Atheism and Sadness

[TrueChristian]

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?)

[Heat]

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.

However, i'd choose to believe that Atheism is a more noble life to live. It's the realization that yes, we won't live forever, and this magical sky daddy won't come down and save us from all the horrors of the world. It's to face up to the cold, bitterness, and despair in the world, to face up to this, the universe, and bravely and boldly treck on, and keep going.

So to answer your question of if I personally feel sad because i'm an atheist; I think it would be a great tragedy if accepting the truth meant eternal despair. Not only would it be a great tragedy, but a waste of time. Living is it's own reward. Would I like to live forever? Most certainly. However, I know that's not even an option in the first place, so i'm not going to sulk about not deluding myself in to choosing so.

“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.” - Mark Twain

[SteelCurtain]

Maybe you're the problem.

[Athene]

A wady tolded me dare was a biyug cassoh in da 'ky made of ice cweam. But dare not one.
I sayuhd.

Now I cwying.

[Cecelia]

I'm much happier as an atheist than I was as a Christian. I no longer fear the threat of hell. Or the threat of heaven for that matter. It sounds great that you'll be with your family members in heaven. Until you realize that heaven sounds a lot like being brainwashed. I mean the fantasy idea of heaven is nice. But biblical? Not so much.

[DarkHorse]

I'm with Cecelia. Much, much happier not being a Christian anymore. It's kind of a weird experience. You're told (and truly believe and feel) that you're free as a Christian. Yet it's only when you stop identifying as one and choose to let go of those biblical beliefs, when you realize just how chained up you were. To me anyway, it felt like a huge burden off my shoulders. I don't say I don't believe in the hereafter... Maybe there's merit to those "past lives" claims, but it's not something I think about too much. For me, it's better to have nothing at the end of my life, than to go to a place that's either: a) Hell, and live in torment or b) Heaven, where most people I love won't be. You won't know any better if you just cease to exist, now will you?

[Ivan Denisovich]

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

None of atheists that I know are sad. And who told you that believers are generally happy?

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 .

Why should I be concerned with death? To quote Epicurus: Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist.

As for paradise - fact that fairy tales aren't real do not make me 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!

Your life must be empty then.

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

I highly doubt that you're right considering that atheist sadness seems to be a common misconception among believers who can't imagine how one could be happy without belief in sky daddy and sky hotel.

[Excited Penguin]

I think I'm totally unhappy, but that's not because I don't believe in that disgusting bullshit. My head hurts whenever I imagine what it would be like if I still believed in it. So no, keep your fucking heaven filled with ethereal zombielike family gatherings in which the praying never stops, thank you very much.

I'm unhappy because I've got nothing to be happy about at the moment. Should I invent something to be happy about? No, I should not. Something reasonable should come along on its own, or, in any case, I shouldn't suspend logic in order to be happy about the stupidest things.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

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'm going to focus solely on this bit (not that it matters, as you're not going to respond to it).

A universal theme underlying all religions (and most closely associated woo doctrines) is the fear of death.  This is not always an unreasonable fear, but it is always, without exception, a childish one.  The idea of an afterlife of any sort simply reflects this fear.  If you're living your life in such a way as to get into the 'paradise in the sky' you mentioned, you've become so mind-numbingly afraid of death that you've had to invent a fantasy to cope with it. I can't imagine living with that kind of fear infecting and poisoning every aspect of my life.

When I die, the 70 trillion or so cells of my body will decay.  The almost unimaginably huge number of molecules and atoms that make up these cells will be released.  The decay products of my body will - eventually - be consumed by insects, animals and plants.  My body will, over time, become an integral part of the planet that is home to everyone I've ever known, everyone I've ever heard about.  I can't really express the level of satisfaction this gives me.  In this sense, and in this sense only, does the concept of an 'afterlife' make any kind of coherent sense.

But the chief difference between your afterlife and mine is that I'm completely accepting of the fact that my consciousness (the part of me that makes me 'me') is not immortal ('The odds of consciousness surviving the death of the brain are exactly equivalent to the odds of 70mph surviving the wreck of the car.').  And here's the BEST thing - this doesn't trouble me in the least.

Now go play with your dolly.

Boru

[ignoramus]

A wady tolded me dare was a biyug cassoh in da 'ky made of ice cweam. But dare not one.
I sayuhd.

Now I cwying.

I understood everything you just said!

hehehe