Atheism and Sadness

[Edwardo Piet]

Idk, it just seems sort of discouraging to me to go around thinking that when you die, you just become like a lump of dirt, or a glob of poop, and thats it [...]

Da fuq? That was most definitely not Toasty!!! Not one bit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmMtNJkH0wM

[Brian37]

As I am not an atheist, I do not know the answer to this question, so I am asking you.

Are atheists generally sad, unhappy people, as opposed to Christians (true and otherwise) and other believers?


Idk, it just seems sort of discouraging to me to go around thinking that when you die, you just become like a lump of dirt, or a glob of poop, and thats it . No after life.. no paradise in the sky with your dead family members and pets.. just nothing.. so sad .

I just feel lucky that I don't buy into that ! The possibility of heaven after I die is really kind of a motivator, something to "hope for" if you will!

Part of the reason I ask, is that so many of the posters on this forum seem like grumpy sadsacks a lot of the time . It's like something is bothering you in this world.. but you don't know what it is.

Am I right? Are atheists sort of an unhappy lot (Generally speaking?)

Yes, it makes me sad that people make stupid assumptions about atheists. It makes me sad humans cling to old myths. It makes me sad humans would rather pin their hopes on fictional utopias rather than see the wonder in nature and the universe without the superstitions and sky wizard claims..

But no, outside that, in our personal lives, we are the same species and go through the same ups and downs as every other human. We have emotions, we feel pain, we feel love and joy. The only thing atheists don't do is assign good or bad to super heros vs super villains.

So when you ask stupid questions like this, yes it makes me sad, and angry. Not at your rights, but at your bad logic. I still value the good side of my species evolutionary empathy, and all humans are capable of that. But yes, it does upset me when stupid questions like this are needlessly born out of fear.

[Lemonvariable72]

It seems that way at first. But consider this scenario. You have a loving mother who cares very deeply about her children and is a very devout women. She has a son. Her son is a kind hearted man who loves science and spends his days trying to use science to make the world a more enlightened place. However because of his skepticism he just can't see a god in the universe. Now they both die and meet God. The mother gets in, and the son goes to hell. How could she ever experience bliss knowing the child that she nurtured from her breast, the one that cared for her when she was old, is being burned alive continuously?

[drfuzzy]

I'm not sad, but you know what's sad? The OP's attempts at stirring up controversy

This needs repeating.

Basing your life on the unsupported and unverifiable fantasy that things will be better after you die is also sad.

[Thumpalumpacus]

lol @ everyone taking TC seriously

[AFTT47]

Sure we could "not buy into it" and delude ourselves to preserve mental safe guard surrounding death, sure we could trick ourselves for personal benefit sacrificing the truth.

Speak for yourself. I for one, have no idea how to turn-off the analytical part of my brain in order to facilitate not noticing that bullshit is bullshit. Christianity being total nonsense just jumps right out at me like a giant, green cow with purple polka dots. There's no way in hell I could fail to notice it even if I desperately wanted to.

[Edwardo Piet]

lol @ everyone taking TC seriously

I just like countering trollin' with trollin'



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRAkFTjk2qM

[The Valkyrie]

Generally speaking I don't think atheists are any more unhappy than people in general. We just realise that this is the only life we have and strive to make the most of it instead of living for a probable imaginary afterlife.

[Old Baby]

Ok, I was in Christianity for over 30 years. I believed heaven was my destiny. I thought of this life as just a test to determine my rewards in the next life. Now, I figure that dead is dead and that I have about 30-50 more years before I cease to exist. That's ok, because billions of people don't have to burn in hell just for having been born. It also means that I actually CAN enjoy this life without guilt. Moreover, I can figure out the meaning for myself and actually live true to myself rather than striving for non-existent rewards and repenting for those aspects of my identity that distract me from my "calling".

Am I sad? Hell no. I'm just sad that I didn't figure all this stuff out when I was 20 instead of 36.

The idea that atheists are just a bunch of depressed, immoral people is no less ridiculous than the notion that Christians are actually somehow happier and more secure. In my 30+ years of Christianity, I often wondered why so many of my fellow Christians were so petty, unhappy and down right scared.

[Exian]

TrueChristian is definitely an atheist, or something other than religious.