Atheism: An Empty Shell of a Life

[Polymath257]

Because it hurts my soul.

So?

People spreading superstition hurts mine.

 

[Polymath257]

Exactly, it's not your duty to *fix* me, or anyone. Nobody is asking this of you.

Do you say the same about religious folks who want to spread their 'good word'?

 

[Spirit of Light]

Yes, I saw the "maybe". That's why I asked: Why even speculate?

You also speculated again and came to a conclusion:

Is it an empty Shell? Hmmm probably not for them, otherwise they would be on search for something better​

No. Not an empty shell at all. The shell is just as full as yours except it is not filled with your version of "something better". Believing in stories that were written by ignorant men for consumption by ignorant men 6000 years ago or 28 years ago isn't something better by any stretch of the imagination. Rational thinking is far, far better.

I leave you to your belief no need to discuss further. I have no need to attack atheists views anymore. Nothing good will from it anyway. So i am out of the discussion now

 

[Father Heathen]

I realize this. I've spoken to Atheists in the past who were previously believers, and in our deepest conversations they have indeed admitted to feelings of loss.

..Today, they appear to be acting militant IMO.

"Catholics drink the blood of babies."

"Uh, no we don't."

"I knew the Catholics would show up and attack me. What happened to live and let live? They're so militant!"

 

[Cooky]

Name one. All too often, people like you post that you have knowledge of atheists you have encountered but when pressed, it becomes clear that the atheists are nothing more than your own versions of what you think or hope or believe an atheist feels like.

Furthermore, you have stated you don't want to hear from atheists, so what changed your mind? There are atheists here. Don't you want to have "deep conversations" with them/us/me so you can ask about their feelings of loss?

I'll start. I never had any feeling of loss when I realized I did not believe in any gods. Quite the contrary, it was enlightening.

You're calling me a liar...

But I have evidence, posts 12 and 21 and there are more here. The Atheist path; a path of liberation or of necessity?

...Sorry that I have to *PROVE* that I'm not a liar.

<EDIT> ... and of course there was post 38:

I found my path from believer to atheist painful and difficult. I feel I just have ended up here because no other option seemed correct. There are times I wish I could go back to the sense of security I had as a theist.

 

[Cooky]

...So don't tell me that I'm making stuff up. Shame on you, @ecco.

 

[Cooky]

Of course. You openly made an assertion about a group of people who would obviously disagree. Nobody knows a life better than the one actually living it, after all.
What are you attempting to achieve with this post?

You all are much more militant than my former group of Atheist friends.

 

[Cooky]

Do you say the same about religious folks who want to spread their 'good word'?

Yup. I'm serving as the counterbalance. The atheists are out of hand here. Proselytizing constantly.

 

[Cooky]

So?

People spreading superstition hurts mine.

What..? You believe in the soul? Or are you fibbing now?

 

[Cooky]

Of course. You openly made an assertion about a group of people who would obviously disagree. Nobody knows a life better than the one actually living it, after all.
What are you attempting to achieve with this post?

Were you ever a believer in the past? Did you used to pray?

 

[ecco]

To the OP:

How do you know how you would feel if you were an atheist? You are working from a reference frame of complete ignorance.

and you have made an assumption

it may be true.....the poster of the op might not understand …..not believing

Well, my comments were not addressed to you, were they. They were addressed to a poster who has stated that he thinks occasionally feeling bad about god is atheism. As I wrote to him, it isn't.

So, my comment really was not an assumption as you assumed. It was based on comments that you could have read and understood just as I did.

but that would not be true of me

I do understand.....nonbelief

Understanding non-belief does not make you an atheist. I understand blind belief, that does not make me a theist.

and there are two levels of ignorance
they who are not informed are ignorant
and they who CHOOSE to ignore ….are profoundly ignorant

You are the one who did not understand what the poster said that I responded to. Did you not see his comments, or did you choose to ignore them in order to make disparaging comments about me?

Were you ignorant because you were not informed (didn't bother reading the thread) or were you profoundly ignorant because you choose to ignore his comments?

 

[Cooky]

OK, but that is *very* different than the atheists lives actually being 'empty shells'.

I don't think you're grasping what I'm throwing down.

 

[Cooky]

To the OP:



Well, my comments were not addressed to you, were they. They were addressed to a poster who has stated that he thinks occasionally feeling bad about god is atheism. As I wrote to him, it isn't.

So, my comment really was not an assumption as you assumed. It was based on comments that you could have read and understood just as I did.



Understanding non-belief does not make you an atheist. I understand blind belief, that does not make me a theist.



You are the one who did not understand what the poster said that I responded to. Did you not see his comments, or did you choose to ignore them in order to make disparaging comments about me?

Were you ignorant because you were not informed (didn't bother reading the thread) or were you profoundly ignorant because you choose to ignore his comments?

I've shown you my evidence. What do you want to argue about now?

...You have nothing to lose, and you assume others have nothing to lose with atheism, but you are wrong. And @Polymath257 said he doesn't care, which is sad and depressing to me that someone could be so callous.

 

[Cooky]

"Catholics drink the blood of babies."

"Uh, no we don't."

"I knew the Catholics would show up and attack me. What happened to live and let live? They're so militant!"

Atheism is not a group. You have nobody and nothing to defend.

...Don't pretend like you do.

 

[Cooky]

Proseltyzation in general "hurts people". That said, very rarely does any actual atheist go out of their way to "spread non-belief." 99.9% of the time it's Christians trying to convert others, impose their beliefs, etc.

It's not true here.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I want to ask people if they see the same thing about Atheism -that it's an empty shell of a life. I'm not talking about scriptures, church, beliefs, facts or anything else... I just want to see if anyone else sees that no connection to divinity feels empty, and lacking... your opinions would be appreciated.

I kinda get what you're saying. I don't see no connection to divinity is empty. The reason why is that I'm starting to see action as identity. So, what I do is the connection in and of itself. It's not empty when one's behavior shapes one's identity. So, basically, your behavior is the connection-not divinity.

So, say I'm jogging. To someone who believes in divinity, the act of jogging is motivated by the divine; that's the connection. That's why he keeps going. To someone else, the connection is the jogging itself. When you jog, that's the motivation.

As for the theology of it, I started learning this through physical activity. You kinda "see" the connection in your actions instead of seeing the connection through your motivations.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

really, I only want to hear from theists.

...Atheists can post freely. But don't expect me to agree with something that goes against my conscience. It won't happen.

Are there atheist you agree on how a subject makes sense logically regardless one's personal beliefs about the issue?

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Why are you presuming comments from atheists on this topic would go against your conscience? Some might even agree with your assessment and so could give you much more insight than anyone looking on from the outside.

Listening to people who believe different things to you can be informative in general terms, offering insight in to exactly this kind of question. I feel that understanding people you disagree with on some key issue is probably more important than understanding people you agree with.

There we go!

 

[Father Heathen]

You all are much more militant than my former group of Atheist friends.

I'm not even an atheist (I'm somewhere between deist/pantheist and agnostic) nor do I have any desire to change what other people believe.
How people choose to act upon those beliefs is another matter, however.

 

[Polymath257]

I don't think you're grasping what I'm throwing down.

Clearly not. maybe you should be more explicit in what you are trying to say.

My life is full and rewarding: anything but an 'empty shell'. Maybe *you* would be unhappy being an atheist, although I suspect your previous unhappiness was more about your doubts than anything else. But that isn't relevant to whether an atheists life is an empty shell.

From my perspective, trying to always suck up to a supernatural deity seems empty and unrewarding.