cognitive dissonance. Still experiencing substantial Disillusionment and minor moral anxst.

So far it sucks but since I am still "installing the drivers" , I'm optimistic it will improve.

Well, you don't have to install any drivers, all you have to do is uninstall some viruses.

[Phatt Matt s]

Wait...you were a drug addict or alcoholic and a Muslim?...interesting

Yep. I was addicted to heroin well before I became a Muslim. I managed to kick the habit before converting or reverting as they like to call it. My drinking I've struggled with my entire life, and still do to this day, but I've got a bit more control on it now that I have something to loose (school, family etc). It was hard to hide the drinking while a Muslim because if anyone found out it would be a horrible experience I'm sure. Muslims are very harsh to other Muslims. :\

Going to a mosque, facing mecca, and prostrating with a bunch of Muslims to praise Allah, while on heroine, would be an experience.

I went to a mosque to pray with muslims in New York on benzo's and it was a great experience. Everything about the Arabs and their language and the pillars and arabic all over the walls made for a foretraste of mecca!

[Tonus]

I'm hoping this could be an insightfull nonflaming thread where Atheists share the freedom, joy, peace, wisdom, and growth that they received as a result of a conversion to Atheism.

The main difference for me was that I got back the time I would normally have spent on religious activities (proselytizing, attending church, bible study, etc). I could say that using that time on more productive pursuits made me feel better, but when I was doing them they felt like productive pursuits, so that's really a wash. As for freedom and joy and the rest, becoming an atheist did not change the person I am. I've always been a happy and carefree person and that did not change when I realized that god wasn't there.

My deconversion was very gradual, so that probably helped. I did not have that sudden moment where everything in my life got thrown into turmoil or anything. One day I admitted to myself what was pretty obvious by that time, and while it did feel good and I did have a sense of more freedom and control of my life, my day-to-day life changed little.

It did take a bit longer to get over the feeling of sadness when realizing that the planet will probably die out at some point in the distant future, and maybe even the universe. But that's from that sense that religion instills, that you are the center of existence and that you'll always be there to see it all happen. Realizing that once I die I am no longer conscious of anything means that I will not be around to worry about it, and therefore it's a waste of time to worry about it now. Problem solved!

[Simon Moon]

I'm hoping this could be an insightfull nonflaming thread where Atheists share the freedom, joy, peace, wisdom, and growth that they received as a result of a conversion to Atheism.

Please tell what has improved in your life and how Atheism benefits those who know you and society at large.

Thank you!

Intellectual honesty.

Having an internal mental model that most likely maps more accurately to reality.

The fact that an evil god such as Yahweh almost certainly does not exist.


EDIT: atheist does is not written with an upper case 'A'. And there is no such thing as 'conversion to atheism'. It is an incoherent statement.