"All atheists are angry and unhappy!"

splitter
splitter: We hear this a lot, but is it true?

No, no and no! If this misconception were really true, I would surely be a poor, cynical and disillusioned excuse of a man.

Sorry to disappoint you, but my life pretty much rocks. I'm not exaggerating in the slightest when I say that I'm extremely happy, because I have a loving wife, two healthy kids, a well-paid and interesting job, a modest but functional house, an old car that suits my purposes perfectly and many meaningful things to fill my off-work hours with.

While I thus do feel that life has been kinder to me than to many others and feel grateful for it, my case is hardly unique. In fact, most atheists I've met seem quite content with their godless lives. We even donate substantial sums of money to non-religious charity organisations, to share our fortune with our worse off brothers and sisters.
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DarkShark
DarkShark: It's a weapon theists use against atheists in an attempt to throw them off balance. The worst thing is that some really believe it's true! They actually think that one must have a god and a faith in one's life in order to be a happy and well-functioning person. How ignorant is it possible to be?

Happiness isn't dependent on how many hours a day you devote to worship, prayer, singing psalms and reading religious texts. On the contrary, I know unhappy theists, too, so in their case, faith alone isn't enough to save them from being unhappy and miserable. I, for one, would never be any happier if I had a faith to dictate my life with restrictions and commandments, rather the opposite.
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GrumpyGranny
GrumpyGranny: I happen to be a very angry atheist, because of all the young people that tell me to embrace their faith before it's too late. They must have forgotten the part of their scripture dealing with how to respect their elders!
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Headline
Headline: I hardly think that happiness has anything to do with your belief or unbelief. But it's easy to resort to stereotyped misconceptions when you want to discredit your opponents and score an easy point during a debate. Luckily, very few people fall for such cheap tricks anymore.
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DarkShark
DarkShark: I wonder when atheists will be perceived as normal people, just as all other normal people, who happen to believe in something. Like most others, we are kind, loving, caring people, who deny the existence of the devil the same way we don't believe in deities. We are not lesser beings, nor are we a threat to anybody. We argue our case by peaceful means and respect others as long as they respect us, but here is usually where the problems start, since some theists refuse to respect us as equals, while they discriminate against us by all possible means. Slowly, but surely, however, the tide is turning in our favor. All we have to do is be patient and society will eventually accept us. When that happens, we will really be happy!
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Queenie The Poo
Queenie The Poo: I dont believe in any kind of god, Im an atheist, Im not evil
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GrumpyGranny
GrumpyGranny: Of course you aren't. You are a great human being with the courage to confront religion and dismiss it as an illusion. Keep your head high, young lady, be proud of who you are and let others be bothered with what they call "evil".
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spray
spray: I am shocked at how often theists accuse atheists of being satanists, possessed by the devil or filled with destructive forces. How ignorant can a person become?
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Comrade_
Comrade_:
Both sides throw stereotypical insinuations/insults back and forth. I really can't grasp why someone with atheistic beliefs will be heavily bothered based on someone telling them that they are unhappy when they're not, whether that person is a theist or not, neither the other way around of an atheist telling a theist that he/she has a low intellect based on a belief.
Once it boils down to only words and not violence then it can be bearable/changed with time.
Who knows maybe both sides will learn to just come to an acceptance based on everyone living their own life, or have mellow debates.
(Edited by Comrade_)
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splitter
splitter: Yes, Jack, we have examples that people change their views over time, even convert, which is a huge and life-altering step to take. Still, there are so many stereotyped misconceptions floating around out there that one can wonder what happened to understanding and acceptance.
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Goodluck
Goodluck: I never tell theists that they have a low intellect because that simply isn't true. But I may argue that they use their intelligence in a strange way when they literalise myths and fiction, then claim that their belief is an absolute and universal truth. Strictly speaking, they are thereby creating and promoting a lie, which should be against their religion, but here, their intellect seems to fail miserably...
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spray
spray: Yet another reason why I like to distance myself as far away from religions as possible.
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GrumpyGranny
GrumpyGranny: It's good to find so many sensible young people in here for a change.

Cheers, folks!
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soleiI
soleiI: I for one am happy lol
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spray
spray: I have a feeling that most of us are happy atheists now compared to what we were as theists.
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Zanjan
Zanjan: "While I thus do feel that life has been kinder to me than to many others and feel grateful for it, my case is hardly unique"

Anybody can be happy when the weather is fair - how heroic is that? Things change. Anyone can smile and cheerfully say 'Good morning'. Things change.

" most atheists I've met seem quite content with their godless lives."

How odd......I've never met a *contented* atheist. They seem fairly ordinary, walking in a crowd - many would rather be living different or improved lives if given the option; they have regrets, jealousies and envies; some have furious contempt for others.

I think most of the self-admitted atheists are fairly quiet and usually don't pretend to be something they're not. Everyone has some good points and bad. As a group though, that's a different matter.

For both sides, it's not beliefs that make the man, it's the condition of the heart.

Perhaps people get the idea atheists are unhappy and angry because they enter religious forums to complain religions exist. I wonder why there's no Atheist category where they could go and discuss their non-god, non-religious beliefs. Would religious people go there and be all over them?

(Edited by Zanjan)
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combat
combat: There are many atheist forums on the Internet and yes, some theists participate, too, which is only refreshing among the otherwise boring debates about rejecting various religions' gods. I go there occasionally to get useful information about how religions sail under false flags and details about their teaching that can be disproved. There are many knowledgeable atheists out there that have studied religions critically for many decades. They seem to know much more about religions than their own adherents, who basically satisfy themselves with learning only what their leaders want them to and put their head in the sand as soon as someone utters a critical word that opposes their faith.
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Pigfish
Pigfish: Or argue with doctrines instead of facts.
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toothpick
toothpick: Subjective opinions are frequently presented as "facts" in different wrappings. Some are so clumsily made that it's easy to see through them, while others may be both intricate and sophisticated. Paraphrasing and deliberate misquoting are two of the most common versions, with the use of fallacies, often-repeated misconceptions and stereotyped statements following in the next places.

One must have a certain experience to spot all such falsifications of the truth, but once you have learned it, it doesn't take you long to unmask them. Each time I do so, however, I cannot help wondering why the people behind them resort to such dishonesty when it's obviously contrary to the teaching of their religions, which normally proclaims that thou shalt not lie and falsify. They probably think that they can get away with it as long as the end justifies the means, but in the process, they forget who they are up against and that many of us have been thoroughly trained to dismantle the ramshackle framework that they base their argumentation on.
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Crocodilia
Crocodilia: Such people have an uncanny tendency to eventually reveal their true self, even here on Wireclub. I have seen it happen from time to time. The problem is, however, that when they are exposed as falsifiers, they refuse to admit it. Instead, they attack their critics by unkind means and thereby make themselves the laughing stock of the entire forum, which finally sees them for what they really are. Pretty pathetic, if you ask me. If you want to argue your case, you'd better stick to facts that can be verified.
(Edited by Crocodilia)
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assegayer1
assegayer1: you know funny enough there is a verse in the quran which describes lives like this .

(this is not exact verse) they belive we keep them alive to enjoy on what we have given them but nay we leave them only so that they may fall into more sin .
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Zanjan
Zanjan: "They [ed: atheists] seem to know much more about religions than their own adherents"

What about the well-educated religious adherents who know much more than other religious adherents? Atheists never mention those people. Why not?

"when it's obviously contrary to the teaching of their religions, which normally proclaims that thou shalt not lie and falsify."

Then I suppose we can absolve atheists for doing the same thing since they possess no such rule or teaching.

By the way, from where do atheists get their moral base?

Assgayer: For me the Quran's verse that says it all: "God doesn't guide the wrong-doer".

Most people today agree on what a *right* act is; they're not anywhere near as adept at recognizing what a *good* act is.
















(Edited by Zanjan)
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Pigfish
Pigfish: Normally, knowledgeable religious adherents don't participate much in Internet debates, because they are prone to contradict themselves when they start debating the foundations for their faith. There is a conflict of interest between their belief and the lack of credible evidence to defend it with; and they are intelligent enough to know it.

Morality existed before both Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Nobody will ever convince me that religious morality is any better than its secular counterpart and that one must have a religious faith in order to be a good person.
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assegayer1
assegayer1: no one says you have to have a religion to be a good person. i will admit my self there are some athiests tha are much more better then some muslims or christians or any one else for that matter. just simply question yourself this one thing where did the universe come from and what ever you think caused the niverse qestion again where did it come from then the chain will end and there will be no answer but one.
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shreya372
shreya372: We will probably never be able to understand such issues. Maybe in a far future, our descendants will be able to solves the riddles of the origin of the universe. That is, unless a potential creator should pop up and admit his work, then produce unrefutable evidence to support it. But since nothing of this kind has happened already, why should we expect it to happen later?

Based on this assumption, I think is futile to ask where we come from and if we were created by anybody or antything, since we are nowhere near being able to prove it one way or the other. Instead, we should join forces to do some serious research, so that we can figure out workable hypotheses that may explain it in a credible way that most people can accept.
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Zanjan
Zanjan: "Morality existed before both Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Nobody will ever convince me that religious morality is any better than its secular counterpart"

The problem with that statement is the secular faction doesn't agree on what is good morality - it frequently changes with them, from location to location and generation to generation.

Assegayer: " no one says you have to have a religion to be a good person"

Yes they do. They say it all the time. Same as buying a lottery ticket - you can't be a good person without a ticket, but that ticket certainly doesn't guarantee you''ll be a good person.

Remember, it's the ticket that wins, not your name.

So, what they actually say is this: if God has called you to a religion, you must have done something to please Him.

Most people think of themselves as a decent person; they say they do good things for others and believe that standard describes a good person. But I haven't met anyone who's certain what, precisely, they did that God should have called *them* to religion.









(Edited by Zanjan)
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