I am better off being a christian than an atheist

[Whateverist]

Why have you come back Mozart Link?

Exactly. No one here gives a fuck about that dumb fuck.

[Tonus]

I am an atheist myself and don't believe in a God or the supernatural. But I wish I wasn't an atheist because an afterlife of eternal joy would give my life the ultimate meaning and would make this one and only life more beautiful and worthwhile.

But that's just a state of mind. If you are focused on the end of your life and what happens afterwards then a belief in an afterlife is comforting, while the belief that there is nothing else can be depressing. If you focus on the life you are living and seek ways to give it meaning and purpose, you will find comfort in setting goals and achieving success and will not be worried about what comes after, regardless of whether you believe in an afterlife or not.

If you are miserable as an atheist because your life lacks meaning, you would probably be just as miserable as a theist, finding reasons to justify your depressed mental state instead of finding meaning or value in life. The biggest influence on how you view life is... how you view life.

[Brian37]

Well, that did not take long.

[Lemonvariable72]

I am an atheist myself and don't believe in a God or the supernatural. But I wish I wasn't an atheist because an afterlife of eternal joy would give my life the ultimate meaning and would make this one and only life more beautiful and worthwhile.

Really? You think heaven and god would give life more meaning? I think that having a predetermined purpose and ultimate reward would make my life no more meaningful then the existence of a wrench.

If you are going to ask how having a religious belief is even supposed to make you view this life as having more value, worth and beauty, then this would all depend on if you either value a reward in the end in which you no longer have suffering and live an eternal life of joy, or that you find living such an eternal life to be boring or bad for any other reason.

Yes I find the idea of eternal joy in heaven repulsive, and do you know why? Because in that scenario billion of people, including some whom I love and care about are being endless tortured for a crime no greater then not accepting something without sufficient evidence.

So it's the people who value other things besides an eternal life of joy and value other things like hardships and suffering who find this one and only life to be of greater value, worth, and beauty than an eternal life of joy.

Is North Korea a thing of beauty to you? Because hitchens was right, that is what the christian heaven sounds like.

But because I would never be bored, go insane, and find immense value towards an eternal life of joy and no suffering and that I have no value whatsoever towards suffering, this is the reason why I would be more happier and better off with my christian belief that I once had in the past (which is now gone).

I'm going to use a example that ancient christians would've been familiar with. Let's say you meet a girl who is kind, beautiful and intelligent. All the things you could want in a woman, and she loves you so much that she would die for you, and you love her too. No lets say she is a pagan that peacefully and respectfully follows her beliefs and has respect for the beliefs of others. Inorder for you to be a christian, not only do you have to believe that she will burn in hell for ever for a crime no greater believing in a different god, but also that her burning in hell is justice. Even though god made her knowing she would be a pagan.

Religious people (just specific religious people like me who find greater value in an eternal life of joy) would certainly value those things I just mentioned, but would only value them greater through their religious belief. Being more happy towards something in life is very likely to make you that much as happy towards other things in life. Therefore, since my greatest happiness was directed towards an eternal life of joy when I had my christian belief in the past, then I also found my greatest happiness in other things in this specific life that I was living in as well.

Then why not take that energy and simply redirect it? You fellow humans in the here and now may very appreciate the outcome.

But I did have a christian belief in the past and it was my christian belief that allowed me to feel hope, comfort, and be more happy/less depressed in life. Me looking forward to going to heaven and there being a God encouraged me to find more worth and purpose in this life in striving for that reward of an afterlife of eternal joy of no suffering.

I fail to see how grooming a dictators ego is eternal joy.

Since I am a hedonist, an eternal life of pleasure is the ultimate reward that not only made me feel more happy and motivated in life, but also encouraged me to strive more in doing more great things in life and such knowing that I would obtain that reward in the end.

But that is the thing, god doesn't reward for what you, but rather your faith in him. thats means in heaven you may have a nice cozy seat between rodrigo borgia and adolf hitler.

As for what someone might bring up which is quoted below:

“The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality of happiness, and by no means a necessity of life.”
― George Bernard Shaw, Androcles and the Lion

Are all believers happier? I know I'm happier as a athiest. No more terror of hell.

This is not true. If you or anyone else here has found other things in life of greater value than your pleasure (which would include finding greater things in life than even your own feelings of love), then you obviously have not experienced these feelings nearly as profound or meaningful as I have

Who made you a authority on what I feel and how deeply? Speak for thyself.

to know that they are truly the only good and greatest things in life. I should also include that I also value the pleasure of others just as much as I value my own.

Something inherently incompatible with christian belief and what it promotes.

Now it's only your lifestyle aspects, attitude, and any negative beliefs associated with your delusional religious beliefs that determines whether your delusional religious beliefs are detrimental to you and/or anyone else.

Of which christianity has many. Do you know long christian were actively persecuted by the pagan romans? Roughly 14 years in total. Do you know how long Christians have been repressing pagans? Since the end of the reign of Constantine in 337 ad.

But since all of those things just stated above were perfect with my christian belief and I had no negative beliefs such as that God would send me to hell since I believed that God was much more loving and caring than that, then my christian belief would have given me a great life in which I would not harm myself and/or others.

So essentially you made up your own god, too distance your self from the very harmful effects Christianity has had.

Now if you are going to say something such as that "Delusional beliefs are detrimental in and of themselves because they cloud your mind and limit your thinking," this would be false because as long as there is no harm done to you or anyone else and that you are truly more happy with your life, then you are just fine with your religious belief.

No that is not true. In christianity it is core teaching to "spread the good news" or in other words try to force others to subscribe to your favorite cult.

As for me, when I had my christian belief in the past, I never did any bad deeds through my christian belief. I was just someone who helped others and played videogames and my life was just fine for me and others around me.

Then you were violating the most sacred commandment. Taking from god for games.

Finally, even some atheists can have much more depression due to their atheism and can even harm themselves/harm others and do even more bad things in their life through their atheist mindset than a religious person would.

If you need a external source like religion to be happy, then the problem ins't what you do or do not believe but rather it is you. I actually once made a conscious decision that I was going to try to be a content and happy person. By and large it worked.

As far as I can tell, I would be this type of person no matter what and would never be able to change or even change to the point where I would be just as good or better off with my atheism than my christian belief.

Of you won't with that thinking. You are nothing but a mayfly, here for a day then gone. Do you really want to spend your precious time in misery?

Although I would never harm others no matter what since I care about others. I would also never look down upon atheists if I still had my christian belief and think that they are perhaps stupid for being atheists.

Self contradiction

I would respect their atheism anyway despite me being a christian. I never did such a thing anyway when I had my christian belief in the past.

Then you sucked at being a Christian. You really believed I was misled and gonna burn but wouldnt try to save me?

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And yes I realized that the OP was likely a crapstain troll. I posted for the benefit of the lurkers.