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RE: Atheists life motive
May 1, 2014 at 12:38 pm
(This post was last modified: May 1, 2014 at 12:39 pm by Elskidor.)
My daughter is only five years old. I'm an Atheist and my wife is semi-catholic/wiccan/other (don't ask) and we've decided not to share either of our beliefs with her unless she asks. We aren't going to tell her what to believe and what not to believe. Her decision will be her own. Getting baptized is an important part of being catholic, and I did deny her of that because I felt that was making a choice for her rather than allowing her to decide for herself. I'm strongly against any adult forcing any belief system on children that aren't old enough to decide for them selves. I find it tacky.
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RE: Atheists life motive
May 1, 2014 at 12:51 pm
(May 1, 2014 at 3:53 am)Jason_ab Wrote: Let's say all this is true, let's say when the lights are out it's over, but... really over. You guys seem to be quite functional, intellectual and creative human beings. My question is this: What is your motive in life? Fulfillment.
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould
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RE: Atheists life motive
May 1, 2014 at 12:58 pm
When I have kids, I will try to teach them the ability to think and reason above all other "systems" of belief. I won't indoctrinate them either way. I won't raise my kids with the idea that there are no gods, nor with the idea that there are. I will try to imbue them with the ability to discover that on their own.
I will probably have to have a boundaries conversation with my parents and sister, when they are alone with my kids.
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
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RE: Atheists life motive
May 1, 2014 at 2:00 pm
In the 13.6 billion years before you were born, were you particularly troubled by your non-existence? My guess is -- not very much.
After you die, you will also be similarly inconvenienced.
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RE: Atheists life motive
May 1, 2014 at 2:52 pm
Someone here once made the great statement that believing life is pointless without an afterlife is like thinking a car is useless because it will eventually end up in a junkyard.
Ultimately, life as an atheist is about determining your own purpose, which is something that comes through much self-reflection. I know some people can just live, but I have to have goals in mind to keep me going or I get a bit existentially lost. Goals give us focus and something to put our energy into.
As for my children, my oldest son is just getting to the age where he can start understanding things like this. I won't teach him an opinion on the existence of god, but I will teach him what other people believe and then give him the critical thinking skills to come to his own conclusion. Atheism isn't something that needs to be forced onto someone, because it has reason on its side.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
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RE: Atheists life motive
May 1, 2014 at 3:07 pm
Quote:Atheists life motive
My life's motive is to live.
My kids are being indoctrinated by my catholic wife, while I teach them about science and every once in a while lecture them on critical thinking.
At this stage, they don't believe anything, just whatever people tell them.
If I tell them there's no god, they'll just parrot it to me. If my wife is there, they'll have some trouble making sense... and she'll just want to change subject.
I feel the best way, if your spouse is wanting to indoctrinate them, is to let it happen, while you teach them to think for themselves.... and then let the magic of reason do its wonder. It's better to believe with some reason behind it, than an empty slate that was never introduced to religion in the first place. Empty slates who get in trouble, later in life, are suckers for the religious crap nonsense and just eat it up... these end up being the fiercest mindless religious people... like our very own drich or rev777.
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RE: Atheists life motive
May 1, 2014 at 3:07 pm
(May 1, 2014 at 2:52 pm)Faith No More Wrote: Atheism isn't something that needs to be forced onto someone, because it has reason on its side. Imo people are all born Atheist. It is their upbringing and surroundings that might alter their ideas. It would be interesting to watch a person grow up free of any knowledge/opinion of religion/none, and see what they believe once they are grown. A sequel to the Truman Show with a twist.
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RE: Atheists life motive
May 1, 2014 at 3:29 pm
My children have been exposed to a lot of religions. Most of my family are devout Christians of either baptist/Methodist/catholic persuasion. I have an Aunt who converted to Islam, my friend Tanvi is Hindu, and my friend Sarah is Jewish. We even celebrated Hanukkah at our house this year. (Spin the dreidel is a fun game)
My son, 4, tends to enjoy believing all of the religions. Leli, 5, is a very literal kid. She doesn't believe in magic and she has no problem telling other adults if they try to make her believe what they believe.
(August 21, 2017 at 11:31 pm)KevinM1 Wrote: "I'm not a troll"
Religious Views: He gay
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Hammy Wrote:and we also have a sheep on our bed underneath as well
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RE: Atheists life motive
May 1, 2014 at 4:26 pm
I have one more question, based in the assumption that all of you were originaly theists who at a point of your life decided to "kill" your God.
Did this transition make you more erotic as human beings or is it just me?
Το broaden the question. What was the first change you witnessed?
Did you have less guilt about somethings? Did you stop fearing some things?
What was the main psychological implact of this change for you?
I'm sorry if I sound like interviewing you and thank all of you for your answers.
The question is this: did you find any supressed "monsters" in your soul?
I'm asking cause this is the case with me.
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RE: Atheists life motive
May 1, 2014 at 4:38 pm
(This post was last modified: May 1, 2014 at 4:40 pm by bennyboy.)
When you start eating a delicious piece of pie, do you say, "Shit. This pie will soon be gone, so there's no point trying to enjoy each bite" ? No. You enjoy the pie while you have some left, and when it's gone, you stop enjoying it. That's how time works, and that's how life works.
The only thing you need to eat your piece of pie is that it's there, and that you are built in such a way that you have a desire to eat it.
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