I am not trying to cut anyone down so please dont take this the wrong way. I believe everyone has the right to choose. Believe or not its your choice. I would just like to ask for an honest answer. In times of stress or heart break how do you make it through. How do you all rationalize the bad things that happen too you and find the will to go on to another day when everything seems so hopeless. I know that you all think God is some kind of crutch made for people who you deem weak but at the end of the day I can find hope and reassurance in the word of God. From were do you draw your strength knowing that each day could be your last and there is nothing else after words. Again i hope i am not coming off as preaching i just would like to understand your mind set.
2006-09-11 02:18:37 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
You muddle through the bad times, you just don't ask god to help you. We have friends and family who we turn too. We rationalize bad things by knowing that its an uncaring universe and you have to rely on yourself to get things done.
We have hope that tomorrow will be a better day, and that you had really enjoy life now. There is no afterlife for us, and that means 100% of our living happens now. We are not gambling on what happens after death, because someone told us we would be happier dead.
2006-09-11 02:20:15 · answer #1 · answered by Rob 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
"Believe or not its your choice."
You have a choice to believe that you are going to win a billion dollars. Why don't you just believe it?
No we don't have a choice. My brain will not let me accept certain things, especially when these things are so highly improbable like god(s) exists or i'm going to win a billion dollars.
"In times of stress or heart break how do you make it through."
In times of stress or heartbreak i use logic and reason to decide what i do. I look at what it is that causes me stress or heartbreak and i try to do something to fix it.
"How do you all rationalize the bad things that happen too you and find the will to go on to another day when everything seems so hopeless."
I am sorry you think things seem hopeless. I don't.
When bad things happen to me i can directly attribute them to my actions. Of course some things are beyond my control(sorta), if i got hit by a car walking down a sidewalk it wouldn't necessarly be my fault, but the fact is that people sometimes get hit by cars walking down the sidewalk..no gods required for this to happen.
"..but at the end of the day I can find hope and reassurance in the word of God."
At the end of the day you could also find hate in the word of god. Why don't you read your holy book (the whole thing) without the rose colored glasses you put on while reading it? The Bible is a filthy book and you should be ashamed to even own one.
http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com
"From were do you draw your strength knowing that each day could be your last and there is nothing else after words."
Where do you draw your strength to want to keep living in a world that you think is hopeless? If you truely believe in heaven then where do you draw your strength? Why would you want to go on living in this "hopeless" world if you honestly think you are gonna live forever in a paradise?
I have many reasons to want to live. My friends, my family, food, sex , learning things , helping my fellow humans...on and on. When you put god above everything else you lose the true value of all these things. Humanity is the #1 priority not invisible friends.
By knowing that i am not going to live forever it makes me cherish this life even more than someone who thinks they are going to live forever. If life is eternal then it is cheap. If you knew you were gonna die in three days, wouldn't you want to get done all you can do? Well that is how us atheists take this whole life to be. We know this is the only one we get.
<<< Ex-Christian
2006-09-11 09:43:44 · answer #2 · answered by AiW 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If there is nothing else after life, then it's the same as before you were born; you just don't exist. Don't you "remember" what it was like before you were born? No, because you didn't exist. You will be the same after you're dead. You just won't exist.
As for making it through tough times, I draw strength from the knowledge and life experience that there are always times in life when you hit rock bottom or endure intense grief. Things always get better. It ebbs and flows. I count on my inner strength as a survivor and a strong person with a good outlook, and I know that "this too shall pass." I also know that enduring hardship in the long run makes you a stronger person.
This, to me, has nothing to do with God.
2006-09-11 09:23:08 · answer #3 · answered by nido_tr3s 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I draw my strength from within, I don't believe in bad luck or fate, or destiny, I believe in good decisions and bad decisions.. bad things don't necessarily happen because it's fate, normally it is because the person involved made the wrong decision. A wrong decision isn't always done consciously, but nevertheless, it is still the wrong decision. I take responsibility when things go wrong, because I made the decision, and when things go well because of a decision I made, then I am pleased.
If more people took responsibility for the decisions they've made, and lived with the repercussions, the world would be an easier place to live in.. Most people just chalk up a bad situation to bad luck, it's not, it's bad decision making. Bad decision making does not make you a bad person, it just makes you a lazy one.
2006-09-11 09:31:22 · answer #4 · answered by oneblondepilgrim 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
sounds like a sermon if you ask me but i am not a atheist either so i dont get that either but i am not a christian either just a spiritual being in the world. when some one feels hopeless they find there own spiritual stregth without a god or goddess. even a atheist has a spiritual stregth that helps them every day and they dont even need a god just a belief that every day is a new hope or a loss cause just as anyone else would but since christianity relies too much on a god who hates you i wonder if you have any spiritual energy of your own.
2006-09-11 09:25:13 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
We have no choice. Why don't you people get this is not a matter of choice? If I told you all would be great if you will just believe that pink elephants cirlcle your head could you believe it? How do you make yourself believe in a made-up thing? As for the pay-off, the supposed reward for having this belief, well there's no evidence of that either.
When we die its over. There is no rational reason to think otherwise. There is only fear which makes the idea of living on a pleasent one. Just because it sounds nice doesn't make it true. I would love to comfort myself in that way but it doesn't work for me because no matter how many times I say it I still know it is only what I wish was true. There is still no reason to believe it is. Some people choose to deny it, others accept it. Facing the fear of death and accepting this reality is the atheist's greatest spiritual challenge but once you achieve peace with your own mortality, it is beyond liberating.
At the end of the day, our stregth and yours come from the same place, our own head. You have learned to tap your spiritual strength through god, which I believe is a made-up thing though I still recognize it as a legitimate spiritual practice. Those who wish to tap their own spiritual strengths may do so without a god concept because spirituality comes from our own humanity not from god. Also there are non-spiritual people, many of whom are Christian or other religious and they find comfort in others things, perhaps loved ones they talk to and enjoyable activities.
Beliefs are not simply chosen in an act of volition. Beliefs come from what we learn, observe and experience. I placed myself in a position to observe, learn and experience God by going to churches, studying theology in religious universities, reading the Bible and other relgious books, praying alone and in groups and under the guidance of clergy. This went on for years and nothing ever happened to make me actually believe in what I was doing. I enjoyed many of the activities and made friends this way but at times I felt stupid for all the make-believe. If there had been some personal feeling of a spiritual presence beyond myself I would have had something to belive in but there was nothing. I did everything you guys asked and what I got out of it is an understanding that you have very good reason for making it all up but I just can't live a lie.
So the mind set it simple. You believe in what has stood the test of reason and you seek the truth. If you have no evidence in something you don't get to believe that. How can you choose a belief? Almost by definition, beliefs can't be chosen. Many seem to forget this when they talk about religion.
2006-09-11 09:20:45 · answer #6 · answered by tenaciousd 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I don't know that I am truly a non-believer. I am a former Christian, (Christianity from the organized religion point of view) During the many years that I was involved I saw fewer compassionate, loving, accepting, God-like ppl in church than I did in the streets of Downtown Los Angeles. And I'm not trying to criticize because we all have our rights to our opinions but when Christians stop letting Christ show thru them and start preaching how bad everybody and everything else is, they damage the very image of a God who "so loved the world". I was a battered wife many years ago, I turned to the church who told me I should be willing to die to keep my family together. Finally I almost did, he came at me with a gun. I left with my small children and the church embrassed him and condemned me for leaving. Not only that but they wouldn't even let my children go to Sunday sch. This wasn't just one church but many. This wasn't God-like this wasn't embrassing the flock this was saving face. This was only wanting their own kind. This was "better not let those infected children come and infect our kids" mentality. When you all stop condemning the world and let the Father have his judgment on it instead of doing it yourself, then maybe you'll understand. Getting thru a day, survival of the fittest, instinct and recognizing that life goes on gets us all thru the day. There isn't anything anybody can do about that.
2006-09-11 09:36:35 · answer #7 · answered by ImMappam 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My strength when times are wrong - I try and figure why they are wrong and try and prevent them from going wrong in the future.
Not every problem has a solution - theres this rumor that I'm going to die one day. I really don't have a solution for it.
Apparently also, there's this chance my company might get bought up and I might not have a job. I really don't have a solution for that.
Well, when I die, hopefully my soul will go out into Earth orbit and touch your soul. We can smoke a cigar and have a laugh under the moonlight about that whole God idea you had.
When I lose my job I'll prepare 1000 resumes and send them out.
2006-09-11 09:24:51 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Bad times are going to happen. Part of this grand thing called life. Sometimes it is difficult, but you get through. I cannot concern myself that each day could be my last, I like life too much to really care. The end is indeed the end. It happens to all of us.
2006-09-11 10:33:16 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have faith in my personal strength, and I lean on those I love for support. I know that all things are temporary and things will get better with time. Thank you for the sincere question. I hope you gain some insight.
2006-09-11 09:41:28 · answer #10 · answered by AuroraDawn 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋