If you are not a Christian, how do mentally cope with our world?

Question

If you are not a Christian how do you see the world? There is currently more destructive power in the hands dictactors, countries are at war with themselves and each other. Disease and pestilance are rampamt in many parts of the world. In England, the muslim population will soon outpace the Christian population. In our own country, we are completely divided. Things that were once illegal are now praised as normal. Illegal immigration is dividing our nation. More and more 3rd world nations will soon possess nuclear bombs. There is no end in sight. The world as we have known it for some time will soon end. If I were not a Christian, I would seriously consider killing myslef, who would want to live when there is no hope? Jesus said something to the effect: don't worry when these things happen, they must happen before My return, so that gives me hope.

My question is serious... if you are not a Christian, how can you possibly explain and or cope with our current state of affairs?

I have a lot of responses. I never said I am just throwing up my hands or that I will kill myself. I am asking, without a Christian worldview how do YOU cope with the current state of affairs? How do you explain it? Do you think man has the power to resolve this on our own? Do you REALLY think things will get better, just because we are basically good? When I said illegals are tearing us apart, I was not condemning or praising it, just using that one example to show how divided we are, your answer shows the anger you have towards those who don't agree with you, do you see what I am saying? I could have chosen a number of examples on how we are divided, abortion, race, religion, sex, political party. Finally, I don't want politics and religion to mix, read the question don't just blast me. What is the fix, how do you cope, do you really think things will ACTUALLY ever get better and if so, what is one possible scenario for world peace, with or without religion? Thanks!

Answer 1

I feel hopeless sometimes, but I figure, I will be dead soon enough; why kill myself? I know I will suffer before the end, but I'm curious to see what will happens next. I live for the moment, small beautiful moments. Having no faith in God has one very positive effect; I live for this life, not some afterlife. I try to improve this world, not abandon it. I try to live on in this world by leaving something good behind, like passing on what wisdom I have garnered, or strengthening those whom I love and admire. I accept that I don't, and can't, understand everything. I feel that an atheist has to look a little deeper into the world, into themselves, and into others in order to figure things out and decide for themselves what they believe, whereas a religious person is told what to believe, told not to question, and told to have faith, even when (especially when) what they are told is beyond belief. Lastly, I am stubborn.

P.S. I have hope, but not faith, that the world will become a better place. It doesn't look too good right now, and I have no confidence in the ability of mankind to come, collectively, to its senses, but the future is so unknown and so unimagineable and so endless that I still have hope that we (or more probably, our children) will get lucky.

Answer 2

I don't worry about the things I cannot change. The world is not in any worse shape than It ever has been. We have always had wars and rumors of wars and famines and plagues. The world is really in better shape now than it ever was because we have easier lives. We drive cars and motorcycles, have air conditioning, plenty of food. All we have to do is go to the store and buy what we need. The deadly plagues that early civilizations had to deal with are all most gone. We seldom suffer from these things as they did even a century ago.

Even those who earn minimum wage are better off these days. We have good doctors and medicines. People are living longer then they ever did before.

I am not Christian but I do have a faith that comforts me. I am Wiccan and it gives me much comfort. I get peace from within.

The people in the first century had it rough.

I remember when I was a Christian the bible said to Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Also it said to fear not what the morrow will bring. I also remember it saying that we should count our blessings. When you count your blessings you will find you have a lot to be thankful and you can be happy.

I find that today Christians are sometimes more fearful than us pagans. As a pagan, I change what I can and accept what I can't change. I just am happy and don't worry.

Answer 3

The world is really no different today than it's been for centuries. I can explain it because I've studied history. Things were much worse-off at the beginning of the preceding century than this one. In fact the End of Days scenario was much more befitting the beginning half of the 1900's than today. The difference is that we have more communication about what is going on in the world and we have a much higher population density. It's a fact that more people are able to survive on the planet right now than ever have before which would cut down the idea that we are worse off than previously. As science progresses things tend to get more peaceful, but as you have pointed out, religion has a tendency to try to stop it. It's illogical taboo's and crazed beliefs that seem to be the biggest problem.

Answer 4

Just because I am not Christian doesn't mean I don't think God has a plan for the suffering of the world. This is Kali Yuga. A time of corruption, violence, hate, and, most of all, it is a time when man is furthest from God. I find comfort in the fact that all time is cyclical and an end will come only to this era with the appearance of an avatar. It is not a true end, but merely a transition. I turn my thoughts towards God and thank him for my daily blessings, knowing that the world will unfold in the way it is meant to.

Answer 5

I cope by not placing so much importance on the end of times or on the world coming to an end and spend it living my life and doing what I can about things. What good does it do to fear the end of the world and fret about signs and portents of things to come? Since I am not a Christian, those things are false to me. Lies. Ridiculous. A non-issue. So why would I worry about them? When in human history have there not been pestilence, hunger, murder, rape, and war? This is nothing new. It is because of man, not because of God. It will never be any different, so we just go on...live our lives, take care of each other and do the best we can. I happen to think my way makes for a healthier state of mind than your way.

Answer 6

I am not a Christian. To cope with our current state of affairs, I have decided on the following:

I am selling everything (houses, cars, all worldly goods except my guitars)

I am buying a relatively small yacht and going sailing in search of the world's best beach bar. This should only take me 40 or 50 years, at which point I expect to be dead.

I believe this is a noble calling.

Answer 7

You have been misled and taken advantage of. It may not be obvious to you, but religious beliefs have nothing to do with getting along in the world or understanding the world.

I grew up in a non-christian setting, and nobody ever mentioned Jesus, the Bible, or any other aspect of religion to me until I got into the public schools in a small Southern Baptist town. I mean I never saw a Bible as a child.

This placed me at a great advantage in comparison to most of the people around me. My understanding of things was not based on belief in mythical gods, angels, and imaginary powers.

We saw the world as a beautiful place, filled with art, music, and a loving scientific understanding of nature. We understood life as a place to make our own way. Life is what we make of it, not what Jesus does or does not do to us.

So we dealt with life on a stable, realistic, and workable basis, unlike what you were apparently taught. Fortunately, most of the world thinks the way I think. Unfortunately, most people have had to figure it out, rather than coming by it naturally as I did.

I am sorry for you. Fortunately, for most people, the world is a happier place than it is for you. Blessed be...

Answer 8

The same thing that drives a Christian, drives a Deist or Atheist (me). Someday, I hope that people "of faith" will see that religion is selling something that is already free, just in a different bottle. Mankind survived for tens of thousands of years without Christianity and will long after Christianity has gone the way of the Sun G-d.

Answer 9

It's pretty easy. Once you understand the religion is the cause of most of the worlds problems alot more things make sense. When humanity finally leaves this nonsense behind the world will be a much better place.

Answer 10

obviously you just have a very weak mind. i don't believe in any particular fairy tales that ease the mind, but i survive because despite all of the bad things you mentioned, there are still a lot of good things.

plus, if you wanna make the world a better place, you have to first recognize what the situation is. you'll never succeed at improving the quality of life for yourself or others if you're always off in la la land.