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Atheists, do you sometimes wish you could believe in something you know to be not true?

Chriza28

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Atheists, when you see something like this, do you wish you were able to enjoy the comfort and sentimentality of anticipated reunion?



Cloris Leachman Mary Tyler Moore Valerie Harper
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Bobby hope

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I’m agnostic

I don’t think i would see anyone again after this and if i do it won’t be in the same way we see them now so it wouldn’t matter.
 

Chriza28

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I’m agnostic

I don’t think i would see anyone again after this and if i do it won’t be in the same way we see them now so it wouldn’t matter.
I agree with you but my question was more about wishful thinking for the comfort (through belief) of seeing someone you lost.

For some people, it's the only thing that sustains them, especially the elderly who have lost their longtime life partner. Or a mother who lost her child.
 

melaninmuse

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I think what makes the most sense to me (as an atheist who grew up catholic) is that the period after we die is like the period before we're born.
just nothing, not in a bad way, but it is what it is.
Robert Ebert described death that way - like the eternity before we're born - and it's comforting to me.

I used to feel a lot of anxiety over the "eternity of nothingness" or blackness or whatever. the Tibetan book of death was helpful to me, as was this book written by a dr. called how we die.

I used to wish I could believe in heaven because it seems easier, but, if anything, the way I feel makes me more appreciative of our time on earth.
 

Chriza28

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I think what makes the most sense to me (as an atheist who grew up catholic) is that the period after we die is like the period before we're born.
just nothing, not in a bad way, but it is what it is.
Robert Ebert described death that way - like the eternity before we're born - and it's comforting to me.

I used to feel a lot of anxiety over the "eternity of nothingness" or blackness or whatever. the Tibetan book of death was helpful to me, as was this book written by a dr. called how we die.

I used to wish I could believe in heaven because it seems easier, but, if anything, the way I feel makes me more appreciative of our time on earth.
I was Catholic too. And yes, it would be easier to believe and that is why so many people choose to, it brings them comfort.

It's also easier to comfort a believer who is in bereavement but I can't bring myself to tell someone "don't worry, Johnny is now in heaven with Jesus and you will see him again". That's the kind of thing Evangelical scammers say to comfort their wallet.
 

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Not an atheist but I get what you’re feeling. I don’t believe we’ll actually see each other as we know it on the “other side” because our thoughts and memories are attached to our brains. It’s why you have people with brain injuries that forget everything or don’t recognize someone or something. If our brain is dead then everything it knows should technically cease to exist. It really gives me comfort tbh.
 

melaninmuse

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I was Catholic too. And yes, it would be easier to believe and that is why so many people choose to, it brings them comfort.

It's also easier to comfort a believer who is in bereavement but I can't bring myself to tell someone "don't worry, Johnny is now in heaven with Jesus and you will see him again". That's the kind of thing Evangelical scammers say to comfort their wallet.

I was "lucky" in that my father is an atheist (mothers family is catholic) who always told me death was just us going back into nature, and was not hard on us (as we were dead) but hard on the living who felt bad about it.

It made me grow up very realistic, and skeptical of some of the hypocrisy I noted within the church. I still like (and follow) some of the bishops and nuns from the jesuit school I attended, as many of them are about the catholic social work life and genuinely care about poor and marginalized people. but I've found that to be rare.

I just tell people who are grieving their loved one is at peace now. Which, regardless of your believe in an afterlife or not, feels accurate to me.

also, random, but this made me think of Ron Reagan Jr.
he was in this Reagans series on showtime I watched, but I also remember him from those commercials about atheism.
I think a lot of people who grow up in evangelical families especially realize there is something fake about what they're participating in.
 

melaninmuse

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Not an atheist but I get what you’re feeling. I don’t believe we’ll actually see each other as we know it on the “other side” because our thoughts and memories are attached to our brains. It’s why you have people with brain injuries that forget everything or don’t recognize someone or something. If our brain is dead then everything it knows should technically cease to exist. It really gives me comfort tbh.

this is why I liked the books I mentioned above.
the one written by the doctor is very realistic and matter of fact about the ways people pass, and the pain levels experienced, and so on. it's basically a guide.
the doctor has studied death and said he never saw any proof of an afterlife and was frank about that.

the Tibetan book of the dead is interesting because it delves into how western cultures avoid death through consumption and getting attached to things and people that will not be here in our next lives. they describe how important it is to prepare for death and reincarnation cycles.

the point made in both texts is that consciousness as we know it ends, and that's it for the being we embody during life.
 

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this is why I liked the books I mentioned above.
the one written by the doctor is very realistic and matter of fact about the ways people pass, and the pain levels experienced, and so on. it's basically a guide.
the doctor has studied death and said he never saw any proof of an afterlife and was frank about that.

the Tibetan book of the dead is interesting because it delves into how western cultures avoid death through consumption and getting attached to things and people that will not be here in our next lives. they describe how important it is to prepare for death and reincarnation cycles.

the point made in both texts is that consciousness as we know it ends, and that's it for the being we embody during life.

I’ll check those out.
 

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I'm agnostic and wish I had blind faith all the damn time. Suffering is easier if you think there is a master plan and your suffering has a reason and an end point, being good to bad people is easier if you think it will help you get to Heaven, losing people to death is easier if you think you will see them again, being poor is easier if you think you will be rich in your afterlife, being alone is easier if you always feel like God is by your side, living in this world is easier if you think something better awaits and there's a rhyme and reason to everything. But I can't just believe in magic with no proof. I definitely think eastern culture is braver with it's emphasis on letting go and detachment from suffering and acceptance of what is.
I agree that religion largely functions as the opiate of the masses. That doesn't make religion wrong or everyone's individual beliefs wrong. But it definitely means a lot of people are religious because it's safer and less scary.
I mean, religion started because people didn't have science they needed to make sense of the world and because ppl seem to do better when they have something to believe in. For me, I just don't know what's out there, how can any of us, really? I don't know why there is such terrible suffering and injustice. I wish I was a fervent believer in something very concrete and positive. I would be a happier and FEEL like a more fulfilled, less anxious person and question a lot less. But I am who I am! I'm very analytical and I don't accept any truth because an authority figure or a majority of people tells me to.
 

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In my lowest moments, yes I wish I had true faith. It's not so much about afterlife, but how faith grounds people and provides a sense of comfort and strength in their darkest moments.

Granted, I don't think you need to believe in Sky-God for all that, but it's main benefit of religion imo. But it is reason why I still go to church even tho I am agnostic.
 

Chriza28

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I'm an atheist and it creeps me the fµck out just not existing.

Like I did all of this for what?
I know, right?

I don't understand the suffering though, people born in the middle of nowhere, in war-zones. Children who suffer every day of their short life and then die. All for no reason?

This is why I get so mad when people are outraged about transfolks and how celebrities look. This is what I am outraged about. That such a situation exists while we angst over what flavor ice-cream to get.
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ladyo514

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The concept of Heaven is a delusion.

Are delusions comforting? Yes. Are delusions...delusional? Absolutely.

Thinking you are going to hang out in the afterlife at a bar with your old friends from high school in the clouds is a fairytale. Rubbing elbows with Jesus and Martin Luther King in Heaven is a comforting notion for the burdened masses.

Everyone can't look into the deep abyss of sadness.
 

Chriza28

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The concept of Heaven is a delusion.

Are delusions comforting? Yes. Are delusions...delusional? Absolutely.

Thinking you are going to hang out in the afterlife at a bar with your old friends from high school in the clouds is a fairytale. Rubbing elbows with Jesus and Martin Luther King in Heaven is a comforting notion for the burdened masses.

Everyone can't look into the deep abyss of sadness.
Well of course it's a delusion but most people who want to believe an afterlife do so because it makes their loss of, for example, a child more bearable. And if a comfort delusion makes their pain more bearable, it's understandable.

I am an atheist so I don't believe in it. But I also have an atheist friend whose husband killed both her children when they were babies, she was still breastfeeding one of them. She has remarried but still sinks into despair. Sometimes I wish she believed she would see her babies again, it would bring her comfort.
 

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I agree on the same points. Life is depressing. Yes, there are good moments but there is an ocean of sadness that swallows us. Life/Nature is not nice.

We will lose people we love. Creating stories to tie our sadness in a beautiful bow is pacifying. Some people feel they need that just as others believe they need a cigarette.

I do not disagree with you. I was responding to the prompt by saying, I do not wish I believed in falsehoods. I know believing in untruths is delusional. I try to be honest and objective about life even if that honesty causes my sadness.

It reminds me of a cartoon depicting two booths with two lines of people waiting. One line was for "comforting lies" with tons of people waiting in line. The other line was for "inconvenient truths" and there was nobody in line.
 
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Just to let you all know, I no longer go to church but I do a sit/ group meditation (now virtual) with the POC sangha (the leader is black and celebrates black culture) at Insight LA on Friday nights. It’s based on buddist tradition but more spiritual than religious. If you go to InsightLA.org you can find info, Thomas is the group leader. It’s open to any poc, you don’t have to be buddist or believe in anything, you don’t even have to turn on your zoom camera.
 

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The best way that I can answer this is...No. However, no one really knows what happens after death.
 

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That's the kind of thing Evangelical scammers say to comfort their wallet.
Humm...I think you're confusing things here... a friend saying this to comfort their friend is now doing this for a scam? Yes, pastors and church folks have and still do scam people but this doesn't mean that all of their teachings are scams per definition.
 

Chriza28

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Humm...I think you're confusing things here... a friend saying this to comfort their friend is now doing this for a scam? Yes, pastors and church folks have and still do scam people but this doesn't mean that all of their teachings are scams per definition.
Where do I say that a friend comforting their friend with religious reassurance is a scam?

I said it's a scam from preachers. They need to keep up the delusion because they get paid for selling a product no one receives while they are alive.

How about you send me a fat check NOW for a golden bridge I have to sell you and I promise you the bridge will be there heaven waiting for you the moment you pass away.

Oh and I am a preacher who prays for your soul so obviously I am not a liar.
 

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The concept of an afterlife was the first thing that in was able to reject as a child. Now do I miss loved ones in my life? Immensely! But the reunion aspect just isn't there for me.
 

Chriza28

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The concept of an afterlife was the first thing that in was able to reject as a child. Now do I miss loved ones in my life? Immensely! But the reunion aspect just isn't there for me.
An old school friend posted on FB that her father had passed away and was now in the arms of our heavenly father.

I never know what to say to people who expect you to offer prayers in times like this.
 

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An old school friend posted on FB that her father had passed away and was now in the arms of our heavenly father.

I never know what to say to people who expect you to offer prayers in times like this.
Look I'm old school and that stumps me . I tend to offer them an ear to talk to.
 

I Love Meth

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No. I’m perfectly content with death essentially being like a deep sleep in which there is a lack of awareness or feeling just like before I was born. I’m not scared of death and I’m ready to go whenever it’s my time. I’d be more at peace with that being the very end than dying only to reanimate amongst the very same Bible thumping thots who made the world a raggedy, sh!tty, flea bitten place to live in the first time around.
 

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I think what makes the most sense to me (as an atheist who grew up catholic) is that the period after we die is like the period before we're born.
just nothing, not in a bad way, but it is what it is.
Robert Ebert described death that way - like the eternity before we're born - and it's comforting to me.

I used to feel a lot of anxiety over the "eternity of nothingness" or blackness or whatever. the Tibetan book of death was helpful to me, as was this book written by a dr. called how we die.

I used to wish I could believe in heaven because it seems easier, but, if anything, the way I feel makes me more appreciative of our time on earth.
Just a question
Are u taking advice of people who haven’t died and writing a theory about how it could possibly be , if you die?

Did u ever see testimony’s of people who were atheists clinically died came back and now believe in God? Not saying u need to just curious
 
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An old school friend posted on FB that her father had passed away and was now in the arms of our heavenly father.

I never know what to say to people who expect you to offer prayers in times like this.
??? Just say: gecondoleerd
I wish u strength love and peace in these hard times
 

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Well of course it's a delusion but most people who want to believe an afterlife do so because it makes their loss of, for example, a child more bearable. And if a comfort delusion makes their pain more bearable, it's understandable.

I am an atheist so I don't believe in it. But I also have an atheist friend whose husband killed both her children when they were babies, she was still breastfeeding one of them. She has remarried but still sinks into despair. Sometimes I wish she believed she would see her babies again, it would bring her comfort.
So people can’t believe in God since childhood? Since u say the above
What about people who can’t have children and still believe in god
What about people who’ve been trough horrible sh!t and later choose God?
 

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I didn’t come to derail. Just to ask questions since I’m curious.
I respect everybody’s believings. It’s your life your choice.. how could someone be angry about another persoon not believing in the same he or she does
 

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An old school friend posted on FB that her father had passed away and was now in the arms of our heavenly father.

I never know what to say to people who expect you to offer prayers in times like this.

I’m not an atheist, I guess I’m more agnostic or new age. I could be an atheist but I still believe in something after death. I prefer the idea of reincarnation. I even looked into quantum immortality which was creepy but interesting. My father passed almost 6 months ago and I think about what his last moments were like since he pretty much died alone in the middle of the day from heart disease. I know he’s probably not in heaven but I feel like maybe he’s existing in another dimension or something, an alternate universe. For some reason that gives me comfort.
 

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I wish I believed in Islam again. It would make my relationship with my family strong again.

But since leaving Islam, they look at me and treat me differently.
 

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I'm an atheist and it creeps me the fµck out just not existing.

Like I did all of this for what?
same !! like I can't wrap my mind around death, not feeling any more, not seeing anymore, not breathing, not experiencing...like the brain shuts off and thats it? thats all folks? A SCAM I TELL YA :cry :cry :cry
 

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Not at all. I think the ideas of heaven, hell, and destiny cheapen life.

With that said, most people cling onto the idea of a god because of the sentiments in the OP. Most people don’t know the first thing about what’s really in the bible or whatever other book they go on about.

They hang onto that stuff because believing in it allows them to believe that their loved ones are in heaven, that bad people are in hell, that all the bad things they’re going through are all happening “for a reason,” that they’re never alone, and all those other fairytales. A lot of people would legitimately jump off a bridge if you took all that sh!t away from them.
 

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same !! like I can't wrap my mind around death, not feeling any more, not seeing anymore, not breathing, not experiencing...like the brain shuts off and thats it? thats all folks? A SCAM I TELL YA :cry :cry :cry
Do you remember your birth or the time before you are born?
 

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Sometimes I read or hear a really crazy story that involves someone suffering and I wish I could "pray" for them but I know it doesn't do anything.
 

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Not at all. I think the ideas of heaven, hell, and destiny cheapen life.
I like how you think. I recently read about an elderly woman who said that she was at the point where she saw death as permanent sleep. And was not frightened by it.
 

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The force. It would be dope to have mystical abilities and with training could come back and communicate with others.
 

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No, as an atheist i obviously don't believe in an afterlife and i'm fine with that.

Actually, an afterlife, as in eternal, scares me more than complete nothingness.

Pretty happy and satisfied with my stance on it.

Christian heaven sounds boring, an eternal life with so many holy hypocrites does not attract me at all.

Islam teaches you that most women will go to hell, i'm good.
 

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An old school friend posted on FB that her father had passed away and was now in the arms of our heavenly father.

I never know what to say to people who expect you to offer prayers in times like this.

Same here when someone asks for prayers. I do not pray so i'll say something like 'wishing you and your family well in this difficult time' or something along those lines.
 

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