Why a lack of faith?

[_moksha]

What comfort does atheism give you when you are old, frail and about to die? Does it help mourn for you when you have lost a spouse or a child? Does it celebrate with you the momentous events in your life? Does it help you survive adversity?

[_barrelomonkeys]

Hi Moksha. Do you think people that are atheists can choose to believe in God?

I know I can't. I've had a few people (some that I consider incredibly intelligent) tell me I can choose to believe in God. That is ridiculous! So whether or not I am an atheist or a hopeful agnostic (although I'm starting to wonder what I am hoping for precisely) I can't just one day wake up and choose the alternative.

Do you think you could wake up tomorrow and say God doesn't exist and believe it? Give it a try. :) I bet you can't even get it off your tongue. When I try to say God does exist it comes out in an odd manner and feels false and forced. It's not there. So whether I find comfort in my life or not I can't waste it away looking for something that I don't believe in that is going to give it meaning.

I can also tell you that when I was a believer, for a brief time in my life, that I mourned that God forsake me. It was no comfort to believe in God and need comfort when no comfort came. :)


*you copy and pasted your question, I copy and pasted my answer*

[_truth dancer]

What comfort does atheism give you when you are old, frail and about to die?

I'm guessing one has comfort knowing they lived a good life, knowing they loved their family and friends and contributed to the world in a caring way? Maybe that they made their little corner of the world a little better?

Does it help mourn for you when you have lost a spouse or a child?

I'm guessing, there is a lot of pain regardless of what one believes.

Does it celebrate with you the momentous events in your life?

Maybe there is value and joy in celebrating with one's loved ones and friends?

Does it help you survive adversity?

Perhaps not assuming there will be divine intervention helps one to develop the skills of managing and coping with life?

Just guessing... :-)

~dancer~

[Anonymous]

I don't think of atheism "doing" anything for me, and I rarely think about it at all. I look to other places and things for comfort, help and joy: people I've come to love, art, music, books, water, rocks and plant life. I don't believe in an afterlife, but I'm not fearful of dying or upset by the thought of it. My life has already given me such unexpected wonder that I could buy the farm today and not mind a bit.

I'm not given to loosely quoting song lyrics in lieu of finding my own words, but the song "Tonight We Fly," by the Divine Comedy very much evokes my feelings about such things, especially the lines in the last stanza:

Tonight we fly,
Over the houses
The streets and the trees
Over the dogs down below
They'll bark at our shadows
As we float by on the breeze

Tonight we fly
Over the chimney tops
Skylights and slates -
Looking into all your lives
And wondering why
Happiness is so hard to find.

We'll fly
Over the doctor, over the soldier
Over the farmer, over the poacher
Over the preacher, over the gambler
Over the teacher, over the rambler
Over the lawyer, over the dancer
Over the voyeur,
Over the builder and the destroyer,
Over the hills and far away

Tonight we fly
Over the mountains
The beach and the sea
Over the friends that we've known
And those that we now know
And those who we've yet to meet

And when we die
Oh, will we be
That disappointed
Or sad
If heaven doesn't exist
What will we have missed
This life is the best we've ever had

You can hear it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnY9ea_q3nI and if you want to watch Neil Hannon's divine face singing it live, you can see that too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHFJX9lA8Gg&mode=related&search=

[_Gazelam]

Blixa.

Do you believe in a spirit? Are you merely chemical reactions in a body, or do you posess a spirit?

If so then that spirit is an energy, and energy does not die, it just moves on. That would make your spirit immortal, no?

So at death, does that energy that is you merely disperse? Or does it stay together out of the body?

What say you?

[_Blixa]

Blixa.

Do you believe in a spirit? Are you merely chemical reactions in a body, or do you posess a spirit?

If so then that spirit is an energy, and energy does not die, it just moves on. That would make your spirit immortal, no?

So at death, does that energy that is you merely disperse? Or does it stay together out of the body?

What say you?

While I don't so much believe in "a spirit" per se, I can suppose such a thing as energy-as-spirit, but its not that compelling an idea to spend much time with for me.

Could it be so? Perhaps. But "dispersal" sounds more likely to me than the continuance of an organized "identity."

[_JAK]

Hi Moksha. Do you think people that are atheists can choose to believe in God?

I know I can't. I've had a few people (some that I consider incredibly intelligent) tell me I can choose to believe in God. That is ridiculous! So whether or not I am an atheist or a hopeful agnostic (although I'm starting to wonder what I am hoping for precisely) I can't just one day wake up and choose the alternative.

Do you think you could wake up tomorrow and say God doesn't exist and believe it? Give it a try. :) I bet you can't even get it off your tongue. When I try to say God does exist it comes out in an odd manner and feels false and forced. It's not there. So whether I find comfort in my life or not I can't waste it away looking for something that I don't believe in that is going to give it meaning.

I can also tell you that when I was a believer, for a brief time in my life, that I mourned that God forsake me. It was no comfort to believe in God and need comfort when no comfort came. :)


*you copy and pasted your question, I copy and pasted my answer*

barrelomonkeys stated:
Do you think you could wake up tomorrow and say God doesn't exist and believe it? Give it a try. :) I bet you can't even get it off your tongue. When I try to say God does exist it comes out in an odd manner and feels false and forced. It's not there. So whether I find comfort in my life or not I can't waste it away looking for something that I don't believe in that is going to give it meaning.

It’s unnecessary and pointless. What is relevant is that no evidence has been presented for God claims in their various and contradictory inventions. We can say that with historical documentation. There was no evidence for gods and there is no evidence for the various claims for God (as a singular).

The fact remains that people have been well indoctrinated and with emotional fervor. We can document that as well.

JAK

[_barrelomonkeys]

barrelomonkeys stated:
Do you think you could wake up tomorrow and say God doesn't exist and believe it? Give it a try. :) I bet you can't even get it off your tongue. When I try to say God does exist it comes out in an odd manner and feels false and forced. It's not there. So whether I find comfort in my life or not I can't waste it away looking for something that I don't believe in that is going to give it meaning.

It’s unnecessary and pointless. What is relevant is that no evidence has been presented for God claims in their various and contradictory inventions. We can say that with historical documentation. There was no evidence for gods and there is no evidence for the various claims for God (as a singular).

The fact remains that people have been well indoctrinated and with emotional fervor. We can document that as well.

JAK

Hi Jak. :)

What is unnecessary and pointless? Me pretending that God exists in hopes that it will make it real? I'm sorry, I'm not following you.

[_moksha]

Monkey, while some choices are always limited, what you choose to believe is not. If one is an atheist, that is a choice, since belief is an option. Even if one have not belief in God, there are other items in life that one chooses to believe in.

I was once an atheist, but the thought of there being a connectedness to a Universal All was too attractive to resist. It made me feel comforted. From that point, I was able to pick and choose the rest of my beliefs concerning life and the metaphysical.

[_barrelomonkeys]

Monkey, while some choices are always limited, what you choose to believe is not. If one is an atheist, that is a choice, since belief is an option. Even if one have not belief in God, there are other items in life that one chooses to believe in.

I was once an atheist, but the thought of there being a connectedness to a Universal All was too attractive to resist. It made me feel comforted. From that point, I was able to pick and choose the rest of my beliefs concerning life and the metaphysical.

Hi Moksha. I don't know how I chose to not believe? I've gotten on my knees and begged to know God. Meditated. Pleaded. Prayed. Fasted. He's not there for me. How can I make Him be a reality? How do I do that?