For all you atheists i don't understand. how can you live life thinking there is nothing to look forward to? that there is no hope for after this life ends. this puzzles me to no end. i know that it would be impossilbe to not believe in a god who loves us. and how do you not believe in anything, that in and of itself is a belief.
2007-12-17 02:15:26 · 33 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Atheism simply means lack of god belief. Some atheists believe in an afterlife some don't. Atheists believe in lots of things, just not gods.
2007-12-17 02:22:33 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
It's not that we lack belief in anything.
It's just that what we have right now has to be enough.
There is hope, and it's in living life to the fullest, appriciating your family, friends and the good things in life.
I believe that, while there is no heaven or hell, there is an afterlife. My legacy as a person. If i raise a good, moral family, and contribute to my community, I have positively impacted people in a way that will last forever. Sort of like 'paying it forward.'
As for nothing to look forward to...I look forward to waking up with my husband each day. I look forward to finishing novels, mountain biking, visiting new countries, and going to work each day.
I look forward to having a family, to creating my own traditions, to getting an advanced degree, to meeting new people and trying new things.
I believe that I can make a difference now.
I believe that I live my life to make a positive impact now, not exercise an existance dedicated to something that may happen later.
I am guarenteed to live on forever as a good person, regardless of heaven hell or god. That is enough for me.
2007-12-17 02:24:20 · answer #2 · answered by Mrs.S 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Atheists do believe in things, just not a God. And most atheists would say it is sad that your whole life is just for your afterlife. Atheists enjoy life, because they believe in nothing after. It seems from your question theists enjoy life because there is some afterlife to look forward to. Sometimes the present is better then the future.
2007-12-17 02:33:15 · answer #3 · answered by Take it from Toby 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Um... I look forward to my friends, family, and making the world a better place. It's news to me that you have to believe in fantastical cloud palaces where "good" people go after death in order to be happy. That's crazy. I'd love to believe that I'll spend eternity floating around strumming a harp, but I'd also like to believe leprechauns were real so that I could share my Lucky Charms with them. That doesn't change the fact that I'm going in a box in the ground to rot, just like you.
Please ask your god why (s)he lets babies be raped and old women shot in the face in drivebys. Then come back and we'll talk about the god who "loves us".
No one ever claimed that athiests don't belive in anything. We believe in math, science, and common sense for example. We just don't believe an omnipotent and invisible sky deity magically zapped the universe into existence, that's all.
2007-12-19 19:47:40 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not believing in God is not a "belief", any more than not collecting stamps is a hobby.
And I live my life to it's fullest, and I appreciate my life much more than people who obsess over a magical paradise that they believe that they go to after they die. This life is extremely precious to me, because I believe that it's all I have. I love and cherish every single day that I have.
2007-12-17 02:41:22 · answer #5 · answered by Jess H 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't think you have really considered what eternal life is really going to be like Brooke.
Why are you spending your life, trying to attain everlasting life, when you don't really know what it is going to be like up there?
Heaven, and life in heaven isn't really detailed in the bible. There are verses that talk about eating dinner with Jesus, and owning mansions. Others that state that eternity will be spent praising God......but considering you want to spend ETERNITY there, its a bit thin on description.
Everlasting life, doesn't appeal to me at all. Life would lose all meaning. There could no longer be achievement or success, no happy no sad, nothing.....
Life without end would eventually turn into a prison of dullness, and meaningless existence.
I guess you could trust that god would fix that for you, but based on the evidence, its a choice of belief based on emotion, not on reality.
Edit - Maurice, its not that we want to disbelieve, its that we CAN'T believe given the lack of evidence. If God would reveal himself in a meaningful way to a majority of mankind, in a similar fashion, you wouldn't have the 'atheist problem'.
2007-12-17 02:20:12 · answer #6 · answered by ɹɐǝɟsuɐs Blessed Cheese Maker 7 · 5⤊ 1⤋
That sounds like a personal problem to me, don't try to transfer your fears in the guise of so called hopes to me. When I die that is it, there is no heaven, no hell or coming back so while you are breathing make sure you have a good life and you leave behind a lot of people that knew and loved you. In the end you have to die to make way for life so no life is wasted and no one can escape it and everyone shares in the same end as we all shared the same beginning.
2007-12-17 02:34:08 · answer #7 · answered by calmlikeatimebomb 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I look forward to all of the things in my life that make me happy. I have many hopes. For my family, my country, the world...Just because my truth is different from yours doesn't make my life a dismal wreck. I am very happy, healthy and functional contributing member of society.. It shouldn't puzzle you at all. Just think about how strongly you hold your "beliefs". It's the same for me.
2007-12-17 02:23:12 · answer #8 · answered by Blame Amy 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋
I have plenty of meaning and hope in my life, also plenty of love and respect. I don't need the promise of something beyond my time on this earth to validate my existence. Life is beautiful as it is and I need nothing more than that.
I believe in a lot of things - I just don't believe deities to be real nor do I believe the doctrines surrounding them. Even subtracting that, there is still a lot of things on this earth left to believe. For example, I believe that basically human beings are good and want to help each other because it enhances their society.
2007-12-17 02:19:53 · answer #9 · answered by genaddt 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋
This question gets asked a lot. You have to understand that, from my point of view, the idea that the only way to have hope is by supernatural means and the only thing to keep one going in life is the chance for an after life is very bizarre. Your way of thinking is just as strange to me. I have hopes and dreams and enjoy my life fully without the necessity for supernatural entities. That you require one is totally alien to me.
2007-12-17 02:21:57 · answer #10 · answered by zero 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋