how do they live? if they have really huge problems who do they turn to(excluding human beings)? do they find meaning in their lives and what do they expect after death?
2006-11-29 19:56:07 · 23 answers · asked by ria 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I live like everyone else. I am moral, I have love and peace and joy in my life as well as sorrow and problems here and there. I try to be as spiritual as possible without sacrificing rational thought.
There is no "who" to turn to other than other human beings, or we wouldn't be atheists... there are concepts to turn to - psychology, philosophy, love, and so forth. I for one am satisfied by these things. They are more than enough for me.
I don't really have a theory about what happens after we die. I don't have any reason to think we survive death. But, there are atheists that believe in an afterlife.
2006-11-29 19:58:54 · answer #1 · answered by Snark 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
How do believers live? Religion complicates your life in many ways. In some religions there is no dancing, playing cards or watching movies. Some say you cannot cut your hair. Another says you can cut your hair except the hair that grows at your temples. Another says you can't drink coffee and yet another says you can't eat pork. One says that you must confess your sins to a priest and then do some sort of assignment to earn forgiveness for that sin. There's one that says you cannot seek medical help for yourself or your child. Another says you can't eat any meat and you can't work from Friday night to Saturday night. Every single one these rules and restrictions are made up by people. Catholics for a long time could not eat meat on Friday and then that was changed so that now they can. Was the bible re-written? One religion I know of would not allow black men to be members of their priesthood, but now they do. Were they wrong before or are they wrong now. That same religion still doesn't allow women to hold the priesthood. Will that change too?
Athiests on the other hand don't have to worry about all the rules and regulations. They don't have to pray to someone else. They can meditate perhaps to gain insight and clear thinking, or they can just think about whatever their problem is and come up with a solution.
After death -- nobody knows. It's very comforting to think that there is life after death and maybe there is, but if there is I'm sure that it is very different than anyone can possibly imagine. I guess we'll all find out sooner or later.
2006-11-30 04:20:36 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I know there ain't no Heaven, but I pray there ain't no Hell.
Seriously, though; I'm not sure I qualify as an atheist, but I don't believe in God as the idea that is preached in Christianity. I do believe that there are powers in the Universe that humans have yet to understand. That said, if I face a huge problem, I face it by whatever means are necessary to overcome it. If I'm fortunate enough to get help, then I thank those who help. I have yet to experience any help from God. I do use meditation to keep my psychological equilibrium and I use music as a tool to help me maintain my spirit. If you want to consider that a form of prayer, okay.
Organized religion has wreaked havoc on the human race for millenia. Any time a group of people follow someone who tells them what to believe and how to believe it, only conflict and war can follow; because that group tends to conflict with anyone who doesn't believe what the group believes. If God's word is truly God's word, then it shouldn't require interpretation, because all who read it see it as the same truth. If it requires one person to tell others what it means, then it is no longer God's truth.
As for death, I believe there is more than one plane of existence, so physical death is just a jumping off point to another existence - but not likely the Heaven described in Christianity.
2006-11-30 04:22:17 · answer #3 · answered by Feeling new @ 42 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I find meaning in my life through the people I love and the things I enjoy and feel passionately about. Why do you need something outside of yourself to find meaning, why can’t you find mean within yourself.
Well, I think I live a happy life. I’m a newlywed (got married on Sunday to a wonderful man who is getting his master’s degree in Meteorology). I have a part time job as a preschool teacher (I love my job because I get to work with children). And I go to college full time (I want to get my degree in Anthropology and right now I have a 4.0 – hope to maintain that). We live in a small apartment and are saving for our first home. We hope to adopt some day because I was adopted and we really need more people in this world to do that. There are a lot of children out there in need of mommies and daddies.
When I die, that will be the end of me. I will no longer exist. I know that it’s hard to accept (especially it’s hard to accept that the people we love will have the same fate), but it is the truth. Our actions will ripple throughout time though.
I don’t need to pray to an imaginary god for answers. If I have a problem or a dilemma (which we all inevitably do sometimes) I go to someone I trust to be honest with me and I work the problem out myself. Then when I figure it out, I can be proud of myself.
Pretty normal life I guess.
Peace and Love
2006-11-30 04:09:40 · answer #4 · answered by A 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm agnostic, but I will speak for Atheists...
How do we live? Very well. We do the right thing because it is the natural way for a social animal to behave and it creates the least cognitive dissonance. The golden rule doesn't require religion.
Why would you expect anything after death? W/o a body what do you have? Whatever it is you think you have, I promise you that image is some form of physicality. You can't have emotions w/o your body, so even if you someone linger it would only be as a shadow of who you are.
If you think that you don't exist in your brain, try having a chunk of your brain removed and see how your 'soul' does.
2006-11-30 04:00:18 · answer #5 · answered by Davin C 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I am not sure what you mean by.."How do I live." It's not different than any other living organism. I keep providing my body with energy through food consumption and I keep hydrated by drinking things.
When I have problems I turn to myself and my loved ones. I also turn to logic and reason to help me fix my problems.
I make meaning in my own life. I set goals just like everyone else and I try to complete as many as possible.
"The point of existence is not to find the most powerful thing you can imagine and then grovel before it." [Graham Kendall]
After I die it will be just the same for me as it was before I was born.
2006-11-30 04:08:12 · answer #6 · answered by AiW 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As an atheist, I deal with problems by relaxing and accepting reality as it is, which is exactly what Christians do when they "let go and let God." Psychologically, it's the exact same thing. I just don't feel the need to view it in a supernatural light. In other words, I can appreciate the Christian concept of surrender, I just don't see the need to surrender to a being of some kind.
As an atheist, I find meaning in my life by trying to be the best person I can be, fostering relationships with friends and family, caring for others, loving and learning and growing, which is strikingly similar to what Christians do when they try to live as a "good Christian." Again, I just don't feel the need to view it in a supernatural light. I don't need a God in order to do these things, I just do them for their own sake.
2006-11-30 04:01:25 · answer #7 · answered by halitobro 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I live every well thankyou very much. I don't hget stressed out as much as christians, oh no have I broken that law that says I can't put milk with custard cream cakes. Plus at that pend up fusation that comes out time to time as "Your going to hell". No I think I'm quite happy being an aetheist.
2006-11-30 04:05:46 · answer #8 · answered by Mr Hex Vision 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is possible to live without expectation of an afterlife..I suppose atheists may realize that death isn't like being buried in a tomb for all of eternity. It is nothing. And meaning is easy to find with or without belief in God..the world is a beautiful place, it is amazing, and strange, and interesting. Unfortunately for atheists, the world itself is proof enough of God. I believe in God, hope there's no afterlife. An eternity of anything would be..kind of hellish. Even joy. What's joy without pain? You can't see the bright star without the dark sky.
2006-11-30 04:23:00 · answer #9 · answered by noseforsharpies 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
we go about our lives without the confines of organized religion. i feel that everyone has the right to their beliefs and if the belief in a god gets you through life happily than im glad that works for you. it just doesnt work for me. why do you have to have something other than a human to turn to. i find much meaning in my life and i really have no expectations after death. ill be dead so i guess ill find out at that point
2006-11-30 04:02:43 · answer #10 · answered by NYC Princess of Contradictions 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋