What is being an Atheist like?

[connietheTgirl]

Hi, I'm Connie, I'm new to these forums and atheism in general. I actually am Christian, and have been raised that way my whole life (baptist denomination). Being in the church is hard for me since I'm transgender, but I'm not leaving yet, because I still believe in God. However, I am willing to get some insight on to what atheism is like, from atheist themselves. I'm, how should I put it...educating myself on atheism. So, wooo!

My questions:

1.) Why are you an atheist?

2.) What is life like for an atheist?

3.) There is no God. How do you cope with that? How do you find purpose and meaning in your life?

4.) What are your thoughts on death?

5.) Has being an atheist changed your life in any way? If so, how?

Those are all my questions for now. If I have anymore, I'll be sure to ask.

Connie

EDIT: I just realized I made a typo with the numbering of the questions. I fixed it now.

[The Valkyrie]

Welcome, Connie.

I'm heading to a meeting so I'll answer your questions soon.

[Jenny A]

Hi, I'm Connie, I'm new to these forums and atheism in general. I actually am Christian, and have been raised that way my whole life (baptist denomination). Being in the church is hard for me since I'm transgender, but I'm not leaving yet, because I still believe in God. However, I am willing to get some insight on to what atheism is like, from atheist themselves. I'm, how should I put it...educating myself on atheism. So, wooo!

My questions:

1.) Why are you an atheist?

I couldn't understand why grown-ups believed in such odd stories. As a middle aged woman, I ask what evidence there is of god? Hearing no answer, but "have faith" and circular proofs, I remain an atheist.

2.) What is life like for an atheist?

Probably not all that much different that yours. I have a husband and kids. I work, clean, read, and travel. I love my family and friends. What I don't do is bemoan my sinfulness, go to church, pray, or look forward to heaven, or fear hell.

4.) There is no God. How do you cope with that? How do you find purpose and meaning in your life?

What meaning does god provide? What is god's purpose for you? I've never heard a satisfactory answer to that question. As to myself I find meaning in love, living, and doing. I bet you do too. But I'd resent a purpose imposed from an outsider like a parent, government official, or god. And if a parent attempted to impose a purpose on your life, you'd resent it. What makes a god required purposed different?

5.) What are your thoughts on death?

I'm afraid of dying, but not of death. Death is just not being, just like before you were born. Was that bad? No, it just wasn't. I won't reflect on it after death because I won't be there to reflect.

Historically, gods weren't an idea intended to create meaning. No one took life's meaning from Zeus. Yet Greeks were quite self reflective (the inventors of philosophy in fact) and yet found no reason for a god in order to have meaning. Why do you?

6.) Has being an atheist changed your life in any way? If so, how?

I can't remember not being atheist. Being an open atheist has relieved me of church.

So my take away questions for you:

1. What meaning does god provide you?

2. Other than worship, prayer, and church attendance, would you behave differently if you were an atheist?

3. On what evidence do you believe there is a god? And on what evidence do you think it is the Christian god?

4. Are you afraid of death?

[ForsakenHeretic]

Hi, I'm Connie, I'm new to these forums and atheism in general. I actually am Christian, and have been raised that way my whole life (baptist denomination). Being in the church is hard for me since I'm transgender, but I'm not leaving yet, because I still believe in God. However, I am willing to get some insight on to what atheism is like, from atheist themselves. I'm, how should I put it...educating myself on atheism. So, wooo!

My questions:

1.) Why are you an atheist?

2.) What is life like for an atheist?

4.) There is no God. How do you cope with that? How do you find purpose and meaning in your life?

5.) What are your thoughts on death?

6.) Has being an atheist changed your life in any way? If so, how?

Those are all my questions for now. If I have anymore, I'll be sure to ask.

Connie

Hi, welcome to the forums
I'll answer your questions

1.I'm an atheist because I see no proof of a God

2. Well everybody lives differently, so there is no way to pinpoint how an atheist live. If what you mean from this question is how do people react around when we say we're an atheist then. I'm pretty open with my atheism, Nobody hates me for it, there have been times when people have tried to convert me but it didn't work at all.

3. I find my own meaning and purpose. As for what my purpose is, I don't know I guess I'm still finding it.

4.Death is supposed to be a very peaceful experince. Trying to discuss death is very complicated so that is all I'm going to say about it.

5. Atheism has changed my life for the better. Now I don't feel like I'm constantly being watched and monitored by a omnipotent being. Also I don't have to follow any of the rules in the Bible so I can live my life how I want to live it.

[Darkstar]

My questions:
1.) Why are you an atheist?

I'm an atheist for the simple reason that I haven't seen any convincing evidence for the existence of any gods. Th very idea of an infinitely powerful being creating the entire universe by magic seems absurd to me, even more so since this being supposedly interfered wildly in human affairs a few thousand years ago, but ever since the invention of cameras can only be bothered to occasionally appear on toast. Also, there are hundreds of different religions that make contradictory claims about the universe. We know they cannot all be right, but they can all be wrong. And if we're fairly certain that at least most of them are wrong, then why give undue weight to the ones we grew up around?

2.) What is life like for an atheist?

For me, it isn't really all that different from being a Christian, other than going to atheist websites.

4.) There is no God. How do you cope with that? How do you find purpose and meaning in your life?

For me, there wasn't really anything to cope with. I did not welcome death with open arms as a Christian, despite believing that dying would lead to a better place (i.e. heaven). I never really derived purpose in my life from religion, either, and I honestly pity those who do. The idea that you have a purpose to your life independent of what you want to do with it is not exactly a comforting one if you think about it. Wouldn't you rather be yourself than be told you were born for to fulfill a specific purpose? Maybe you were talking about 'purpose' on a global level (i.e. why do we exist) in which case I would still say that religion doesn't really offer you one of those either. We have 'you exist because [insert god here] felt like making you' and 'you exist because your parents felt like making you'. Really not all that different other than that you can confirm your parents actually exist, and they're probably a lot less manipulative than a deity.

5.) What are your thoughts on death?

You die, and then you're dead. Pretty straightforward.

6.) Has being an atheist changed your life in any way? If so, how?

Maybe, but it's hard to say. I feel as though becoming an atheist has made me a better critical thinker, more observant of the world around me, and more attuned to philosophy, but that's probably an oversimplification. When I became an atheist, it was simply because I realized that there were legitimate options other than Christianity. I had always lived assuming Christianity was correct, but without ever having really thought about why. When I did, I realized that I never actually had any compelling reasons for believing in god in the first place. I realized that a mere failure to pay attention to my own beliefs had caused me to consider something true that I now think utterly ridiculous, so I tried to more carefully analyze my thoughts to avoid such a mistake in the future. I would not say that my atheism is entirely the cause of my thinking more deeply and such, but it may have acted as a catalyst to begin doing so.

[vorlon13]

Has being an atheist changed your life in any way? If so, how?

I've experienced some weight gain.  All the fresh baby meat, while unbelievably delicious, has made me somewhat of a lard ass.

[Ravenshire]

1.) Why are you an atheist?

Because I've never heard a convincing argument for the existence of gawd(s)

2.) What is life like for an atheist?

Pretty much the same as it is for anyone else.

3.) There is no God. How do you cope with that? How do you find purpose and meaning in your life?

Whoa, now. Don't go putting words in our mouths. Most of us here do not claim to know that there is no gawd. We just don't believe there is. As far as coping, what's to cope with? Meaning? The only meaning you will ever find in life is the meaning you put there.

4.) What are your thoughts on death?

Game over, man. Game over.

5.) Has being an atheist changed your life in any way? If so, how?

Dunno. Was never a theist so I've got no frame of reference to compare to.

[connietheTgirl]

Thanks for the responses everyone, I'm sure there will be many more to come. I'll try to respond to as many as I can! I don't know how to put in quotes, so sorry if the format looks weird.

JennyA said:I couldn't understand why grown-ups believed in such odd stories.

I actually don't understand why I believe in God either. I want to be in an Atheist too, but it's hard to deny that's there's a God when its something you were taught from when you were born.

JennyA said: Probably not all that much different that yours. I have a husband and kids. I work, clean, read, and travel. I love my family and friends. What I don't do is bemoan my sinfulness, go to church, pray, or look forward to heaven, or fear hell.

Well, I'm sure our lives are a bit different in the fact you have much more experience than me. I'm only 19, lol   No wife or kids yet, and I haven't traveled. I haven't traveled yet, but want to. I haven't prayed in over 10 years.


JennyA said: So my take away questions for you:

1. What meaning does god provide you?



2. Other than worship, prayer, and church attendance, would you behave differently if you were an atheist?



3. On what evidence do you believe there is a god? And on what evidence do you think it is the Christian god?


4. Are you afraid of death?

1.) God provides no meaning in my life whatsoever. I haven't actively followed him in 5 years. I left the church for a year but soon returned. When I opened up about being transgender, well no one ridiculed me, but I feel like some of my Christian friends are brushing me off. Maybe their homophobic, I really don't know, and I actually don't care. I tried turning to God for help, but it hasn't helped me. I try to pray, but I feel awkward when doing so.

2.) I want to become an atheist. But I'm afraid to. There many reasons for this. Social stigma, lack of support, having to abandoned a way of life a grew up with, and change. I lack social skills, and am not good at making friends, so if I enter the Atheist community I feel making new friends will be a long way off, and there's already a social stigma attached to me being transgender, add atheist to the equation, well that only makes it worse. So, it's fear that holds me back. And the fact I'm unwilling to give up God totally.

3.) I have no evidence. I believe, but I don't believe. I struggle back and forth with this question all the time. Does God exist? I guess I will never truly know, since philosophy and science can never disprove or prove there is a God. It all comes down to faith, and I absolutely zero faith. I could become agnostic, but I feel like that is just sitting on the fence.

4.) I am fearful of death. Because I know if God really does exist, I will go to hell. Not only because I cross-dress, but because I have no faith in him. The fear of hell scares me the most.

ForsakenHeretic said: Death is supposed to be a very peaceful experince.

I wouldn't say that, there's some people who die very painfully before their actually dead:/

I'm probably gonna head to bed now. I'm very tired. I really want to get to know atheism better. I feel like it can really give me a new perspective on life. I've been brainwashed my whole  life and I really want to "heal" from it. I just find it really hard. Any advice you can give would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Connie

[TheRocketSurgeon]

Hi, I'm Connie, I'm new to these forums and atheism in general. I actually am Christian, and have been raised that way my whole life (baptist denomination). Being in the church is hard for me since I'm transgender, but I'm not leaving yet, because I still believe in God. However, I am willing to get some insight on to what atheism is like, from atheist themselves. I'm, how should I put it...educating myself on atheism. So, wooo!

My questions:

1.) Why are you an atheist?

I too grew up Southern Baptist, in a very devout (mother just retired, as a department head, from being a professor at a private Southern Baptist university) fundamentalist/evangelical household... so much so that we were not allowed to watch "worldly" television. So I read a lot of books. Because I was very smart, my church taught me about apologetics, defense of my own scriptures/theology against the scriptures and theologies of other religions. I was very good at proving other faiths wrong, in discussions, but always assumed mine was The Right Answer™. When I was about to become a senior in HS, an evangelist came to talk about "why evolution is false" at my church, and he made several assertions that even I knew, at age 17, were blatantly wrong about what science is and what it claims. For the first time in my life, it occurred to me that maybe all I learned in church wasn't necessarily true. From that realization, I began to examine my own beliefs, and it was not long before I became effectively an agnostic, philosophically, and so I remain. Five years later I realized I was actually an atheist by opinion, since it appears to me that all the god-stories I've heard are clearly the product of human imaginations and psychological projection.

2.) What is life like for an atheist?

I'm not really sure what you mean by this, with all due respect. I mean, we don't have church services or an automatic social circle of like-minded individuals, ready-made and pre-packaged for us to be accepted into, so it can be a little bit lonely sometimes, depending on where we live. In university towns and bigger cities, it's easier to find people who have high education levels or a wide base of knowledge, and they tend to be accepting of atheists/agnostics, if not atheist/agnostic themselves. Other than these factors, we're really like anyone else. We have jerks and heroes, morons and geniuses, and lots of average people. We do tend to focus on learning about the world as it is, which means reading about science and history and philosophy, since we don't have a prepackaged worldview ready-made to swallow. In that respect, it's a lot more work! But on the other hand, I've never felt more free-- I don't have to hate or judge anyone, except based upon how kind, thoughtful, and decent that person is.

3.) There is no God. How do you cope with that? How do you find purpose and meaning in your life?

God makes purpose? Wow. I didn't know that. I find my purpose and meaning in studying science, learning as much as I can, and being as good to my fellow human beings as I can be. Actually, I find a great deal of pleasure in being good, despite commonly being told I cannot be good by religious bigots who seem to willfully seek to label us wrongly for their own purposes, an act I consider deeply immoral. As you will see me point out in many debates on here, I consider myself to be significantly more moral than the God described in the Bible (you, too, have made this same point, I saw... a rare accomplishment for a Believer still "on the inside", so to speak, since I consider religion to be a prison for the mind), and I am quote content with my life. I love my mate, our son, and our soon-to-be-born new child, and try to make the world a better place, especially for them.

4.) What are your thoughts on death?

I'm kind of surprised we get asked this so much. I suppose my perspective is skewed by the fact that I'm a biologist, but when I hear this question, it makes me think "why in the world does this person think that we humans are special?" Is it arrogance? Fear? We are clearly mammals, clearly bipedal primates, clearly the same stuff as every other living animal on earth. And yet nobody thinks that animals "go somewhere" after they die... at least, not anybody over the age of ten. I am quite comfortable facing the prospect of my own death, which is something I've been face-to-face with more than a few times in my younger days, including a bout with cancer. (I was 31; I'm now 39.) I actually like the tought of being a part of this planet's biosphere, with the same interconnected purpose and destiny as every other thing that lived and died, or will live and die, here.

5.) Has being an atheist changed your life in any way? If so, how?

Oh, gosh. I couldn't even begin to count the ways, mainly because I lived such a sheltered life, growing up, and was taught so many things that were demonstrably false, upon honest examination. It meant I had to build up a new system of moral thinking and intellectual reasoning essentially from scratch, in the days before the internet was widespread, and when atheism groups were all but unheard of! I find my life to be infinitely more free than when I shackled my brain and tried desperately to keep "certain types" of knowledge, what we called "The World" or "man's knowledge" from entering the parts of my brain in which I sheltered my comfortable ignorance. Once I recognized it for what it was, and expunged it from my mentality, I have felt freer and more happy with my decision every year, since. As a biker all my adult life, I often run into Christian Motorcyclist Association (CMA) evangelists, who like to ask if I want to pray... I tell them, "Ohh no thanks! I am a recovering Christoholic... 22 years, Jesus-free!"

All jokes aside, I think I am a better person in every measurable way since giving up religion, even if I don't fit the narrow definition of "proper" to which our heavily-religion-influenced culture says I should conform.  I cannot emphasize enough how happy it has made me to realize my place in this world not based on a narrow perspective, but on the widest one I could hold.

[Reforged]

1) I'm rational and have looked at maybe not all but most religions. Some more indepth than others. Christianity and Buddhism in-particular.

2) Like most peoples. Boring.

3) Finding a purpose isn't so hard. You just have to pursue something you love. If you can't find anything other than religion to make your purpose then that might be a sign its holding you back.

4) Death to me is a deadline by which I have to have got all my business in order. I don't particularly fear it. The dying part sounds uncomfortable but death itself is... what? Not existing? I didn't exist before I was born. I don't remember anything particularly traumatic about it. Theres alot I wouldn't miss about existing even if I were capable of missing anything at that point. The experience already feels quite samey, I dread to think how bored of it I will be when I'm 70.

5) I'm a better person. I'm more grounded and rational. More thoughtful and better at measuring the consequences of my actions. I'm not afraid of having my thoughts read incase they contradict some obscure holy doctrine. I don't think the bad things that have happened and will happen to me are some kind of punishment.

Sometimes I see where this world is going and despair a little. I know that most of the world thinks its going to a paradise when they die so they don't see the need to conserve the planet for their children or develop some method of finding a new home planet. Why explore the cosmos when heaven waits? I do however find dark humor in the absurdity of a 21st century civilization that still dignifies dark age dogma.
In all likelihood our race will be snuffed out due to a combination of misplaced pride and laziness. I take comfort in that given the size of the universe there will likely be a similar race to ours not quite so up their own arses. Besides, its not my problem. I'm going to die long before it could possibly be a problem for me. I do however intend to get solar panels and a greenhouse to slightly combat the inevitable rise in food and energy prices that I will likely see within my lifetime. I do not intend to have children. If I do it will be through adoption. If theres anything I have to offer the future it is not my genes, they are flawed and recessive. I would just be filling an already overcrowded world with asthmatic, flatfooted melon heads.
If I have any regrets it is that I didn't realize the farce sooner. I may well have become something useful if I had. I still might. I don't know. I'd like to be a doctor or a genetics researcher but thats seeming increasingly unlikely. I'm fairly certain I would have alot to offer to both paths. Money and time are not on my side however. Its fine, if I've missed my shot then I've missed my shot. I'll make my peace with it, I'll make my mark some other way if it comes to it.
Thats the thing about living on a planet filled with billions and billions of people. It means we're not that unique, there is always someone else to take your place. I find that comforting.