The empowering side of Atheism

[CapnAwesome]

I'd just like to share a clip from the movie Touching the Void, where climber Joe Simpson talks about how his lack of belief in the afterlife gave him the drive to keep alive and save his own life. Joe, with a broken leg had fallen into a 200 foot crevasse and was almost certainly going to die. Not through a miracle, but through his own perseverance ended up saving his own life. The part about religion starts around the 3:00 mark.





Atheism can be an empowering thing. This is our only chance at life.

[Vincenzo Vinny G.]

Atheism can be an empowering thing. This is our only chance at life.

How would you even know that?

[CapnAwesome]

How would you even know that?

Which part?

[Vincenzo Vinny G.]

That this is our only chance at life.

At best, you can say this is our only known chance at life.

But I don't want to hijack your thread. Feel free to ignore this post.

[Darkstar]

That this is our only chance at life.

At best, you can say this is our only known chance at life.

But I don't want to hijack your thread. Feel free to ignore this post.

You're right; we might all go to FSM heaven (or hell).

[CapnAwesome]

That this is our only chance at life.

At best, you can say this is our only known chance at life.

But I don't want to hijack your thread. Feel free to ignore this post.

Well, our consciousness, aka life, is tied to brain activity. We know that brain activity ceases when we die, in fact brain activity ceasing is the very definition of dying. So we know the consciousness of self ends with death. Although I can't 'know' for certain that there isn't some sort of magic after life, I can say that I know isn't within the realm of the natural world.

[Napoléon]

That this is our only chance at life.

At best, you can say this is our only known chance at life.

And how exactly does it change your outlook if you were to make either of those statements?

[Norfolk And Chance]

Atheism can be an empowering thing. This is our only chance at life.

How would you even know that?

Because people die and stay dead. Their bodies rot away or are cremated. That's how we know.

[Creed of Heresy]

Oh c'mon guys, let's not let a silly thing like FACTS get in the way of Vinnie's beliefs. If he's comfortable with his silly self-contradicting belief system, let's let him be comfortable with them...no need to crush him with science or reality!

I am very sorry, Vinnie, allow me to apologize on everyone's behalf; they're all just very used to living in the real world and not in the world of make-believe.