The misconception thread made me think of this topic. Many people seem to think that atheists are a pretty unhappy and bitter bunch. I used to perceive atheists that way too before I became one myself.
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So what it is about atheism that makes you a happy person in general?
For me it was getting rid of the creepy feeling that someone's constantly watching/judging my every move. And also that there is no such thing as "sin" - I can basically do whatever I want (as long as I don't hurt anyone) without feeling guilty. That has been a big weight off my shoulders.... more than I even realized I was carrying around. If I feel like I can get high, have all sorts of sex with my husband, laugh at silly shit, eat something weird and then wake up on Sunday morning without a worry in the world. Have some more sex, get up and do basically nothing with my day if I don't feel like it. In short, I'm simply free and that makes me happily enjoy life as it is at any given moment. No guilt, no worries, inner peace and no more being a friggin' PRUDE about any- and everything :)
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An uplifting subject :D
I'm basically happy about seeing reality for what it is. To realize that this is the life we have, instead of waiting for the "life after death". I'm at awe when I see nature at work, discoveries in biology and evolution and discoveries in cosmology, and so on.
I'm also happy to be able to teach my kids that they shouldn't take someone's word for it, but instead think for themselves. And to be able to raise them free from the yoke of theism.
I am so happy for (and a little jealous of) your kids! I wish i had had parents like that!
Thanks :)
Does my atheism make me happy? No. My happiness makes me an atheist.
I'm an atheist. What a luck!
Hmm, I don't think my atheism is what makes me happy, but that I happen to be happy and an atheist.
I'm happy to understand myself and everything around me better.
Truth is always better if one is mature enough to appreciate it.
Atheism is just one of the conclusions I arrived at in search for the truth.
JEFF -You are always so serious except when you tell jokes-Then you are funny
Polly what makes me happy being an atheist is ridiculing, belittling, making fun of, laughing at, or criticizing Christianity, Islam and all morons who believe in the invisible man in the sky. It is so much fun. Pragmatic-I just can't help myself. But I can not tell a lie. Belief in God is hilarious and I have such a good time laughing at the incredible stupid idiotic dumbass beliefs of theists. It is so funny. I have such a good time sometimes not "saying" anything just listening to their 'ideas" and laughing.. Such fun. Better than Disney world.
the feeling of being free to do whatever makes me happy........and not giving a shit about where the world is going.........
pulling the pyjamas of religions every now and then .......rubbing the nose of religious on logic and truth sometimes... =P
Never thought about whether atheism is supposed to make me happy or sad or anything else. Certainly happy that I haven't spent the equivalent in time yo years of my life plus ten percent or more of my income over the last 45 years or so to apease a non existent entity
Atheism per se does not make me happy. What makes me happy is having knowledge about how nature works and working to further that knowledge. I never have to revert to the "god works in mysterious ways crap". As others have said, I am also happy about being able to live my life as I see fit without having to worry about what some dude in a funny hat says. Fortunately, religion did not affect me as negatively as it has other atheists, so I feel I am able to be happy, even being surrounded by religion as I am now.
For most people, believing in fairy tales, lies and living in denial gives them happiness. For me knowing the truth gives me happiness. So Atheism doesn't give me happiness but the truth does. And i'm following the truth in atheism.
I don't have to bow to imaginary figure. I don't have to waste my time doing something which is not going to help me in any way in my whole life. I won't blow my self because I know that this is only life I am going to have.
There are more but these make me happy.
I'm just happy to be free finally!
I think in general, atheism in itself does not make you happy. If you close your eyes in a empty room, totally alone with yourself... You will most likely come to the conclusion that you are simply a mind trapped inside a skull.
Furthermore, you might come to the conclusion that everything you think, everything you are in this prison... Doesn't make you happy. In essence, yourself does not make you happy. Everything you enjoy and love, are all things other than yourself. Other than your atheism. It's food, friends, sex, drinks, sports, stories, video games, etc. Atheism does not make you happy, but by far it a stance that is not at all restrictive towards the things you enjoy. You could personally choose to be more restrictive, but atheism does not require it. By recognizing becoming aware if the superstitious traditions that surround us, you're given a chance to cast them off and enjoy more. Thats about all there is to it.
I think that those of us who were indoctrinated into a religion, particularly one that teaches you that you are intrinsically bad, may find that our Atheism makes us 'happy'. I would agree wholeheartedly, but I think this may be more due to just being free after a lifetime of mental slavery and self-loathing without reason. Regardless of the actual cause, I am thrilled for myself and others; and find I am looking at everything with new eyes, possibly because part of my mind isn't tied up worrying about fictional 'big brother' judging my every thought and action.
Atheism itself is not what makes me happy. It is just nice to know that there are many other people out there that also find these things just as ridiculous as I do, and who choose not to ignore, and overlook reality and things for what they are. You certainly don't run into many people like that everyday. I've always said, if there are 5 fingers in front of you, don't try to convince yourself, and others that there are only 3. People will see what they WANT to see, and disregard what they really DO see, or refuse to acknowledge what they really DON'T see. Getting off the subject for a momment, "Polly," it sounds like you are having an awful lot of sex...could you possibly speak to my wife??!!
After half a century of mostly indifferent belief in Christianity that just did not make sense to me, followed by a period of intense research, I admitted to myself late last year that I am an atheist. Then came the moment, "Well, if I don't believe in God, there is no Heaven." It took me a little while to adjust to that, but the lack of Heaven was more than compensated for by the thought, "Then there is no Hell either!"
As a consequence of these realizations, I now cherish every single day and the multiplicity of interactions with people, our cats and the world outside my door.
Additionally, for the longest time, I had a vague sense that I was a closet bohemian. I was not; I was really a closet atheist and did not know it. Having resolved that misunderstanding, I now have a sense of inner peace that was not present before.
In summary, and at the risk of sounding a bit corny, yes, I am a happier person since I became an atheist.
In some ways its made me more miserable than ever. Everyday I know that I’m awake free from the mental rape and slavery of Christianity only to be reminded that out of the eight people in this house that I’m the only one fully awake. The crosses in their eyes fill me with pity and contempt for my theist relatives way of thinking and spewing of poisons that pollute me (religious rhetoric), with my grandmother being the worst offender (I could probably write a book on that woman alone).
My little brother is what I would call groggy (he doesn’t buy into the religious machine, but still clings tenaciously to the concept of a literal higher power). My theist mother asked me three days earlier if I’d mind if she prayed for me (I told her I didn’t). In terms of religious toxicity I would rank them, from tolerable to lethal:
Older Cousin (too special needs to be religious), Little Brother(very lax deist, doesn’t buy into dogma or sin and knows the bible is full of shit), Grandfather, Little Sister, Aunt, Mother (Christian, knows the bible is full of shit, but her definition of what God and Faith is happens to be so flexible she can NEVER be convinced its a lie) Grandmother (mindless fundamentalist Christian fuckwit).
The more I look at my family, the more I think the Klan has a point about blacks being stupid apes. And it does nothing but fill me with contempt and shame that I have to even consider those subhuman’s as having anything close to a valid point. Only about 0.5% of African Americans call themselves Atheists with 85% (I know its somewhere in the 80’s) are Christian.
I just got the God Delusion today on my Kindle and I spent five hours stuck in a car listening to some blowhard preach to me from a CD. I think I’m just going to read a chapter or two, crack open a cream soda, eat my country fried chicken dinner and cry myself to sleep for a nap.
You sound weary, Xyber. I think many of us get that way from time to time. You are probably just like those of us who get profoundly weary but then pick it back up the next day. Keep purging with posts like this as you need to. I get it.
I would agree with that statement. Its just so hard not to just tell them off. But if I did tell my Grandmother where I stood I'd probably be thrown out, and right now I'm not in a good place for that. Mother knows. Still thinks I'm in denial. Just refuses to accept I'm an Atheist.
I think I'm just going to take my Bible, rip out a few pages and use them to wipe the next time I use the restroom. Some casual blasphemy.
Bible tp....cathartic! :-)
Stay strong.
Fundamentalist religious zealots, pseudo-science believers, conspiracy theorists and extremely ignorant self-servers make me want to resume smoking tobacco with reckless abandon, and shorten the torturous span of life I must spend with them. I'm living in a state and family chock full of them, so I understand completely the frustration you deal with.
But keep your chin up, eventually people will have to face reality. We'll be there to say "told 'ya so." and then guide them with realistic, practical solutions.
Somehow my comment posted twice, edited this one to shorten the acci-spam.
Freethinking and atheism have made me extremely happy due to the 'free' sensation I get from believing that religion is nothing but empty lies (based on empirical evidence, especially!)
For me, being an atheist is very much like being freed from slavery... And looking at those who are cowed into (willing!) slavery by people who lie to them every day makes me grateful that I have the intelligence, willpower and the wisdom to not believe anything until it can be verified.
I also like living in real life.... It allows me to enjoy fiction that much more, knowing that it is truly an 'escape from reality' to play games, read a book and so forth.
...Not to mention, it's a great comfort to hear "The surgery will go well, because I graduated medical school and have worked on 200+ patients successfully so far with these new tools and techniques" RATHER than "The surgery will go well because god."
I raise a quite real ale to all skeptics, freethinkers, agnostics and atheists out there. You are among the few (so far) who had the willpower to break the mental chains of religious indoctrination and slavery!
As a last note... Atheists like me have the power of common sense to give our lives meaning.... Rather than reading a book that tells us "You were fated to work minimum wage because god said so", we realize that our managers are screwing us over so they can pocket the change.... And we demand better! Huzzah to the "lens of truth" we possess in deductive reasoning.
It makes me fearless of an imaginary CRUEL used to be friend of mine.