chairman bill wrote:

redwhine wrote: ...or perhaps you are in the habit of randomly selecting parts of posts without really reading them and making comments on them (...that would explain a lot! ...)

What would it explain? Examples?

Quote mine (misrepresenting my intent).

Here's what I actually posted...

redwhine wrote: ...or perhaps you are in the habit of randomly selecting parts of posts without really reading them and making comments on them (...that would explain a lot! ), and assume that others do likewise.

The all important and would suggest that it was not serious. They did not get there by accident.

chairman bill wrote:

redwhine wrote:Not many atheists I know would say, "Then I realized...there IS a God, but it's not what I thought it was."

And he went on to explain 'God' as being an internal state, not 'God' as an external, supernatural entity.

A god is a god is a god. To say that one believes in a (different) god is still belief in a god. Believing in the existence of a god renders one a theist, not an atheist.

redwhine wrote:Quote mine (misrepresenting my intent).

Not a quote mine, because I had no intention of misrepresenting you

redwhine wrote:Here's what I actually posted...

redwhine wrote: ...or perhaps you are in the habit of randomly selecting parts of posts without really reading them and making comments on them (...that would explain a lot! ), and assume that others do likewise.

The all important and would suggest that it was not serious. They did not get there by accident.

OK. Thanks for clarifying

redwhine wrote:A god is a god is a god. To say that one believes in a (different) god is still belief in a god. Believing in the existence of a god renders one a theist, not an atheist.

Not where 'God' is used metaphorically.

NeedAnswers wrote:Hope your questions/concerns were addressed.

Thank you, yes. However...

NeedAnswers wrote: Well, I appreciate the question although I feel it has already been answered several times throughout. As you might have read, I am not really given to stereotypes, i.e. the archetypal atheist who doesn't believe in anything he cannot see, smell, taste, touch, rahhh and rahhh rahhh there is no God 100% NO GOD don't even use the word and blah blah.

...an atheist merely lacks belief in god/s. Some atheists may fit your descriptions, but it is over and above their atheism.

Heh, I thought about posting that clip, as it is very apt. As for being an atheist making me depressed: no. And if I for some reason had been religious and been happier, the crash had been so much harder the day I would've realised that religion is just an opiate for the people.

maik wrote:

NineOneFour wrote:

JCDenton wrote:As a muslim I have to ask you guys if being an Atheist makes you depressed.

No, but living in and around teabaggers does.

Still better being an atheist than muslim.

I don't know...living in a teabagger sounds pretty rough.

Mister Agenda wrote:

maik wrote:

NineOneFour wrote:

No, but living in and around teabaggers does.

Still better being an atheist than muslim.

I don't know...living in a teabagger sounds pretty rough.

Especially for the teabagger.

To the OP: it was actually a relief when I realized I had become an atheist. The more I learned about logic and science and the universe, the harder it was to save a space for God, and eventually I was only doing so because I didn't want to be close-minded. Eventually I realized it isn't close-minded to not accept something as true if the evidence and reasoning for it aren't convincing. And it was a greater benefit to my mental health to be an atheist than I ever thought it would be: I no longer had appeal to God for my misfortunes (or fortunes), it was up to me to accept or adapt to whatever came my way. I had to take responsibility for my life in a way that wasn't possible for me when I thought I had to conduct my life in such a way as to please an entity that would supposedly punish or reward me after my death. And speaking of death, it has improved my life significantly to accept that my identity will evaporate when I die, this is the only life I'll ever have: and I'm lucky to have it. I get to experience a natural universe that is so amazing that I am now baffled by the notion that it is somehow incomplete if it doesn't have the supernatural as well. It's just greedy to want to live for ever on top of the life I get already. Besides, in my mind a person's life is a story, and a story without an end is never truly complete.

Shrunk wrote:

Mister Agenda wrote:

maik wrote:
Still better being an atheist than muslim.

I don't know...living in a teabagger sounds pretty rough.

Especially for the teabagger.

Yeah, definitely lose-lose.

it makes me responsible. It makes me know that it just is me whom I can blame most of the time.

The OP hasn't returned. Is he depressed because it seems like atheists have more fun? Sure beats abasing yourself five times day and not getting any beer or bacon for the trouble...

I'm feeling kinda depressed because he hasn't returned. Yes, I'd say that this sort of thing makes me depressed. But I suppose listening to willful self-delusion makes me even more depressed, so maybe it's all for the best...

JCDenton wrote:As a muslim I have to ask you guys if being an Atheist makes you depressed.

Unsuprisingly, this is not a rational question.
How can a mental condition of being depressed be caused by the null mental condition of 'absence of belief'.
There can be no link between the two mental states. An 'absence of belief' cannot be the cause of a depression about itself.
If it did then there would positive feedback leading to paranoic depression or there must be a 'chink in the armour' of the non-belief allowing a connection, a longing, (however fleeting) to a past belief.

Dunno if that makes sense. At the moment I feel that I've just strung a load of words together...

Alan B wrote:

JCDenton wrote:As a muslim I have to ask you guys if being an Atheist makes you depressed.

Unsuprisingly, this is not a rational question.
How can a mental condition of being depressed be caused by the null mental condition of 'absence of belief'.
There can be no link between the two mental states. An 'absence of belief' cannot be the cause of a depression about itself.
If it did then there would positive feedback leading to paranoic depression or there must be a 'chink in the armour' of the non-belief allowing a connection, a longing, (however fleeting) to a past belief.

Dunno if that makes sense. At the moment I feel that I've just strung a load of words together...

If belief in a god exists to dispel our existential anxiety, then we are confronted with our mortality, else we need some other mechanism to come to terms with this. Depression about death, illnes, injustice, moral relativity could depress some people who have no god to bail thm out. A theist has recourse to a god's mysterious ways, an afterlife, universal justice, etc all of which act to give them something to explain and mitigate the ugliness of our mortality.

Although I classify myself neither as a theist, nor an athiest (I cant stand being in a club), I am unable to accept my material mortality, I am still looking for a way out. I vote it as a reasonable question, even if unintentionally so.

TMB wrote:If belief in a god exists to dispel our existential anxiety, then we are confronted with our mortality, else we need some other mechanism to come to terms with this.

"We"?

Speak for yourself. "I do not fear death, in view of the fact that I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it." (Mark Twain?)

TMB wrote:Depression about death, illnes, injustice, moral relativity could depress some people who have no god to bail thm out.

So no theist suffers from depression?

TMB wrote:A theist has recourse to a god's mysterious ways, an afterlife, universal justice, etc all of which act to give them something to explain and mitigate the ugliness of our mortality.

Not unless their chosen magic man actually exists. Are you able to provide any evidence for such a magic man? Otherwise, they have recourse to delusion. And what is ugly about mortality, please?

TMB wrote:Although I classify myself neither as a theist, nor an athiest (I cant stand being in a club)...

Tough. If clubs they be, you are in one 'club' or the other whether you like it or not. (You either believe in god/s or you lack belief in god/s. If there's a 3rd. option, please enlighten me.)

TMB wrote: ...I am still looking for a way out.

It will come to you eventually. In the meantime, don't worry; be happy. Make the most of the one life you are certain of.

TMB wrote:I vote it as a reasonable question, even if unintentionally so.

What question? Do you mean this one...

As a muslim I have to ask you guys if being an Atheist makes you depressed.

?

I'm still waiting for the OP to get back to me as to why a muslim is compelled to ask that question of atheists. I think he/she is lying about that. If so, then the question is not a reasonable one.

Animavore wrote:Sometimes things in life get me down. Hearing about children dying because their parents prayed instead of taking them to hospital. Or they were outcast or murdered because their parents believed they were witches. Or they were subject to an 'honour killing' because they brought 'shame' on the family. Or they were raped by authority figures and issued threats of a fiery imaginary world if they told. A lot of these things happening to children around the world because the 'grown-ups' in their lives are so riddled with childish superstition that they are are incapable of rational judgement is a cause of sadness for me.
Being an atheist though. It's not something I care about. Why would I? It makes little difference to my well-being or that of anyone around me.

QFT

In response to the fly-by OP ... I, like everyone else in the world was born an atheist ... thankfully I've remained that way my entire life.

redwhine wrote:I'm still waiting for the OP to get back to me as to why a muslim is compelled to ask that question of atheists. I think he/she is lying about that. If so, then the question is not a reasonable one.

It's a matter of interpretation.

I took it to mean that he felt "compelled" because he is a muslim not that the the muslim faith insists that every muslim ask the question of atheists.

Never the less, like all trolls err theist post-and-runners that visit here, the question is arrogant and condescending in it's naivety.

@ the OP. If there is any legitimacy in your quest to understanding an alternate world view, then I’d suggest a more humble approach would elicit a more welcoming response. You will find that most members here are more than happy to help with any genuine requests – just don’t metaphorically spit in the face of the person who has provided you a soap box on which to stand.

redwhine wrote: And what is ugly about mortality, please?

Well... for me personally, I see death of sentient life as the ultimate tragedy. You're absolutely right though that turning towards religion is still turning towards delusion. But that's the thing, delusions often give people comfort.

I can understand TNB's description of existential anxiety. I think "Flight from Death" is a good documentary that details this. Here is the trailer:



http://flightfromdeath.com/synopsis.htm

In my personal opinion, I think being dead will be pretty much the same way it was before "you" were born. To many people, this represents a state of hopeless loneliness and the loss of everyone you care about.

Some people, whether they be theist or atheist, argue that our mortality gives "meaning" to life. I do accept this idea that death gives "meaning to life". I adopt the position that it is life that gives meaning to life, and specifically what we do with life during the course of our mortal existence that ultimately should give every individual a sense of purpose, meaning and fulfillment.

Witticism wrote:I took it to mean that he felt "compelled" because he is a muslim not that the the muslim faith insists that every muslim ask the question of atheists.

Now you're just nitpicking. (Or should that be 'picking nits? )

If it's his muslimity( ) that compels him to do something, then why aren't all muslims compelled to do likewise by their muslimness? (That doesn't sound any better than muslimity.) Did allah speak to him personally, saying, "Oh, by the way, over and above all the regular shit I expect of all muslims, I want you to...", or something? Otherwise, he is lying.

TMB wrote:...(I cant stand being in a club)...

Club? What 'club' would that be?
Is that different to a theist 'club'?
Or I can't make up my mind which way to think 'club'?
Or perhaps the 'I don't wanna die' club?

JCDenton wrote:As a muslim I have to ask you guys if being an Atheist makes you depressed.

As a curious Atheist, I have to ask you if being a Muslim makes you depressed?