Being An Atheist Is Humbling

[Nope]

When I was a Christian, I thought I was humble but it wasn't until recently that I really understood what it meant to be humble. I've had Christian friends tell me that certain celebrities are humble when they thank god or their accomplishments. At one time I would have agreed with them. Now I see those celebrities as very obnoxious. Why would a good god help someone make a touchdown but not help a starving child and what kind of egotistical person would praise such a god?

Being an atheist means that I no longer have the comfort of believing that whatever happens in my life is ordained by god for a greater good. I'm just not that special. It is very humbling to admit that there is no bigger purpose to life. I am also as inclined as anyone to do either bad or good. There is no holy spirit who will guide me to do what is right if I only listen to it. The only purpose to my life is in what I give it.

When I die. That is it. My children and friends will remember me but ultimately I will be forgotten by future generations.

Some theists will find all this frightening and I have sympathy for them.

Even though it is humbling to admit how insignificant I am, it is also weirdly empowering. I get to decide the course of my life. There are no do overs with my loved ones. If they walk out the door and die, I will not see them again so I should cherish every moment with them.


For those who were religious, how has your view of life changed?

[loganonekenobi]

Where does one begin with such a post?
I think it is called "freedom's misty dawn". the atheist says "now what?"
the questions that where answered must now be revisited.
How did it all begin?
Now instead of just simply saying "God" we must peck at the huge mystery with what little tools we have and honestly it may never truly be answered.

Why are we here?
Again instead of the ussual answer which was so easy now we must really look not only at ourselves but also at reality and ultimatly our part in it.
This question has devestated people in the past.

What happens after we die?
It is a real comfort thinking that all will be well because you believed that you had faith in the right deity and therefore will go to a heaven of some sort. It's really a nice thought. I don't blame anybody for wanting such a security blanket.
We face death as the end that it is as far as we the living can know. However in doing so we LIVE life. We love deeper. We speak truer.

To me all this is a wonderful awesome mirical that I am alive and can live for a time to understand and love this reality. At the same time I also know that i am not even a speck in the vastness of the known universe.

This is too much for the typical person to encompas so they go about living their lives with heads bowed and hearts unburdened with these heavy questions because they let someone else decied those answers for them.

If every one believed in the "God" then these questions would not have to be faced. That my friends is the reason why they try so hard to convert us in my humble oppinion.

[Longhorn]

What religious people call humility is really only ego. You cannot possibly remain humble and simultaneously believe to have a deep personal relationship with the creator of everything in existence and the most powerful being in the universe, especially if you claim he loves you and makes your wishes come true. It just does not add up.

All this public praying and thanking the lawd for smallest shit is really showing off. 'Look how devout I am, Jaysoos loves me more than you'.

As to my humility, it is enough for me to go hiking. A casual stroll through the woods or one look at a mountain massif and I realize how tiny I am, and I feel limitless awe. Even more so if I look at the universe or try to imagine and compare the sizes of other celestial bodies to Earth, let alone me. On a cosmological scale, I'm a dustmote sitting on a dustmote. It's hard to convey that feeling. Just jaw dropping awe and awareness of my own insignificance.

Knowing how short and fragile life is makes it that much more precious. It's like being a spark on the end of a match, come to be and go out just as fast, shining only for a short moment. It motivates me to make the best of it. Promises of paradise are insulting to the value of life.

[Tonus]

For those who were religious, how has your view of life changed?

I don't think it changed that much for me. While I am now a much more confident and driven person, that could have happened while I was still religious. I do think that I am a bit more willing to take risks now instead of simply waiting for god to rapture me so that I can start my life. I was always a happy person, so the transition from theist to atheist was relatively painless and somewhat liberating. But the bigger changes in my life had nothing to do with my religious views as much as they did with my view of myself and how I could get more out of life today.

[AFTT47]

What religious people call humility is really only ego. You cannot possibly remain humble and simultaneously believe to have a deep personal relationship with the creator of everything in existence and the most powerful being in the universe.

Isn't that the truth, lol.

It reminds me of a buddy I had who I used to hang out with a lot in the early 90s. I'm 5'8" but he was 6'7". When I was in a bar with him, it felt very different from when I was alone or with a normal-sized friend. And on more than one occasion, I noticed being treated differently too. I can just imagine how it would have felt if my buddy was omnipotent too!

[Thumpalumpacus]

For those who were religious, how has your view of life changed?

The biggest change for me was the assumption of self-responsibility. Rather than praying for something, working for it; rather than asking God for forgiveness, asking the people I've wronged; owning my own life, for better and for worse.

[Pyrrho]

...
For those who were religious, how has your view of life changed?

Life is simpler and easier.  I do not believe in any new objects that I did not previously believe in; I just stopped believing in some objects.  The sun is still there, as are trees and rivers and other such things.  But there are no magical beings anymore.  So the world is more intelligible.  It is cleaner and less cluttered.

Also, I became a nicer person than I was before.  Less judgmental (some of you, go ahead and laugh!) and more inclined to live and let live, rather than feeling it my duty to bother other people.  (Theists who come to atheist sites are asking to be bothered, and typically go out of their way to explicitly ask to be bothered.  Also, by posting online in a thread at all, one is not keeping to oneself, and so one is asking for interaction with others.  Those who do not want their ridiculous beliefs ridiculed should keep them to themselves.  If one asks for trouble, one ought not complain if one gets trouble.)

I no longer worry about death.  (I was raised to believe in hellfire and damnation, and if such a place existed, there would always be the possibility that one would make a mistake and end up there.)

I am happier and more content with life.  Oh, wait, most of that is attributable to getting married (though I know more than one person for whom marriage was a terrible mistake, in my case, I chose well and am personally suited for it).  Still, becoming an atheist first, I was happier and more content with life than I had been as a Christian.  That was a surprising fringe benefit, as the deconversion process was extremely unpleasant.


In short, every change has been for the better.  I did not expect that when I was deconverting, and would not deconvert (or reconvert) just for that.  What matters is whether something is true or not, not whether it is comforting or not.  I stopped believing in Christianity not because I wanted to stop, but because it is too ridiculous to be believed by any thinking person who properly examines it.  And I could not believe that the truth required protection from examination; only false religions need that sort of protection to survive.

[abaris]

The biggest change for me was the assumption of self-responsibility.  Rather than praying for something, working for it; rather than asking God for forgiveness, asking the people I've wronged; owning my own life, for better and for worse.

My father, who, as far as I can tell, was mildly religious, taught me that early on. Prayer doesn't work, you have to do something for something to happen. But the as far as I can tell speaks about the absence of my religious upbringing anyway, since we never had that talk.

But to answer the OP. There weren't those big changes in my life. I was mildly disappointed when I finally realized things don't add up and, as far as I could tell, there was no god. Funnily enough that was at a Catholic sanctuary in the woods. I used to go there when I wanted to be alone to do some reflecting. It's a very quiet place during the week. But that was a momentary feeling.

When I saw my parents die, it was hard in a selfish way, since I knew I wouldn't see them again. But it didn't shake my disbelief, so to speak. Humbling, I honestly don't know. I've always lived my life. To tell the truth, my life hasn't changed that much.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Well, my mom always said, "The Lord helps those who help themselves" -- it was the preachers I listened to who urged me to prayer instead of labor. Mom is a practical woman, always has been.

[Longhorn]

My mother says if you think about something enough, it'll happen.

Can we trade? -_-