To Atheists: What do you believe?

Question

I've been wondering about this for a very long time. I have a spiritual religion, btw (dunno why that matters). So, what do you believe? My dad and boyfriend are both atheists, and they aren't really that clear on what they believe. So, where do you think we go when we die?

Isn't it frightening to think that after you die, you aren't going anywhere else? Or do you believe in reincarnation? Just tell me what you believe!

To answer Yeow Teng K's qestion:

I don't fear death. I'm just a kid, so it's natural for me to fear the unknown. I just don't understand.

And also, no, I don't believe in a so-called "Myth" because I'm afraid. I believe what the Native Americans believe because it's the only one to me that makes sense. To me.

And I guess I could admit that it IS the most comforting to me, too... lol. But I have other reasons to believe, ones that most of y'all would think I was a nut if I told yeh.

Answer 1

I believe in questioning beliefs and insisting on direct, empirical experience and on valid psychological principles.

That's why I practice contemplative techniques, in general, and Buddhist practices, in specific.

The sorts of experiences I have known through such practices give me to understand that references to "God" are best understood as poetic utterances gesturing towards, and expressive of, humanity's deepest appreciative awareness of the Living Miracle of Being.

So ... that likely makes me a species of an "agnostic gnostic" more than a "believing in no Gods atheist."
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Answer 2

I have come to the conclusion that religion is a "toxic-meme" - a malevolent "mind virus" that affects the human mind's rational thought processes in much the same way that a computer virus corrupts and overwrites code. However, recent evidence suggests that a parasite in the brain affects rational behavior. For example, rats are normally afraid of the scent of cat urine. A parasite was recently discovered in some rat brains that causes the rats to not be afraid of the scent, making those rats easy prey due to their irrational behavior. Roughly 50 percent of humans have the same parasite! Religion in humans may be a combination of a biological parasite and a meme. The parasite may "hijack" the brain's rational thought processes and make it highly susceptible to suggestive memes (such as "Jesus Saves"). If an antidote can be developed against the parasite it may be possible to prevent the spread of religion and even cure it.

Answer 3

Maybe the reason you aren't so clear on the subject is that many atheists have a lot of different opinions on the subject. Mainly atheists have decided that fear isn't a strong enough motivator to stop thinking logically about the issue. You will always have to appeal to logic and reason and not faith and belief when dealing with an atheist.
And isn't appealing to a person's logic and reason a lot easier than trying to guess what they believe?

Answer 4

It is NOT "frightening" to think that we aren't going anywhere else any more than disbelief in god would turn one into a person who does not care what happens while we're here.

Just because "The End" is what it is does not mean that our time here should not be spent loving being alive as well as being responsible for what happens to your family, humanity, and the Earth while you're here AND after you're gone.

Answer 5

In life. In people. In education. In knowledge. In love. In family. In the past. In the present. In the future. In respect. In joy. In sorrow. In the earth. In the universe. In me.

No, I'm not afraid to die, and its not frightening to think there's nothing after I die. In fact, its very comforting. It will simply be the end. No, I don't believe in reincarnation.

Answer 6

As a Buddhist, I do not believe in God (atheist) but I do believe in an afterlife (reincarnation). All atheists do not believe in God. Other than that their philosophies are varied.
People like Seattle Slacker show why fundies shouldn't answer questions about other belief systems. Their intolerance gets in the way of knowledge and truth.

Answer 7

After I die? I believe in materialistic reincarnation, or that the atoms that I am composed of at that state will decompose and rot, allowing for new life to sprout from the bud of my decaying body.


edit: Consciousness, of course, is a product of my material brain, and ceases when certain groups of atoms seperate.

Answer 8

When we die, that's it, dead, no more. Brain ceases functioning and you are no more, your thinking stops, your brain is dead.

God, soul, afterlife of all kinds, are all fairy tales.

There is no god, never was, never will be.

Study science so you can learn all about the universe.

Religion is the biggest reason for war. Give up religion and we will be half way to peace.

Answer 9

Atheist believe in no divine being, afterlife or any other religious trappings. My husband thinks it's weird that anyone feels like they have to go anywhere after they die, so it doesn't depress him much at all lol

Answer 10

That there is no god. Outside that you need to ask us individually.

I don't believe in anything supernatural. There is no evidence that anything happens when you die, so why assume that it does? When you die, you die. Frankly having to live forever sounds pretty f***n' boring to me.

And your boyfriend won't talk about it???? That sounds like a real healthy relationship to me......