*trigger warning* What if atheism's not all it seems?

[The Grand Nudger]

I pose the above question to you today because I want you to consider this deeply. I now cringe at my past self, how arrogant and facetious I acted towards a topic which I, and every single one of you reading this post, have absolutely no certainty of. We are all clueless. We can guess, yes - we can ponder and theorise what the answer could be. But ultimately the answers we all come up with are nothing short of personal opinion or hope. Spouting out statements full of 100% assurance, as I see so many atheists do, like "There is no afterlife - deal with it" or "God doesn't exist - now enjoy life" demonstrate an almost - dare I say - religious sense of certainty?

So, long story short..."Are you sure?".  Yes, I'm sure that I don't believe and simply cannot believe.  Afterlives...not an issue for atheism...though there, again, I'm not at all impressed by the notion as many atheists -are-.  It's not an issue of what I don;t know, but of what I do.  I can't "un-know it".  

This brings me to my next point: whether you are willing to see this or not (and I too remember wincing years ago when people said this but I now see their reasoning) - atheism follows almost all of the characteristics of an organised religion. It provides you with a sense of certitude, like you have figured out the universe; it gives you a community to belong to; there are bishop-like figures, think Dawkins, Krauss, etc etc., you make statements which you don't know are true for sure. - and finally: non-believers should be ridiculed because their views are *obviously* wrong and yours are completely, unquestionably correct - right?

Atheism doesn't provide me with a sense of certitude about anything.  I don't have the universe figured out, there is no "atheist community" to which I belong.  Dawkins and Krauss aren't my prophets or bishops...I've never read anything either have written.  I make statements that I -do- know are true, for sure....and I don;t ridicule believers for being wrong.  I ridicule them for being insufferable little shits -in- their misapprehension. 

Beyond this, I wish to understand the following: why is such visceral contempt held towards the idea of daring to have some hope that this universe may have a greater meaning beyond this one?

No clue, what does that have to do with atheism?

Did you ever consider the person who has just lost their home, or their family, whose life is completely empty and whose only consolation is the hope that maybe there is a loving god out there who cares for them?

Sure...I give them a pass..until they start babbling about homosex and kinds and how we need god back in our schools.

Their opinion is no less valid than yours, and most of these people hold no ill will towards anyone.

A common misunderstanding.  Not all "opinions" are, in fact, equal.

They choose (and I can completely understand why) to be optimistic and hopeful in what can be a sad and confusing world rather than desperately trying - quite strangely - to promote the idea of a universe devoid of any greater meaning at all. I ask you to please consider this the next time you laugh at such people.

I do...and it's the inevitable disappointment that they will face that I;m thinking of when I remind them that they don;t have o sign on the dotted line with ghosts if they need optimism and hope or greater meanings. 

Finally, to wrap up this post, I want to make one more point: if you are to fully embrace the cold harshness of rationalism and scientific reasoning as a guide for your philosophical views, you must see that in doing this you also accept that in nature there are no concepts of good or bad - the only guide you can get from it is to take what you can get and maximise your own happiness. No justice, no reward for good, or judgement for bad. Just do as you please. This is what rationalism looks like in practice - not ideal for a cohesive society.

I see that you're a loon peddling the same old "I used to be an atheist" story..regurgitating the same tired script as I've seen hundreds of times before.  That's what I see.  There's nothing cold or harsh in the world as it is, to me.  It's full of warmth.  Good and bad..these don't hang on the existence of fairies.  If they did, we'd all be fucked..because there are no fairies.  I'm not much of a rape and pillager, personally.  I like to build things.  I like to grow things.  I like to give things away.  Justice appears to be intact, if imperfect.  I find a great deal of reward in life, and I have suffered the consequences of poor and bad decisions.  I can't do any old thing I please..but for the most part, whatever I please is pretty mundane and, well..kind of jolly and hippyish.  I'm the old man in the shoe, with tons of kids and a busty wife.    

Tell me what about any of this isn't "cohesive" for society..again?  I just don't believe in fairies...loon.

I'm not sure about you, but given that our views on the world are personal choice due to our lack of knowledge about it all, I'd take a creed which at its core promotes love, justice, and selflessness towards others over a world view that's equally unprovable but is rooted in nothing more than a cold, every-man-for-himself cesspit.

Yours, maybe.  I have no choice and it's because of what know...not whatever it is you're ignorant of.  Even if it were possible..I couldn't string up the better man to cover my innumerable sins. My own shortcomings have been a little more meaningful than whether or not I got a chubby staring at my best buddies chubby or lied to Father Stewart about stealing the sacremental wine....so I take them more seriously than the scapegoating pieces of trash who want to harangue me for all of the irrelevant shit they consider sinful or distasteful, about me..as you've done in this very thread.

My thoughts? Go fuck yourself.