Atheists ONLY - Are you less happy now that you are an atheist?

[Minimalist]

It was a long time ago. Who can remember?

[thesummerqueen]

I think a lot of people are scared shitless and want the bad things in their life to have reason. Some people just can't accept that "shit happens," or that sometimes random events are caused by the actions or inactions of others and we're all caught up in the web. You know, the whole "a butterfly flaps its wings in China and a hurricane starts in FL" sort of thing. There probably IS a reason for everything, but God surely isn't it. Plate tectonics, weather patterns, human greed and ingenuity...these things influence our lives. And for the most part, we have no control over them. I have no control over a war lord in Africa who starves his populace and whose armies rape women and put guns in the hands of children to decimate another tribe. And for some reason, rather than being saddened by it, I am okay with knowing that prayer doesn't do fuck all about it either. I can give money, or I could give time and energy, or I can vote in leaders who might help with the situation. Knowing the things I can do, and knowing what affect they will probably have in the long run, is much more comforting than a lie.

[Tonus]

I was always a very happy and optimistic person, able to view life through a "half full" prism. That didn't change when I stopped being religious and when I stopped believing in god. Whereas I used to focus on the good things about being religious before, I just as easily focus on the good things about being free of religious belief now. Whereas I used to minimize the negative aspects of religion and belief, I minimize the negative aspects of the lack of either.

We are who we are. I admit I don't know where I got my sunny outlook from. My mother raised us, and she is a very pessimistic and "half empty" kind of person. She always has been. Finding god did not change her as a person. Losing god did not change me. The events that have shaped me the most in my (recent) life did not involve religion or god.

[Simon Moon]

Much happier as an atheist.

Eliminating my compartmentalized god beliefs was liberating.

There's nothing like the feeling removing all the cognitive dissonance that goes along with religious beliefs. The best way to describe it is by using the cliche of a fog lifting.

[xpastor]

There was a price to pay. There was no great job market for ex-clergy

Do you think that's why a lot of clergy who lose their faith stay in the job?

Quite likely, though I have never talked to any others in my situation. A few managed to make a living out of apostasy: Dan Barker and John W. Loftus. More power to them.

[henryp]

A lot of it has to do with age and situation. If you're living a reasonably comfy life (which having time to log onto a computer and chat about Atheism usually implies), and you don't have to worry about death for a while, there's very little Christianity has to offer.

As we near death, and the threat of ceasing to exist starts to loom, that desire for something more will likely kick in a bit.

[xpastor]

A lot of it has to do with age and situation. If you're living a reasonably comfy life (which having time to log onto a computer and chat about Atheism usually implies), and you don't have to worry about death for a while, there's very little Christianity has to offer.

As we near death, and the threat of ceasing to exist starts to loom, that desire for something more will likely kick in a bit.

How old are you? I'm 72, and I find it has been the opposite with me. As I grow older, I am more reconciled to the idea that the end will come. Of course I am in fairly good health, but I think if it takes a turn for the worse I will want my release from life.

[Bad Writer]

It was either fake happiness by remaining Mormon, or actually find happiness in looking to reality for life's answers.

[thesummerqueen]

OH! Also? BACON.

Fuck being kosher.

Bacon. "Am I happier?" - are you goddamn kidding me? BACON!

[Simon Moon]

='Doubting Thomas' pid='546676'
Do you think that's why a lot of clergy who lose their faith stay in the job?

There is a fast growing organization just to deal with this situation.

The Clergy Project - http://www.clergyproject.org/


"The Clergy Project is a confidential online community for active and former professional clergy/religious leaders who do not hold supernatural beliefs. The Clergy Project launched on March 21st, 2011.

Currently, the community's 535 plus members use it to network and discuss what it's like being an unbelieving professional in a religious community or being an unbeliever as ex-clergy in their world."