Atheists life motive

[Losty]

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.

A fork is also nice. If you weren't born with a fork you may choose to work for a fork or just scarf down the pie with no fork. It's up to you. Hehe

[pocaracas]

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.

I never decided to kill anything... It was a realization that that entity wasn't there after all.

Did this transition make you more erotic as human beings or is it just me?

I was 10... so puberty was soon coming up!

Το broaden the question. What was the first change you witnessed?

Didn't notice any change.

Did you have less guilt about somethings? Did you stop fearing some things?

I feared nothing before... feared nothing after...

What was the main psychological implact of this change for you?

"Oh shit, the whole world seems to be wrong!"
"What do I do?!"

The question is this: did you find any supressed "monsters" in your soul?

Oh yeah... the monster of puberty was about to hit me smack in the head!

[Elskidor]

Never a Theist here. Some time between 3ird and 5h grade I felt peer pressure to go to church, and asked my mom if I could go. She took me twice and I hated it. I found out my sister was Pagan after that, and tried to figure out what that was all about. Nothing stuck. By the time highschool rolled around I realized I was an Atheist. I never had a god to kill off, and the only time I struggled spiritualy was when I thought there was something wrong with me for not believing in such things.

[Napoléon]

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.

A strange assumption to make...

[Tonus]

Did this transition make you more erotic as human beings or is it just me?

It didn't make me more erotic, though I think "it's just me" is accurate. We are who we are, and religion is only a part of that, even for the most rabid fundamentalist. The extent to which losing or gaining religious belief changes us probably depends more on how traumatic the process is. I made a very smooth and easy transition (though quite lengthy) and so I changed very little.

[Freedom of thought]

I have to say it again. What a great forum. Lots of really smart people gathered here. It's the first time I find that every single reply to a thread is worth pondering.
I keep a journal (Jim Rohn style) and have written more or less all your answers in it for future thinking fuel.
I will ask your opinion about children. Have you tought your children that there is no such thing as God?
Do children that have no notion of God hardwired in their brains have any problem coping with human mortality?

I don't have any children, and if I did I wouldn't force any views (or non views) on them. I would tell them about all of the different religions, and how humans were prone to creating religious narratives throughout the ages. If you tell a child that they will escape death, they will never learn how to deal with death. Religion is a means of trying to avoid death, instead of trying to come to terms with our own mortality and inevitable deaths. There's some things you don't want to tell children, like how they will one day die like everyone else, or about the ferociousness of nature, like a lion tearing apart a zebra. Learning how things really are and learning how to cope with the ugly parts of life is apart of growing up, and becoming a stronger person. If you shield children from death, and the horrors of the world, they will never grow up. But I don't think death is that bad really, when you are dead you have nothing to be afraid of, fear of death is normal, but it is irrational. Every life comes with a death sentence, that's how the life cycle works. If no one died the Earth would be vastly overpopulated. Death is a means for life to work. No death no life, no life no death.

[max-greece]

Hello Jason,

Where about in Greece are you? I'm in Glyfada.

Your written English is certainly better than my written Greek but I am not too shabby verbally.

As to your questions I find that the whole idea of there being a point to life (in the sense that religion means it) is one of the most depressing, truly nihilist approaches to life.

Freedom from slavery to God is worth having. You very much get to define the point of life for yourself. That can be generic - be the best person you can be, personal - find love and live a fulfilling life, focused - music, art, literature, professional - be a doctor, physicist, biologist, palaeontologist...

It can be a combination of those things, or none of them.

You get one go on this planet - make the most of it.

Oh - and I didn't have to kill God - he disappeared one day in a puff of logic and never returned. I was about 12.

As for changes in your sexuality I don't think there is any causal relationship with atheism - but it make well be linked to your opening up to a world of possibilities.

Who knows? And welcome on board.

[Jason_ab]

Έλα ρε φίλε! Πώ πώ όποια πέτρα και αν σηκώσεις κι ένας Ελληνάρας απο κάτω! Αιγαλεώτης εγώ.
(Sorry, just saying hi to my fellow Greek...)
I just saw a very very cool debate @ youtube.com/watch?v=e8MzPmkNsgU where Hitchens debates with a very interesting dude, William Lane Craig.
There was a gr8 answer from Hitchens to my question about life and motives.
There was a quite interesting "pro God" argument from Craig, which I will start as a new topic about, since I would love to hear your opinions about this.

[Esquilax]

There was a quite interesting "pro God" argument from Craig, which I will start as a new topic about, since I would love to hear your opinions about this.

If it was Kalam, be prepared to hear a lot of angry voices, because that argument is balls.

[bennyboy]

Έλα ρε φίλε! Πώ πώ όποια πέτρα και αν σηκώσεις κι ένας Ελληνάρας απο κάτω! Αιγαλεώτης εγώ.
(Sorry, just saying hi to my fellow Greek...)
I just saw a very very cool debate @ youtube.com/watch?v=e8MzPmkNsgU where Hitchens debates with a very interesting dude, William Lane Craig.
There was a gr8 answer from Hitchens to my question about life and motives.
There was a quite interesting "pro God" argument from Craig, which I will start as a new topic about, since I would love to hear your opinions about this.

You might want to try the "search" button first. We all know Craig, and we've all heard all his arguments, and discussed them ad nauseam.