Sex, Bacon and rock and roll.
I beleive you misunderstand my thoughts a little. And I think your summary is off.
I can enjoy this current life as much as anybody else, and I beleive even more than others.
Imagine for a moment that you knew with 100% certainty that there was a God. This God created you in his image, to worship Him, to give glory to Him.
Ok, you are still imagining that you know for a fact there is a God.
You know, through his Word, that glorifying him through Biblical prinicples brings him honor and glory. That obeying give Him great pleasure. What an awesome thing to be able to do while here on Earth! To make the God of the universe who has created you, and given you life, well pleased. To have Him look down on you with favor. What a wonderful thing to be able to give to Him right now.
Ok, you can stop imagining now !
The wonderful part about pleasing God, is that you can do it no matter what your circumstances, whether in sunny days or the bad ones. The 'afterlife' is not on our minds all the time like I think some people beleive. No, we are very much focused on today.
I totally beleive that many atheists live happy lives, but when you decide (if you decide) to start thinking about the further off questions about life, and what is next, who wouldn't be depressed to not have an answer ?
:thumbsup::thumbsup:What the hell kind of sick bastard would demand my worship? If you are all powerful and all knowing what the hell would you need my worship? And why the hell would you deserve it? The fact he would be sitting up there laughing it up while we are down here worshiping him for essentially doing nothing (save creation if you want to go there). So much war, famine, natural disasters and other things are going on and he still wants my worship? Not today bud, you want to be worshiped? Prove yourself worthy by providing protection, peace, end of poverty, end of hunger. All of this and more is possible if you are omnipotent.
What keeps you going ? What is your hope for your current life?
What keeps you going ? What is your hope for your current life ?
If those are truly your demands, they were met perfectly in the beginning of the world. (garden of eden) There was protection, peace, no poverty or hunger. We don't have that anymore thanks to their prideful decision.
Not reading the whole thread. Read OP.
Here's a good quote from a skeptical podcast that I listen to that I once heard:
"You see, I can live with doubt, and uncertainty, and not knowing. I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing, than to have answers that might be wrong. I have approximate answers, and possible beliefs, and different degrees of certainty about different things, but I'm not absolutely sure about anything, and many things I don't know anything about, such as whether it means anything to ask, "why are we here?"... But I don't have to have an answer; I don't feel frightened by not knowing things." - Richard Feynman
Why would you kill yourself if there was NO afterlife. Wouldn't it make more sense to kill yourself if there was an afterlife?
I don't need religion to give my life value. I don't need religion to give me value when I die.
I think for me it's the absurdity of organized religion. The idea that I need to live my life according to an ancient crazy book so that I can go to heaven after I die is complete rubbish.
Hay guise! Whats going on in this thread?? :awe:
This thread is kind of funny.
I am not a believer but my morals are better than 90% of religious folks, especially Catholics. I don't lie, cheat or steal. I have to live with myself and can't run off to some church and ask for forgiveness so I can start over on my "sins". I do the right thing even when no one else is looking or it may inconvenience me.
As for what keeps me going: life. I have fun and there is beauty everywhere.
Just seeing a gorgeous sunset or woman makes me want to see another one.
Hay guise! Whats going on in this thread?? :awe:
What keeps you going ? What is your hope for your current life ?
I am honestly not trying to start any kind of argument, I legitimately want to know what it is that you look forward to.
If there is no God, if there is nothing after death, if there is no right/wrong determined by a higher power etc. Then, to be blunt, what keeps you from ending it all right now ?
I've had my share of heartache, and I see many many more people with far bigger struggles and troubles.
If I was completely sold on there being no God or afterlife, I sincerly believe I would have put a gun to my head long ago.
Everyone will agree that we take nothing with us when we die. None of our wealth, posessions or even loved ones.
So what is keeping you going ? What do you put your hope into ?
Been thinking about how depressing that would be, and really wanted to hear some feedback.
What do you mean "what keeps you going" as though life could be hard for some Atheists and agnostics? Life is really nice for us, since we have no morals and whatnot. We sleep great after eating the infants, ravaging the virgins, besmirching Baby Jesus, exploiting our neighbors and then defrauding the system to avoid paying taxes. I look forward to each and every day!
Live the fullest since it's the one shot you get.. pretty simple really.. kind of surprised more people are not smart enough to figure this out.If there is no God, if there is nothing after death, if there is no right/wrong determined by a higher power etc. Then, to be blunt, what keeps you from ending it all right now?
Mmmmmm... Slow roasted baby... My favorite...
Yet another "How can you not believe in G-d, he's so awesome!" discussions
What keeps you going ? What is your hope for your current life ?
I am honestly not trying to start any kind of argument, I legitimately want to know what it is that you look forward to.
If there is no God, if there is nothing after death, if there is no right/wrong determined by a higher power etc. Then, to be blunt, what keeps you from ending it all right now ?
I've had my share of heartache, and I see many many more people with far bigger struggles and troubles.
If I was completely sold on there being no God or afterlife, I sincerly believe I would have put a gun to my head long ago.
Everyone will agree that we take nothing with us when we die. None of our wealth, posessions or even loved ones.
So what is keeping you going ? What do you put your hope into ?
Been thinking about how depressing that would be, and really wanted to hear some feedback.
The most preposterous notion that H. sapiens has ever dreamed up is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of all the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of His creatures, can be swayed by their prayers, and becomes petulant if He does not receive this flattery. Yet this absurd fantasy, withou a shred of evidence to bolster it, pays all the expenses of the oldest, largest, and least productive industry in all history.
I read through the whole thread, and this post does indeed sum it up for me. It also addresses the question without judging the OP or his beliefs.I've been an atheist my whole life. I was never indoctrinated into a religion as a child, so this "higher being" has simply never been a part of my thought process. I think for you, you would feel a great emptiness if you all of a sudden stopped believing. Kind of like losing a limb. For me, I've never, even for a second, thought that a god existed, so there isn't any emptiness or absence to feel. It's just the way it is, and I've never felt like I've been missing out. I think a lot of it depends on what you were raised with.
When I'm surrounded by an amazing sunset or some other natural beauty, I appreciate it for what it is. I don't read any more into it than that; it's just an amazing [whatever] and I'm glad I was there to see it. I live to see moments like that for myself, to meet interesting people, and to just enjoy the things I like.
Hopefully I can leave the world a little nicer than when I got here, so the next guy can enjoy his years as much as I have.
I've decided not to kill myself today, because there's a LOtR marathon I have tickets for tomorrow.
I'll decide again on Monday.