Who does an atheist lean on in times of trouble?

[Spooky]

I have an amazing collection of friends that I've made through our local atheist & agnostic group. They've made all the difference in many situations ever since I started hanging out with them. Truthfully, this is no different than a religious person running to their church groups for help - we just don't use god as an excuse to help each other out.

Joe Pesci

That's a man who can get shit done.

Ah George Carlin. Do you suppose "He's down there, screaming up at us?"

Hilarious.

[RobbyPants]

Why is it that we hear "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" and "not asking for help is a virtue" from people who believe that the best way to live one's life is to make a habit of begging God for help and guidance?

Most pieces of advice given in this context seem to make the basic assumption of "put in effort as though God didn't exist". If a skeptic brings up the fact that it looks like they don't really believe in God, they'll tell you that God could intervene, and sometimes does, but you can't count on it because God doesn't "work like that".

And by "work like that" I mean "work in any way that is demonstrable or predictable".

[Creed of Heresy]

I turn to friends. Sometimes. But usually, I just push it down and deal with it.

[psychoslice]

I think there could be truth in that more atheist comment suicide, we as humans seem to need something to keep us alive. babies that are born and are not cuddled and don't have contact with their mother seem to die more than those who are in contact with their mother. Religion even though it believes in fairy tales, give many something to believe in, just like a child believing in their stories that are read to them by their parents before bed time.

But this belief can be anything, sports, being married and having children, believing in an after life, it really doesn't matter what it is, as long as it gives our life meaning. But this doesn't make religion true, or that there is a god, also those who don't cling to religious stories, will probably commit suicide more, because they don't fear god, and going to hell, where as the religious would be too scared because of god sending them to hell.

So I would say, that atheist are better of having something in their life that gives them meaning, something deeper than just knowledge, to have more wonderment about life, to see the mystery of life and not trying to conceptualize everything, after all life is beyond just mere words and knowledge.

[SteelCurtain]

What is with theism and the incessant need to define reality as a never ending series of black and white comparisons?

Is anyone really so dense as to think that all atheists are lonely people with no friends or family and no one to share life with?

[Spooky]

What is with theism and the incessant need to define reality as a never ending series of black and white comparisons?

Is anyone really so dense as to think that all atheists are lonely people with no friends or family and no one to share life with?

Yes.

[thesummerqueen]

What is with theism and the incessant need to define reality as a never ending series of black and white comparisons?

Is anyone really so dense as to think that all atheists are lonely people with no friends or family and no one to share life with?

Yes.

Hemant Mehta does a good presentation on how many religious kids view atheists when given coloring projects. It's not optimistic.

It doesn't help when you have surly, caustic fucks like me constantly in a bad mood and rubbed the wrong way by religious coworkers, so that when they find out I'm atheist, their worst suspicions about us are confirmed. I'm not good at representing.

[ronedee]

What is with theism and the incessant need to define reality as a never ending series of black and white comparisons?

Is anyone really so dense as to think that all atheists are lonely people with no friends or family and no one to share life with?

Atheist or theist.... we ALL feel lonely and friendless at one time or another.

I think God gets a bad name through religion. If we think of God as "the" standard of excellence it becomes more clear and defined. Whatever your belief system is, it really doesn't matter.

If Love, Peace, and Goodwill are your goals? Then you are doing His will.

Before you start mentioning ALL the bad things the OT God has done, lets keep in mind that we have no first hand information. Only what old men wrote on parchment. And Jesus' words which profess a "kinder, gentler" Father!

But even as an Atheist, you have to admit the the "concept" of God has merit. Peace brothers & sisters, and Happy New Year!

[tjakey]

I am curious why any believer thinks god is a place to go in time of trouble. Isn't the god aware of the trouble in the first place? If an all powerful, all knowing being is looking out for me, why would I ever be in trouble? On the other hand, if a god is using trouble to provoke some kind of love or worship from me, is that really a being worthy of being loved or worshiped? What kind of god visits cancer on a family to get that family to "turn to him"? Isn't that much like a doctor shooting you in the leg in order to get you into his office? Is that really the guy you want to trust with fixing you up?

And if the trouble is a result of my own stupid choices, why should a god reach down to help me out while ignoring someone else who is in trouble not of their own doing? One comes down with lung cancer from years of smoking. A three year old comes down with a brain tumor. Why would any god who could cure the former allow the latter to happen at all?

Seeking help from a god is one of human kind's more delusional habits.

[ronedee]

I am curious why any believer thinks god is a place to go in time of trouble. Isn't the god aware of the trouble in the first place? If an all powerful, all knowing being is looking out for me, why would I ever be in trouble? On the other hand, if a god is using trouble to provoke some kind of love or worship from me, is that really a being worthy of being loved or worshiped? What kind of god visits cancer on a family to get that family to "turn to him"? Isn't that much like a doctor shooting you in the leg in order to get you into his office? Is that really the guy you want to trust with fixing you up?

And if the trouble is a result of my own stupid choices, why should a god reach down to help me out while ignoring someone else who is in trouble not of their own doing? One comes down with lung cancer from years of smoking. A three year old comes down with a brain tumor. Why would any god who could cure the former allow the latter to happen at all?

Seeking help from a god is one of human kind's more delusional habits.

Well... what "IF" you look at God as your [master mechanic], and your body as a [car], and your spirit as your [brain]?

If you go to your mechanic (God) for regular visits you most likely won't have trouble with your car(body)! If you avoid visits because your(brain/spirit) doesn't think you really need them, at some point the car will breakdown.

At that point, with the advice of your mechanic you will either repair said auto or junk it! The car most times will always be able to be repaired. Unless it is totaled in some catastrophic event, or wears out completely. Which indeed [either] will happen one day!

You will then take all of your life experience and knowledge of: maintenance and repair, trial and error, listening, and not listening to advice, and get a new car.... or graduate to an entirely different mode of transportation!

You see, if you asked any Master Mechanic worth their salt about their [ideal] method of transportation for [themselves]... It would be one that never breaks down. One that never needs fuel, maintenance or repair. One that is without end, for all time! That is what a Master Mechanic wants for himself, and anyone He loves.

So a cancer ridden vehicle isn't the end... its the beginning of a spiritual journey (if we so choose). This existence an eye blind in all eternity! That's how a Christian looks at it.

I also personally believe in Karma.... and getting it "right"! We don't fully know what debt we owe to others in any fashion from the beginning, to the present. How many "cars" have we wrecked? Ours and OTHERS?! How many times have we done this before? When does everything end, and where? We can guess.

But...."All righteousness WILL be fulfilled"!

For me personally, not seeing a physical God, isn't a good enough reason [not to believe]. It is an EXCELLENT reason to FIND HIM!

Matt 7:7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.…"