Is it scary to be an atheist?

Question

I am being serious when I ask this. I mean NO disrespect, but don't you think the idea of ceasing to exist FOREVER when you die is terrible?

How can atheist live day to day "thinking" that when they die they cease to exist for all eternity? What's worse is that not everyone lives to old age. There are plenty of peope killed in car accidents, etc. when they are in their teens or 20's.

How can you live like this?

I believe in Jesus. I am comforted with the fact that because I am a Christian I will go to Heaven forever when I die because Jesus sacrificed Himself so that I might be saved. I deserve punishment for my sins. I don't deserve to go to Heaven, but Jesus has promised that if we believe in Him, we will be saved.

Where do you stand?

Answer 1

I am not an Atheist but I know many because I travelled to east Germany for 17 years every year and most of them are for they were raised that way. it was part of the communist doctrine. So Religion is just another mythology to them as is every Religion. They never had a concept of God or Jesus, or Allah, or Buddah or Gaia.

And though some may actually be agnostic meaning they are open to believing with some proof, but the true atheist i know are good people and they believe when they die that is just it, like a spent battery, their energy that gives them life disperses back into the universe. They have no worry or problem with the fact that there is no afterlife waiting for them, heaven or hell. they are ok with it, I suppose if that is how you are raised than you would believe it also.

i am not an atheist but many are my friends and i understand their perspective. They are not god haters or bashers, they just do not talk about the subject. Odd though they do celebrate christmas and other holidays known to be current Christian Holidays even Easter but they just do not go to Church or have any religious annoctations to it, they just give gifts out of their hearts and love.

SO does that help make some sense? They do not worry about it because they accept that everyone dies no one can do anything about that and they are content with their lives as it is and live life as best as they can NOW believing this is all they have.

These particular Atheist are again from East Europe not American Atheist. So this was forced on them at birth and though they are atheist and agnostics I find them all to be good honest caring people. I do not see them burning in hell or being damned or left behind in a rapture or what ever just because they were raised with no belief.

if christianity is as loving and forgiving as it preaches, then i beleive a good christian would accept this of them and just pray for them on your own and not tell them and also would not judge because god does the judging not us according to the Christian faith. So let him be thier judge not us. If you are Muslim then let Allah be their Judge or if you are WIccan let Gaia be there judge. I hope I am making sense to you.

I cannot see all those good people being left behind in some rapture or whatever because of the way their former communist government raised them. they are not haters of religion or such, they just dont believe where here in the USA you will find many are just as extreme as atheist as an extremist Religious person. that is different than my situation.

If you are a hater of god or gods depending your faith then you re certain to have problems in some way, hate breeds hate.

so that is where i stand, if they were born that way and are not haters than they are fine, but if they are just haters and bashers than you know where they will go, or if they are correct than they will still just cease to exist.

Just trying to help.

Answer 2

So if Jesus never promised Heaven, you wouldn't believe in him? Hmmm... think about that.

Then ask yourself, where in the Bible does Jesus promise Heaven. Find the verses, then read them critically. Don't just read them with the interpretation which you've been told. How, for example, do you know that "saved" means you'll go to Heaven?

No, it's not scary being an atheist because once we're dead we can't care about it anymore. Just as you have no memory of before you were born, neither will you have thoughts after you're dead. But go on, living in fear of death. And yes, that's exactly what you're doing when you ask this question. You're so afraid of dying that the only thing that moves you from day to day is the belief that you'll be raised to heaven. Take that away, and the need for Jesus goes away as well. Shows how much some of you christians actually love your god. Take the pope, for example. Why does he need bullet proof glass on his ride? And special guards? Doesn't he have any faith in god and the afterlife? Think about it.

Answer 3

Why would it be scary to be an atheist? No I don't think the idea of ceasing to exist forever after we die is terrible. I think that's just the way it is. We live day to day with the understanding that it could be our last day here on earth and we should treat it as if there's no tomorrow. I personally think it's terrible to think if you do things a certain way you'll get rewarded for it after we're dead. People who believe this live their lives based on what MIGHT happen after they die. The atheist philosophy is that we live our lives for the here and now. I think that's a much better way to live.

You're making it sound like the only reason you believe what you believe is because it'll supposedly get you into heaven. You're the one who sounds scared to me.

Answer 4

Nope, nothing scary about it at all. I don't know what will happen when I die but I'm more than happy with ceasing to exist (after all I won't know that I no longer exist, similar to before I was born) and I don't need artificial comfort. Plus the idea of a scary god waiting for me to do something decided to be forbidden in one of many contradicting texts from the Middle East a long time ago would scare me more. I don't want to live for ever.

Answer 5

Is it scary to face the truth? It might be. Do I prefer Cinderella and magic wands? Yes. But what's the use when you grow up and you learn that babies are not hatched out of cabbages or brought home by the stork?

If eternity is the truth, isn't this life meaningless? Isn’t it just a blink in eternal time? What about all those sperms and eggs that do not join to make a life, but could have? Aren't they all supposed to have been created to become humans? Where are they now? Where were they before they join in conception to make an embryo? Is biology too scary? Should we just believe that God's main job is to watch all the sperms and eggs and personally select which will eventually make a baby for billions and billions of people? Is that comforting to believe in that?

Answer 6

Not all atheists believe that death is the end. Some like me believe in the possibility of afterlife but I have no proof so I can't argue the point. Also if you'd like to know an atheist point of view on life and living day to day, because most atheists think that this is all there is, life is so precious that everyday is something to be treasured, every moment, life is too short for petty arguments and also too short to sit back and just have faith it will be o.k, life is there to take action, to make a difference and to appreciate this wonderful existence that we have for the little time we have it, we also realise that life isn't all rosy and is sometimes unfair, that's life

Answer 7

I am not afraid to cease existing when I die because I simply accept it as an inevitable fact of life. Life comes with a time limit, but you can't see the clock, so as far as you know life could expire any minute. Those are the rules of the game. I rather accept the reality of my situation than believe and make up a bunch of unproven, superstitious nonsense to make life seem like something it isn't. There is not verifiable evidence for the existence of any afterlife or God, so I can't bring myself to believe in them.

Answer 8

Huh. Funnily enough, I'm perfectly fine with the fact that I'll stop existing.

If I die, I die. There's not much I can do about it. Why should I be afraid of something I can't do anything about? We're all going to die someday, it's inevitable, so I just accept it as something that's going to happen to me eventually and hope I can get as much done as possible between now and then.

I am comforted with the fact that I don't worship a God who required the sacrifice of his own son to correct a condition he created.

Answer 9

It's not scary at all. We spend our time living, not worrying about fairy tales of Bronze Age men. Why are YOU afraid of "ceasing to exist"? What are your recollections of things from before you were born? Hmm? That's exactly where you'll be returning when you die. Get over it and start doing something with the one and only life you will ever have.

Answer 10

Nope. I didn't exist before I was born, and I was perfectly fine then. Yeah, plenty of people die young, and as unfortunate as that is, that's the way our world works. You just have to get over it and enjoy what little time you have left.

Btw, not all atheists believe that. Buddhists don't. Atheists are a very mixed bag and you're generalising.