AtheistArchon
October 16th 2003, 12:45 PM
But in the back of mind I always known I would only sink so far then God would be there to lift me up. How does a person deal with life that sinks and sinks and sinks, which don’t know God is a part of their life? Do they turn to drugs? Alcohol? Adultery? Divorce? Spousal abuse? Child abuse? Stealing? Prejudice? Murder? Suicide?
- All alcoholics are atheists? All adulterers are atheists? Etc?
- You seem to be implying that people who "know god" do not suffer from these maladies. False, naturally. However, I can give you a bit of insight, since you asked.
- As an atheist myself, I can tell you with no uncertainty that the same trials and unpleasant events happen in my life as happens in the life of any typical American who is a theist. I oversleep sometimes. I get sick with the flu. I have angry days and happy days. I have financial troubles sometimes.
- What do I do when I hit a rough spot? I do what most every Christian does: I sit down and try to work through it. I am sick? I see the doc, and take medicine and sleep. I get frustrated by someone's behavior? I take five, relax, disengage, or go work out to relieve stress. I am short on cash? I sit down and go over my budget, and try to find a way to either save money, earn a little extra, or both.
- What I do not do, of course, is pray. And guess what? I'm a moderately successful and happy person. I have a wonderful wife whom I love more than anything in the world, a nice job that I worked hard to get (education/experience/hard work in the Army), a nice house & car, friends, family, and so on.
- Long story short, when something bad happens in my life, I act on it. Much like everyone else. And I seem to be doing fine without any religious beliefs.
- There are, of course, examples of believers who do not actually act, and ONLY pray about a problem. These people have a very poor change of seeing their condition improve, from what I've experienced. It's hard when you have the rent two weeks past due to "give it to god" and go on happily about your business without worrying about it... you'll get evicted. Granted, you can then say that this was god's plan to help you feel better, but perhaps you might not have been evicted in the first place if you'd prayed AND hocked some stuff to cover the rent.
- It's interesting that you say that you can't imagine how atheists get by without belief in a deity. I, for one, can't imagine why belief in any deities is necessary to get by. It is emotionally satisfying, perhaps, to believe. But I can tell you from experience that it's also emotionally satisfying working out your own problems and owning them yourself, and overcoming them yourself.
If Jesus is not a part of your life you need him to be. If you know someone who’s sinking, sinking, and sinking please forward this to them.
- It is my opinion that religion, especially Christianty, preys upon troubled people seeking help. There's absolutely no question that you (Christians) directly target them, as is evidenced here.
- Becoming a Christian will not feed one's family, or cure a drug addiction, or mend a marriage. Direct human help and charity, regardless of the reason, gets things done, especially when combined with the attitude that I want to overcome the problem. Without that, all the charity in the world will not help you.
- All alcoholics are atheists? All adulterers are atheists? Etc?
- You seem to be implying that people who "know god" do not suffer from these maladies. False, naturally. However, I can give you a bit of insight, since you asked.
- As an atheist myself, I can tell you with no uncertainty that the same trials and unpleasant events happen in my life as happens in the life of any typical American who is a theist. I oversleep sometimes. I get sick with the flu. I have angry days and happy days. I have financial troubles sometimes.
- What do I do when I hit a rough spot? I do what most every Christian does: I sit down and try to work through it. I am sick? I see the doc, and take medicine and sleep. I get frustrated by someone's behavior? I take five, relax, disengage, or go work out to relieve stress. I am short on cash? I sit down and go over my budget, and try to find a way to either save money, earn a little extra, or both.
- What I do not do, of course, is pray. And guess what? I'm a moderately successful and happy person. I have a wonderful wife whom I love more than anything in the world, a nice job that I worked hard to get (education/experience/hard work in the Army), a nice house & car, friends, family, and so on.
- Long story short, when something bad happens in my life, I act on it. Much like everyone else. And I seem to be doing fine without any religious beliefs.
- There are, of course, examples of believers who do not actually act, and ONLY pray about a problem. These people have a very poor change of seeing their condition improve, from what I've experienced. It's hard when you have the rent two weeks past due to "give it to god" and go on happily about your business without worrying about it... you'll get evicted. Granted, you can then say that this was god's plan to help you feel better, but perhaps you might not have been evicted in the first place if you'd prayed AND hocked some stuff to cover the rent.
- It's interesting that you say that you can't imagine how atheists get by without belief in a deity. I, for one, can't imagine why belief in any deities is necessary to get by. It is emotionally satisfying, perhaps, to believe. But I can tell you from experience that it's also emotionally satisfying working out your own problems and owning them yourself, and overcoming them yourself.
If Jesus is not a part of your life you need him to be. If you know someone who’s sinking, sinking, and sinking please forward this to them.
- It is my opinion that religion, especially Christianty, preys upon troubled people seeking help. There's absolutely no question that you (Christians) directly target them, as is evidenced here.
- Becoming a Christian will not feed one's family, or cure a drug addiction, or mend a marriage. Direct human help and charity, regardless of the reason, gets things done, especially when combined with the attitude that I want to overcome the problem. Without that, all the charity in the world will not help you.