(June 3, 2018 at 10:17 am)Rhondazvous Wrote: As atheists, we've walked away from the fairy tales of holy writ. But there are still two myths that I hear a lot, and it bothers me to no end.
Myth The first
Life without god is meaningless
Actually, it’s the Abrahamic theists who render life meaningless. They tell us that none of the thing that happen on earth matters because god has a plan. For them, this life is just a meaningless stepping stone to the next world.
One reason we buy into this myth is because we've let theist define "meaning" in the first place. Of course, they define it in a way that supports their paradigm. It’s not until we turn away from religion that we’re free to create meaning in this life instead of waiting for some pie in the sky afterlife that will make our present suffering fade away.
Myth The Second
Only god provides a reason to be good
Again, an atheist has a stronger reason to be good than a theist.
Unlike a theist, an atheist can’t say well, god will forgive me.
An atheist is judged by three things: 1. His own conscience, 2. Society and 3. The physical realities of the world.
When society criticizes an atheist for bad behavior, he can’t psyche himself into believing he’s being persecuted for his faith. I’ve heard Christians say that while they know god loves them they can’t forgive themselves for the things they’ve done. The strongest faith in the world can’t pray against nature. The atheist already knows this and takes into consideration when planning an action.
I'm luckily not plagued by either of these. I was an atheist by my mid-late teen years so I probably rid myself of these mental nuisances a while back. I can definitely see this being useful for newer atheists, though. Or maybe atheists who walked away from their religion much later in life than I did. Meaning and Morality are certainly two things I could see myself struggling with in my early years of atheism, though I can't say I specifically remember wrestling with these topics. Meaning lies wherever we find it and Morality is self-explained, in my opinion. We are good for two reasons: 1. It benefits us to be good to one another. 2. It feels good to be good to others, maybe because of reason 1.
