Religion and pleasure

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I could go on and on about by fiat assertions based on nothing much, but I'm sure that'll occur to most people who read through your post anyway. Instead, I'll focus in; you're claim is that atheists- the sole thing separating us from the religious being god beliefs- are generally unable or unwilling to engage in these "greater joys" you list... and then proceed to mark yours as a wholly secular pursuit, and therefore not beyond the grasp of atheists in any way.

Well, even if you do, I'm not sure you'll persist when faced with a choice of sacrificing your own "simple pleasures" and whatever greater purpose you've taken on. It is the impression I've gotten from the lot of the atheists I know.
And I stress the term "atheists" because the term seems to be your primary means ot self-identification before anything else, so I will continue to use this term until the discussion sees its final words.

Is it truly your belief that religious conviction makes people more willing to deal in these (secular) causes?

The thing is, due to the fact that you believe that upon death, it's all over for you, you don't really see much of a point in participating in things that exceed your lifetime.
If there is a certain reason for you to do so, tell me.

I know this from my own parents. They'd love to think they care about politics and the way the country is going, but when I decide that I wish to be more active in political life, in pursuit of a definite ideal, they come to tell me that I ought to forget about these things and live my life.

Is there any point in even asking, given that the rest of your post was nothing but bland, tasteless and judgmental assertions from top to bottom without any form of evidence?

What form of evidence do you really expect from me? I'm telling you about the impression I've gotten from the atheists that I've known in my lifetime, including the people here.

Would it help if I told you that, from my perspective, there's no difference between the "little" joys and your "greater" ones? That they're all just things to delight in? That life is something to delight in precisely because one has choices like these, and that to sit on your high horse like a Judgey Jason doesn't make your choices more valid merely because you've attached a high minded label to them?

No, it wouldn't, because there is a difference, else I'd obviously not choose the greater joys over the smaller ones, while persevering through periods of sadness and pain, which means, patience.
However, atheists generally do not show this patience too much, since they think that their time is limited, they rush things, they are impatient. This is why they lose faith in things very easily.

Hello, I'm an atheist. I'm also a writer, a composer, an activist for various causes, a husband, a robot enthusiast, and a pretty mean pianist back in the day.

I'm not an atheist, I'm a university student that has faced expulsion from school for my views, threats of violence from fellow students and monetary problems just to print a magazine. If I were as you, bent on enjoying myself, I'd certainly quit. I'd go through university just like the other guys, and perhaps end up in America or Europe some day.
What you do obviously gives you a lot of pleasure. What I do gives me hardship. But the fact that I do it, and that I do it for a greater cause is what gives me strength to do it. And if I had lived my life a second time, I'd not change the path I've taken.

Maybe these are all little drops to you, but to me they're just as legitimate as any of the life choices you've made. I

Legitimate, yes they are. But I've never really judged you for that.
I simply have stated why I think that atheists as I think they are.

I guarantee you that if you'd actually bothered to ask around, you wouldn't find the squirming hedonistic den of indulgence that you're imagining

I never expected such a thing. But while I see hedonism as morally wrong, you simply don't.

, but instead would find a vibrant group of individuals who've found plenty to like in their own lives, even if they don't measure up to the big torrential flood you're filling your hole with.

Well, I can find plenty of things to like in my own life too. And I do have certain things that I like to do. I like to draw, I like to discuss politics and actually have joined this site to get to know people around the globe a little better. These are my little joys. But ultimately, they are not really meaningful beyond the moment they're done in. And when you are dead and underground they'll be lost with you, at least, according to your belief.

Why rest on the laurels of those who've come before you? Acknowledging where you've come from is one thing, but how is that important beyond a sense of history? What's actually your point here?

It's quite important. Not just acknowledging, but also taking pride fuels to give this sense of pride you're experiencing from the deeds of your ancestors to the next generations. If people really did not care about what their ancestors had done, nor about the next generations, no one would bother recording history.

My point is this, since atheists always do not look beyond their lifetimes, they generally see no point in looking back in their history, or having a vision that drives them to do better things for the future.
The only way they contribute to the future is having a child, which is in itself a way for them to have a taste of a greater joy in life, though some still exchange it for greater sexual freedom and less responsibilities, again, with the same reasoning. I'm here for a limited amount of time, why really bother to spend my time on someone else, when I can spend it on myself.

Hey, I dunno, maybe you should have asked.

Well, no such person would waste time in an internet forum.

I doubt anyone here would say that they lack purpose. I think we would all say that your presumption that any purpose you disapprove of is somehow lesser is terribly arrogant.

Well, I've heard it from other people here numerous of times that people are not born with a purpose. So according to them, the default human is a man that has no purpose other than the purpose that he has by simply existing there.
Besides, my purpose is not bound to me alone. It's a "greater purpose" whom I follow, I did not create it, I did not elaborate on it, I only try to understand it, and live accoding to it.
Any purpose that I create for myself will ultimately end with me.
And the fact that you stressed above, that the past and future has no meaning other than being "history" is what drives you to accept a lesser purpose for your life, which is mostly to simply live for the sake of living.

Oh, do I sense an "atheists gots no morals!" canard in the midst of this mass of self-congratulatory wank?

Well, if you do, you probably have the morals general society has. So do I. I don't make up my own moral standpoint, I simply understand the moral standpoint of society, and follow it.
You on the other hand reject many of the moral standpoints in whatver society you're in, and generally associate this with freedom(which I attribute to your general self-righteous attitude that stems from all the above mentioned points), and create your own set of morals, on which sometimes, you can't even agree on.
In short, your morals are outlined by the laws in the countries you live in, and even in that case, you try to change these laws to suit your morals, instead of the morals of the general public.

None of which, of course, being solely the purview of religion.

Not just that, though.

Christ, maybe a statue somewhere, your holiness?

What? Is that too much for you to handle? Of course, you obviously can't comprehend the meaning of sacrifice, ideals, and living your life accoding to these ideals. You live your life according to yourself, which is, in my opinion, nothing.