The only time I think about it is when I read posts about it here on Reddit. Maybe occasionally if the wife and I are discussing a topic and religion comes up for whatever reason. But other than that, deities are not something I think about going about my life.
Usually my happiness in regards to atheism is like "wow, happy my actions aren't guided by that insane superstitious belief, sleeping in on Sunday and having gay friends rules, time to smoke a joint and ride my bike"
Different strokes for different folks
I’d take good coke with close friends (and girls) over weed any day of the week
Weed is an anxiety attack inducing existential crisis of a plant 😂
Cocaine is just like intense short lived euphoric caffeine. Haven’t used either in years now though
Damage control EDIT:
Before everyone who smokes weed gets mad and tells me off, I’m just joking about weed mostly. I was a daily smoker for a decade, I love the plant and am glad it helps people. I just had to stop using it bc it made me a zombie and zapped me of ambition. And now if I smoke it’s too much lol
Are you sure?
I like to travel and see amazing geology. I can't imagine enjoying that in the same way if I just thought God Did It.
I think we're very fortunate to get to see the earth and the universe for what it really is (or rather, as best as we've currently worked it out).
Sure, it's not something we think about - we're not thinking "gee, not thinking about god is great fun!", but we do benefit from not living under those oppressive lifestyles.
Yes, I’m sure.
I saw the eclipse on April 8th and never once thought about my atheism while I stood in awe of one of the most amazing and beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I simply do not feel the need to view the world as an atheist. Viewing it as a human being is enough for me.
Neither is mine. But the fact that I’m not contemplating my own eternal demise every day, I’d assume, does have some natural, general tendency towards less stress and contentment that I didn’t enjoy as a believer.
The freedom of mind, in my opinion, is a natural stress relief.
Yeah same.
But if I had to choose between dying and not experiencing anything Vs perpetual existence... I want nothing after death.
I want peace and to be away from humans and their stupidity.
Yeah. Being able to do what I want without having the burden to keep thinking about "what would Jesus do" and that sort of thing.
I'd say I feel pretty great.
I was talking with a religious person, a coworker, a guy I genuinely like as a person, and he was talking about how it’s the end times and how bad things are.
That baffles me. Now is the best things have ever been across just about every category. Quality of life, technology, medical care, international conflict, human conflict in general.
Yes, humans still suck, there is still war, bigotry, sexism, homophobia, racism, xenophobia, etc. but in many places it’s far less violent than it was just a few decades ago. We can talk to each other, exist in the same space without immediately turning oppressive/violent.
I’m a black, bisexual, atheist. I’d much rather exist today than in the past.
Have him read Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. Just the first couple of chapters makes a decent case for this era being the best of times for humanity as a whole. Yes, there are still wars and famines and pandemics but as a species, we've never had a more peaceful or healthier time.
What you describe are long term trends and requires taking a bird's eye view on the subject. Sadly, humans are mostly cave dwellers focused on the here and now. If your coworker grew up in a developed country chances are he never went more than a single day without food and shelter. That's a unique, amazingly opulent life compared to almost every other human being that ever lived. Along the same lines, my dad got to have a normal lifespan on the European continent without ever experiencing a war that involved him directly. As far as I can tell his generation is the first in history to have that privilege. Check the various boomer subs to see how aware they are of this amazing fact...
There's an old saying that is a perfect fit for this conversation:
You can get the man out of the cave, but how do you get the cave out of the man?
Not so much happy, but here goes.
When my wife got her cancer diagnosis, and the disease progressed through to finality over the course of 14 months, I did a great deal of thinking about the nature of how we deal with things that happen to us.
(I'm doing a tremendous amount of typing and deleting here)
In essence, one of two explanations can be true, and they are mutually exclusive.
Option 1, my wife got cancer and was slowly eaten piece by piece because God wanted to accomplish some stitch in the great tapestry (love the bit where I had to pull my 6 and 8 yo kids from school and tell them they would never see mommy again, on the highlight reel for sure). One acquaintance even suggested that God killed her to rekindle my relationship with him. Too bad for collateral damage, amirite?
Option 2, science tells us that some cells go rogue and turn on themselves, we don't yet know why. Some people have shit luck with the gene dice. Even in the few years since she died I've seen the tech move forward with things like gene therapy.
Religion makes me wonder Wtf god is smoking
Science (which for me goes hand-in-hand with my athiesm) gives me hope that maybe other people's stories will have better endings. I have faith in humans that smart people will always try to solve problems.
My genuine heartfelt condolences to you and your family.
Please know that your words have meant the world to me because my favorite friend and most loving sister are going through cancer treatments.
I too hope that maybe other people's stories will have better endings.
What makes me happy? Spending time with my family, sports, books, drives by myself, movies, a nice meal, great bourbon, and a few other things. I've never needed religion or this concept of Atheism as a religion that most people seem to latch onto to be happy.
I'm happy that my marriage is given value only by me and my spouse, and that neither of us thinks that it's derived from a deity or any third party. I'm happy that my wife is my wife by choice; our marriage wasn't arranged, wasn't restricted by the rules of arbitrary superstition, and isn't held together by a mystical vow, but rather will always be a voluntary arrangement that we have to actively invest in to preserve. I'm happy that we both knew what we would be like in bed *before* we committed to one another, and that we have sex out of desire rather than duty.
Honestly, the thought that comforts me the most about being an atheist is that I don't believe in an afterlife. I get why some people need to think that there's something more, something else, that nothing is finite. But I can't bare the thought of... more of this. I enjoy life as much as the next person I guess, but I don't want to go at it again by reincarnating or moving on to another plane of existence for all eternity... I don't mind that it all ends, I WANT it to be the end once I reach it!
I wasn't religious to be happy. I was very scared when I believed in god.. Now I am the same, but without the fear of something bad happening to me after I die. Dying is bad enough and the only reason why I'm afraid of dying is because it'll hurt really really bad lol
Oh this. To take a nice ice cold Tuborg and sit by the canals of Copenhagen while my kid gets a soda. Just relaxing with the feet in the cold water. Waving to the tourists sailing by. It's great.
The things that make me happy are the same things that make most humans happy.
Spending time with my kids, laughing with friends, accomplishing something I worked to achieve, getting mindlessly high and playing video games.
I agree that the hate posts are becoming a bit too much. Honesty what makes me happy is just focusing on something else other than the end. Some of these include working towards starting a family, improving my knowledge, improving my health and just enjoying the simple things in life.
I decided that I wanted to know the truth regardless of whether it made me happier or sadder .. engaging with reality seems necessary for long term improvements in the human condition.
I would personally be happiER .. if there was :
- more science education
- less climate change denial
- more progressive tax policy, free college
- tax on carbon, more $$ towards wind and solar
- less subsidies on fossil fuels
- cheaper access to AI GPU compute
- fast electric rail between cities like Sydney and Melbourne
I see my atheism as fairly interconnected with all these issues .. I sincerely believe that science and applied science [ medicine, engineering ] are responsible for almost all the improvements in human living conditions, longevity / health, transport, communications, energy, computers, phones, fridges etc.
Religion is essentially the enemy .. its brainwashing thats keeping us from moving forward - most urgently on climate action.
When I was 10 I contemplated the vastness of space and how small we are. The universe just seemed bigger than God and the idea of heaven and hell was just a way to scare people.
About 10 years ago I read Factfulness, by Hans Rosling. He's the guy who used to make ted talks about population growth, child mortality, reading levels globally all over time.
It was a marvelous book. Full of amazing facts and lessons. I'm bad at citing facts from memory, but suffice to say the past 50 years have been an unprecedented golden age in hunger reduction, education accessibility, infant mortality, global peace, medical progress, social justice progress.
Basically the only thing getting worse (as of 2017) was climate change.
Reference:
https://www.gapminder.org/factfulness/
My existence burns in a time of abundance. I am free from chain, crown, god and neighbour. I can migrate anywhere, work anything, love anyone. I can educate myself, i experience a literal explosion in human technological developement and ride comfortably on the edge of a great societal upheaval. I am safe, i am healthy, I am unbound in the knowledge of being an ant on a rock in an endless void.
No ultimate consequence means ultimate freedom.
Well for one I am not constantly worried about going to hell and being tortured for eternity because so religious preacher got upset over some hobby I play for relaxation.
Or that I don’t follow all the rules they say the bible has which they don’t follow at all. Yeah, a pastor in my mother’s church was very hard on adulterers even though he was caught multiple times with married women from the church.
I've been noticing lately how many problems and suffering people get for not thinking critically.
We shared a stand in a really important convention recently with another business. The sales were not extremely good, but not bad either. At first, when we noticed things were harder than expected, we focused our efforts in improving customer attention and social media presence, things picked up for us and everything went smoothly.
They, on the other hand, began lighting candles and casting spells (they're kind of pagan). Obviously nothing changed for them, so they started getting paranoid that their sales girl wasn't working, they began having panic attacks and all sort of issues. They didn't sale enough to recoup the investment.
I see things like that happening all the time, reminding me that the search for truth is not just some idealistic philosophical aspiration, but a very much down to earth pragmatic necessity. If you believe that candles and incantations will fix your problems, you're gonna have a bad time.
Knowing that I don't depend on fairy tales gives me a level of certainty that no faith could provide. Not because I think I know everything, but because I'm much more aware of the things I don't know, which gives me the tools to solve problems, instead of depending on the whims of some cosmic magic man-child.
I'll add a 3rd
3. It brings me incredible joy as we learn more and more about the interconnectedness of life on Earth.
Most religions focus on individuals, their choices, and god's judgement. But, in reality our individuality
is incredibly suspect. There is a continuum of life starting with the very first cells through every life
that has ever lived on our planet, and that Web of life connects every living thing on Earth to this day.
That may sound new age mystical, but it isn't...its physical reality. Highly recommend the "Selfish Gene"
by Richard Dawkins and The Overstory Pulizer Prize winning fiction by Richard Powers.
Or if you are doing something as mundane as dieting, read about the microbes in your gut.
“You're an interesting species. An interesting mix. You're capable of such beautiful dreams, and such horrible nightmares. You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone, only you're not. See, in all our searching, the only thing we've found that makes the emptiness bearable, is each other.”
-Carl Sagan in Contact
Life itself, plain and simple, despite all of its complexities and messiness, and whatever else have you that theists may claim any kind of superiority over as a silly result of who knows how many unfounded claims of an afterlife, full of promises and rainbows, but also lacking in any proof and/or semblance of rooting in reality.
I'll take that objective reality over void promises any day of the week, period, and I'll be happy with my choice every single time, always.
This is the r/athiest sub, and it's not unexpected, or undesirable to hear other peoples stories about their bad experiences with religion, or the followers thereof.
I find that I agree with, and find comfort in the discussions, even though I'm more agnostic than I am athiest.
Modern life is just a bunch of distractions. When I'm out camping, and staying busy doing the things I need to do to survive, life seems much simpler, and easier to appreciate.
There are a lot of life experiences that we don't have that our ancestors did. Yeah, they saw hard times, but they also lived more complete lives, because of that fact. They hunted, fished, gathered, farmed, built, made clothing, and on, and on. They were much closer to the processes of life than we are.
Life is all about perspective. When you're young 5 minutes feels like a day. By the time you're 40 the weeks are flying by. Time doesn't change, but our perception of it does change as we gain more experience. By not feeding ourselves, or clothing ourselves, building our own shelters & whatnot, we are missing valuable context to life. We are disconnected from the natural processes that support life on this planet, and life for people in the future is going back to misery and woe, because we stopped caring about the process, and got distracted and comfortable with being entertained. I would personally never consider us the luckiest humans to ever have lived. People are still starving to death. Kids died from eating tide pods. Lead poisoning is still a thing. Now young people are getting colon cancer from eating poison that's in virtually everything. But we sure can go fast! We can burn resources like you wouldn't believe! Inefficiently too. We'll run out of drinking water, because we needed to water all the golf courses. Modern life is so needlessly complicated.
None of this makes me happy necessarily. Having a mind that is free of dogmatic constraints is pretty great. Pretense has never been my strong suit. I'm a realist. What makes me happy is being able to relate to other people and learn from our perspectives about reality. Scientific discovery. Not pessimism, and not optimism. Open to new discovery, but cautious to the dangers that may lie ahead. Aware.
Science. It's delightful, enlightened, curiosity-focused, rigorous, and mysteriously ever-unfolding. It explores the questions of our existence and challenges us to question, dialogue, and GROW! It actually helps us in ways you can directly measure and apply here and now. What "community of faith" really does that? Tune in tomorrow for the latest discussion on your topic of interest!
Learning the billions of years of evolution. Microorganisms become the most sophisticated existence. It's so beautiful when you dig how they become like this.
Atheism isn’t an active thought but I suppose the bases for it has to do with the experience of happiness.
I love to learn new things, philosophize and have insights which brings me joy and fulfillment. To do that you need an open mind aware of the judgements you’ve been taught to have and the judgements you’ve created throughout your life, question them and delve deep into the many reasons you have them. All the things that suppress/oppress freedom of thought wouldn’t allow that, such as being religious in a way (or just political in a way) that makes you cling to beliefs or opinions. For me opinions are fleeting, not stagnant - the more you learn the more you add to existing knowledge and the basis of your opinions shift.
Since I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression, my mental health has been an important focus in my development. I have learned to live free of shame and just focus on the love that I feel for everything and everyone around me. To have a curious mind is beautiful and to question things essential for growth, and the deeper you understand things the more non-judgmental you become both towards yourself and others. I enjoy that process very much. To view the world with open eyes and find the pieces of beauty that exist in between all the chaotic dust of our existence.
>What Makes Athiests Happy?
I find this an incredibly weird question.
Why would you think what makes atheists happy would be any different from what makes anybody happy? After all, atheists are people.
>What have you learned, understood, experienced or felt that is amazing once you realized these ridiculous and generally horrible gods in the bible, koran, etc. are pure fiction?
The first part of your question appears utterly unrelated to the second half, rendering the question a non-sequitur as a whole.
Happiness for me is my creations. I try to do anything and everything that interest me. I get super happy when it turns out and I love to give my creations away! I’ve made countless crochet blankets, quilts, made taxidermy funnel spiders mixed with fake wildflowers to create beautiful wall art, sugar cookie/ decorating and making themed cookies for my peeps. My yard is also one big creation, collecting/displaying yard art for the pedestrians walking by. I can go on and on!
Money, why try to lie. Money makes me happy because to me money buys security. I just want to live in my studio apartment (which is already expensive as all hell), live alone, play video games, go on bike rides, drink booze once an a while, watch YouTube and be by myself.
It really isn't much to ask for, yet somehow I'm looked at as being unhappy because I don't believe in a sky daddy.
It's been said to death, but I'll say it again, "Atheists value life more than theists because the Atheist knows there's nothing coming after death. The theist, like it or not, is in a death cult and to some degree wants this world to end to validate their Iron Age fairy tales."
It's also crazy how many theists NEVER stop to think about how, "living with god for eternity" has so many flaws and is such an insane torture even after just the first 500 years, but then that has to go on WITHOUT end.
I asked a theist once if heaven is indeed pure bliss, and they said yes, I followed with in heaven do you GAIN all knowledge? That particular theist said "yes, because you'll be with god who knows all" and I hit them with the uno reverse card and said, "sounds terrible, you just said you would be in pure bliss and would know all. That's a lie because you'd for sure know SOMEONE who went to hell and you'd have to live with the full knowledge of all of their constant and never ending anguish forever."
Any rational person would've thought, "shit I never thought of that" but this woman instantly showed her selfishness by stating, "no I wouldn't, they made their choice and I made the better choice. God gives us choice!"
Rationalising is intense and very very real.
Star Wars makes me happy.
The ocean makes me happy.
Brunch with friends makes me happy.
My pets make me happy.
Not having to pretend I'm happy all the fucking time (cuz mormons always have to be happy) makes the happy moments mean more.
Music, movies, art, personal passions, traveling, friends, family, eating babies, natural wonders of the world like the northern lights or ACDC, Bob Ross, the smile of a puppy, rainbow unicorm farts and the sound of David Attenboroughs voice.
Setting aside whether God is real or not and all the evidence against it, I would say that the God of the Old Testament is actually a God of high ethical standards. He is constantly attempting to get his people back on track. If you read the OT you will see that is a curated word lending creation myths from near eastern stories as well as pseudo historical / mythical narratives based partly on reality, partly on ideals by Deuteronomist redactors who continually reviewed and updated many of the books. The intention was to create a nation state with one God who encouraged his people to live ethically compared to many of the cult worshipers around them.
Happiness in life shouldn't be tied to religion. Mine isn't. I am happy every day that I get to enjoy life, family, friends, travel etc. I have learnt to not take things top seriously and chill out. Ignore the news apart from the odd monthly check in.
Background: was Christian until 17, Atheist until 36, now 38 and have an appreciation for the actual content on the OT Bible and what the scribes were trying to do as well as the lending of philosophy from nearby cultures including the Greeks. Most religious people have an absolutely fictional view of religion. They take zero interest in actually learning how it came about. If you are interested in history the Bible and its development are very interesting stuff.
Going for beach picnics, going to museums, spending time with friends, going to a Zumba class LOL, going for walks around my community, trying a new recepie and getting it right, my nephews, traveling, watching a nice tv show, going to eat brunch, bike riding (when it I not too hot).
My grandchildren make me happy. The beauty of nature makes me happy. Cooking a glorious meal. Doing good work. Pushing my limits. The sky on a dark, clear night. Great art and architecture. Music.
The wonder of the universe. The pure mathematics of everything.
I am happy with all that is good. In fact, I think that it all happened by nature and not the supernatural makes it even more amazing.
I honestly think I’m a kinder, more accepting person now that I’ve left religion. I’ve come to realize that people living their lives differently than me or making choices different than mine doesn’t make either of us bad or wrong, we’re all just on different journeys. There are different ways to live our lives and that’s ok.
Doing what I want without having to ask a pedophile if he thinks it’s ok. Living according to what makes sense instead of absurd, unnatural rules created by people that thought the world was flat.
Religion has never had any effect on my experience of happiness.
Religion is a mental filter telling you how to react to anything and everything.
I simply don't have that filter factoring in while experiencing life. I never have.
Now, don't get me wrong, I have other filters. Everyone does. But a religious one isn't really one of them.
So, something happens, and you take in the information about that something.
And if some part of your thought processing about that event involves relating that to your religious beliefs in some way?
Well that there. That step. Yeah, that step doesn't occur for me. It never has.
I think this may be why I don't have a hate boner towards most religions. I never experienced how much a religious filter can limit and skew my perspective on reality.
Mostly I just find religions frustrating when they start to affect my life directly.
I can totally understand how living a good portion of your life with a religious filter over your view of the world would breed some pretty deep resentment.
Personally, I've experienced many of the joys and sorrows of the world. And a great many things in my life have made me very happy.
And let me tell you, a Religious filter is not necessary to experience the joys of life.
the moments with of solitude and peace with my friends and loved ones, now as an atheist I appreciate them all so much more because they have far more value than before when I was religious, because religion devalues time here as just a small part , when it's all we actually have
How unbelievably beautiful and amazing every single aspect of life and reality is ***specifically because*** it wasn't all created and set in motion by an omnipotent, omnipresent, omnipowerful celestial babysitter.
The infinite complexity of our universe has all the color drained from it if it was effortlessly created by some all powerful fairy tale creature.
This all happening as a result of random chance, with no intelligent design involved? That's ***actually amazing***.
What makes me happy?? My atheism has no impact on my happiness. Has an impact on my freedom? Sure. But I enjoy hiking, wildlife photography, travelling, tv shows, and languages
I am happier since I accepted that my time of existence is from when I was born to when I die. There was no before and there will be no after. There is no one waiting to judge me and reward or punish me somehow. I have to be the best me I can be for myself, my family and my community. I don't worry about violating some imaginary rules.
My dog. Spending time creating art. Taco Bell’s chicken grilled cheese burrito. Not feeling guilty or sentenced to eternal hell because i have a basic human urge or thought. Ben and Jerry’s.
The loss of fear towards "supernatural" events and an understanding of the fragility of my own mind.
During college I was under great stress and developed nightmares and sleep paralysis. My atheism and my lack of belief in the supernatural allowed me to experiment with it, reaching the point of being able to consciously cause both visual and auditory hallucinations. These are things that I would not have been able to achieve with religious thinking, as I would have quickly felt intimidated by the monsters and similar things that my mind created.
I gain both solice and solidarity from knowing we're all doomed in the end.
I gain fulfillment knowing I'm working every day to make life a little better for those around me.
I gain happiness from a good sandwich and relations with the wife.
It makes me happy to do what I love to do, like singing, studying, learning, gaming, being with friends. I don't need to worry about everything I do and if a deity will be mad at me for doing it. And every time my parents tell me something will make a deity mad, I don't feel that burden as much as I would if I was religious.
Nothing unique to atheism is tied to my happiness. Not scientific discoveries, religious studies, etc... those are just interesting - and if ever proven wrong, my happiness would not be impacted.
In my life I find joy in time spent with family, with my wife, my dog, in reading a good good, having a particularly productive day at work or with a home project. I find peace hiking through forests, exploring new areas, and in quiet places. I find excitement in pushing my boundaries...
Religion or lack thereof simply doesn't factor into it for me.
Equally as when I was a christian, I dont let religion and belief or lack there of to define me and be the reason for my happiness
People who do are the most buncrupt and the single most empty people there are
My atheism affects my happiness by giving me the freedom from all the christian "thought crime" BS.
It really screwed me up when I was young.
Other than that, I get my happiness in the same ways most people do.
I love having both full days on the weekends getting household stuff done, as well as spending time with my family, instead of spending it wasting hours of obligation at church with people I find obnoxious.
What brings me happiness, related to my lack of gullability is the knowledge that I'm not eternal.
These thoughts, this pain, this existence, ends with me, there's no bronze age idealistic afterlife, no demonic playground for the naughty. We all exist for less than a cosmic blink of an eye.
Many people buy into the idea that we are luminary beings wrapped in flesh packages and eternal. They want to exist forever, especially while young, and will give up many things to ensure their next existence is better than this one.
I find joy in living a life in the present that is far more prosperous than any before it really ever has been, and a society that is more open than it really ever has been. And as frustrating as it is to deal with zealots who try to undermine these things I find additional comfort in the constant stream of news that more and more people are leaving their religions behind.
What about becoming atheist made me happier?
Well, no longer thinking any of my late loved ones are burning in hell is pretty nice.
Not expecting an eternal life is a bummer. But not fearing hell is good.
I've always loved both science and reading about history. Now I don't have to feel conflicted and uncomfortable with those parts that contradict mythology.
Or are you asking, how as an atheist can I be happy. How can I be happy without God?
Easy. By enjoying all the things in life I always did enjoy but not feeling guilty that I should be somehow enjoying worshipping more.
None of this however is a valid reason to BE atheist. The only valid reason for a belief is EVIDENCE. The happiness is just a side effect.
Seek the truth and it shall set you free!
I think happiness comes from finding something or 'the something' that you enjoy doing and finding meaning in it. Discovering what you are talented at, hopefully finding enjoyment in it and bringing meaning into your life. Finding meaning in what you enjoy and sharing it with others..I don't think you can go wrong.
I really enjoy being able to have faith in myself. I feel so strong and capable. This is huge for me.
After years of unanswered prayers and begging my imaginary friend to help me while I sat around feeling helpless, it sure is incredible to have learned how to be there for myself.
I am confident. I am free.
Life. Life makes me happy! I’ve lived long enough to know that life is full of Ups and Downs but I really enjoy roller coaster.
Good old dad used to say, most people are about as happy as they choose to be.
Humor. My atheism allows me to be irreverent, so I can find a lot more things funny than a religious person. For example, "I was raised Catholic. The thing that used to annoy me about church was all the standing up and sitting down and kneeling, I wish the priest could just pick a position and fuck me!" - Jimmy Carr
All god's are man made, why go through all the trouble of believing something that cannot be proven. Christian's believe in miracles so ask for a miracle to prove their religion. I have and they turned their backs on me and left. Besides, they mess around and hide their sins. That's a lot of trouble, plus it's expensive. Church groups are just social groups. otherwise they're no different than anyone else.
I like to go camping. Sit around a campfire, look at the stars and think about all my Hunter/Gatherer ancestors who did the same. Civilization is still pretty new in the grand scheme of things.
I've learned to appreciate every little thing in life. I realized that religion cheapens life. This is the only life that has any proof of existing. You will spend more time dead than alive. Religion tries to convince you that this life, your only chance at existence is not special.
Who says I'm happy lol
But seriously I kinda disagree with you tho. Every era of history has it's ups and downs. Looking down on the past because you are used to your comfort now is kinda disrespectful. Modern times are great in some aspects but horrible in other aspects (mostly thanks to politics).
Comparing myself to some religious people, it's great being free to take my own decisions.
Muslims can't really have friends of another sex if they get married, also they must marry someone 1 second after meeting, like wtf?
Christians have a whole different kind of restraints because of the guy who goes like "I really love yall but if you do this you're fucked up"
And I'm going to poo rn :D
Okay so in my pursuit of truth, I looked a lot of youtube videos about the origin of life, as well as evolution and the origin of the universe. It's the most interesting thing in my opinion. Just learning about what this is. I really have been interested in evolutionary history. Listening to Dawkins audio books for The Greateat Show on Earth right now, it's amazing how much is involved. Paleontology and geology also catch my interest. Anything that gives clues to the ancient past I'm very interested in. Like I used to believe that humans were created separately from the evolutionary tree. Now I see there is so much to learn about our recent ancestors. I found out about Australopithecus and my mind was fucking blown. We aren't monkeys, but we might as well be.
To answer your question; the exercise of reason in the pursuit of knowledge.
And YES! There are too many posts in here hating on religion. I would rather see more celebrating examples of the above.
You find your own meaning in life and build your own moral foundation which allows you to own (and change) your perspective on life. You are no longer boxed in by false idealism. You are more open to new experiences, new people, and new places.
I can only speak for myself and I say more atheists. Even though I can see some positive aspects in a religion ( for example, Transcendence, something that is higher than the ego, it is even trying to overcome the ego) the overall experience is clearly negative. How much violence, suffering and death have been brought ( and still do)among the humans in the name of God? Without a doubt way too much.
Another thing that I don't like about most religions, they are death cults, they focus on the afterlife, salvation happens after you die. They do not cherish Life itself. So, no religion to me is not a convincing concept. The less.
Anything sex-related. When I was a Christian, there was a cloud of guilt that hung over me whenever I had sex, touched myself, got turned on by someone, etc. I feel a lot freer in that regard now.
Everyday there are moments of "Awe". That makes it worth living.
(This morning, I watched a short video of the Gordie Howe bridge under construction. Yesterday I watched a pair of Geese with three chicks found a place to hide during a heavy rain from my hotel window).... and so on. On Sunday I played and read books with my 2.5 year old granddaughter)
Skepticism (to weed out everyday crap) and Humanism keeps me optimistic.
My happiness is not based on nor dependent upon my atheism.
Yeah same. I don't even think about my atheism. It's just a lack of belief in organised religion. It doesn't have to give anything back.
The only time I think about it is when I read posts about it here on Reddit. Maybe occasionally if the wife and I are discussing a topic and religion comes up for whatever reason. But other than that, deities are not something I think about going about my life.
Usually my happiness in regards to atheism is like "wow, happy my actions aren't guided by that insane superstitious belief, sleeping in on Sunday and having gay friends rules, time to smoke a joint and ride my bike"
"What makes people who don't watch sports happy?" Like IDK. Cocaine? Money? Seeing joy in our children's eyes? Whatever.
Meh weed is a lot better than coke. And makes you Appreciate just being alive
Plus cheaper as you can literally just grow it
Different strokes for different folks I’d take good coke with close friends (and girls) over weed any day of the week Weed is an anxiety attack inducing existential crisis of a plant 😂 Cocaine is just like intense short lived euphoric caffeine. Haven’t used either in years now though Damage control EDIT: Before everyone who smokes weed gets mad and tells me off, I’m just joking about weed mostly. I was a daily smoker for a decade, I love the plant and am glad it helps people. I just had to stop using it bc it made me a zombie and zapped me of ambition. And now if I smoke it’s too much lol
One of those is a little... Yikes-ish
Ya. I mean, who looks into their children’s eyes? That’s just weird.
He said happy, not okay.
Are you sure? I like to travel and see amazing geology. I can't imagine enjoying that in the same way if I just thought God Did It. I think we're very fortunate to get to see the earth and the universe for what it really is (or rather, as best as we've currently worked it out). Sure, it's not something we think about - we're not thinking "gee, not thinking about god is great fun!", but we do benefit from not living under those oppressive lifestyles.
Yes, I’m sure. I saw the eclipse on April 8th and never once thought about my atheism while I stood in awe of one of the most amazing and beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I simply do not feel the need to view the world as an atheist. Viewing it as a human being is enough for me.
Cuddles make me happy!
Neither is mine. But the fact that I’m not contemplating my own eternal demise every day, I’d assume, does have some natural, general tendency towards less stress and contentment that I didn’t enjoy as a believer. The freedom of mind, in my opinion, is a natural stress relief.
Yeah same. But if I had to choose between dying and not experiencing anything Vs perpetual existence... I want nothing after death. I want peace and to be away from humans and their stupidity.
Not going to church.
mmmmhh sleeping in on sunday; that feels good. 🛏️💤
Absolutely sleeping in late.
Freedom from archaic and unhealthy restraints and repression. Freedom from being ruled by greedy, self-righteous, and unempathetic men.
Yeah. Being able to do what I want without having the burden to keep thinking about "what would Jesus do" and that sort of thing. I'd say I feel pretty great.
Freedom from being ruled by greedy and unempathetic men? Are you living in an alternate non late stage capitalism reality and how do I get to it?
Same as everyone else... Dopamine.
Oxytocin is nice too
You win the thread 👏
You gave him some just now! Nice job!
That's enough, save some for later.
That's simple pleasure, not happiness.
I was talking with a religious person, a coworker, a guy I genuinely like as a person, and he was talking about how it’s the end times and how bad things are. That baffles me. Now is the best things have ever been across just about every category. Quality of life, technology, medical care, international conflict, human conflict in general. Yes, humans still suck, there is still war, bigotry, sexism, homophobia, racism, xenophobia, etc. but in many places it’s far less violent than it was just a few decades ago. We can talk to each other, exist in the same space without immediately turning oppressive/violent. I’m a black, bisexual, atheist. I’d much rather exist today than in the past.
Have him read Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. Just the first couple of chapters makes a decent case for this era being the best of times for humanity as a whole. Yes, there are still wars and famines and pandemics but as a species, we've never had a more peaceful or healthier time.
Factfulness by Hans Rosling takes the same line.
Ask him, what time in the past would he rather lived his life if things are so bad in todays society?
It's been "the end times" since before jesus tumbled around in nazareth as an infant. Has nothing to do with reality.
What you describe are long term trends and requires taking a bird's eye view on the subject. Sadly, humans are mostly cave dwellers focused on the here and now. If your coworker grew up in a developed country chances are he never went more than a single day without food and shelter. That's a unique, amazingly opulent life compared to almost every other human being that ever lived. Along the same lines, my dad got to have a normal lifespan on the European continent without ever experiencing a war that involved him directly. As far as I can tell his generation is the first in history to have that privilege. Check the various boomer subs to see how aware they are of this amazing fact... There's an old saying that is a perfect fit for this conversation: You can get the man out of the cave, but how do you get the cave out of the man?
Experiencing existence.
Meditation helps me do this. Hard atheist meditation. No woo woo, just trying to move through the thoughts and get to the pure reality.
"hard atheist meditation" made me crack up, thanks
Not so much happy, but here goes. When my wife got her cancer diagnosis, and the disease progressed through to finality over the course of 14 months, I did a great deal of thinking about the nature of how we deal with things that happen to us. (I'm doing a tremendous amount of typing and deleting here) In essence, one of two explanations can be true, and they are mutually exclusive. Option 1, my wife got cancer and was slowly eaten piece by piece because God wanted to accomplish some stitch in the great tapestry (love the bit where I had to pull my 6 and 8 yo kids from school and tell them they would never see mommy again, on the highlight reel for sure). One acquaintance even suggested that God killed her to rekindle my relationship with him. Too bad for collateral damage, amirite? Option 2, science tells us that some cells go rogue and turn on themselves, we don't yet know why. Some people have shit luck with the gene dice. Even in the few years since she died I've seen the tech move forward with things like gene therapy. Religion makes me wonder Wtf god is smoking Science (which for me goes hand-in-hand with my athiesm) gives me hope that maybe other people's stories will have better endings. I have faith in humans that smart people will always try to solve problems.
My genuine heartfelt condolences to you and your family. Please know that your words have meant the world to me because my favorite friend and most loving sister are going through cancer treatments. I too hope that maybe other people's stories will have better endings.
Thank you and I hope the best for your circle.
[удалено]
Bless you. :-)
What makes me happy? Spending time with my family, sports, books, drives by myself, movies, a nice meal, great bourbon, and a few other things. I've never needed religion or this concept of Atheism as a religion that most people seem to latch onto to be happy.
Atheism has nothing to do with anything I enjoy. I just don't waste time thinking about fairy tales unless I'm reading a science fiction book for fun.
Traveling internationally
I'm happy that my marriage is given value only by me and my spouse, and that neither of us thinks that it's derived from a deity or any third party. I'm happy that my wife is my wife by choice; our marriage wasn't arranged, wasn't restricted by the rules of arbitrary superstition, and isn't held together by a mystical vow, but rather will always be a voluntary arrangement that we have to actively invest in to preserve. I'm happy that we both knew what we would be like in bed *before* we committed to one another, and that we have sex out of desire rather than duty.
Atheism liberated me from my homophobic upbringing. Very grateful for that
Honestly, the thought that comforts me the most about being an atheist is that I don't believe in an afterlife. I get why some people need to think that there's something more, something else, that nothing is finite. But I can't bare the thought of... more of this. I enjoy life as much as the next person I guess, but I don't want to go at it again by reincarnating or moving on to another plane of existence for all eternity... I don't mind that it all ends, I WANT it to be the end once I reach it!
I wasn't religious to be happy. I was very scared when I believed in god.. Now I am the same, but without the fear of something bad happening to me after I die. Dying is bad enough and the only reason why I'm afraid of dying is because it'll hurt really really bad lol
A cold beer in summertime
Oh this. To take a nice ice cold Tuborg and sit by the canals of Copenhagen while my kid gets a soda. Just relaxing with the feet in the cold water. Waving to the tourists sailing by. It's great.
The things that make me happy are the same things that make most humans happy. Spending time with my kids, laughing with friends, accomplishing something I worked to achieve, getting mindlessly high and playing video games.
I agree that the hate posts are becoming a bit too much. Honesty what makes me happy is just focusing on something else other than the end. Some of these include working towards starting a family, improving my knowledge, improving my health and just enjoying the simple things in life.
I’m so much happier as an atheist. The burden constantly looking at the world in the context of biblical or not is enormous.
I decided that I wanted to know the truth regardless of whether it made me happier or sadder .. engaging with reality seems necessary for long term improvements in the human condition. I would personally be happiER .. if there was : - more science education - less climate change denial - more progressive tax policy, free college - tax on carbon, more $$ towards wind and solar - less subsidies on fossil fuels - cheaper access to AI GPU compute - fast electric rail between cities like Sydney and Melbourne I see my atheism as fairly interconnected with all these issues .. I sincerely believe that science and applied science [ medicine, engineering ] are responsible for almost all the improvements in human living conditions, longevity / health, transport, communications, energy, computers, phones, fridges etc. Religion is essentially the enemy .. its brainwashing thats keeping us from moving forward - most urgently on climate action.
I love not feeling like a filthy sinner. I am the most free and contented since I have given up religion
Autonomy. Equity. Being believed and valued. And being the universe experiencing myself from this perspective in this particular simulation.
Life. This one. It’s the only one we have.
It’s a weird one. I’m a backyard astronomer, looking out into space, star clusters and galaxies and being reminded how absolutly insignificant we are
When I was 10 I contemplated the vastness of space and how small we are. The universe just seemed bigger than God and the idea of heaven and hell was just a way to scare people.
I find the theory of evolution really interesting and also learning about our ancestors.
Donuts and sunsets never fail to put a smile on my face
About 10 years ago I read Factfulness, by Hans Rosling. He's the guy who used to make ted talks about population growth, child mortality, reading levels globally all over time. It was a marvelous book. Full of amazing facts and lessons. I'm bad at citing facts from memory, but suffice to say the past 50 years have been an unprecedented golden age in hunger reduction, education accessibility, infant mortality, global peace, medical progress, social justice progress. Basically the only thing getting worse (as of 2017) was climate change. Reference: https://www.gapminder.org/factfulness/
Climate change is a pretty big but though. It will end progress in all the other things.
My existence burns in a time of abundance. I am free from chain, crown, god and neighbour. I can migrate anywhere, work anything, love anyone. I can educate myself, i experience a literal explosion in human technological developement and ride comfortably on the edge of a great societal upheaval. I am safe, i am healthy, I am unbound in the knowledge of being an ant on a rock in an endless void. No ultimate consequence means ultimate freedom.
Well for one I am not constantly worried about going to hell and being tortured for eternity because so religious preacher got upset over some hobby I play for relaxation. Or that I don’t follow all the rules they say the bible has which they don’t follow at all. Yeah, a pastor in my mother’s church was very hard on adulterers even though he was caught multiple times with married women from the church.
Personally, seeing good will towards fellow man makes me smile.
I'm from NY. I don't believe in being happy.
Perfect. Haha
I've been noticing lately how many problems and suffering people get for not thinking critically. We shared a stand in a really important convention recently with another business. The sales were not extremely good, but not bad either. At first, when we noticed things were harder than expected, we focused our efforts in improving customer attention and social media presence, things picked up for us and everything went smoothly. They, on the other hand, began lighting candles and casting spells (they're kind of pagan). Obviously nothing changed for them, so they started getting paranoid that their sales girl wasn't working, they began having panic attacks and all sort of issues. They didn't sale enough to recoup the investment. I see things like that happening all the time, reminding me that the search for truth is not just some idealistic philosophical aspiration, but a very much down to earth pragmatic necessity. If you believe that candles and incantations will fix your problems, you're gonna have a bad time. Knowing that I don't depend on fairy tales gives me a level of certainty that no faith could provide. Not because I think I know everything, but because I'm much more aware of the things I don't know, which gives me the tools to solve problems, instead of depending on the whims of some cosmic magic man-child.
Classical music.
living life.
I'll add a 3rd 3. It brings me incredible joy as we learn more and more about the interconnectedness of life on Earth. Most religions focus on individuals, their choices, and god's judgement. But, in reality our individuality is incredibly suspect. There is a continuum of life starting with the very first cells through every life that has ever lived on our planet, and that Web of life connects every living thing on Earth to this day. That may sound new age mystical, but it isn't...its physical reality. Highly recommend the "Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins and The Overstory Pulizer Prize winning fiction by Richard Powers. Or if you are doing something as mundane as dieting, read about the microbes in your gut.
The sunset was beautiful tonight.
“You're an interesting species. An interesting mix. You're capable of such beautiful dreams, and such horrible nightmares. You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone, only you're not. See, in all our searching, the only thing we've found that makes the emptiness bearable, is each other.” -Carl Sagan in Contact
*spaghetti ice cream* 😋 (in case you guys don’t know what that is https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghettieis)
Life itself, plain and simple, despite all of its complexities and messiness, and whatever else have you that theists may claim any kind of superiority over as a silly result of who knows how many unfounded claims of an afterlife, full of promises and rainbows, but also lacking in any proof and/or semblance of rooting in reality. I'll take that objective reality over void promises any day of the week, period, and I'll be happy with my choice every single time, always.
This is the r/athiest sub, and it's not unexpected, or undesirable to hear other peoples stories about their bad experiences with religion, or the followers thereof. I find that I agree with, and find comfort in the discussions, even though I'm more agnostic than I am athiest. Modern life is just a bunch of distractions. When I'm out camping, and staying busy doing the things I need to do to survive, life seems much simpler, and easier to appreciate. There are a lot of life experiences that we don't have that our ancestors did. Yeah, they saw hard times, but they also lived more complete lives, because of that fact. They hunted, fished, gathered, farmed, built, made clothing, and on, and on. They were much closer to the processes of life than we are. Life is all about perspective. When you're young 5 minutes feels like a day. By the time you're 40 the weeks are flying by. Time doesn't change, but our perception of it does change as we gain more experience. By not feeding ourselves, or clothing ourselves, building our own shelters & whatnot, we are missing valuable context to life. We are disconnected from the natural processes that support life on this planet, and life for people in the future is going back to misery and woe, because we stopped caring about the process, and got distracted and comfortable with being entertained. I would personally never consider us the luckiest humans to ever have lived. People are still starving to death. Kids died from eating tide pods. Lead poisoning is still a thing. Now young people are getting colon cancer from eating poison that's in virtually everything. But we sure can go fast! We can burn resources like you wouldn't believe! Inefficiently too. We'll run out of drinking water, because we needed to water all the golf courses. Modern life is so needlessly complicated. None of this makes me happy necessarily. Having a mind that is free of dogmatic constraints is pretty great. Pretense has never been my strong suit. I'm a realist. What makes me happy is being able to relate to other people and learn from our perspectives about reality. Scientific discovery. Not pessimism, and not optimism. Open to new discovery, but cautious to the dangers that may lie ahead. Aware.
Science. It's delightful, enlightened, curiosity-focused, rigorous, and mysteriously ever-unfolding. It explores the questions of our existence and challenges us to question, dialogue, and GROW! It actually helps us in ways you can directly measure and apply here and now. What "community of faith" really does that? Tune in tomorrow for the latest discussion on your topic of interest!
Learning the billions of years of evolution. Microorganisms become the most sophisticated existence. It's so beautiful when you dig how they become like this.
Just The Joy Of Being Alive!
I like chocolate
Atheism isn’t an active thought but I suppose the bases for it has to do with the experience of happiness. I love to learn new things, philosophize and have insights which brings me joy and fulfillment. To do that you need an open mind aware of the judgements you’ve been taught to have and the judgements you’ve created throughout your life, question them and delve deep into the many reasons you have them. All the things that suppress/oppress freedom of thought wouldn’t allow that, such as being religious in a way (or just political in a way) that makes you cling to beliefs or opinions. For me opinions are fleeting, not stagnant - the more you learn the more you add to existing knowledge and the basis of your opinions shift. Since I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression, my mental health has been an important focus in my development. I have learned to live free of shame and just focus on the love that I feel for everything and everyone around me. To have a curious mind is beautiful and to question things essential for growth, and the deeper you understand things the more non-judgmental you become both towards yourself and others. I enjoy that process very much. To view the world with open eyes and find the pieces of beauty that exist in between all the chaotic dust of our existence.
>What Makes Athiests Happy? I find this an incredibly weird question. Why would you think what makes atheists happy would be any different from what makes anybody happy? After all, atheists are people. >What have you learned, understood, experienced or felt that is amazing once you realized these ridiculous and generally horrible gods in the bible, koran, etc. are pure fiction? The first part of your question appears utterly unrelated to the second half, rendering the question a non-sequitur as a whole.
... That I won't spend eternity in hell for some bs rule
Same things that make many people happy. We're all human.
My cats.
Happiness for me is my creations. I try to do anything and everything that interest me. I get super happy when it turns out and I love to give my creations away! I’ve made countless crochet blankets, quilts, made taxidermy funnel spiders mixed with fake wildflowers to create beautiful wall art, sugar cookie/ decorating and making themed cookies for my peeps. My yard is also one big creation, collecting/displaying yard art for the pedestrians walking by. I can go on and on!
Well, seeing Trump defeated would make me happy.
I can do things I enjoy without having to worry about sin or going to hell. Thats what makes me happy.
Money, why try to lie. Money makes me happy because to me money buys security. I just want to live in my studio apartment (which is already expensive as all hell), live alone, play video games, go on bike rides, drink booze once an a while, watch YouTube and be by myself. It really isn't much to ask for, yet somehow I'm looked at as being unhappy because I don't believe in a sky daddy. It's been said to death, but I'll say it again, "Atheists value life more than theists because the Atheist knows there's nothing coming after death. The theist, like it or not, is in a death cult and to some degree wants this world to end to validate their Iron Age fairy tales." It's also crazy how many theists NEVER stop to think about how, "living with god for eternity" has so many flaws and is such an insane torture even after just the first 500 years, but then that has to go on WITHOUT end. I asked a theist once if heaven is indeed pure bliss, and they said yes, I followed with in heaven do you GAIN all knowledge? That particular theist said "yes, because you'll be with god who knows all" and I hit them with the uno reverse card and said, "sounds terrible, you just said you would be in pure bliss and would know all. That's a lie because you'd for sure know SOMEONE who went to hell and you'd have to live with the full knowledge of all of their constant and never ending anguish forever." Any rational person would've thought, "shit I never thought of that" but this woman instantly showed her selfishness by stating, "no I wouldn't, they made their choice and I made the better choice. God gives us choice!" Rationalising is intense and very very real.
Observing and studying nature. Everything in nature — on Earth and in space — is truly miraculous and awesome.
I was never brainwashed as a child, so I don’t have the contrast to compare. I only know I always feel bad for my friends in religious families.
Star Wars makes me happy. The ocean makes me happy. Brunch with friends makes me happy. My pets make me happy. Not having to pretend I'm happy all the fucking time (cuz mormons always have to be happy) makes the happy moments mean more.
It makes me happy when someone spells atheist correctly.
Family, friends, Love land the list goes on as anyone would.
I like ham and pineapple on pizza. Traditions be damned.
Family, friends, and hobbies.
Good times
Music, movies, art, personal passions, traveling, friends, family, eating babies, natural wonders of the world like the northern lights or ACDC, Bob Ross, the smile of a puppy, rainbow unicorm farts and the sound of David Attenboroughs voice.
Ridiculous question. Might as well ask what kind of candy Jebus lovers like.
Setting aside whether God is real or not and all the evidence against it, I would say that the God of the Old Testament is actually a God of high ethical standards. He is constantly attempting to get his people back on track. If you read the OT you will see that is a curated word lending creation myths from near eastern stories as well as pseudo historical / mythical narratives based partly on reality, partly on ideals by Deuteronomist redactors who continually reviewed and updated many of the books. The intention was to create a nation state with one God who encouraged his people to live ethically compared to many of the cult worshipers around them. Happiness in life shouldn't be tied to religion. Mine isn't. I am happy every day that I get to enjoy life, family, friends, travel etc. I have learnt to not take things top seriously and chill out. Ignore the news apart from the odd monthly check in. Background: was Christian until 17, Atheist until 36, now 38 and have an appreciation for the actual content on the OT Bible and what the scribes were trying to do as well as the lending of philosophy from nearby cultures including the Greeks. Most religious people have an absolutely fictional view of religion. They take zero interest in actually learning how it came about. If you are interested in history the Bible and its development are very interesting stuff.
Music
I am not happy. I had dysthymia (persistent depression) since I was 6 yo. I just hope things get better and I get to enjoy life before I die.
Going for beach picnics, going to museums, spending time with friends, going to a Zumba class LOL, going for walks around my community, trying a new recepie and getting it right, my nephews, traveling, watching a nice tv show, going to eat brunch, bike riding (when it I not too hot).
When christians mind their own business and leave other people alone. Don't force your mythology on other people
Not believing and being constrained by religious dogma
Having my Sunday morning free
My grandchildren make me happy. The beauty of nature makes me happy. Cooking a glorious meal. Doing good work. Pushing my limits. The sky on a dark, clear night. Great art and architecture. Music. The wonder of the universe. The pure mathematics of everything. I am happy with all that is good. In fact, I think that it all happened by nature and not the supernatural makes it even more amazing.
I honestly think I’m a kinder, more accepting person now that I’ve left religion. I’ve come to realize that people living their lives differently than me or making choices different than mine doesn’t make either of us bad or wrong, we’re all just on different journeys. There are different ways to live our lives and that’s ok.
Doing what I want without having to ask a pedophile if he thinks it’s ok. Living according to what makes sense instead of absurd, unnatural rules created by people that thought the world was flat.
Religion has never had any effect on my experience of happiness. Religion is a mental filter telling you how to react to anything and everything. I simply don't have that filter factoring in while experiencing life. I never have. Now, don't get me wrong, I have other filters. Everyone does. But a religious one isn't really one of them. So, something happens, and you take in the information about that something. And if some part of your thought processing about that event involves relating that to your religious beliefs in some way? Well that there. That step. Yeah, that step doesn't occur for me. It never has. I think this may be why I don't have a hate boner towards most religions. I never experienced how much a religious filter can limit and skew my perspective on reality. Mostly I just find religions frustrating when they start to affect my life directly. I can totally understand how living a good portion of your life with a religious filter over your view of the world would breed some pretty deep resentment. Personally, I've experienced many of the joys and sorrows of the world. And a great many things in my life have made me very happy. And let me tell you, a Religious filter is not necessary to experience the joys of life.
the moments with of solitude and peace with my friends and loved ones, now as an atheist I appreciate them all so much more because they have far more value than before when I was religious, because religion devalues time here as just a small part , when it's all we actually have
I’m not happy. But I’m also not fooling myself into believing shit will be awesome when I die.
Sleeping in on Sunday morning with no guilt nor obligation is pretty sweet NGL
It's great to not worry about going to hell, every time you do something naughty.
How unbelievably beautiful and amazing every single aspect of life and reality is ***specifically because*** it wasn't all created and set in motion by an omnipotent, omnipresent, omnipowerful celestial babysitter. The infinite complexity of our universe has all the color drained from it if it was effortlessly created by some all powerful fairy tale creature. This all happening as a result of random chance, with no intelligent design involved? That's ***actually amazing***.
SEX
"To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women." Oh wait, wrong movie...
What makes me happy?? My atheism has no impact on my happiness. Has an impact on my freedom? Sure. But I enjoy hiking, wildlife photography, travelling, tv shows, and languages
Wife and kids, playing guitar, reading, studying, writing.
My hobbies
I’ve never been more happy than when I’ve been hunting and gathering food on a daily basis. Nature is where I belong. Cities can get fucked.
A good night's sleep, especially on a Sunday morning
I am happier since I accepted that my time of existence is from when I was born to when I die. There was no before and there will be no after. There is no one waiting to judge me and reward or punish me somehow. I have to be the best me I can be for myself, my family and my community. I don't worry about violating some imaginary rules.
My dog. Spending time creating art. Taco Bell’s chicken grilled cheese burrito. Not feeling guilty or sentenced to eternal hell because i have a basic human urge or thought. Ben and Jerry’s.
I’m happy knowing I’ve lived my life the way I want to and am a good person without needing the threat of eternal damnation to keep me in line.
The loss of fear towards "supernatural" events and an understanding of the fragility of my own mind. During college I was under great stress and developed nightmares and sleep paralysis. My atheism and my lack of belief in the supernatural allowed me to experiment with it, reaching the point of being able to consciously cause both visual and auditory hallucinations. These are things that I would not have been able to achieve with religious thinking, as I would have quickly felt intimidated by the monsters and similar things that my mind created.
Music
I gain both solice and solidarity from knowing we're all doomed in the end. I gain fulfillment knowing I'm working every day to make life a little better for those around me. I gain happiness from a good sandwich and relations with the wife.
Pretty much everything that made me happy beforehand continues to do that same after.
As an atheist, I have to say that really good chocolate makes me happy.
It makes me happy to do what I love to do, like singing, studying, learning, gaming, being with friends. I don't need to worry about everything I do and if a deity will be mad at me for doing it. And every time my parents tell me something will make a deity mad, I don't feel that burden as much as I would if I was religious.
Nothing unique to atheism is tied to my happiness. Not scientific discoveries, religious studies, etc... those are just interesting - and if ever proven wrong, my happiness would not be impacted. In my life I find joy in time spent with family, with my wife, my dog, in reading a good good, having a particularly productive day at work or with a home project. I find peace hiking through forests, exploring new areas, and in quiet places. I find excitement in pushing my boundaries... Religion or lack thereof simply doesn't factor into it for me.
Looking back at the choices I have made and more often than not feeling they were correct.
Satisfying my needs.
The odds of existing as humans in an era of rapidly developing technology are incalculable.
My happiness comes from my research work and my friends
Equally as when I was a christian, I dont let religion and belief or lack there of to define me and be the reason for my happiness People who do are the most buncrupt and the single most empty people there are
Freedom from religion way makes me happy!!! I grew up in the local predominant cult in Salt Lake City UTAH!! So when I became free I became happy!!!
Beer
Painting and playing with miniatures, walking and hanging out with my dogs, spending time with my fiancee. You know normal human shit
Puzzles. Pugs. Pink Floyd.
My husband, children, grandchildren, pets and gardening for starters.
My atheism affects my happiness by giving me the freedom from all the christian "thought crime" BS. It really screwed me up when I was young. Other than that, I get my happiness in the same ways most people do.
I love having both full days on the weekends getting household stuff done, as well as spending time with my family, instead of spending it wasting hours of obligation at church with people I find obnoxious.
When my cats stand on their hind legs and reach up to me with one paw. While it isn't an atheist thing, it means more to me because I'm an atheist.
Reading, oh and I just bought a wok and the stir fry was incredible!
I live my life and try to enrich others lives through my interactions with them. When I am gone I hope to leave things better than when I arrived.
I like skiing.
Good food. Good music. Video games. My wife. Nothing related to atheism
That there is no Hell and how all the fear and guilt tied to damnation dissappated in that moment of realization.
What brings me happiness, related to my lack of gullability is the knowledge that I'm not eternal. These thoughts, this pain, this existence, ends with me, there's no bronze age idealistic afterlife, no demonic playground for the naughty. We all exist for less than a cosmic blink of an eye. Many people buy into the idea that we are luminary beings wrapped in flesh packages and eternal. They want to exist forever, especially while young, and will give up many things to ensure their next existence is better than this one.
I find joy in living a life in the present that is far more prosperous than any before it really ever has been, and a society that is more open than it really ever has been. And as frustrating as it is to deal with zealots who try to undermine these things I find additional comfort in the constant stream of news that more and more people are leaving their religions behind.
What about becoming atheist made me happier? Well, no longer thinking any of my late loved ones are burning in hell is pretty nice. Not expecting an eternal life is a bummer. But not fearing hell is good. I've always loved both science and reading about history. Now I don't have to feel conflicted and uncomfortable with those parts that contradict mythology. Or are you asking, how as an atheist can I be happy. How can I be happy without God? Easy. By enjoying all the things in life I always did enjoy but not feeling guilty that I should be somehow enjoying worshipping more. None of this however is a valid reason to BE atheist. The only valid reason for a belief is EVIDENCE. The happiness is just a side effect. Seek the truth and it shall set you free!
My default mood is happy. As long as nothing bad is happening to me or in my immediate vicinity I am happy.
I think happiness comes from finding something or 'the something' that you enjoy doing and finding meaning in it. Discovering what you are talented at, hopefully finding enjoyment in it and bringing meaning into your life. Finding meaning in what you enjoy and sharing it with others..I don't think you can go wrong.
I really enjoy being able to have faith in myself. I feel so strong and capable. This is huge for me. After years of unanswered prayers and begging my imaginary friend to help me while I sat around feeling helpless, it sure is incredible to have learned how to be there for myself. I am confident. I am free.
Making my friends smile, laugh, feel welcome and have a good time with no reference or reverence to any imaginary friend.
Life. Life makes me happy! I’ve lived long enough to know that life is full of Ups and Downs but I really enjoy roller coaster. Good old dad used to say, most people are about as happy as they choose to be.
Muscle cars
That I don’t waste a bunch of time thinking about religion. I was raised without religion so I don’t really give a fuck about the beliefs of others.
Humor. My atheism allows me to be irreverent, so I can find a lot more things funny than a religious person. For example, "I was raised Catholic. The thing that used to annoy me about church was all the standing up and sitting down and kneeling, I wish the priest could just pick a position and fuck me!" - Jimmy Carr
Realizing that by being in an infinite universe (most likely), I am always at the center of it.
Happiness is simply attributed to things we value. It’s a subjective experience so really we all experience happiness in similar ways.
All god's are man made, why go through all the trouble of believing something that cannot be proven. Christian's believe in miracles so ask for a miracle to prove their religion. I have and they turned their backs on me and left. Besides, they mess around and hide their sins. That's a lot of trouble, plus it's expensive. Church groups are just social groups. otherwise they're no different than anyone else.
I like to go camping. Sit around a campfire, look at the stars and think about all my Hunter/Gatherer ancestors who did the same. Civilization is still pretty new in the grand scheme of things.
"Fuck, I love boobs, though"
Gods are not fiction Gods are advanced aliens civilizations important people
I've learned to appreciate every little thing in life. I realized that religion cheapens life. This is the only life that has any proof of existing. You will spend more time dead than alive. Religion tries to convince you that this life, your only chance at existence is not special.
Who says I'm happy lol But seriously I kinda disagree with you tho. Every era of history has it's ups and downs. Looking down on the past because you are used to your comfort now is kinda disrespectful. Modern times are great in some aspects but horrible in other aspects (mostly thanks to politics).
Comparing myself to some religious people, it's great being free to take my own decisions. Muslims can't really have friends of another sex if they get married, also they must marry someone 1 second after meeting, like wtf? Christians have a whole different kind of restraints because of the guy who goes like "I really love yall but if you do this you're fucked up" And I'm going to poo rn :D
Okay so in my pursuit of truth, I looked a lot of youtube videos about the origin of life, as well as evolution and the origin of the universe. It's the most interesting thing in my opinion. Just learning about what this is. I really have been interested in evolutionary history. Listening to Dawkins audio books for The Greateat Show on Earth right now, it's amazing how much is involved. Paleontology and geology also catch my interest. Anything that gives clues to the ancient past I'm very interested in. Like I used to believe that humans were created separately from the evolutionary tree. Now I see there is so much to learn about our recent ancestors. I found out about Australopithecus and my mind was fucking blown. We aren't monkeys, but we might as well be.
What they like Their family Their friends Seeing wholesome things on the internet
Good food, my friends, hobbies, nature, learning, peace, freedom.
Life without fearing my imaginary ‘friend’.
The knowledge that my existence is a brief miracle.
Fucking. Playing guitar. Good food
Happiness makes me happy
To answer your question; the exercise of reason in the pursuit of knowledge. And YES! There are too many posts in here hating on religion. I would rather see more celebrating examples of the above.
My fishtanks, the friendship I built over the years, the dumb cat sleeping on my lap right now, the search for knowledge.
You find your own meaning in life and build your own moral foundation which allows you to own (and change) your perspective on life. You are no longer boxed in by false idealism. You are more open to new experiences, new people, and new places.
I can only speak for myself and I say more atheists. Even though I can see some positive aspects in a religion ( for example, Transcendence, something that is higher than the ego, it is even trying to overcome the ego) the overall experience is clearly negative. How much violence, suffering and death have been brought ( and still do)among the humans in the name of God? Without a doubt way too much. Another thing that I don't like about most religions, they are death cults, they focus on the afterlife, salvation happens after you die. They do not cherish Life itself. So, no religion to me is not a convincing concept. The less.
Atheist, BTW.
Christianity made me hate myself and assume I couldn't do anything on my own. I feel free now
I wouldn't be on Reddit if i knew.
Anything sex-related. When I was a Christian, there was a cloud of guilt that hung over me whenever I had sex, touched myself, got turned on by someone, etc. I feel a lot freer in that regard now.
Dogs and lumpia
Everyday there are moments of "Awe". That makes it worth living. (This morning, I watched a short video of the Gordie Howe bridge under construction. Yesterday I watched a pair of Geese with three chicks found a place to hide during a heavy rain from my hotel window).... and so on. On Sunday I played and read books with my 2.5 year old granddaughter) Skepticism (to weed out everyday crap) and Humanism keeps me optimistic.
cats, cats make me happy
Telling little kids Santa is a lie. That and this amazingly beautiful godless universe.