Question for athiests

I'm a Christian and I'm not against athiests, I just don't really understand them. I'm just curious as to how you live your life thinking that there's nothing above you, that humans are the most powerful beings here and this is our life and after this...

we're done. It just seems like such a negative way to look at things, and I'm wondering how you can go on day to day thinking you have nothing else but this. No one to worship or to idolize who's greater than anything on this planet. Nowhere to hope to go after you die. No one to put your fate into the hands of. Just how can you think that way and NOT feel horrible all of the time?

It's much more satisfying to try and figure things out for myself than simply accept them because some ancient book told me to.

The more I study about how the universe as we know it came to be and how life on earth developed, the more appreciation I have for it all.

As for no hope in a place to go after I die, belief in an afterlife is simply based on humanity's ancient inability to accept that this life is all there is. Once you do accept that, you realize how precious this life is, and that it shouldn't be wasted living in fear of some abstract notion of God.

well, higher power doesn't make us happy
its fact that we look up to
and really, most athiest don't believe in power
we believe in pure love for the earth or other people
yeah, I agree with jessica
not believing in what you believe is god
doesn't mean we have no hope
I have hope that the worlds poverty ends, starvation stops and diseases are cured
I believe that humans alone have the power to fix their mistakes
not through prayer, but through action.
idolizing doesn't make us happy, being who we are and being free-minded makes us positive, not negative

and btw I don't understand how religious people can be under a church telling them that the bible is law and that you will pay for your mistakes if you don't believe what they tell you.
im not being mean, I'm just saying us atheist sympathize for religious people more than they sympathize for us.

Honestly, it's liberating. Not only that, but my doubts result in hope rather than terror, like the doubts of theists do.

But regardless of how it makes me feel, it's my assessment of reality, and sadly, reality is under no obligation to placate my fears/desires.

do you really need some one to idolize?
why cant people just live their life doing things the way that makes them happy, not soing things to make some higher power happy?

Im not against people that believe in religion but I feel that many people only believe in it for fear of what will happen to them in the afterlife if they do not.

Just because I do not believe in a God does not by anymeans mean that I have no hope, if anything it means that I have strength to live life the way I want to and not follow a book that was written ages ago.

p.s. this was not meant to attack you in anyway if it comes across that way im sorry, just trying to answer you question.

~Jess

I live my life knowing that my time here is brief and that I am responsible for my own joy and sorrow. I live happily trusting in the love of family and friends. I live in awe of this magnificent universe and how nature is so much greater and more marvelous than I could possibly ever conceive.

I do not fear death but I am sad that there are so many things that I won't live to see discovered or explained. That drives me to learn as much as I can now.

I take all the energy and time that I would have spent worshipping a deity and invest it in those who matter most to me. Their love and support pays real dividends right now where it counts.

My anxieties about myself and the future have lessened greatly now that I embrace reality rather than religion. I believe I am a better person for that.

well it depends on many things. for one, atheists have been around since the begining. we dont need people(or god) telling us how to live our lives. or people sometimes have traumatic things happen to them that make them stop beliveing in a higher power. just wait, we will see what is in store for us at the end of the long tunnel.

okay.
im an athiest..
and I think.. I put my fate into my own hands.. I know that everything I do have a consequense and I know whats good and whats bad. you dont need to have a religion to be a good person. and how can I go each day knowing I have nothing else but this.. easy.. I make my days fun knowing I lived as good as I could each day I spend here. I have fun with my life and I know if I were to die tomarrow I lived up to my fullest... and I would never want to worship anyone.. I live for my family and my friends.. they are ALL I NEED in this world.. if I have a problem I go to them.. I dont need a god to ask.. I have the ones I love... and where do I go after I die.. easy my body decays into the earth and I become part of the world...and why do I not feel horrible... BECAUSE I DONT NEED A RELIGION TO BE HAPPY... =] hope I helped you answer your rediculous question.

One answer, Scientology is the way to go...

It all depends on the person...

The element that makes humans the most highly evolved (for the science people) or God's crowning achievement (for the God people) is our innate awareness of our own mortality... that's it. Some ponder their deaths with fear, others with indifference, others not really at all.

The God you put so much faith in, and hold so dearly; others may find completely unbelievable, and unecessary. You say its a negative way to look at things, others may think its pointless to worry about it. Some are this way because its commonly accepted in the society they live in, others are this way because they've had negative experiences with religion or religious people, and then there are others who simply just don't need religion, or an explanation of what happens when they die, to enjoy life.

And it works both ways; there are individuals who find hope, peace, direction, comfort in religion; because they've led a lifestyle that has left them wanting more. Religion can definately fill a void, in some people. And then again to some, religion is a control mechanism: laced with contradictions, loopholes, greed, and corruption.

This is a bad example, but some people find 'veganism' to be odd, why restrict yourself, when humans are 'designed' to eat meat and plants, not just one or the other. Some people would agree, some would disagree, and some simply don't care.

The only thing left to do is to just accept the fact that people are different; we all think differently, worry differently, and are comforted differently.

Geez... none of that made any sense...

life is what you make it
if you want to serve some higher power and be blinded by faith then thats fine
if you want to be your own higher power and live life the way you want to, thats fine
not all athiests think, thats it, after death
there are many, many different versions of what will happen, heaven is just one of them
I think people need to be more open-minded
and accept the fact that there is the exact opposite of what they think out there
to me it would appear negative to think that theres something higher than you
just like to you, it would seem negative to think the opposite
no one should feel horrible for what they beleive in
you included.
I dont feel horrible, I feel better than great, I feel free
there isnt much time to live, life is short
if you want to serve someone and hope for a better after life you can
but I will life my life, knowing that im free

I have lived more than 50 years of my life as a Roman Catholic. I have found that all these years I have lived in fear, doubt, afraid of death, one trying to compete with the other to attend more masses, novenas, holy shrines, etc. It has become a rat race, never knowing when it will end. I believe in living life a day at a time, forget repenting for all the sins of the past, or worry about the future, Heaven, Hell, etc. Live life in a way that you welcome death, with a smile on your face. If you have lived life to the full, when death comes you will have no regrets. Most Christians have the thought of death constantly haunting them. For me this is one of the worst stress religion offers. Forget whatever has to happen will happen.

Actually living your life in fear over constantly being watched, being told everything and anything is a sin and at the end of it all you may end up in a fiery pit seems a little more depressing to me... I believe in a God, but not your version...