A Question for Atheists

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You atheists really make me confused.


Considering you only believe in this life, why do you waste your few limited hours of life on debating people when there's much more enjoyable things you could be doing in life?

Why not visit a Park or a Zoo or a Safari Park? See the beauty of the world instead of sitting behind a screen debating worthlessly. Visit a relative or friend and tell them how much you care for them.


Honestly, if it wasn't for me having certainty in Islam, I wouldn't be behind a screen debating for no purpose. Trust me, it's much more enjoyable and you might become a more happier person.
 
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You atheists really make me confused.


Considering you only believe in this life, why do you waste your few limited hours of life on debating people when there's much more enjoyable things you could be doing in life?

Why not visit a Park or a Zoo or a Safari Park? See the beauty of the world instead of sitting behind a screen debating worthlessly. Visit a relative or friend and tell them how much you care for them.


Honestly, if it wasn't for me having certainty in Islam, I wouldn't be behind a screen debating for no purpose. Trust me, it's much more enjoyable and you might become a more happer person.

Qatada, your confusion demonstrates what I think is a very common underappreciation of just how much religion and religious people effect the non-religious.

I doubt you spend much time thinking about unicorns or debating those who believe in unicorns, but you may if you lived in a land where unicorn believers were the majority and sought to put unicorn displays in the public square, told you that those who don't believe in unicorns deserve to suffer for all eternity, marginalized those who don't believe in unicorns to the point that their seeking public office was a non-starter, wanted to teach unicorn creation stories in science classes, wanted to give charitable status to unicorn organizations, etc.
 
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I'm fully aware of the atheist paradigm, and that wasn't my point.

I said "I wonder why you waste your life away in useless debate when there's much more in life to look forward to." - especially if you consider this to be your only life.
 
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Because it isn't a waste. If it was, I wouldn't be here.

It serves many purposes for me personally, and I assume it serves more purposes for other members here.

Just off the top of my head:

1. I get to learn about other paradigms and other views. I even get to learn a little from other languages sometimes as you just showed.

2. I get to see how these believers think, and interact with them and clear up misunderstandings about them. I originally came here for this purpose, following the attack on 9/11. A lot of misinformation was going around at that time and I (and I think many others) came to boards such as this to clear them up. I have learned in my time on these boards (and also through in-person conversations with muslims) that much of it is indeed misinformation, including some of it that I didn't think was. I have also learned that some of what I expected was misinformation is in fact true.

3. I get to express my thoughts in typed out form and that helps me to collect and form my views. Some issues that are discussed on these boards I never actually thought much about before engaging in them on here (and others I have thought about a whole lot). I am not so much out to prove anything as out to engage in conversation and exchange some ideas while forming others. It is unfortunate that people tend to view theselves as on "sides". I prefer the free flow of ideas without personal attachment to them, but that is rare on any internet forum.

4. Writing on these boards also helps hone my writing skills.
 
I doubt you spend much time thinking about unicorns or debating those who believe in unicorns, but you may if you lived in a land where unicorn believers were the majority and sought to put unicorn displays in the public square, told you that those who don't believe in unicorns deserve to suffer for all eternity, marginalized those who don't believe in unicorns to the point that their seeking public office was a non-starter, wanted to teach unicorn creation stories in science classes, wanted to give charitable status to unicorn organizations, etc.

Judging on how this thread has been going, there's going to be someone asking who this group of unicorn believers is and why you live somewhere where they believe in unicorns, haha.

Anyway, when times get stressful for me, I don't have a natural instinct to turn to a higher power for guidance. That's all I could really say. Whatever I do depends on the situation. If there were a god that didn't offer help or guidance, would anyone worship it?

I think it could be a human instinct to turn to something greater, such as a child depending on its parents for safety. I've, personally, come to depend on myself because of what my parents have done, or the lack thereof. It's different for every person. (And no, I am not saying anyone in a similar situation would think the same way as I, or go about things the same.)

I try to avoid these threads because they start debates that make either side look bad. I have a feeling anyone who's curious to hear an Atheist's or Agnostic's answer just wants to shoot them down for being that way or thinking that way instead of actually finding out and learning about how someone different goes about life.
 
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I don't know what I would do at the absolute rock-bottom. I've never been there, so I can't say for sure. I have certainly had down times in my life, and I have turned to family and friends for support and help. I have also developed a strong ability to look within myself and take a very honest introspective analysis of who I am, what my values are, what life trajectory I am on, etc., and to change those things if I feel the need to. I would imagine I would do something along these lines if I were to hit rock-bottom, but as I said, I don't know.

I can tell you that when I was younger - maybe 10 or 11 - I tried praying a few times (I should preface this by saying that I grew up in a household where neither of my parents were religious and I never went to church or anything like that), and found that the only real changes in my life would happen after I took the initiative to do something about it. So, like was mentioned earlier in this thread, I essentially found that prayer was no more effective that making a wish while blowing out birthday candles or wishing upon a star.

Prayer and wishing, in my mind, are more verbal expressions of a need or want. They may help to organize thoughts, or incite self-action, but I strongly believe that there is never a real answer associated with them - aside from any kind of placebo. But that comes from within, not from any higher power.
 

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