People with no religion!

[gtrsgrls]

I was just curious as to what keeps you guys going.I mean,I can't imagine living if I'm not living for anything.I'm not searching for arguments I'm looking for feedback.

 

[Malus 12:9]

I was just curious as to what keeps you guys going.

The focusing more on everyday life and not worrying about what a God may
or may not think of me.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

Can you add some bones to your question?
Who are you asking?
What are you asking?

Terry___________________________-
Blessed are the merciful, mercy shall be shown unto them.

 

[Peace]

What keeps me going on is my strong undoubtful belief in God. He is the One to whom I do resort all the time either in time of joy or in time of hardships. In the time of joy I do thank Him and in the time of hardships I do ask His help and support. When I am sad He is the One to soothe me. When I am ill He is the One to cure me. He is my permenant Companion and friend who has never forsaken me. I am so thankful that He is our Merciful God and Creator. Just the mere thought that God is not there will make life meaningless and without taste.

Peace be with you
Peace

 

[michel]

I was just curious as to what keeps you guys going.I mean,I can't imagine living if I'm not living for anything.I'm not searching for arguments I'm looking for feedback.

The way you have phrased that question almost sounds as if, in your mind, people without 'religion' would have no direction.I think you do these people a great injustice by making that comment; frankly, if I was an atheist, I think I would take great umbrage at that suggestion.

I would be no different from what I am today if I was an atheist. I may have one or two extra 'rules' to think about as a Christian than I would if I was an atheist, but that is all; the basic moralities would be identical.

 

[gtrsgrls]

The way you have phrased that question almost sounds as if, in your mind, people without 'religion' would have no direction.I think you do these people a great injustice by making that comment; frankly, if I was an atheist, I think I would take great umbrage at that suggestion.

I'm just saying that in my mind,if had no religion and I was not living for anything,I would look at life kinda empty.This is ONLY MY OPINION.That's why I asked because I wanted to see what other people think.No offence was intended by this.I'm sorry if some was taken.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

...,I can't imagine living if I'm not living for anything.

May I ask your age and family circumstance (parents, siblings, children, etc.)?

 

[fromthe heart]

The focusing more on everyday life and not worrying about what a God may
or may not think of me.

So in other words you just feel that when you're dead you're dead and that's it??? You feel that life is for the taking and there is no higher purpose? You feel life is to what end then? You don't reccognize any power higher than your self?
Do you feel you have it all figured out and that all the people who believe in a higher power are just brain washed by something? I don't understand. I had a friend who felt that when you're dead your dead....when he commited suicide it was because he had no hope of life ever being able to be better than what he'd figured out was life itself...he decided since there was nothing to look forward to that life just wasn't worth living...it still haunts me that I just could not relate to his reasoning or help him understand there was hope for a life beyond the misery of earthly life...he'd once believed in it all and was swayed to feel differently because life gave him too much to deal with and he shot himself right in front of his wife and kids! He had no hope...Do you feel there is no hope in your life beyond what YOU make it??? Is it right that someone can take the hope right out of a person like that and not feel any remorse? I feel that anyone who sways someone from their beliefs take their hope away and are personally responsible should anything happen to that person such as was with my friend!!! I feel that when you sway someone to the belief that there is no higher power you are not informing them but discouraging them to a belief that is yours and is wrong to do and the outcome of the person swayed wrongly puts their blood upon their death on YOUR hands!

That is just my personal opinion. I would like to hear from unbelievers to know what makes them tick if there is nothing to 'tick' for!!!

 

[gtrsgrls]

May I ask your age and family circumstance (parents, siblings, children, etc.)?

I am 16,my dad doesn't live at home anymore,I have 4 brothers and a sister,and what's it to you?

 

[michel]

I'm just saying that in my mind,if had no religion and I was not living for anything,I would look at life kinda empty.This is ONLY MY OPINION.That's why I asked because I wanted to see what other people think.No offence was intended by this.I'm sorry if some was taken.

No offense taken at all; I was just trying to let you know the way I would react if I was an atheist, and giving you something to think about. No worries.......

 

[Ori]

I am 16,my dad doesn't live at home anymore,I have 4 brothers and a sister,and what's it to you?

I don't think Duet is trying to be rude, he is just taking an interest.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I am 16,my dad doesn't live at home anymore,I have 4 brothers and a sister,and what's it to you?

First of all, thanks for responding. I asked because I personally know no one - no one - who has both a family and a life ahead of them but feels that they have nothing to live for other than what is provided by their religion. Granted, my personal acquaintances tend not to be evangelicals., but to say "I can't imagine living if I'm not living for anything" just impressed me as very sad.

As for me: I have a wonderful wife that I enjoy relating to, I've got lots of kids and grandkids that occupy my time and deplete my savings. I've got work. I read voraciously, I'm active in my Temple, I spend quality time at a soup kitchen. I enjoy ballet and theatre. I love the botanic garden and arboretum. I enjoy fantasy football (except for the one here). I live in the Chicago area where the White Sox just won the World Series and where the Art Museum is one of the best in the world. I enjoy vacxation. I am far too fond of good food. I could easily continue ...

Again, to suggest that I might have nothing to live for seems very sad to me, because I have a great deal to live for, and more and more with each passing day.

 

[Malus 12:9]

So in other words you just feel that when you're dead you're dead and that's it??? You feel that life is for the taking and there is no higher purpose? You feel life is to what end then?

Yep, apart from your last statement which I don't understand.

 

[Druidus]

Gtrsgrls, you can't believe in something just because the alternative is worse. If, indeed, there is no afterlife and no religion is correct, then the only honourable, responsible, and mature thing to do would be to believe in no religion. That said, I believe in Pythagorean Druidry; not because it is better than just dying, but because I have verified it for myself.

 

[Malus 12:9]

I don't know what I am living for, but I continue to do so. I personally do not feel religion can solve my endless debt, the fact that I am 30 next month and living wiht my parents, struggling to find work because of my back ( i recieve a work cover kind of allowance), and many other issues that I face.

It is not God or any religion that keeps me going, it's my belief that one day I will accomplish something that will be worth it. I dsbelieve that God can cure depression, or snap me out of debt..or any of those issues. It is up to me to work on and atakes time.

I know this name is not really encouraged but since the days of when I was a different TYPE
of person, things improved. And they were not of God nor belief in a religion.

Anyways I am done, thakyou

 

[painted wolf]

friends, family, the joy of being alive and being able to learn and explore the world around you... there are a great many things to live for... not all people need religion to define themselves.

wa:do

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Gtrsgrls, you can't believe in something just because the alternative is worse.

That is an excellent point.

 

[Faint]

So now a mod is provoking debate on a discussion thread? So be it...

So in other words you just feel that when you're dead you're dead and that's it??? You feel that life is for the taking and there is no higher purpose?

The point is that none of us can be sure of an afterlife, therefore, we cannot rely on one. Happiness is too important to put off until we're dead. It is a fools bet to gamble so much on such a longshot, and totally unnecessary. There is pleasure to be found here, today. Carpe diem, carpe noctem. Take no chances on paradise delayed.

You feel life is to what end then? You don't reccognize any power higher than your self?

Exactly. Why recognize anyone or anything as superior to yourself? What good can come from that? If you think like a slave, then so you will remain.

Do you feel you have it all figured out and that all the people who believe in a higher power are just brain washed by something?

Yes and no. I have most of it figured out, certainly the most important parts. And people who believe unquestionably in a higher power and trade skepticism for blind faith clearly aren't firing on all thrusters.

I don't understand. I had a friend who felt that when you're dead your dead....when he commited suicide it was because he had no hope of life ever being able to be better than what he'd figured out was life itself...he decided since there was nothing to look forward to that life just wasn't worth living...he shot himself right in front of his wife and kids!

He was clearly lost. You think your religion could have saved him? How naive of you. I had a Christian classmate who killed herself because she thought the next life would be so much better than this one.

Do you feel there is no hope in your life beyond what YOU make it??? Is it right that someone can take the hope right out of a person like that and not feel any remorse? I feel that anyone who sways someone from their beliefs take their hope away and are personally responsible should anything happen to that person such as was with my friend!!!

Of course you feel that way. You seem to have nothing better to live for than God. I can't "steal" hope, no one can really. And I think you'd have a hard time proving anyone other than the victim responsible for a suicide. Oh, wait--no, blame Judas Priest music--subliminal messages, after all.

I feel that when you sway someone to the belief that there is no higher power you are not informing them but discouraging them to a belief that is yours and is wrong to do and the outcome of the person swayed wrongly puts their blood upon their death on YOUR hands!

Ah, a biblical reference. Blood on our hands? For trying to help people improve their lives? What if I sway them to a belief that makes them happier? What if I show them there are reasons to live other than for the fear of some imaginary bogeyman or the love of some invisible father figure s/he may never meet? It is very ignorant to assume that one particular belief system is all that prevents a person from killing him or herself.

That is just my personal opinion. I would like to hear from unbelievers to know what makes them tick if there is nothing to 'tick' for!!!

What makes me tick is the pursuit of pleasure and happiness. You should try it sometime. That is my opinion.

 

[Malus 12:9]

So now a mod is provoking debate on a discussion thread? So be it...

Yeah, but my replies don't count as debates, regardless of section, so I replied to FTH's questions..
she aint a bad ol stick sometimes

 

[jamaesi]

Who says I'm not living for anything?


By the way, not all nonTheists believe that when we die it'´s all over for us.