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Embracing "atheism".

Just over a year ago, the way in which I view the world took a sudden and radical change.

For some years now, I have been a self-professed atheist. I gave the impression that I had a deep and profound understanding of the natural world and genetics. I was a "progessivist", with little time for animal rights movements and such like. I liked to exhude an air of intellectualism, but deep down I really wasn't as sure as I probably seemed. My political idealogies would have been mildly right-wing, at least for a while.

Then, at the beginning of the summer of 2004, something quite scary occured. I really did attain a profound understanding of the natural world and genetics. I had crossed the line beyond which atheism was no longer a choice. I was, in my own words, a "logically-compelled atheist".

Things started to seem very weird indeed. I often felt (and still do) as if I were looking at the planet Earth from a "universal" point of view. I became acutely and consistently aware of the unlikeliness of our existence. This viewpoint did not, however, immediately make me a better person (nor a worse one). I now, if anything, felt an even greater sense of intellectual superiority. I liked to come across as being subversive. I perceived everything as being meaningless, and laughed mockingly at the way in which people took life so seriously.

But even then, however, I felt as if I was slowly attaining a new, more spiritual, understanding of life. I began to realise that the only reason I (we) perceive life as being meaningless in the absence of a god is the prevalence of religion itself and of its undeniable psychological influence on anyone who is exposed to religous notion from a young age. Perceiving everything as meaningless just because our god doesn't exist is mere flattery of our little human agenda. I began to imagine nature (and the spatial beyond) looking at me with a superior smirk, just as I had, inwardly at least, done to other people. In time my appreciation of our place in the natural realm, and of the planet in general, started to become more and more deep. Issues such as those regarding the envirnoment, which would have before brushed over me, now pierce my soul. True beauty of the world is now apparent to me.

By now, the word "atheism" has lost alot of its meaning for me, and I feel as if I simply grew up being fully aware of the evolutionary process that created us and taking it for granted as beautiful and meaningful, just as I had, in reality, been forced to view religion and "God".

I must stress that I think religion has played a necessary and perhaps inevitable role in our history. It has helped explain existence and has probably made the world seem like a more manageable place for people while they didn't know any better. Now, however, I think it's time for us to start becoming aware of something much closer to what is really going on (I don't think science will ever conquer mystery) and that the state of the planet, and the future of its self-concious residents, is truly in our own hands.

Re: Embracing "atheism".

thanks very much for placing into words
my mind's thoughts. i've accepted "it" as a different
state of awareness, (much like an awakening from the "normal people").
i too see things through grounded eyes and i agree, i feel i am a much better person because of it.
its like watching cattle. but i do believe that sweeping change is near, the goal will be to get out of the way.
thanks again!

Re: Embracing "atheism".

"I think it's time for us to start becoming aware of something much closer to what is really going on (I don't think science will ever conquer mystery) and that the state of the planet, and the future of its self-concious residents, is truly in our own hands."

We still don't know what happens after death ;) Scientifically all they can say is, "that's it, everything stops!" but that kind of makes any possible meaning to this life impossible. What were we here for? For naught, just to die later after 80-or-so years?

Re: Re: Embracing "atheism".

Sorry for taking so long to reply.

Well, yes, I do suspect that we simply cease to exist post-mortem. I don't, however, think that this should detract from our ability to lead fulfilling lives nor prevent us from viewing human life and feeling as inherently important in its own right. Perhaps the ideal situation would involve everyone believing in god in a very non-specific manner, or at least in the possibility of the persistence of our conciousness on some level post-mortem. I feel that specific religious endeavor and recognition of arbitrary scripture should now be resigned to obsolesence and that science and non-specific spiritualism are now our true friends.

Re: Re: Embracing "atheism".

i think that is the majority of the human problem. most people don't live for today....they live for the hope (faith) of an afterlife, ("a better life"). wouldn't you agree that most people are not happy with their life, their job, their personal situation...ect???? i found that most people do not take their lives too seriously in the "understanding" that they are going to another place, (heaven -the ultimate, self-fullfilling utopia. and that they labor through this life in order to finally die and go there. what a waste. life is now.
i used to work at a jewish, (kosher) nursing home and became friends with the facility rabbi. he would pray everyday in a rituralistic fasion, (with the robes, and (i don't know the approriate name for this....) and the holy (blocks?)) that are strapped around the head....the whole nine....anyhow,
there were some days that he would force himself to go through this ritual and i asked him, "why are you laboring over your ritual, daily prayer." mind you, his job was not too difficult at the nursing home....his job was to make sure, ($15 /hr) that the meat does not come in contact with the dariy....oh, and pray 3 times a day. so,
i asked him, why do you do this? why can't you enjoy a cheese burger, (meat & cheese together)...to make a very long story short, he said, (and i quote), "i do these things to get my reward in heaven."
if you really think about it, you'll see it too.
i thought greed was a bad thing?? yet we all want want want to be paid for our "suffering" here on earth.
what are we here for???? we are here to make this world, the NOW world, a better place for your children. the more and more people disregard this world, this life, (which is the majority of our brainwashed population) the quicker it will come to an end, (in the name of some god, i.e. terrorists) tell me that is not true!?? someone somewhere sometime, i do believe, (sadly) it is going to happen. and it will be in man's rebirth that we will finally understand we all need to live together, no borders, no races, no possessions (oil, food, water ect) no gods. lennon hit it on the head with "imagine." lennon is no different than any other prince of peace, (including the man jesus).
we live in an angry world, (because at this particular time in our evolution, we are a hostile race. yes we are! devils? gods? no one thing, (or imaginary thing) forces us to be "evil" or "good". it's our choice, (stop blaming others for your own actions) we have an inclination for dominance, (my country, your country) peace is within all of us, (and again, so is wickedness)it just needs to be found, AND USED.
live your life for today, and give your children all the love you can muster. if you've created offspring, your duty is to raise them, how is up to you. they are an extension of you. where do i go when i die???? in your children. and if you do it right, you will always be remembered and passed on from generation to generation. if not, there will probably be a stone with your name on it that your kids may visit from time to time and.....think of you? how you were as a parent? how you prepared them to make a differece in their life?
so, in the line that made me write this...
"What were we here for? For naught, just to die later after 80-or-so years?"
yup, your gonna die when you die and if you lead your life "for naught"....well then, not only is that your problem, but it is ours too, because your children will grow up also thinking their lives are for naught. think about it!!!!!
wake up my friend. life is now. please please please do something great with it, do it for your offspring. stop the oppression right now! and be an active part of your childrens life. if you dont have children...spread the peace, do something good for the future of our race.