Since you don't believe in life after death, aren't you constantly depressed?
I know that I would be in agony.
I mean, think about, dying and that being it?
When you die, that's it. FOREVER.
You cease to exist? You can't live forever?
You must be constantly tormented with this fear.
2007-01-22 19:16:34 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
nope not at all
at least i know where i'm ending up lol
i dont have to worry about if i'm liveing my life the way someone else wants me too
2007-01-22 19:19:40 · answer #1 · answered by rx8 slotcar 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Constantly depressed? Quite the opposite.
Reality may be difficult for some to accept but here are the facts as I understand them:
God is a man-made invention, created to satisfy a primeval need for there to be an entity to protect primitive humans.
Therefore, no god equals no heaven or hell, no afterlife, no satan, no soul. All fabrications by imaginitive men.
We are conceived, born, live and die and that is the end. There is no more. Not really that hard to accept, is it?
Constantly tormented? Not in the slightest.
Live for today, having learned from the past. Leave something for the future that will be to the benefit of your family. Enjoy each moment to the fullest.
Try it?
2007-01-22 19:28:26 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Actually no one knows what happens when you die, whether there really is an afterlife or not. I'd like to think there is one, but I really don't know.
And although I'm not a Atheist, I have never once met an Atheist who was tormented or in agony over the thought of one day ceasing to exist. Not one who was depressed over that, in fact they tend to view life as all the more precious as a result. And I agree with that idea...living life to its fullest because it may be the only one you've got.
If the only reason you have a religion is because you fear death, I feel sorry for you.
2007-01-22 19:21:27 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
No, I am not constantly depressed. I just make sure to live my life to the fullest and to use the time I have well. I have several decades of life to enjoy and to experience. I don't even think about death much, it's kind of a waste of time to spend life worrying over death. I don't see what's so horrible about dying anyway. It will happen eventually, it's normal, and if death is like I imagine it to be I won't even know I'm dead, so it's really no worse than dreamless sleep.
I wouldn't even want to live for eternity. I'm sure I'd get bored. Eternity is more time than you can even begin to grasp. I don't see what's so appealing about it, even if you get to spend it in heaven.
The thing is, us who believe that this is the only life we get feel that this life is very important and valuable and that we must make the most of it. Many who believe there is a heaven feel like this life is just an annoying phase they must go through before they experience the real good stuff. I see many believers think of this life in a negative way and that is kind of sad, because they miss out on the beauty of this life. Few atheists feel so pessimistic about this life, most of us are just happy that we get to experience this life and get a chance to make things better for future generations even though we won't be around forever.
2007-01-22 23:50:10 · answer #4 · answered by undir 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No. An Atheist learns not to dwell on the 'what might be' but to live in the 'what is'.
Just because you're too weak a person to find any meaning in YOUR life without a religion, doesn't mean others are the same.
You must live a sad and depressing life if your religion is your only reason for existing.
An Atheist has learned to love every moment of life because we have no other. Thats not terrifying, its peaceful. Atheists don't keep saying "tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" like the Christians do.
Other have answered it very well so thats all I'll say.
2007-01-22 19:26:27 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
Why would the absence of an afterlife be a tormenting thought? If there's no afterlife, everybody faces the same situation at their death, and everything is fair. I get what everybody else gets. I'm as tormented by the thought of no afterlife as I am by the thought of no dragons or mermaids.
Does believing in an afterlife make you lazy? If this life is all I've got, I need to make it count. But if I thought I had an eternity of paradise after death, 80 or so years of a mortal life wouldn't seem like too much to piss away.
2007-01-22 19:24:35 · answer #6 · answered by Lee Harvey Wallbanger 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
i find it comforting. no worrying about what "heaven" (or hell) will be like. no constant worrying about impressing someone who knows everything anyways. i believe that atheists have a purer life, because we actually take responsibility for our actions, instead of believing that someone else died for our sins. i find a lot of religious people are the most small minded, judgemental people i know. i don't judge someone because a book says that a man liking another man is wrong. and i don't get this whole old testament, and new testament thing. you should just pick the old one and stick with it. you can't write a new testament everytime you want to change something. if you believe in the bible, follow it the whole way through. it says that if someone works on the sabbath, they should be put to death. so basically, everyone should be put to death, because at SOME point, everyone has worked every day of the week. oh yes, and then there's the lovely part about your hands and eyes causing you to sin. it is better to cut off your hands and gouge out your eyes than to live with them in sin. so if you have ever stolen anything, chop off your hand! ever looked at someone and thought "he/she's hot"? gouge out your eyes! doesn't it sound like fun? yeah..........so personally, i'd rather die, and that be it. i do not live in agony, and i am not tormented with fear.
2007-01-22 19:26:44 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
To be honest, I don't think about it. When I die, I'm dead. Until then I'm alive. I don't see how a person could get piece of mind from believing in something that may or may not be true. I live my life the best way I know how. I'm kind to others and I live within the law. If it turns out there is an afterlife and my admittance to heaven is based on believing in God rather than how I live my life, then I don't want to be there.
Furthermore, whether you believe in heaven and an afterlife or not, you're going to die. Period.
2007-01-22 19:24:48 · answer #8 · answered by Justin H 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Not at all.
One lifetime is plenty. I'll be tired and ready for a good, long dirt-nap at the end of it. Death is not a horrible or fearful thing - I think of it as being very peaceful. The LAST thing I would want is to live forever, or to spend eternity with a killer God who would barbecue his children.
2007-01-22 19:23:53 · answer #9 · answered by gelfling 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
No not at all. In fact it is a relief not to have to believe in that non-sensical religious mumbo-jumbo any more.
just because you believe heaven exists does not mean it actually exists - you do understand that.
Aren't you depressed by not believing you will be reincarnated on earth?
2007-01-22 19:49:38 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm an atheist and I believe that consciousness survives bodily death but even if I didn't it wouldn't depress me in the slightest. I would be depressed if I had to cling to mindless theological dogmas to find purpose in my life.
2007-01-22 19:27:10 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋