How do you feel about being atheist?

[fhbnfghnbfgbsnbg]

I realize that was an odd way to phrase the question. Moving on..

How does it make you feel to be an atheist? Proud? Ashamed? Don't care?
Just curious on your thoughts.  

[Daffodil the Destroyer]

I don't really feel anything about it... I'm not proud or ashamed of a lack of belief in something.

 

[Paraldehyde Kool-Aid]

Rather happy about it, for my part. A bit proud to come to this point, considering what I've had to put up with along the way. Content.  

[Dathu]

Well, as far as just being Atheist goes, I just feel normal.

However, there are times when I see people blindly following a belief even if it hurts them...wait, let me explain. When gays feel guilt because of their homosexuality, or when mothers cry when they believe a still born child is going to hell just because it wasn't baptized, that's when I feel...strong. I think being Atheist takes a lot of responsibility. Everything you do, and all your philosophies are chosen, not given to you by some ancient dogma. So in a way I feel more responsible than I would if I was a theist, but that's about it.  

[Labtech Soosh]

It makes me feel smart, I don't mean that in an egotystical way though.

Billions and billions of people on this earth continue to believe some deity who could do whatever they wanted brought life to a large rock for no reason other than "Well he was lonely". Not to mention the scientologists who praise a religion that was created out of a bet between two friends that wanted to see who made the highest profiting religon. To not believe in any of this, makes me feel like I'm one of the few who said "HEY WAIT A MINUTE..."

 

[Daffodil the Destroyer]

To be one of the few who said "Hey wait a minute..." sometimes makes me worry that I've gotten it wrong. I find it impossible to believe in the deities that people worship (modern and ancient alike), but having been raised a Christian and having spent a year in high school being brainwashed by friends from a different church, I have lingering fears that crop up now and then. I don't believe in religious dogma, but once in a while I worry that by being unable to believe it, that I've been damned to a place I don't believe in.

This is a good reason why I hate people who try to frighten others into following their belief systems. >.>

 

[Dathu]

Daffodil the Destroyer

To be one of the few who said "Hey wait a minute..." sometimes makes me worry that I've gotten it wrong. I find it impossible to believe in the deities that people worship (modern and ancient alike), but having been raised a Christian and having spent a year in high school being brainwashed by friends from a different church, I have lingering fears that crop up now and then. I don't believe in religious dogma, but once in a while I worry that by being unable to believe it, that I've been damned to a place I don't believe in.

This is a good reason why I hate people who try to frighten others into following their belief systems. >.>

I think that's normal. We live in a country that promotes the idea of the "power of the people" which can be easily interpreted as "power of the masses." We're raised to believe that the majority must be right. That's how we vote, that's how we judge, that's how we live. But that doesn't make it true. If the belief of the majority defined reality then the Earth would be flat, women would be property, and all non-white races would be slaves, but they aren't, and I'm sure there were plenty of people who these things to be wrong who had the same fears and doubts about defying the masses that you and I do. I just try to remember that I'm making the best decisions that I can, right or wrong, as long as you're trying to do your best, no one can blame you.  

[Athena_Ritashe]

Dathu

Daffodil the Destroyer

To be one of the few who said "Hey wait a minute..." sometimes makes me worry that I've gotten it wrong. I find it impossible to believe in the deities that people worship (modern and ancient alike), but having been raised a Christian and having spent a year in high school being brainwashed by friends from a different church, I have lingering fears that crop up now and then. I don't believe in religious dogma, but once in a while I worry that by being unable to believe it, that I've been damned to a place I don't believe in.

This is a good reason why I hate people who try to frighten others into following their belief systems. >.>

I think that's normal. We live in a country that promotes the idea of the "power of the people" which can be easily interpreted as "power of the masses." We're raised to believe that the majority must be right. That's how we vote, that's how we judge, that's how we live. But that doesn't make it true. If the belief of the majority defined reality then the Earth would be flat, women would be property, and all non-white races would be slaves, but they aren't, and I'm sure there were plenty of people who these things to be wrong who had the same fears and doubts about defying the masses that you and I do. I just try to remember that I'm making the best decisions that I can, right or wrong, as long as you're trying to do your best, no one can blame you.

That's what kept me being a theist for so long, wondering what it all means and didn't consider there is no God. I spent several weeks before taking the plunge into Atheism trying to see if Christianity could make sense. Not if it could be proven, but if it could be coherent. I put my brain through the ringer trying to make it make sense, and I couldn't. Several weeks of contemplation led me from one circle to another. Christianity cannot be made logical no matter how much you try. The theology is full of holes and fallacies. The only way you can be a Christian is by being ignorant of the holes, or ignore the holes and have faith. It doesn't work with examination.

After that I concluded there is no Christian God, but there must be some nebulus sort of divine force in the universe... after all this couldn't all be from chance, right? And those feelings of divine connection when I was having imaginary conversations with God must be proof that God is real right?

Then I realized that the feeling of divine connection was just a feeling and those conversations were part of an active imagination. Oh, no, it's not mental illness. I have a phenomenal imagination and it can do pretty weird things when I let it loose. When I realized there was no God the voice of God was gone.

So how do I feel about being an Atheist? I feel sane and in tune with reality. How many people could use some of that in their lives?  

[Henneth Annun]

I feel pretty good about it. I make my own decisions in life based off of what I believe and I don't fell I have to change that because some "sacred text" that could have been written by anybody says I do. I also feel more rational and intelligent, in the way that Pirate Captain Sushi said.

It makes me feel sorry for other people though, people who feel afraid/bad/guilty/awful/negativley about something or uncertain because of religion.  

[Daffodil the Destroyer]

Athena_Ritashe

Dathu

Daffodil the Destroyer

To be one of the few who said "Hey wait a minute..." sometimes makes me worry that I've gotten it wrong. I find it impossible to believe in the deities that people worship (modern and ancient alike), but having been raised a Christian and having spent a year in high school being brainwashed by friends from a different church, I have lingering fears that crop up now and then. I don't believe in religious dogma, but once in a while I worry that by being unable to believe it, that I've been damned to a place I don't believe in.

This is a good reason why I hate people who try to frighten others into following their belief systems. >.>

I think that's normal. We live in a country that promotes the idea of the "power of the people" which can be easily interpreted as "power of the masses." We're raised to believe that the majority must be right. That's how we vote, that's how we judge, that's how we live. But that doesn't make it true. If the belief of the majority defined reality then the Earth would be flat, women would be property, and all non-white races would be slaves, but they aren't, and I'm sure there were plenty of people who these things to be wrong who had the same fears and doubts about defying the masses that you and I do. I just try to remember that I'm making the best decisions that I can, right or wrong, as long as you're trying to do your best, no one can blame you.

That's what kept me being a theist for so long, wondering what it all means and didn't consider there is no God. I spent several weeks before taking the plunge into Atheism trying to see if Christianity could make sense. Not if it could be proven, but if it could be coherent. I put my brain through the ringer trying to make it make sense, and I couldn't. Several weeks of contemplation led me from one circle to another. Christianity cannot be made logical no matter how much you try. The theology is full of holes and fallacies. The only way you can be a Christian is by being ignorant of the holes, or ignore the holes and have faith. It doesn't work with examination.

After that I concluded there is no Christian God, but there must be some nebulus sort of divine force in the universe... after all this couldn't all be from chance, right? And those feelings of divine connection when I was having imaginary conversations with God must be proof that God is real right?

Then I realized that the feeling of divine connection was just a feeling and those conversations were part of an active imagination. Oh, no, it's not mental illness. I have a phenomenal imagination and it can do pretty weird things when I let it loose. When I realized there was no God the voice of God was gone.

So how do I feel about being an Atheist? I feel sane and in tune with reality. How many people could use some of that in their lives?

That's very close to how my thoughts have gone. Except that I think the feeling of divine connection does come from something: I just don't think it's coming from a god or anything else that would be considered "supernatural." Humans are hard-wired to have these feelings that give us a predisposition towards spirituality; it's an evolutionary adaptation that helps us cope with things. It's a very real thing, just most likely not from the source that both of us were brought up to believe in.

 

[=X-Sparker + AquaKiller=]

Pride is certainly something I feel as an atheist.
I won't go boasting about it to everybody,
but when I look at someone who's theist and
gets torn over his/her best friend being
something his/her religion doesn't allow,
I feel glad that I'm not constrained.
Yeah, in a way, I feel very free.

and, if you think about it, religion is a very
mild form of terrorism.
I'm sure there are people who just
purely believe in their god(s),
but there are also people who believe
only because they fear of what would happen
if they don't. And those who convert people
using this fear are just terrorists.
I'm proud that I'm not controlled or
intimidated by these kinds of cowardly, nasty manipulation.

 

[Athena_Ritashe]

=X-Sparker + AquaKiller=

Pride is certainly something I feel as an atheist.
I won't go boasting about it to everybody,
but when I look at someone who's theist and
gets torn over his/her best friend being
something his/her religion doesn't allow,
I feel glad that I'm not constrained.
Yeah, in a way, I feel very free.

and, if you think about it, religion is a very
mild form of terrorism.
I'm sure there are people who just
purely believe in their god(s),
but there are also people who believe
only because they fear of what would happen
if they don't. And those who convert people
using this fear are just terrorists.
I'm proud that I'm not controlled or
intimidated by these kinds of cowardly, nasty manipulation.

I agree that religion is a mild form of terrorism. I don't think it is necessarily the belief of a god that leads to manipulation and fear, but it certainly can lead to that. When people conclude that they are chosen by god and have the authority of god, then that allows them (in their own mind) to commit the greatest of atrocities.  

[Zambimaru]

I feel kind of special and proud knowing that I'm different from most people. I also feel very lucky that I was raised by parents who didn't force me into a religion and let me make my own decisions about life.  

[[-Erik-]]

Something between "proud" and "I don't care".

I am happy being one, but it's not a big deal, not at all at least. I don't go around wearing a shirt that yells PROUD ATHEIST. That kind of pride makes me sick >:l

 

[Arios V]

In that space between pride and apathy. Although it is kinda sad sometimes considering how many friends (and 2 potential girlfriends) I've lost over it. Oh well, if they were true friends, they'd have stuck by me.