Atheism means giving up more than religion.
Eventually there comes a time when we as rational adults have to give up some things in the face of logic.
Religion is probably the biggest hurdle.
Besides giving up the belief in a nostalgic paradise after death, there are a ton of other modes of thought we have to let go of.
Here is a list of the things I miss believing in:
Karma- The world isn't fair. Bad things happen to good people, and vice versa. The idea that the dickheads of existence would eventually get what's coming to them had always been a comfort to me. Call it hell, karma, justice or whatever, the fact of the matter is that humans are imperfect, so is our system of fairness. Our laws and punishments don't work 100% of the time. Nature itself is only fair in such a broad way, it does little to appease the individual situations that I am forced to witness. I want people to be held accountable, damnit! Letting go of that notion was hard for me.
Ghosts/ESP/Astrology/Whatever- Right, not so much the astrology for me personally, but I have always been in love with the supernatural. In fact, I do still cling on to this notion more than any self respecting atheist should. Evidence points to the conclusion that there is no "beyond the veil" but I just like to think that there are energies/dimensions/again, whatever out there that science hasn't discovered the technology to explore yet, let alone explain. As I said. I LIKE to think that. I'm not saying I do (anywhere but in the secret fantasies of my own overly imaginative brain.) All technology is magic to anyone sufficiently ignorant to it's workings. Hell, my iphone could be a wizard's wand for all I know....right? Anyway. I mourn the ghost stories of my childhood. I have to realize that frightening coincidences are just that. Coincidence.
Friends and Family- While this isn't a system of belief so much as it is a real, physical loss, I have to realize that there are some people out there that cannot accept my lack of faith. These people have systematically cut me from their lives. It was probably the most humane thing to do, in all honesty. I know there are certain right-wing god-fearing women out there that I love but can no longer stand the presence of due to the drastic differences in our ideology. :(
Someone looking out for me- Religion teaches you that there is always someone that loves you, and there is always some master plan. Even if things are bad now, they will be better soon, and all problems will be magically resolved as long as you keep the faith. As much bullshit as it is, the feeling that I don't have too much responsibilities for my failures was always a nice one. Especially now when I'm underemployed. Oh what I'd give to be able to sleep at night knowing that god doesn't close a window without opening a door.
Ultimate enlightenment- Even as a child, the concept of heaven sounded flimsy to me. It was.. well.. boring. But learning all the answers to the questions I accumulated was the one thing that made it ok to die. Oh... that and pet heaven. I am far too curious to sit on a fluffy cloud and play the harp, but I would like to know EVERYTHING that has always bugged me.
So that's my list. I'm sure I'll think of more later on.
You guys tell me about the things you miss now!
Religion is probably the biggest hurdle.
Besides giving up the belief in a nostalgic paradise after death, there are a ton of other modes of thought we have to let go of.
Here is a list of the things I miss believing in:
Karma- The world isn't fair. Bad things happen to good people, and vice versa. The idea that the dickheads of existence would eventually get what's coming to them had always been a comfort to me. Call it hell, karma, justice or whatever, the fact of the matter is that humans are imperfect, so is our system of fairness. Our laws and punishments don't work 100% of the time. Nature itself is only fair in such a broad way, it does little to appease the individual situations that I am forced to witness. I want people to be held accountable, damnit! Letting go of that notion was hard for me.
Ghosts/ESP/Astrology/Whatever- Right, not so much the astrology for me personally, but I have always been in love with the supernatural. In fact, I do still cling on to this notion more than any self respecting atheist should. Evidence points to the conclusion that there is no "beyond the veil" but I just like to think that there are energies/dimensions/again, whatever out there that science hasn't discovered the technology to explore yet, let alone explain. As I said. I LIKE to think that. I'm not saying I do (anywhere but in the secret fantasies of my own overly imaginative brain.) All technology is magic to anyone sufficiently ignorant to it's workings. Hell, my iphone could be a wizard's wand for all I know....right? Anyway. I mourn the ghost stories of my childhood. I have to realize that frightening coincidences are just that. Coincidence.
Friends and Family- While this isn't a system of belief so much as it is a real, physical loss, I have to realize that there are some people out there that cannot accept my lack of faith. These people have systematically cut me from their lives. It was probably the most humane thing to do, in all honesty. I know there are certain right-wing god-fearing women out there that I love but can no longer stand the presence of due to the drastic differences in our ideology. :(
Someone looking out for me- Religion teaches you that there is always someone that loves you, and there is always some master plan. Even if things are bad now, they will be better soon, and all problems will be magically resolved as long as you keep the faith. As much bullshit as it is, the feeling that I don't have too much responsibilities for my failures was always a nice one. Especially now when I'm underemployed. Oh what I'd give to be able to sleep at night knowing that god doesn't close a window without opening a door.
Ultimate enlightenment- Even as a child, the concept of heaven sounded flimsy to me. It was.. well.. boring. But learning all the answers to the questions I accumulated was the one thing that made it ok to die. Oh... that and pet heaven. I am far too curious to sit on a fluffy cloud and play the harp, but I would like to know EVERYTHING that has always bugged me.
So that's my list. I'm sure I'll think of more later on.
You guys tell me about the things you miss now!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Noel on -
As a boy my mom dropped me off at my dads & stepmom's and never returned. I was four. After a week with my stepmom I would pray long and hard for my mom to come back and get me. But she never did. My stepmom practiced Voodoo/Brujeria. She kept statues of saints in her bedroom and gave them african gods names. As a boy they were scary.
They'd send me off every Sunday, to a Catholic Church, by myself, and there I'd pray long and hard for my mom to come back and save me from the daily ass whippings. She never came back. I'd return from Church and there was my stepmom, bouncing around the floor as if in a trance, trying to speak in tongues. While in her "trance" she'd accuse me of using heroin (I was nine), stealing, and doing all kinds of dastardly things. Did I mention I had just returned from church? Soon the "spirit" would leave her and she'd go about her business as if nothing had happened. As a boy that was scary.
At around the age of 14 I started eating the fruit, that she'd leave in a bowl for "Chango"(the African God), and stealing the change she'd put in a chalice for "Obatalla". I then flip them all off. I was no longer scared. I no longer went to church either. I became aware that the "Supernatural" was all bullshit. But I still prayed long and hard for my mom to walk through that door. I finally met her at the age of 19, just before I joined the Navy. We still don't keep in touch. So much for praying.
I don't miss the supernatural. I don't miss astrology, ghost, spirits, and African Gods.
As a boy if I did not have something that I thought would come to my rescue, ie. god, my experience would have probably have been even more frightening. God gave me hope. I was still scared but I always hoped.
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Permalink Reply by Mario Rodgers on -
"So much for praying."
I like that. You've experienced first hand how much religion ruins lives and what a crock of crap it all is.
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Permalink Reply by Noel on
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Yeah Mario: I think what gave it away was the practicing of Voodoo but telling me to be a good boy and go to the Catholic Church to worship god........ It's all bullshit.... trust me (laughing)
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Permalink Reply by Mario Rodgers on
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Voodoo is the love child of African paganism and Christianity. As if the Catholic Church wasn't evil enough.
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Permalink Reply by Mario Rodgers on
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And what they say about Catholic guilt is true. Half of my family tree is Filipino. That stupid shit almost destroyed my brain. I didn't need that crap on top of my depression, so I told God and the Catholic Church to take a hike.
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Permalink Reply by Medicine*Woman on -
I would really, really miss think atheist if I missed it even one week!
Yeah, I'd also miss my family of four adult children who refuse to get beyond their childish sibling rivalries. They also prove to me there is no god.
I'd also miss those people I love who are delusional... too far-removed from reality... to even communicate logically with anymore, and not just about religion, but about everything else.
I'd miss my dogs who are atheists like me. Dogs Love. We believe in dogs.
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Permalink Reply by Reggie on -
I'd miss my dogs who are atheists like me. Dogs Love. We believe in dogs.
I can't speak to what delusions dogs may possess, but it doesn't appear that a belief in god is among them!
;-)
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Permalink Reply by John57 on -
I miss the feeling of being able to openly discuss my beliefs without someone arguing with me.
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Permalink Reply by Shine on -
Amen! Even when I was younger and espousing a bizarre mix of Transcendental-karmic-deism (even though I did not realize that was what it was at the time), I still did not receive the outright horror and fierce revulsion that an expression of atheism garners. No matter how crazy or esoteric a belief system may be, people are still generally tolerant as long as you believe in something. I know what you mean about missing that freedom to openly discuss ideas; now that I base my ideas upon logic, reason, and evidence instead of just fantasized beliefs, people seem to have no tolerance.
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Permalink Reply by Kepler's Third on -
The big thing I always miss is the comfort of believing in an afterlife. I always had some pretty liberal ideas about Heaven -- I didn't think any of the pictures people made up of it could be accurate, and I believed that animals went there too. I still believe that people and animals go to the same place when they die. That would be underground or burned and then back to our constituent molecules. ;)
My mother has just told me that our old kitty has oral cancer, and from what I've read this kind of cancer will do its work pretty quickly. The cat will no longer be in pain, which is good, although if it gets worse my mother will have him put down before he's really suffering, probably as soon as she and the vet understand that the cancer is not responding to treatment.
There's nothing comforting to think about with respect to death, like being able to be together again someday, or being reincarnated. I didn't really realize until now how much I'd come to need that comfort, but there's a great big hole there. I suppose being reincarnated, since most religions that believe in it don't actually believe in the continuation of the consciousness or self, is rather like going back to dust. What you were becomes part of the world again.
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