How does being an atheist positively impact your life?

philologos

This is a question that I have wanted to ask for quite a while, it is something that I have been thinking of quite a bit. I'd love to hear how you would all answer this:

How does being an atheist positively impact your life?


Or in another way of saying it:
What advantages are there for you as an atheist, over that of theists?

irish_goat

Get to lie in on Sunday morning.

Wouldn't say it has either way

kev9100

I'm more of an agnostic than an atheist, but I think the most positive benefit of my lack of faith is that I don't have to rely on any church to tell me what I should believe on social issues and society in general.

wonton

it lowers the chance of being sexualy abused when you're a young boy

King Mob

Jakkass wrote: »

This is a question that I have wanted to ask for quite a while, it is something that I have been thinking of quite a bit. I'd love to hear how you would all answer this:

How does being an atheist positively impact your life?


Or in another way of saying it:
What advantages are there for you as an atheist, over that of theists?

Better books.
Not needing to do mental gymnastics to reconcile any benevolent version of God with the world.
Doing good things for the sake of do good and not fear of punishment or desire for reward.
Not having to abide by arbitrary bronze age rules.

But to be honest how does believing in the theory of relativity positively impact you life?

gbee

Guilt free sex.

Especially on a Sunday morning.

Or in the middle or a ripening corn field under a blazing sun and cloudless blue sky, Oh Heaven!

Oh and guilt free, no need to go the man in a black frock and give him ideas .... Jesus, what we used to do?

Pygmalion

I spend my time thinking about how my actions affect real people and society instead of trying to cherry-pick morals from a book that demands several of my friends be murdered for what they do in the bedroom with their partners.

Ickle Magoo

I have a feeling you are just posting so you can systematically argue any points made but hey, I'll bite.

I don't have to be homophobic or misogynistic or support others that are, I get a lie-in on sundays, I had no guilt having pre-marital sex. I get to ask questions and wonder about every and all possibilities without having to toe a party line. I don't think people or persons unknown are watching me and keeping note of any and all misdemeanour's - and I don't get scared of ghosts. My kids won't resent me for signing up their spirituality based solely on the fact I think it sounds good. I don't worry about getting into a heaven - I do nice stuff because I want to. I don't get embarrassed at the latest archaic stance a church takes or have to be associated with whatever nonsense they spout. I don't waffle that if only others opened hearts to invisible beings, etc, etc, etc and I don't have to be the person quoting scripture or killjoy that everyone avoids inviting to parties....I'm sure there are more.

I didn't actually choose to be an atheist because it looked like having a positive impact btw - I just couldn't muster the ability to believe in a god. :cool:

scientific1982

Jakkass wrote: »

This is a question that I have wanted to ask for quite a while, it is something that I have been thinking of quite a bit. I'd love to hear how you would all answer this:

How does being an atheist positively impact your life?


Or in another way of saying it:
What advantages are there for you as an atheist, over that of theists?

I treasure my family and friends that bit more. I have more respect for other humans in general. Im not ruled by a dogma.

Undergod

I can act in a way I find moral without worrying about eternal punishment for disobeying some God's will.

Jeanious

I would say that the independence gained when you realise that no, there actually isn't someone/something watching your every move, every thought and every action was the biggest benefit for me. To drag-up the old Orwellian chestnut, i sometimes felt it was like being watched over by "the thought police", with a touch of your granny/granda thrown in for good measure. Not pretty at all.

Aside from that, the obvious freedom to not have the whole "God did it" thing in my life was a major plus, by which i'm referring to the deaths of relatives, passing exams, driving tests etc. and much more mundane stuff ("Please jaysus let Cascarino score!")....to know that there wasn't a cosmic weighing scales deciding who deserved some good in their life and who deserved something bad.

(By "the deaths of relatives" i mean that when i finally bit the bullet and allowed myself to know and believe the truth that there wasn't any god or any of that, it was a great relief to know deep down that someone didn't die because a) it was god's will b) to test me, etc etc etc. My "mantra" if you like, during the normal course of my life, but especially when someone dies is: "It just is")

Finally, id say that not having my brain obscured by having to believe nice, but virtually baseless fairy tales was a quantum leap for me in terms of my thinking, education and rationalism. I find the whole thing abhorrent to be honest, surely the very basis of education in this country needs a radical overhaul, given that 90-something percent of our schools are run by the catholic church....sorry but i equate that to building on foundations made of sand; on one hand we're trying to have a so-called "knowledge economy", given that we have little or no indigenous industry, while the basis of it is that our kids should believe in something that has no proof going for it whatsoever. It doesn't add up for me, but that's another day's argument.

strobe

I think it would only make sense to apply the question to specific religions I don't believe in, so to pick a random example from the three I am most familiar with;

Christianity: Guilt free pre-martial sex (I know several people have mentioned that already but there is a very good reason for that )

Islam: I am able to view women as equal to men and treat them as such. (which coincidentally helps facilitate the above, so double bonus points on that one)

Judaism: Bacon. 'nuff said.

To be honest I could probably type 1000 words fairly easily picking different examples of rules and beliefs from various religions which because I disregard them have meant my atheism has positively impacted on my life but it wouldn't be anything that isn't pointed out all the time.

Ultimately though, I am free to choose how to live my own life without having to cross check it with the musings of some shams that lived in a very different world, culture and society, a long long time ago.

Gordon

Atheism for me is a side-effect, not a cause.

jimmycrackcorm

Question 2. How does not believing in ghosts have a positive impact on your life?

mardybumbum

I would actually say that it has a negative impact on my life.

strobe

How so Mardy? If you don't mind talking about it.

MrPudding

So some of my things have already been mentioned above, but this is my list.

I like not having guilt. This is not because I don't care about my actions, I do, but because I don't believe I am a bad person because that is how some sky wizard built me. I am a good person and I try to do no harm. I have no need for guilt.

I don't have a manual I have to read to live my life by which does not make any sense and requires so much mental gymnastics to rationalise it takes the fun right out of living. Life is much simpler.

I know it is ok to question things and I can teach my kids the same.

I don't need to take moral guidance of people that don't appear to have morals, or at least any morals I agree with.

I get a really big kick out of being a good person just for the hell of it.

I enjoy life. I am pretty sure this life is all we have, so I am doing my best to enjoy it. I try to have a little negative impact on others as possible and try to raise my children with the same outlook.

The reading is sooo much better.

I get to think people like JC are funny instead of thinking that they know what they are talking about.

I get to enjoy science and what ti gives us. I can read about scientific discoveries and new medical research and procedures and see them for what they are, amazing products of out amazing brains. I don't have to ask a pastor or a priest if it is ok to think they are good.

Oh, almost forgot, lie in on Sunday* and pre-marital sex.

I am sure there is more, but that is all I have right now.

MrP















*Four kids, the Sunday lie in is something I vaguely remember from a life long gone...

Dades

coyle wrote: »

I would say that the independence gained when you realise that no, there actually isn't someone/something watching your every move, every thought and every action was the biggest benefit for me. To drag-up the old Orwellian chestnut, i sometimes felt it was like being watched over by "the thought police", with a touch of your granny/granda thrown in for good measure. Not pretty at all.

This is the only thing I would echo - and it's a going back a good few years now.

I'd be lying if I said there was an impact in my everyday life now. Other than getting to know our little 'community' here, of course.

Goduznt Xzst

Jakkass wrote: »

How does being an atheist positively impact your life?

It doesn't. I could detail how my life is different now that I am no longer following the dogmas of the sect I was raised in, but that is subjective, and is not why I'm Atheist.

It's a Religious motivation that there has to be a carrot on the end of that stick that entices you to remain faithful. It's all about "what will my belief give me?", "If I help and convert these people how is it going to help me escape death?". A theist can't fathom why someone would choose to not believe in something which makes them feel all cuddly and warm. Why, if offered a tasty carrot in exchange for a leap of faith, they'd turn away and prefer to go hungry.

I'd pay a Priest good money to announce at a service: "turns out, none of us will actually be going to heaven or hell once we die, we are gone forever, but God still requires us to follow his doctrines while we are alive"

I wonder how many people would just pack it in right there and find the next Religion down the road that would offer them eternal life. How many people have "faith" purely because of the posthumous payout

mikhail

There have been some good answers above (and some glib ones). I won't repeat them.

My sig is another answer. I don't believe in an afterlife, so this is the life which matters.

Dr. Baltar

Being an agnostic has opened my mind. Where as before I was raised to believe that books such as the Koran were bad and that I should stay on the road of Jesus, I can now freely live my life by numerous different philosophies and take advice from many world religions not just one.

Furthermore, I find that not believing in an afterlife makes me feel extremely good as it means that everything that I do for other people is done because I want to do good deeds and not because I want to please a God.

Furthermore, I now have more socially liberal views, do not believe in a religion that is both homophobic chauvanistic, and I can learn and influence the world with my own understandings rather from understandings read to me from an outdated book.

PeterIanStaker

Loads of sex, and I don't have about 40 kids. Win - win situation.

simplistic2

If I have a child Ill never have to lie to him to justify my own irrational beliefs. Ill never have to put my child in a situation where he has to choose between his father or reason.

Zombrex

Jakkass wrote: »

This is a question that I have wanted to ask for quite a while, it is something that I have been thinking of quite a bit. I'd love to hear how you would all answer this:

How does being an atheist positively impact your life?


Or in another way of saying it:
What advantages are there for you as an atheist, over that of theists?

I don't think atheism positively impacts my life beyond the superficial not having to go to church stuff.

What positively impacts my life is the critical thinking skills that lead to my atheism. I see atheism as simply an end result of those, and I use them all the time and it greatly impacts my life in a positive fashion.

genericguy

big plus one on simplistic2's answer there - i never have to lie to anyone to justify what i say/believe, as all my actions and beliefs are supported by evidence that is reproducible by anyone. i cannot stand the amount of shít some people put themselves through in the name of a god whose existence cannot be proven - people kill for him, they imprison people for crimes committed against him, they discriminate against others for him.

imagine the world was more committed to finding out how things work so that we could improve the place to enhance our enjoyment and comfort in this life, than it is bent on appeasing someone who hasn't even got the common courtesy to pop down for a chat when huge numbers of his staff are raping our children?

the thing i'm most happy about as an atheist though, is that i'm not afraid of where i'm going to go when I die. it always strikes me as odd the fear that the religious have of dying, or of their relatives dying, when they are going to such a wonderful place and getting off this cash-wheel of a planet.

and yeah, i'm pretty successful, the reason being that i'm a thinker and not a superstitious sheep.

legspin

The quiet guffaw I have at the pontifications of folk who are reacting to the echoes of the deluded processes of their own minds, can be satisfying. Indeed, it can be quite catharic.

As can coming here and watching the more strident of the religious types getting their asses handed to them by some of the more erudite posters here.

Being a bit of a trusting soul as a kid, I used to worry about how my actions would affect me in the hereafter. Now all I worry about is how my actions affect those within my circle. It is comforting that there really is no ceiling cat, primarilly 'coz there is no ceiling.

mardybumbum

strobe wrote: »

How so Mardy? If you don't mind talking about it.

Ah it's probably just me being hormonal, but living in a world where the majority of people believe in something so ridiculous makes me lose hope sometimes.

Kinky Slinky

I don't think it impacts your life. Being an atheist isn't a way of life its just your personal opinion.

ShooterSF

Most if not all of the above I'll add my sense of humour. It's sick, twisted, fantastic and I don't have to feel bad about it.

Also reading this thread leaves a nice fuzzy feeling. I might just chose to remember it like it is now...

Zillah

I have observed an estimated 800% smugness increase as an atheist. This is a wonderful feeling.



There's also the other benefits, like not being an insane person who has to constantly beg, wrangle, equivocate and rationalise as though my brain were a square hole and reality were a triangular block. That sounds so tiring. Despite my usually...energetic...presence on this forum, in life I actually float on by quite serenely. I almost never have difficulty with any moral, social or intellectual connundrum. My position resolves itself naturally and easily and I feel no need to justify myself to anyone. The religious think they have serenity down? Feh! Try being a power unto yourself and see how it feels.

ColmDawson

Abandoning religion felt like lumping a big weight off my shoulders. It felt so good not having to expend energy trying to reconcile what was becoming, to me, increasingly obvious bullshit, with my own moral and intellectual compass.

I still feel great.:)

P.S. What Miss Magoo said.

P.P.S. Zillah, I too have enjoyed being a smug, godless bastard.

GLaDOS

Pre marital sex + artificial contraception = guiltless fun with low chance of life changing consequences.


Though I suppose it doesn't count as pre marital if you've no serious intention of getting married

sponsoredwalk

King Mob wrote: »

But to be honest how does believing in the theory of relativity positively impact you life?

By making you want to quit your job because space & time bendwhen you go really fast!

condra

The best thing about being an atheist is not feeling guilty about what I did on the back step of the local church with my gal when I was a teenybopper.

Anyway Jakass, why do you ask?

Osgoodisgood

Jakkass wrote: »

What advantages are there for you as an atheist, over that of theists?

I don't really know. I've never believed in that stuff.
Religion at its best seems nutty and at its worst seems violently nutty, so I'd say I enjoy the advantage of non-nuttiness.

Dades

It's interesting to hear people say that being atheist they can have sex, use contraception, lie in on Sundays etc. You'd swear most "Christians" didn't live in the exact same way. :pac:

Which brings me back to my suspicion that the only difference between most self declared Christians and atheists is not what they do, but what they claim to believe.

bnt

I wouldn't say that atheism "does anything" for me by itself, since it's not a way of life, or a belief system, or anything like that. It's a description of my attitude towards religion in particular, but that's just part of a larger approach to life. If anything, atheism is a side effect of rationality, of skepticism, of an opposition to dogmatism and ideology. This is the rational worldview: start with what is, what we can reliably observe, and take it from there.

There was a thread on the After Hours forum about lying, and I said something like "lying is too much hard work, it's easier to tell the truth". I'm too busy, and lazy, to perform the mental gymnastics required to carry two conflicting worldviews in my head. Life is hard enough already, without making it harder by lying to anyone - myself included. I don't get why people do that to themselves, but then I was never a Believer with a capital B.

So, when I see people calling atheism a belief, or a religion, or an ideology, no wonder I get annoyed. It is the opposite of all those things, it's part of what's left when you free your mind from all such things, regardless of what you call them. Yes, I know it's not possible to be totally rational and scientific in all aspects of my life, but I do think it's important to try, without being a dick about it. :cool:

Stercus Accidit

I don't benefit from being an atheist, I just don't believe in a god.

andrewire

• Thinking and believing whatever I want without following any dogmas.
• Supporting and tolerating people no matter their background, beliefs, religion or ethnic origin.
• Acting without fear of being "punished" by "god".
• No need to give money away for causes I don't care for.
• And, above all: Freedom of the 'self'.

sink

Much the same as other here my atheism has very little impact upon my life, either positive or negative. It's only one repercussion of my belief naturalism which itself is a result of my scientific literacy and inquisitiveness.

Scientific naturalism however has a major impact on my beliefs. It is the lens through which I view the world and it colours everything I see and believe. It's been very positive in my life as it has allowed me to see the world unbiased and free of prejudice. It shapes my moral ethics (humanism), my political beliefs (liberalism), my goals in life (self actualisation). Without it I wouldn't be the same person.

Sam Vimes

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Question 2. How does not believing in ghosts have a positive impact on your life?

And if someone told you how great their life was since they started believing in ghosts would you, or could you, start believing in them?

The perceived benefits of a belief system have no bearing on the likelihood of it being true. I would be an atheist even if every atheist in the world spent their whole lives in a deep depression. Two of my friends have died in the past few years and Jakkass' question is like asking me how believing they're dead benefits my life. I don't choose to believe they're dead. They are dead and they're going to stay dead regardless of what I choose to believe and how much happier it would make me if they weren't

That said being an atheist does bring many benefits that have been mentioned already

MrPudding

Stercus Accidit wrote: »

I don't benefit from being an atheist, I just don't believe in a god.

I find it strange that people on this thread, not just yourself, do not feel a personal benefit from not believing in god.

I understand that it is simply not believing in god, but I genuinely think I benefit from this simple piece of unbelief.

MrP

philologos

One point: Could we try and refrain from complaining about the question, and just attempt to answer it. Some of the answers have been particularly good so far.

Zombrex

Jakkass wrote: »

One point: Could we try and refrain from complaining about the question, and just attempt to answer it. Some of the answers have been particularly good so far.

Perhaps if you clarified why you asked the question ...

philologos

Wicknight wrote: »

Perhaps if you clarified why you asked the question ...

Out of pure interest. That's the reason I've largely remained out of the discussion apart from the OP.

Dades

Jakkass wrote: »

Out of pure interest. That's the reason I've largely remained out of the discussion apart from the OP.

I think now we're on the fourth page it's time to jump back in. Otherwise this thread will go the way of every other hit and run question posted.

We're not lab mice.

Sam Vimes

Jakkass wrote: »

One point: Could we try and refrain from complaining about the question, and just attempt to answer it. Some of the answers have been particularly good so far.

Assuming that we managed to convince you that becoming an atheist would make your life better, would you consider becoming an atheist or would what you consider to be the truth of god's existence be more important to you than the benefits gleaned from convincing yourself of something that you know isn't true?

Gregor Samsa

Jakkass wrote: »

How does being an atheist positively impact your life?

I get to answer questions like this.

Tordelback

In no way does it make my life better. I'd prefer to have the comfort of a firm belief in a fluffy afterlife with my loved ones and pets, the assurance that everything that happens is for some ineffable greater good, and my morality defined for me by men in frocks. But I can't and it isn't and I won't. I don't have a choice in the matter. Once you see through the poppycock all you have is the here and the now.

Any advantages conferred by the knowledge that you're 'living your one and only life' are counterbalanced by the endless friction of pursuing your course through an allegedly religious society - endlessly negotiating schools, christenings, funerals, relatives, justifying your obstinacy, it all takes its toll. I'd say it's a tie.

robindch

Jakkass wrote: »

What advantages are there for you as an atheist, over that of theists?

No longer having to bend reality to make it coincide with a book full of clearly-made up stories?