Is that it's just too pessimistic! Does anyone have a positive spin on atheism?... Something to be happy about? I'm not knocking it. Just interested in your opinions.
2006-12-11 08:02:02 · 65 answers · asked by Rich N 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Atheism is positive. Christianity and other religions preach that man is vile and base and can't do anything without the invisible guy in the sky pulling the strings.
Atheism says that gods are just superstition. You have control over yourself. That's very empowering. Also, with atheism, death makes sense and is easier to deal with. You don't have to waste your life planning for after you're dead. You don't have to worry about if your friend is going to be tortured forever just because he has a different opinion than you about your religion.
Religion also tends to make people morally lazy. They are discouraged from thinking for themselves and are spoon-fed their morality. If you ask them why something is wrong, they tend to default to "God says so". Athiests, on the other hand, tend to think more about why something is wrong, instead of just defaulting to a standard list of what is wrong.
There is no necessity for the truth to be pleasing to us. However, I find that as an atheist, I'm more content with a hard truth more than with a warm fuzzy superstition. I also tend to value life more, since I know how finite and precious it is.
2006-12-11 08:03:26 · answer #1 · answered by nondescript 7 · 20⤊ 4⤋
I am at peace with the idea that this is probably the only life that I have and it gives me the motivation and strength to make the most of it. I want to love and be around the people that care about me as much as I can and live my life the way that makes me happy while I still can. I think that it is a matter of what works for an individual. Atheism works for me, but not for others. Whatever brings you joy in life is what you should pursue. That goes for atheism as well as religion. I agree that atheism can seem pessimistic if looked at in a certain way, but so can belief in an afterlife. The concept of hell is pretty pessimistic as well. It's all in the eye of the beholder.
2006-12-11 08:26:37 · answer #2 · answered by ~ Sara ~ 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's not that Atheism is pessimistic- it's that the majority of people believe in something else and therefore you have been forced through your life to see Atheism as something bad and wrong.
Example: Sex before marriage- you are taught from a young age that having sex is a bad thing and you should wait until you are older and you are bad if you have sex...but as you get older, you start to see that isn't really true.
As long as an Atheist doesn't push their belief on other people- why can't it be positive? They simply don't think there is anything to prove that there is a god. They believe in the scientific theories of creation rather than the idea that god created earth. It's an opinion. Atheism has the same means to reaching an end as any other religion- it's simply something to believe or live your life by and there is nothing wrong with that.
2006-12-11 08:11:56 · answer #3 · answered by tulane2007 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
I don't understand where you "are coming from" with this question. There's nothing pessimistic to my atheism.
Do you think not believing in Zeus or Odin makes for a glum existence? Heck no! Remember, the theist is an atheist to all other theologies but his own.
If you want to get bummed out, consider how idiotic all the theologies are, and how many idiots there must be that ascribe to them. What a bunch of deluded dolts! (Do you think atheists are pessimistic, because we see how stupid humanity still is? Well, just take comfort in knowing you're able to see through the myth.)
2006-12-11 08:16:05 · answer #4 · answered by Phil Knight 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Atheism is very positive. Because I believe the only answer to the world's problems is the agency of human beings, I am far more involved in charitable work, humanitarian causes, politics, etc. than I ever was as a Christian. I don't believe the world is about to end in flames and war, or that billions of people will go to hell because they believe in the wrong mythology or worry that I am displeasing invible entities or that demons are plaguing me, etc. I don't run around worrying about who's having sex with who and in what orifice. I think mankind will become a star-spanning species in my lifetime. I belong to numerous organizations which all work for a better future, while a lot of the apocalyptic types out there wouldn't see any point since the world's about to end. i think atheism is way more positive and optimistic than that.
2006-12-11 08:14:49 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
The mind trys to make things up, just to make sense or to give meaning to the unknown. God is only such an idea created by some mind in the past, to give reason for how we came into existence. Nobody knows for sure if it is there or not. The hope in 'God' gives peace to some mind who are scared or not willing to accept that they don't know how they came into existence. Atheism gives a broader perspective in life and gives a person the courage to question the unknown, to find out the truth for himself, rather than believing all the tales somebody had written down in the past. Atheism IS evolution! I will create my future generation, not my ancestors!
2006-12-11 08:19:50 · answer #6 · answered by ssss 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It depends on your point of view. The same glass can be viewed as half empty or half full. The upside of atheism is that life is what YOU make it; you don't have the preoccupation of divine intervention, or retribution. Another advantage is not being involved in any organized religion (even though one can believe in God and still not be). Their tenets do not dictate your behavior, and their hypocrisy cannot annoy you, either. Having had in the past a deeply religious upbringing, I now consider myself 'free', not even atheistic, or agnostic. Life is just great, each and every day, because I choose it to be.
2006-12-11 08:29:15 · answer #7 · answered by ShelAC 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't think it's the least beat pessimistic, I see it as the true way to view the world. It only works for members of the reality-based community, though (of which there are VERY FEW in this country). All human beings are born without religion. Religions are man-made and disbelief in all these magical stories is nothing to be sad about. To the contrary!
2006-12-11 08:07:17 · answer #8 · answered by Handsome Devil 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The main problem with Atheism is that it completely disregards religion and often ignores spirituality with it, leaving no logical explanation other than science. A true atheist would need no explanation, which is paradoxical to the way our brains appear to work at this point in history. Most self-proclaimed atheists are people who have a negative experience with a particular religion and vow never to observe spirituality in a traditional sense because of that negative experience. "Atheists" often end up finding "atheism" to be a transitional phase of their lives that often leads to some non-traditional, spiritual life philosophy that they modestly practice in their everyday lives... without the proclamation of an actual religion.
With this said... Atheism is difficult because science (the only logical alternative to spirituality) will never be able to explain every aspect of life.
The intricacies of the human brain, the size of the universe, how we've beat seemingly infinite odds to exist.. are just the tip of the iceberg as far as explaining our existence... Science won't touch these things in our lifetime... and speaking from experience - an atheist has only science to reason with once they refute spirituality and religion.
Most atheists are fairly intelligent people who come to understand the contradictions of most all organized religions in our world. Atheists often don't remain "atheists" for long.. They simply need a little time to get over the brainwashing that some semi-corrupt organized religion tried to put on them from birth via their family... Much like a divorce or bad relationship... Atheism is often the much-needed healing period.
2006-12-11 08:21:04 · answer #9 · answered by Jape Coyote 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Sure.
The world is a beautiful, amazing (and terrifying) place. There's always more to be discovered and more to be experienced. It seems likely to me, based on empirical evidence, that human life does not end with bodily death. I suspect it is a grander adventure than any of us realize. Our values are not doomed to frustration, quite possibly, nor our minds to extinction.
And believing all that does not require me to believe in an omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent supernatural person governing all the events of the cosmos. There may well be beings vastly more evolved than us, which we could adequately call "gods" or "angels"; I simply have no idea. But the "God" of traditional theism, the supernatural god -- no way.
2006-12-11 08:09:00 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
There can be a spin on anything. Organized religion is too violent and promotes violence and hate towards a wide variety of people. That is a spin. We should be happy that we are here, that we have the chance to make a difference in the world and others' lives.
2006-12-11 08:04:39 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 1⤋