Happiness level after embracing atheism

[robvalue]

Lol, I guess we do!

You are always welcome to PM me, if there's anything you want to say but don't feel like writing in public. I'll help as best I can, even if all I can do is listen.

[God of Mr. Hanky]

I suppose I can see that if you are still unhappy, you no longer have the consolation that there's something better round the corner if you grin and bear it. But it seems eerily similar to the idea of being drunk, and not being fully present in life anyway.

Of course, if you grin and bear it through a bad situation, then there will be something better no matter what you believe, however long it may take, because the only constant in this universe is change. Even when facing imminent death, you get through it and then the suffering stops.

[The Valkyrie]

Level 5, though I'm close to enough xp to get me to level 6.

[robvalue]

Hanky: A very good point! Indeed, remembering that things won't always be the way they are now was a vital part of my recent therapy. It's simple things like this that the depressive mind can keep out when it gets a hold. This is why I now have a "treasure box". At the suggestion of my therapist, it contains a letter written to myself, from when I am at my best. It reminds me of all the sensible advice, like the above. I give myself all the good advice I can, so that I don't have to struggle to think of it when I'm at my worst. I remind myself of all the people who care about me, and who I matter to.

It contains other things that I know are good at helping me get through a bad patch, which I also may simply forget about. It has lovely photos of happy moments from my life in an album.

I thoroughly recommend it to anyone!

[Athene]

[robvalue]

It is very sad to me. I honestly thought Lek was a cut above the atrocious charicature religious types we generally get here.

If I was right, maybe this will cause him to do a little self reflection. That is the skill sadly missing from those who I don't even bother reading or replying to.

[Lek]

I'm disappointed, I thought you were better than that Lek.

That was like telling someone who poured their heart out at AA to "just have another drink", and waving a bottle in front of them.

What am I supposed to do.  Should I tell someone a lie in hope that it will make him feel better?  Lying to him would be more akin to telling him to have another drink.

[Lek]

I am still genuinely puzzled by this idea of "meaning" to life, and how religion is supposed to give it meaning.

It appears to reduce this life to some sort of test, which is of zero relative length and happiness compared to "the next life". Like this is something to be got through, before the good bit starts. Some crappy trailers before the main film.

I've never been under, so it's hard for me to understand. It would seem that realizing this is in fact all there is would add a sense of urgency and value like never before. If anyone can help me understand this, I'd be grateful. I've heard "no meaning without god", but what meaning is there with god? I'd find this life to be pretty meaningless actually, if I found out it was a constructed test just to see if I'd believe a load of nonsense or not.

I suppose I can see that if you are still unhappy, you no longer have the consolation that there's something better round the corner if you grin and bear it. But it seems eerily similar to the idea of being drunk, and not being fully present in life anyway.

Believing in God and an afterlife doesn't at all diminish the importance of this life.  This life on earth is the beginning of an eternal existence.  That in itself doesn't make this life any more or less important, but we were created for a specific purpose.  We still strive as much as an atheist to make our time here meaningful from an earthly perspective, as well the lives of our neighbors.  Why do think I'm involved in so much community service?   Having God in this life makes it important and meaningful because we're being formed to be the kind of people we will be for eternity and are helping others to do the same.  You live your lives in trying to achieve a purpose in a world that you believe was formed completey without a purpose.

[Jackalope]

Let me simplify what I was trying to say.  Since I believe that so many of our tax contributions are wasted and wrongly spent, that, if I was an atheist, I would try to hide as much income as I could so as not to pay so much in taxes.  As a christian I am directed to pay my taxes.

So atheists are tax cheats?

Charming.

I don't suppose you have anything other than your opinion to back this up?

[Lek]

Sounds like you may be clinically depressed, but did you ever stop to think that it may be the catholic church, and not Christ and christianity, that was the cause of your problems?  Why do you have to go to therapy to be able to accept an atheistic world?  Maybe it's because the world really is meaningless without God.

No, I really loved the church quite a lot, actually!

Lots of Christians have to go to therapy to accept a world WITH a belief in God, so I am not different in that respect.  Thanks for your armchair diagnosis, Freud, but I have a real diagnosis and it isn't clinical depression.  I am overly empathetic, and always have been.

And yeah, it IS meaningless....we have to inject our own meaning.  You can do that with your fairy tale if that is what keeps you from running out and committing crimes or whatever.  I'm doing it with charity work, volunteering, and my family. If there was a god, it would not, now that I think about it from outside the box, make everything suddenly meaningful.  

Letting go of fairy tales is really hard.  Growing up is REALLY hard, particularly if you are not taught how to be one by the "adults".  
It is just that most people are never able to actually let go of their fairy tales, and accept reality. Like you.   I find that a depressing...most of humanity spend their lives like infants with a security blanket, that have a temper tantrum every time anyone tries to take it away.  

OK.  I hear you.  Sorry if I was too abrupt.  Your post hit a cord with me because I'm a highly scrupulous person and being a catholic almost led me to the edge.  Instead of following Christ, I was stressing out over whether or not I was following all the church rules and laws perfectly and thought that I was surely headed to hell.  That doesn't mean that I don't believe that some people can be catholic and be a happy christian.  It means that I know that it has driven people away from Christ who would have otherwise remained with him.  But I can't, like Rob and others say I should, tell you that I agree with you about your views of God just so you can feel better.  You say that you are doing volunteer work, etc to make it meaningful, so why do still feel life is not meaningful.  Actually, you're thinking inside the box, not outside.  You're living in your 3 D world that you can see and touch and can't get out of the box to realize that there can be something other than what we can detect through nature.