Comments on: Atheists Are Happy People

By: Alaska bound

Alaska bound — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:22:45 +0000

I am very happy as an atheist.. I have beautiful children & a wonderful husband.. The only thing that makes me sad is not being accepted for who I am based on a belief rather than the person I am… I happen to think I am very kind and giving person or so I have been told..
Alaska Skeptic I am moving to Alaska in a few months my family & I were worried about our religious preference and how life will be for us there.. Presently my 4th grade son has been out casted & treated badly in school due to his beliefs or lack of. It is beyond me why that should be an issue to 4th graders, but apparently it is a very big one! Politics is very scary in his classroom as well!
Any words of encouragement for Alaska would be greatly appreciated thank you..

By: Justin

Justin — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 04:16:41 +0000

Further, as far as reasoning skills go, you have made an assumption.

in so doing, you’ve provided the rest of us with PROOF that you have none.

By: Justin

Justin — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 04:14:45 +0000

Jon, you are a fool. And you are only looking for what you want to see.

You equate purpose with religion. My purpose in life is to serve my family, and my friends in all that I do.

and it keeps me happy. I am very content with the direction of my life for the time being. And I never needed Jesus, or any other drug (and yes, I equate religion with an addiction), to make me find happiness, or purpose.

your falsehoods and assumptions read to me the same as if you had said “Those without Heroin in their life are not happy”.

By: Alaska Skeptic

Alaska Skeptic — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 03:23:01 +0000

Jon,
You said: “Additionally, every athiest that I have encountered has had very faulty reasoning skills which led to their atheist.”

I’m calling you on this one. YOU determined that the atheists you have met have had faulty reasoning which led to their atheism?

Upon what do you assert that they have faulty reasoning?

BTW: I’m a content father of 2 and happily married. I live in what I consider to be a paradise on this planet (Alaska) and I love the work I do both professionally and with the community work I do as well.

By: God is Pretend

God is Pretend — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:20:48 +0000

I agree. My “searching” years were some of the most depressing ever. Now that I reject superstition and illogical nonsense, I am a much happier and peaceful person.

By: CraftLass

CraftLass — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:19:46 +0000

Thank you for posting this! I’ve been having this debate with people of many religious faiths all of my life. I have been told that I can’t possibly experience joy in life because I do not have Jesus in my heart, and that is simply untrue.

I also agree that those in the throes of uncertainty are less likely to be content, frankly, because the search for truth and/or belief is born out of not being content. It’s also hard work and rather depressing to study various faiths and their histories. I spent most of my life studying everything from Catholicism to Wicca and was not happy, partly because I felt I didn’t belong anywhere and partly because it was uncomfortable to question myself so thoroughly.

After almost 30 years I have realized that I’m actually an atheist and I found joy, much like my born-again Christian friends found joy in their choice. There is a great comfort in knowing yourself and a religious/spiritual journey that comes to a conclusion is a great way to find who you truly are. Blind faith in anything keeps you from your true self. In fact, I was taught that by a priest! He said that faith without question was no faith at all, the only true way to believe is to question your faith and consistently come to the same conclusion.

A LOT of people could use that sort of spiritual advice, regardless of faith or lack thereof.

By: God is Pretend

God is Pretend — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:26:16 +0000

Jon, you need to meet more atheists. Just because frustration and strife exists in life, does not mean that one cannot be truly happy. There will always be stressors present in life, regardless of whether or not someone finds solace in the invisible.

By: Jon

Jon — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:34:47 +0000

Interestingly enough, I have never met a happy athiest. Additionally, every athiest that I have encountered has had very faulty reasoning skills which led to their atheist. You may be correct in a manner of speaking that as intelligence goes up, happiness goes down. Intelligent people are often deep thinkers and therefore are aware of a lot of the bad things that go on in the world. However, the intelligent people that are satisfied with life are the ones who are able to find meaning, which is rarely the athiests.

By: Sarah Trachtenberg

Sarah Trachtenberg — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:56:05 +0000

Just to play devil’s (or god’s?) advocate, atheists tend to be smart and/or educated people. This is not to say that believers are stupid by any means, but it’s hard for me to imagine a dumb atheist.
My point is, as intelligence goes up, happiness goes down. An intelligent person is more likely to be sad or depressed.
Besides, atheists go through a lot of crap, as I is the point of my book project (see my blog). If your family disowned you for being an atheist, wouldn’t you be more likely to be depressed?