Atheism and Sadness

[Simon Moon]

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?

Not that I know of. 

There is no evidence for atheists being less happy than theists. 

Some of the countries (Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Japan, Denmark) with the highest percentage of atheist populations have among the lowest suicide rates. 

Denmark is about 60% atheists, and is considered, by all methods of rating, the happiest population on the planet.

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 .

Let me ask you a question.

How could this afterlife you believe exists, be a paradise for you, when you have the knowledge that the vast majority of the human population that has ever lived, will be punished for eternity? This might even include some of your friends and family.

My empathy would cause me to be in torment if I knew most of my fellow humans were being tortured in a hell. Your idea of paradise, would be horrible to me. 

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!

Yes, we all know that you believe a lot of unevidenced, unsupported things just because they make you feel the warm fuzzies. 

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.

You do understand that most people's online personalities do not usually correspond to how they are in the real world, right? 

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

No.

[Joods]

The only thing that makes me sad with regards to religion is the fact that there are still so many sheeple wandering around, living (Read: wasting) their lives away for some sort of promised afterlife that's not even guaranteed.

You have one life to live. Why spend it worrying about what's gonna happen to you when you die when you could actually be living NOW.

[Nay_Sayer]

Another Checkmate TC, How do you feel about me always proving you wrong?

[Heat]

"There's a difference between being happy and accepting reality, and being happy in spite of reality." - (Don't know who)

[ignoramus]

After reading Mark's (Whateverist's) conversation with Alex's above, I summed it up to:

Theists know what they believe
Atheists believe what they know

[Jericho]

A little late to the game...but here we go.

To be honest, I can't say that I have truly been happy for a long time. This goes back to before I became an atheist, and was still brainwashed by Christianity. Life itself is stressful, arduous, and a general pain in the ass. One's personal beliefs rarely affect their mood, or at least in my case. Truthfully, it wouldn't matter if I chose to convert to Buddhism, Islam, or even remained an atheist. At the end of the day, I do not believe that happiness correlates with religion. Sure, you can trick yourself into thinking you are happy because your flying cloud daddy "loves" you, but is that true happiness? To conclude, I'd rather be a melancholy atheist than a theist who is equally depressed, so at least deep down I know I am not lying to myself.

But that's just me.

[Wyrd of Gawd]

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?)

Per the Bible fairy tale people don't necessarily get into the golden cube just because a family member might be there.  Each person is judged on his own merits.  And there are no marriages in the golden cube.  Pets, such as dogs, are specifically excluded.  

The main thing you will do for eternity in the golden cube is to sing God's praises with his collection of weird creatures.  Of course there's always the possibility that you will end up cleaning up their crap for eternity.  Read the fine print.

[mralstoner]

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

People are (a) not that great at predicting their future happiness and (b) far more adaptable than you think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnsimet3X_c

And vocal atheists on forums are not representative of majority of atheists who aren't particularly grumpy or angry, they just get on with life much the same as everyone else. 

For me, I'm far more happier as an atheist for one major reason: I don't have the mental burden of trying to maintain, in my head, an imaginary relationship with an obscure god.

However, there is one dimension of atheism/humanism, that a lot of atheists struggle with. And that's (a) the loss of community and (b) the anomie/normlessness that comes with atheism.

So, there's pros and cons of being an atheist. Perhaps we can say that atheists who are strongly individualistic are happy, whereas atheists who need a structure/community might be unhappy.

I don't think the loss of an after-life, or heaven, has much effect on atheists at all.

[GodCherry]

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?)

With regard to death, the only difference between you and I is simply that I admit that I have zero idea about the mechanics of what occurs.  You buy into allegory to alleviate your irrational fear.   In my opinion, that's intellectually dishonest.

I'm not afraid of what happens after I die...I'm far more concerned about living a good, happy life.  I have a wonderful, peaceful, lovely existence that I try to deserve everyday.  

I, however, would be incredibly unhappy to fake my way through life accepting the lies and inhumanity of religion just to get a ticket to some mythological afterlife because I lived in pure fear of the unknown.

That's the problem with most religion people.  They don't actually believe...they're just afraid not to and they don't have the capacity to understand the difference.

---

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

People are (a) not that great at predicting their future happiness and (b) far more adaptable than you think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnsimet3X_c

And vocal atheists on forums are not representative of majority of atheists who aren't particularly grumpy or angry, they just get on with life much the same as everyone else. 

For me, I'm far more happier as an atheist for one major reason: I don't have the mental burden of trying to maintain, in my head, an imaginary relationship with an obscure god.

However, there is one dimension of atheism/humanism, that a lot of atheists struggle with. And that's (a) the loss of community and (b) the anomie/normlessness that comes with atheism.

So, there's pros and cons of being an atheist. Perhaps we can say that atheists who are strongly individualistic are happy, whereas atheists who need a structure/community might be unhappy.

I don't think the loss of an after-life, or heaven, has much effect on atheists at all.

Maybe its a product of both my husband and I having science/engineering backgrounds but I have to say that I know far more people that don't follow religion than do...and so I certainly don't suffer the loss of any community or social networking because I don't have a church lifestyle.

And the few hardcore church going people that I have met through work, etc...are sometimes very nice but honesty, they creep me out a bit.  I can't say that I'd want to spend any significant time with them hanging out.

I have traveled to states that are very bible-beltish though and I'm sure its harder to socialize there....so perhaps its very dependent on where you live.

[mralstoner]

Maybe its a product of both my husband and I having science/engineering backgrounds but I have to say that I know far more people that don't follow religion than do...and so I certainly don't suffer the loss of any community or social networking because I don't have a church lifestyle.

And the few hardcore church going people that I have met through work, etc...are sometimes very nice but honesty, they creep me out a bit.  I can't say that I'd want to spend any significant time with them hanging out.

I have traveled to states that are very bible-beltish though and I'm sure its harder to socialize there....so perhaps its very dependent on where you live.

That's all good. But a lot atheists, who are less independent-minded, seem to want some order out of chaos. They find atheism such an open book (culturally speaking) that they are lost and bewildered and don't know what sort of lifestyle to live. And this anomie is isolating rather than binding. Norms create social cohesion.

My point is that human nature is designed for cohesive communities, with a well defined culture. And atheism doesn't provide that. Atheism is an open book. Atheists who do well are strong minded, and secure in their cultural identity. Atheists who don't do well are those that drift aimlessly, and can't find order in the chaos.