Non-Believers: Where does your hope come from?

Question

I mean this with all respect and hope for zero bashing.

I am a firm believer in God's promises, as found in the scriptures, that the pain and suffering we see today will end and a new order of peace and security will be ushered in. Mock it or not. That's your prerogative. I also am an avid follower of world events. Because of that, I sometimes wonder what gives those who do NOT believe in a higher power, hope that things will change...Hope that things will improve. Clearly nothing has worked until now.

This is not meant to insult or bash. I'm just wondering how you deal with ... well how you DEAL.

Sam: No offense taken :) I'm not talking about rewards per se. Just that there will be a better future down the road.

Heathen: Nope I don't think you qualify :)
I'm more addressing those who only believe in the material and what man and science can accomplish.

PS for Sam. FYI, I don't believe in a burning hell either.

Thanks for all the answer so far. They are very interesting. I just thought I'd put out a different kind of question and hope the insults didn't start flying. So far so good.

Answer 1

We have hope, we just don't have god. Atheist means no belief in god. That is all it means. Other then that we are just like YOU!

Answer 2

This is a really good question. I respect the fact that you are not here to mock anyone or ask rhetorical questions...you are simply looking for answers. I will not mock your beliefs. Your beliefs are your business.

When I was younger, I was Christian. I started having my doubts and doing research on the contradictions of the Bible etc when I was about 17. When I was around 19, I seriously was believing that Christianity was a fairytale. That's when all hell (no pun intended) broke loose. When you look at the horrible state of the world and just the mundane tedium of life in general and then think that there's nothing after death and no real hope of things becoming better, then things get very depressing. I was depressed, angry and snappish. I tried to find my hope in trying to make the world a better place myself.

Nonbelievers say that the fact that there is no afterlife simply makes them work harder to improve things here and now because "that's all you get". I understand where they are coming from, but I do not agree. People have been trying to make things better since time began. Everytime you solve one problem, another pops up. For example, polio was conquered in the 1950s only to be followed with another horrid virus (AIDS) in the 1980s. If humans could make the world a Utopia, it would already be one. People have tried, I will give them that. But as long as there are people, there will be conflict because no two people agree on the exact same things. And even if they did, things can happen that are outside of one's control.

I toyed with the idea of coming back to Christianity but the sheer amount of contradictions in the Bible, the sexism and just the messed up behavior of many of its adherants made me think again. People say that Christians are not perfect and just because they mess up I shouldn't throw the baby (Christianity) out with the bathwater (the behavior). Secular humanists and Buddhists are not "perfect" either but you don't see them causing half as much trouble as Christians (there are many decent Christians as well I must admit but kind people believe in a kind God and harsh people believe in a harsh God...there are both views of God in the Bible). I just didn't want to be part of all of the drama, corruption, cruelty and foolishness I've seen in the church anymore.

Anyway, I am currently searching. I am researching deism and Buddhism. I answered your question because I used to be a complete nonbeliever and I dealt by simply trying to make the most of the life we have now and making the world a better place (i.e. trying to save the environment). Even with all of that, it wasn't enough. The world is too messed up and so are the people in it.

Answer 3

There are many ways to be spiritual without adhering to a particular religion. My buddy and I hear more of God's voice standing on a mountain peak than all but a few times I've been in church, and reading from the Dalai Lama, John Keats, and J.D. Salinger have uplifted me as much as some of my favorite psalms.

The hope that things will change and improve can also come from a belief that humans ARE, deep down, essentially good, and deeply want to help each other, and that this age of turmoil and danger is part of the growing pains as humanity matures to a level where we can recognize that we're more the same than we are different, and live in harmony with each other and with our environment.

Hope can also come from a belief that, while we don't know exactly what how God works, (because I have issues with the way God is portrayed/used in each of the major theist world religions), our duty is not to delve into mysteries that can't be settled until we die anyway, and instead get our hands busy making the world we live in better, for the people around us, and for humanity in general, and for the planet at large.

Some of the happiest people I know are hand-labourers -- they don't worry about big issues like "HOPE" and "HEAVEN" and just make sure they did something useful that day, and put food on their family's plates. For myself, I know that if I'm thinking about God too much, it usually leads me into paradoxes and puzzles, and I'm more content with my life if I stay busy and do the things I enjoy, that lift me up; I'd best get more exercise!

(For a good start on a way to live with hope, (God optional), start with The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama.

Answer 4

Because I don't believe the story book that I was raised with does not mean I have no hope for the future.

By embracing science, and the magnificence of the cosmos, which by far exceeds my knowledge or understanding, I take comfort in the mystery and beauty I am fortunate enough to appreciate.

Recognizing that 'linear time' is a perceptual limitation of the human mind, I realize that every moment is an eternal component of the mosaic of space-time.

One can be deeply spiritual and appreciative of the natural universe and its mysteries without subscribing to a fabricated religious belief system.

Answer 5

Hope is defined as, “To wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment.” I don’t have any expectations. The God you believe in supposedly indicates in these musty old mistranslated, misinterpreted, absurd to begin with writings that “that the pain and suffering we see today will end and a new order of peace and security will be ushered in.” If this God exists, why did it cause all of this suffering and pain in the first place? In my life I come across people who for one reason or another find themselves in positions of power. Some earned their way to this position while others inherited it. The ones who inherited it tend to abuse their power more often than the ones who earned it. That is because they’ve never been in the position of those who are on the receiving end of abuse. I have no respect for these people. I do respect people who are in a position of power and have the integrity and compassion to know better than to abuse it. Your God was never in a subservient position and he had the power to prevent suffering and pain, but ‘he’ didn’t. That would make him a bully, and a bully is one of the most cowardly and despicable kinds of people one can encounter. If there is a God, then I sincerely doubt that this God would display character weaknesses that a crummy example of a mere human being much less an all-powerful supreme being. The way I deal with my life is by just trying to make the best of an often unpleasant situation. If believing in a God who provides you with a happy ending to your story, then fine, but try not to forget all of the people and other forms of life that suffer as a direct result of your beliefs. If you think they are harmless, you are deeply mistaken.

Answer 6

Well (also not to bash) but God doesn't seem to make things better here. All the natural disasters happen and God doesn't stop them.
If you do believe in the new order of peace, it's something that is a one time thing, maybe not in your lifetime, so what gives you hope things will be better in your life? I don't mean this to mock you, I'm serious.

In this life I focus on good and try to help others as much as I can. I don't hope that things will change- I just try to prepare myself to handle things that may come my way. It's amazing how many people help in a bad situation, so I put faith in humanity as well.

Answer 7

I, honestly, have no idea. No offense, but I don't understand why it is so important for people to think that their good deeds are going to be rewarded. If I do something nice for someone, it's not because I am supposed to or not because I am afraid of burning in hell for not helping someone....it's because I WANT to.

EDIT: Actually..that too. I can accept the idea that death is the end. But some people can't. And that's why I try to live my life as happily as I can. I was just joining this belief in afterlife to that idea...My neighbor once said "Wouldn't it be a shame if there is no god after all? Imagine...all my good deeds going to waste" He was being sarcastic, of course, but you get my point. That IS how some people think.

Answer 8

Considering our nation was founded by secularists, that gives me hope that non-believers such as myself can always make a huge difference. No Christian of that time would have countenanced a constitution so clearly separating religion and government.

Kids always give me hope. Seeing their curious faces at the zoo or science museum, answering their questions, fills me with joy and hope that we can overcome our cultural negatives and produce a generation of secularists who will again move this nation forward.

Answer 9

I have hope because I know that I and other people can change things, we can make this world a better place.

Honestly, if God is the only reason you have hope, I feel very sorry for you, it must be a very difficult life to live.

Answer 10

My hope comes from a belief in a creator or deity but not from the "bible." From all my experiences in life reason seems to fail me not. Too much of what is in the bible requires me to suspend or completely eliminate reason.

From all my studies, I find the bible a book written by groups of people for a certain culture in time. It is now 2007 and time to get over it! The bible is wonderful literature but no more. Put your faith in a creator of you but not what you read in the pages of the bible.

Of course you won't listen to me and why should you, you have, for your whole life, been told to believe in the bible - just as the Muslim or the Morman or the Jew or the Buddhist, etc has been told to believe in his/her "believe system." And that's okay as that's how life is. That's how humans are. BUT THAT DOES NOT MAKE IT FACTUAL!

Read read read read OUTSIDE OF THE CHRISTIAN BOX.

Answer 11

Christians believe that god gave man free will and no longer intervenes in his affairs for good or bad. Other wise how could you explain all the suffering and injustices of this life?

But he certainly will change all that on his second coming, in glory and might, to rule this Earth for ever. Amen