Atheism Doen't Equal Depression

[LastPoet]

Uhhh....Nope is not Rhonda.

And, to clarify, are you actually going for the assertion that atheists are more prone to depression than theists?

Well, it is GC. They are special for their belief. Shit, my unbelief made me. According to their lore, i am going to fear

I only fear the pain of others. My own, lets just say I gad my share and many more is to come.

If your god exist, fuck him and you for your gullibillity. Live your futile life as is, just dont dare to tell others how to live. That whole free will BS christians speak of.

[MTL]

I totally and utterly don't get what meaning God is supposed to provide. Is it just part of the indoctrination? I know religion heavily forces people to think there is no meaning without God, but what exactly is this meaning in the first place?

Is it just the fact that you're scoring points and getting ready for the afterlife? Or what? I'm serious, I have no idea. To me, living life as if it's some kind of test for the benefit a weird voyeur would make life pretty bizarre and pointless.

They'll tell you the "meaning" is the privilege of being able to praise God for eternity, but I'm not buying it.

Ironically, I think if they were to be honest, the real "meaning" that is provided by believing in God and Heaven,
is actually something that caters to some pretty base human traits:

1. Immortality, safety and comfort, for all eternity, in paradise (laziness, entitlement)
2. And, by contrast, watching those whom you deemed "sinners" be punished, for all eternity (revenge)
3. Having everything explained, sharing in God's omniscience (control)
4. And it's also the feather in your cap of knowing that YOU were "part" of God's Plan, all along (ego)
IE: Heaven couldn't have occurred without you.

[Godscreated]

I must disagree here with what you say, after five plus years here most of the atheist who have come here have express they are currently depressed ( at the time they are here) and some talk about ending their lives, the facts from this forum alone are against your statement Rhonda.

GC

I'm a little bit down at the moment because I have a sore shoulder. Would belief in a deity help with that?

Being down and depression are two totally different things, I have continuous back pain, but it doesn't lead me to depression, I understand I will always have it and accept that fact, and yes I've asked God to relieve it from time to time when it gets very bad. True belief in the God of creation could very well be of a great help in your shoulder pain, He could say go to the doctor that I gave the talents to help people heal, don't be stubborn of dumb and sit around in pain.

What I was referring to was all the atheist that are or were here that have sad they have depression, I have a chemical imbalance in my brain that does keep me depressed from time to time and take medication to control it, I have a good Christian doctor who puts me with the best doctors to treat my ailments, they may be Christian doctors or they may not, they all are blessed with talents from God, I believe this because they are always successful at helping me.

GC

[MTL]

Depression and bipolar disorder is in my genes apparently. Several people in my family are alcoholics or addicted to religion. For them, admitting that you are depressed is a character flaw that Jesus can cure. They put on happy music or throw themselves into church. Sadly, the people closest to them often suffer from their denial. I think that untreated depression is probably as common among Christians as it is atheists but Christians are less likely to seek help or admit that they aren't happy. At least among my religious family and friends, lying to yourself seems to be a shared trait.

I'm not a fan of Focus on the Family but this article is a good description of how hard it is for many Christians to admit that they have a mental disorder.
http://www.focusonthefamily.com/lifechal...ian-family

I must disagree here with what you say, after five plus years here most of the atheist who have come here have express they are currently depressed ( at the time they are here) and some talk about ending their lives, the facts from this forum alone are against your statement Rhonda.

GC

[MTL]

I must disagree here with what you say, after five plus years here most of the atheist who have come here have express they are currently depressed ( at the time they are here) and some talk about ending their lives, the facts from this forum alone are against your statement Rhonda.

GC

I am an Agnostic.  I am also severely depressed.

But if I woke up tomorrow in a world where Religion didn't exist, I'd be a hell of a lot happier.

[Nope]

Depression and bipolar disorder is in my genes apparently. Several people in my family are alcoholics or addicted to religion. For them, admitting that you are depressed is a character flaw that Jesus can cure. They put on happy music or throw themselves into church. Sadly, the people closest to them often suffer from their denial. I think that untreated depression is probably as common among Christians as it is atheists but Christians are less likely to seek help or admit that they aren't happy. At least among my religious family and friends, lying to yourself seems to be a shared trait.

I'm not a fan of Focus on the Family but this article is a good description of how hard it is for many Christians to admit that they have a mental disorder.
http://www.focusonthefamily.com/lifechal...ian-family

I must disagree here with what you say, after five plus years here most of the atheist who have come here have express they are currently depressed ( at the time they are here) and some talk about ending their lives, the facts from this forum alone are against your statement Rhonda.

GC

I'm not certain the reason for your disagreement with me. My birth family are all Christians and they are the ones that I inherit my crappy genes. Oddly enough, as the first out and proud atheist among us, I don't suffer any depression. Are you disagreeing that my family suffers from depression and bipolar disorder or that they are in denial about some of their problems?

[Godscreated]

I am an Agnostic.  I am also severely depressed.

But if I woke up tomorrow in a world where Religion didn't exist, I'd be a hell of a lot happier.

Why is religion causing your problem.

GC

[Cinjin]

Being down and depression are two totally different things, I have continuous back pain, but it doesn't lead me to depression, I understand I will always have it and accept that fact, and yes I've asked God to relieve it from time to time when it gets very bad. True belief in the God of creation could very well be of a great help in your shoulder pain, He could say go to the doctor that I gave the talents to help people heal, don't be stubborn of dumb and sit around in pain. [they all are blessed with talents from God, I believe this because they are always successful at helping me.]

I like to give credit for those talents to the people that spent their lives studying the work of countless others who studied and sacrificed their time and lives to overcome the religious right that held down medical science for centuries. But hey, you go ahead and thank a wizard in the sky... that's reasonable.

What I was referring to was all the atheist that are or were here that have sad they have depression, I have a chemical imbalance in my brain that does keep me depressed from time to time and take medication to control it, I have a good Christian doctor who puts me with the best doctors to treat my ailments, they may be Christian doctors or they may not,

...And immediately after you accuse the general population of atheists of being depressed due to their atheism, you go and admit that you yourself are depressed. Does your god also get the credit for giving you your imbalance? Curious how your god STILL needs doctors to cure what he gave you. Curious how your belief structure has nothing to do with your depression but somehow atheists are depressed because of their belief structure. Got a nice hot cup of hypocrisy there godschild.

And yet you wonder why atheists get angry at you.
I was nearly always depressed when I worshiped your god. I have been occasionally depressed while NOT worshiping your god.

...and this is for everybody: Depression needs no religion or lack thereof to rear its ugly head in your life. Stop connecting the two simply to promote your filthy agenda.


Fucking pathetic.

[Godscreated]

I must disagree here with what you say, after five plus years here most of the atheist who have come here have express they are currently depressed ( at the time they are here) and some talk about ending their lives, the facts from this forum alone are against your statement Rhonda.

GC

I'm not certain the reason for your disagreement with me. My birth family are all Christians and they are the ones that I inherit my crappy genes. Oddly enough, as the first out and proud atheist among us, I don't suffer any depression.  Are you disagreeing that my family suffers from depression and bipolar disorder or that they are in denial about some of their problems?

No not at all, I was disagreeing that Christians suffer from depression more than atheist, my only reference to this was through this site, my chemical imbalance is also inherited. I do not believe that most depression comes from genetics, life style is the biggest contributor to depression IMO, people with a genetic tendency toward depression shouldn't be considered when it come to atheist vs Christians, they can't help how they were born. I do believe that purpose in life gives those who inherit a tendency toward depression to cope with it better and whether atheist want to believe it or not most Christians do find a purpose in their lives. Let me say this I'm not speaking of church goers, I'm speaking of Christians who are active in their Christian faith.

GC

[robvalue]

I totally and utterly don't get what meaning God is supposed to provide. Is it just part of the indoctrination? I know religion heavily forces people to think there is no meaning without God, but what exactly is this meaning in the first place?

Is it just the fact that you're scoring points and getting ready for the afterlife? Or what? I'm serious, I have no idea. To me, living life as if it's some kind of test for the benefit a weird voyeur would make life pretty bizarre and pointless.

They'll tell you the "meaning" is the privilege of being able to praise God for eternity, but I'm not buying it.

Ironically, I think if they were to be honest, the real "meaning" that is provided by believing in God and Heaven,
is actually something that caters to some pretty base human traits:

1. Immortality, safety and comfort, for all eternity, in paradise (laziness, entitlement)
2. And, by contrast, watching those whom you deemed "sinners" be punished, for all eternity (revenge)
3. Having everything explained, sharing in God's omniscience (control)
4. And it's also the feather in your cap of knowing that YOU were "part" of God's Plan, all along (ego)
IE: Heaven couldn't have occurred without you.

Good answers, thank you!

So to summarize, it gives meaning by making you feel really special and important. You're right, I think that is pretty much it. Feeding of the ego.

I'm quite happy to accept that ultimately I am of no importance to anything, but that I can make a very real difference in the short time available to those around me. I guess that is not enough for some people.