Are Atheists Happy?

[Kilgore Trout]

You might as well have asked, "Are people with mustaches happy?"

Well, except for the fact that the answer to that is a resounding, and unmistakable, "YES!"

 

[invisible chzbrgr]

I'm happy overall. I have a lot of love in my life, I'm not on the street, I haven't lost friends or family to a natural disaster, I have a job, we have a house, we have clean running water, we are making plans ... we have worries but nothing debilitating.

I have a feeling that some might think atheists are actively avoiding finding "peace" in god, rather than just accepting thatthere is no god other than that which you imagine to be.

In other words, like some in this thread were saying, all peace and happiness simply must come from within. How else do you explain why two people in the exact same situation, might feel so differently about it?

So whatever you think you're getting from god, it's coming from you, you, you. I don't see this as a bad thing; it means you are much stronger and more full of love and ability to be happy than you think you are. Attributing it to god unfortunately negates you in the equation.

Atheism is not merely the opposite of theism; atheism is a blank slate, everyone moves on from there. There is nothing about atheism that says, "If you're unhappy, you're doing atheism wrong." lol

My husband was miserable when he thought he was a sinner; he hated god, he loved god, he rejected god, he bowed before him and begged him for forgiveness. It was an ugly cycle. I think he'd say he's much happier now, but that's just him.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

There are theists who lack a belief in deity? Weird.

To be perfectly honest, anymore, nothing surprises me about what sort of contradictory/incompatible beliefs people can simultaneously hold.

 

[tomspug]

I think that happiness is a state of mind. A child can know nothing other than love and be happy. Happiness is also objective. There is false happiness, which is comparative "I think (or believe) I'm happy", and there is true happiness, which is the result of knowing that you are loved.

 

[linwood]

If the right answer to whether God exists or not turns out to be a positive answer, (i.e. yes, God does exist), then it would make sense that His Guidance is the right and sustainable way to inner peace

I don`t see why.
The mere fact that a god exists is not indicative of his nature.
He may be a god I wholeheartedly disagree with.

Being alone in this world is not like being with God .....

To me being alone and being with god is the same thing.
But then again I see the act of praying as a highly ritualized episode of talking to yourself.

 

[Imagist]

I think that atheists as a whole are probably more happy than theists, but it's not a causal relationship. The kind of people who become atheists are already happy because they are well-adjusted. It takes a certain self-confidence to give up one's invisible support, and that same self-confidence would lead one to be happy.

 

[Riverwolf]

Well, aren't buddhists atheists to the strictest definition? You don't have a belief in a deity, but you do believe in some spiritual stuff, right? I might be wrong, but thats what I thought buddhism is.

Some versions of Buddhism have gods; especially the original version which was an extension of Hinduism.

I'm pretty sure Tibetan Buddhism has gods.

Not sure about Zen.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Some versions of Buddhism have gods; especially the original version which was an extension of Hinduism.

I'm pretty sure Tibetan Buddhism has gods.

Not sure about Zen.

God kept tracking mud into the zendo, and raiding the fridge, and was consistently hollerin on about how no one pays any attention to him, so he up and left for good.

 

[rojse]

You might as well have asked, "Are people with mustaches happy?"

But I'm unhappy because I don't have a mustache.

 

[darkendless]

I am only unhappy because i have to cut my hair...... then i will no longer be metal *tears*

 

[maro]

Cordoba, great question.

No, I don't think atheism leads to happiness or inner peace; nor does it lead away from it. I don't pretend to know what will lead everyone to happiness and inner peace, but for me, that comes from love for my family and friends, keeping perspective, being honest with myself, having values and beliefs which transcend myself, and human solidarity.

Actually, the first and most important step, for me, to be happy and have inner peace is in the form of all those "little things". Little things like....smiling at the cashier at the grocery store, saying "hello" and moving out of the way when people are coming towards you on the sidewalk, helping a friend with his/her homework, and so on. If I can do those things, then I can work on bigger things, like equality and justice in my community and the world at large.

I doubt those values would be meaningful with a strict materialistic view of the world... Those who believe in humanism are somehow admitting that the human being that can taste beauty , judge morality , and even sacrifice his life for a higher purpose is more than an ape descendant...And that Humanism is not equal to animalism !!...not only in the degree of intelligence....but in their spiritual and moral qualities...Don't you agree ?

 

[Seven]

Those who believe in humanism are somehow admitting that the human being that can taste beauty , judge morality , and even sacrifice his life for a higher purpose is more than an ape descendant

Why does one have to be more than an ape descendant in order to do those things?

Whether we evolved our sense of beauty and morality or were created with it, the result is the same.

 

[Caladan]

A secular life style is what works for me, and it DOES make me happy, free, and with the means to intellectually explore the world around me without preconditioned bias of a religion, a dogma or deity.
I dont see how can people be happy with a patriarchal (yes im generalizing) God-father dictating sexuality, deviating thoughts, emotions etc.
to me this is a tool to keep people in check by an authority, and many people in the developed world of today have fought hard to seperate this control from the life of the citizen.

As a secular man, I have myself to answer to, and this forces me to think for myself, and to practice critical thought. it also gives me the gift to study and explore world religions without needless attachment, I can construct a bigger picture, and understand the interplay between religious phenomena and the passions of a public.

As an atheist, Im not busy day and night with denying God, its more of a.. OK, im here, if a God wants to relate to me in some way, maybe they know where to find me, till then, there is no reason for me to submit my mind to the god-ideas that others present for me, I can more easily relate to the Buddhist concept of the Ultimate Reality and a divinity which is not worried about dogma, but about logic, and not worried about worship, but about productive intellect and freedom of thought.

 

[Mr Spinkles]

I doubt those values would be meaningful with a strict materialistic view of the world... Those who believe in humanism are somehow admitting that the human being that can taste beauty , judge morality , and even sacrifice his life for a higher purpose is more than an ape descendant...And that Humanism is not equal to animalism !!...not only in the degree of intelligence....but in their spiritual and moral qualities...Don't you agree ?

Well yes, I agree humans are "more" than any animal. A snowflake is "more" than any water molecules. Humans are a unique and special case. But this does not mean there is an inseparable wall between humans and the rest of Nature.

Popular opinion is still catching up, but neuroscientists reached a virtual consensus long ago that all of our qualities, including intelligence and moral judgment, have an inseparable connection to the physical brain (genetics, development, evolution, neurotransmitters, etc.) That is why not all humans have intelligence, or moral judgment, and why there is variation and strange cases. It is why some animals have moral qualities. A great book on the experimental research is Biological Psychology.

As for values not having any meaning in a materialist view....I disagree. There's no logical reasoning, that I have seen, which says that I cannot love other people (for example) without Divine permission.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I doubt those values would be meaningful with a strict materialistic view of the world... Those who believe in humanism are somehow admitting that the human being that can taste beauty , judge morality , and even sacrifice his life for a higher purpose is more than an ape descendant...

Of course... just the same way that a book is more than a bottle of ink and a stack of paper. But neither position is in conflict with a strict materialistic worldview.

Unless it's your position that books have souls; is it?

 

[rockondon]

I'm much happier as an atheist than I was as a Christian. I always hated how it was drilled into us in church that people are essentially sin-filled pieces of crap because I always saw us, and all life, as something beautiful. I was also resentful of those who believed differently than I do, even if they were of the same faith. I even convinced myself that atheists were miserable creatures - such projection made me feel better about my own religious choices.

As an atheist I feel much more free and liberated than I did before. I feel free to appreciate things in a manner that was frowned upon before. I feel free to question the thing that I love to question the most - my own beliefs. I am free to appreciate and examine the views and beliefs of others without it feeling like the differences are an attack on my own belief system.

I'm totally happy. I love life. Every day is a gift. I can't say that's all because of atheism but I think its safe to say that it makes me happier than what I believed previously.

 

[EverChanging]

I doubt those values would be meaningful with a strict materialistic view of the world...

You're wrong. My values are a very important part of my identity and they always have been. I don't need a god to reward or punish me to care about other people, other life, and the earth.

 

[CarlinKnew]

But I'm unhappy because I don't have a mustache.

Haha

Even so, you're just one man without a mustache. From there you can't conclude that everyone without a mustache is unhappy, and everyone with a mustache is happy. I don't have a mustache, and I'm perfectly happy.

So even if someone is unhappy because he's an atheist, that doesn't mean atheists are unhappy. It completely depends on the individual, so this thread is a waste of space

 

[Enoch07]

A secular life style is what works for me, and it DOES make me happy, free, and with the means to intellectually explore the world around me without preconditioned bias of a religion, a dogma or deity.
I dont see how can people be happy with a patriarchal (yes im generalizing) God-father dictating sexuality, deviating thoughts, emotions etc.
to me this is a tool to keep people in check by an authority, and many people in the developed world of today have fought hard to seperate this control from the life of the citizen.

As a secular man, I have myself to answer to, and this forces me to think for myself, and to practice critical thought. it also gives me the gift to study and explore world religions without needless attachment, I can construct a bigger picture, and understand the interplay between religious phenomena and the passions of a public.

As an atheist, Im not busy day and night with denying God, its more of a.. OK, im here, if a God wants to relate to me in some way, maybe they know where to find me, till then, there is no reason for me to submit my mind to the god-ideas that others present for me, I can more easily relate to the Buddhist concept of the Ultimate Reality and a divinity which is not worried about dogma, but about logic, and not worried about worship, but about productive intellect and freedom of thought.

Not that I disagree with anything you said at all. But it is possible to explore other religions extensively and still be a >insert faith here<. I have not mastered any particular religion but I know a something of just about all of them, even a few of the ancient rare ones. I consider myself a Christian because its what I identify with best, but it has in no way restricted my queries. Just thought Id throw that in there. Continue!

 

[Zephyr]

Haha

Even so, you're just one man without a mustache. From there you can't conclude that everyone without a mustache is unhappy, and everyone with a mustache is happy. I don't have a mustache, and I'm perfectly happy.

Then think of how much happier you'd be if you'd grow one.