Not quite sure if I belong, but, hello

[Whateverist]

Would you prefer coffee?

Didn't mean to offend. By all means, surprise me. Oh gawd, please surprise me.

I know that people can experience unhappiness upon losing religious belief. If you really are going through that I'm sure people will try to help. I'll try your other thread and see how that is going.

[Minimalist]

It's just that I've been in an existential crisis for several years and I've never been able to accept atheism. I don't get how anyone can be happy like this.

I manage it by sleeping in on Sundays and not wasting my money on con artists.  But then, I'm easy to please.

[AFTT47]

It's just that I've been in an existential crisis for several years and I've never been able to accept atheism. I don't get how anyone can be happy like this.

Ah, yes. Life sucks and then you die. That does indeed suck. You cannot make peace with that but at the same time, you are not the type of person who can self-delude into believing in a fantasy. I have the same problem. Feel free to PM me.

Some atheists (perhaps most) take comfort in the "Circle of Life" thing. We are of star stuff and of star stuff we will return. This is technically true. Our bodies and everything around us are made of basic elements which were forged in the nuclear reactions of stars. There is no denying this at this point. When our bodies die, our husks will revert to basic elements which will be reused in other natural processes - perhaps as part of the body of another intelligent being.

You may have difficulty coming to terms with the fact that your identity will be gone. Me too. Atheism itself will not help you here. You should understand though that atheism simply means you don't buy into the stories of religion you have been fed by society. It says nothing about what you DO believe.

I believe there are multiple possibilities that you will continue after death. I can't say that I truly believe any of them are true. Nevertheless, I believe there are possibilities. All of the possibilities I entertain involve the existence of naturalistic beings (extraterrestrials) which are very older than us and have evolved to the point where the only thing which limits them is the laws of physics. I would argue that the age and expanse of the universe makes the existence of such beings inevitable. Would those beings care about us, mere ant-like beings compared to them?

I don't know. I conceive of a possibility where such beings value all life which is advanced enough to improve itself - like us. They could provide an afterlife for all of us if they so chose.

Do I believe it? Nope. I'm too much of a skeptic. The possibility gives me some small comfort though.

I believe in the sentiment of J. S. Haldane: "The universe is not only stranger than we imagine; but stranger than we CAN imagine."

Time has sided with J. S. Haldane. Every-time we have thought we were on the cusp of understanding all the principles of the natural universe, someone like Einstein has come along and shaken things up dramatically. Now we have concepts so unknown we use vague terms like, "dark matter" and "dark energy". We have little idea what these things even are at this point. There is much unknown.

So is atheism bleak?

Yes. I think it can be interpreted that way. But I think there is plenty of room there for people like me who cannot take refuge in fantasies but can yet see naturalistic possibilities of life beyond what we have now.

[ignoramus]

Since I've never been brought up to believe alternate stuff, I've always held a practical view of life...

You are born
You do fun stuff to pass the time while you're here
You go peacefully in your sleep ...no worse off then before you were born! Nothing eternally gained, nothing eternally lost...

You know, it's the stress and worry about stuff people think about which is what destroys life and happiness ... Those thoughts, you have 100% control over.

Welcome btw...
Remember, we are not anyone's enemy ...we drift through life asking ourselves the same deep questions...

[LadyForCamus]

Hiya! As Min stated above, if you're an atheist you're in the right place. And, if you like jokes about anal sex and rock crushers then you are most definitely in the right place.

[WinterHold]

Raiden and Gray Fox?
MGS?
Frank Jager?

"You're pretty good"....
Hi !

[brewer]

OP: Welcome Woof.

Being dishonest with yourself is not very productive.

[possibletarian]

Hi there. I feel so very out of place here, but if I'm to be honest with myself I am an atheist, so....here I am.

It's not if you belong (or want to be here) you can only tell that with time, but whatever you decide you are very welcome. The same is true though of our believing friends

[Losty]

Maybe you would feel more comfortable if you labeled yourself differently? Anyway, welcome to AF.

[Iroscato]

Greetings, missionary.  Nice ruse.  Haven't heard this one in, gosh, weeks.  

Anyhow maybe you'd like some tea and cookies?  



There you go, I know I don't have any objective values but hopefully this will make you feel at home here .. at least subjectively.

Jeez, at least give me a chance. Do you greet everyone like this?

Haha yeah, Whatevs is a weird one, always giving out strange gifts.

*stows away necklace of sheep dicks*

Welcome to AF! I hope you enjoy your time here.