Not quite sure if I belong, but, hello

[AFTT47]

It's just that I've been in an existential crisis for several years and I've never been able to accept atheism. I don't get how anyone can be happy like this.

Ah, yes. Life sucks and then you die. That does indeed suck. You cannot make peace with that but at the same time, you are not the type of person who can self-delude into believing in a fantasy. I have the same problem. Feel free to PM me.

Some atheists (perhaps most) take comfort in the "Circle of Life" thing. We are of star stuff and of star stuff we will return. This is technically true. Our bodies and everything around us are made of basic elements which were forged in the nuclear reactions of stars. There is no denying this at this point. When our bodies die, our husks will revert to basic elements which will be reused in other natural processes - perhaps as part of the body of another intelligent being.

You may have difficulty coming to terms with the fact that your identity will be gone. Me too. Atheism itself will not help you here. You should understand though that atheism simply means you don't buy into the stories of religion you have been fed by society. It says nothing about what you DO believe.

I believe there are multiple possibilities that you will continue after death. I can't say that I truly believe any of them are true. Nevertheless, I believe there are possibilities. All of the possibilities I entertain involve the existence of naturalistic beings (extraterrestrials) which are very older than us and have evolved to the point where the only thing which limits them is the laws of physics. I would argue that the age and expanse of the universe makes the existence of such beings inevitable. Would those beings care about us, mere ant-like beings compared to them?

I don't know. I conceive of a possibility where such beings value all life which is advanced enough to improve itself - like us. They could provide an afterlife for all of us if they so chose.

Do I believe it? Nope. I'm too much of a skeptic. The possibility gives me some small comfort though.

I believe in the sentiment of J. S. Haldane: "The universe is not only stranger than we imagine; but stranger than we CAN imagine."

Time has sided with J. S. Haldane. Every-time we have thought we were on the cusp of understanding all the principles of the natural universe, someone like Einstein has come along and shaken things up dramatically. Now we have concepts so unknown we use vague terms like, "dark matter" and "dark energy". We have little idea what these things even are at this point. There is much unknown.

So is atheism bleak?

Yes. I think it can be interpreted that way. But I think there is plenty of room there for people like me who cannot take refuge in fantasies but can yet see naturalistic possibilities of life beyond what we have now.