What is being an Atheist like?

[Darkstar]

My questions:
1.) Why are you an atheist?

I'm an atheist for the simple reason that I haven't seen any convincing evidence for the existence of any gods. Th very idea of an infinitely powerful being creating the entire universe by magic seems absurd to me, even more so since this being supposedly interfered wildly in human affairs a few thousand years ago, but ever since the invention of cameras can only be bothered to occasionally appear on toast. Also, there are hundreds of different religions that make contradictory claims about the universe. We know they cannot all be right, but they can all be wrong. And if we're fairly certain that at least most of them are wrong, then why give undue weight to the ones we grew up around?

2.) What is life like for an atheist?

For me, it isn't really all that different from being a Christian, other than going to atheist websites.

4.) There is no God. How do you cope with that? How do you find purpose and meaning in your life?

For me, there wasn't really anything to cope with. I did not welcome death with open arms as a Christian, despite believing that dying would lead to a better place (i.e. heaven). I never really derived purpose in my life from religion, either, and I honestly pity those who do. The idea that you have a purpose to your life independent of what you want to do with it is not exactly a comforting one if you think about it. Wouldn't you rather be yourself than be told you were born for to fulfill a specific purpose? Maybe you were talking about 'purpose' on a global level (i.e. why do we exist) in which case I would still say that religion doesn't really offer you one of those either. We have 'you exist because [insert god here] felt like making you' and 'you exist because your parents felt like making you'. Really not all that different other than that you can confirm your parents actually exist, and they're probably a lot less manipulative than a deity.

5.) What are your thoughts on death?

You die, and then you're dead. Pretty straightforward.

6.) Has being an atheist changed your life in any way? If so, how?

Maybe, but it's hard to say. I feel as though becoming an atheist has made me a better critical thinker, more observant of the world around me, and more attuned to philosophy, but that's probably an oversimplification. When I became an atheist, it was simply because I realized that there were legitimate options other than Christianity. I had always lived assuming Christianity was correct, but without ever having really thought about why. When I did, I realized that I never actually had any compelling reasons for believing in god in the first place. I realized that a mere failure to pay attention to my own beliefs had caused me to consider something true that I now think utterly ridiculous, so I tried to more carefully analyze my thoughts to avoid such a mistake in the future. I would not say that my atheism is entirely the cause of my thinking more deeply and such, but it may have acted as a catalyst to begin doing so.