Atheists: how has your life been since you knew you were an atheist????

Question

i know it may be hard for some atheists because of social pressure. well, i must admit not too long ago i realized i was an atheist myself and i feel more free than before. sure, i lost my so called "faith" and it hit me a bit hard in the beginning but now that time has passed i feel like i didnt lose much. so has your experience as an atheist been????

Answer 1

Freed my mind to wonder and ponder without limitation.

Answer 2

I became an avowed atheist just before I went to nursing school (at a Catholic hospital school, no less). It didn't change my life, since I had never been much of a believer anyway; It just eliminated all the juggling with conflicting emotions. I kept it to myself for a long time, mostly to avoid the arguments. I'm still very careful about whom I tell, since I have had believers get red-faced, start foaming at the mouth and scream at me about "how [I] could 'dare' to be an atheist." Then they would question my patriotism, and my abilities as a nurse, as though belief in spirits had something to do with compassion. Go figure :-|
But the point is: I like who I am.

Answer 3

Luzeeloo: you aren't an agnostic, you are a Deist. An agnostic is someone who believes it's impossible to know either way whether god exists.

To answer the question, I feel relieved that I am able to face life head-on, knowing that this is the only one I have. I feel honest that I don't have to invent entities to explain my existence. And I feel frustrated at the rise of ignorance and superstition in the world.

Answer 4

I've always been one. Nothing has changed.

No one bothered to make me believe and so I don't. I do have morals, I was taught that, but from my point of view, I think religion shouldn't be taken seriously.

I'd say I live a good life. I don't have to worry about starving, I have many friends, and I have everything I need to stay happy for the time being.

Answer 5

It can be a freeing experience.
But sometimes I think it would be easier if I still believed. I wouldn't have to ask myself hard questions. Wonder whether or not if I were right or not. Those would be answered for me, without any effort. I would still have the sense of community of the church too.
But then I realize I would be selling out myself to the group idea. And a community of people with a radically different ideology would be hollow and phony for me.
So, alone I wander, thinking my own thoughts and cutting my own path. And I think I'm better for it.

Answer 6

When i was a child my mother used to allow the witnesses into our home. They filled me full of absolute shite, not to mention severe guilt. That was enough to put me off for life.
God forbid i could have gone the other way!!! I would never have lived at all.
As it happens, i know right from wrong, i am a good person and also my own judge and juror. No one else.

Answer 7

as an atheist ( discovered early)I have come through the exercise of thinking positive and writing to discover the FAITH inside myself to enjoy that freedom although I live in a society bewitched by concepts about GODs (often turning one against the other leading to tremendous losses on both sides- let lives apart which is thought to fetch less values where religious fevers ran high).So you see I have reached a point where I believe in myself, harm none, and watch the world social in all silence go to rots and so many other things I do -all in my privacy without disturbing any!
Do you get me clear?

Answer 8

Became an Atheist very young. For me it was a great release, like a weight lifted off my shoulders. I no longer lied to myself.
This doesn't mean I might be right, just honest with myself and, I hope, others too.

Answer 9

Most of my Christian friends couldn't handle it, and most of my social life had been church-based, so there was definitely a wrench and a loneliness that came with the decision.

(I knew some at the church who didn't believe, but stayed, as they couldn't face the loss of community, the thing they valued.)

But overall I don't regret the decision. Sticking to what I honestly believe trumps all other factors.

Answer 10

I don't know if everyone knows the difference between being Atheist and Agnostic. I'm the latter, meaning you believe that there is some kind of force or higher being but don't conform to any structured religion. I've grown up this way and so can't say that I feel any loss from being Agnostic. I think the gain is you can still have a reason for things such as fate, karma, coinsidence, without having to put it all down to one god or one book and interpret a reason, or be mistified when you can't find an answer in that religion. Personally, it works for me

Answer 11

Just try this experiment on them:sneak behind them and give them a big Booh! Watch them jump three feet into the air.Also notice the red patches around their eyes.