Posted by Jason on: 04.07.2008 /
I was planning on writing a long post about how atheism can be positive. The word is a negative after all: not a believer in gods. Atheists like me define that aspect of ourselves that relate to religion as a denial. We are not religious.
I was going to write about how atheism can be positive in the same way that anti-war or disarmament can be positive. We deny the negative aspects of religion (intolerance, persecution, deferment of opinion, belief without supporting evidence, living for an afterlife rather than a life, etc) along with the positive ones (social group, shared interests, support structure, affirmation of belief, loving your enemies, etc).
I was going to write about the time I have to myself and my family by not spending that precious time in religious observance.
I was going to do all this but it snowed today so we spent the Sunday morning having snowball fights and laughing uproariously. Then we enjoyed a delicious family meal and spent some quality time together as a family. I think that atheism can wait for another day.
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Comment by: Ir (Helen)
1 04/7/08 4:47 AM | Comment Link |It snowed where you are too? It snowed where my brother lives also and they had fun with it.
Here we’re sick of it - it was sunny and 60 (F) this weekend and we loved it - but I know snow is fun if you don’t get it very often.
Isn’t that positive atheism, anyway: having a wonderful time together as a family? I sure hope so!
Comment by: Jason
2 04/7/08 5:49 AM | Comment Link |Does your brother live in England still? Snow is something of a rarity for us nowadays and is practically unheard of in April. We just had to take advantage of it. You know what England’s like. Any day where it isn’t overcast or raining is a good day. At least that’s the case in Stereotypical England Land.
My wonderful family day had nothing to do with religion or lack of religion. It is true that we would have missed out if we’d observed the religious ritual of attending church. To be honest though I was too busy trying to dodge snowballs to care.
Comment by: Ir (Helen)
3 04/7/08 7:02 AM | Comment Link |Yes, I have two brothers (married with children) in England and my father lives there too. And I do remember the weather - one of the things I appreciate about the Chicago area is much more sun than England. Although it can look beautiful outside in the winter yet be bitterly cold: that’s not so good!
I understand what you’re saying about your day having nothing to do with your religion/lack thereof; yet when I was losing my faith the thing I most needed to know was that atheists had fun and enjoyed life. So a story like your Sunday would have meant a lot more to me than an atheist’s list of reasons why they don’t have a belief in God.
The list of reasons would have helped me know I wasn’t alone in my doubts but it was more important to me to see what kinds of lives atheists lived.
Does that make any sense?
Comment by: Jason
4 04/7/08 7:25 AM | Comment Link |Perfectly. Although I’m a little lost at the idea of atheists not having fun. Isn’t the stereotype that we’re all hedonists without God’s firm hand keeping us from a life of Bacchanalian orgies? ;)
Comment by: Ir (Helen)
5 04/7/08 8:23 AM | Comment Link |Ah yes, good point. :)
I’ll see if I can describe it better: it was helpful to me to see that atheists too can live happy meaningful lives in which they appreciate and enjoy the good things in life (such as families and unexpected snowfalls); that that’s possible without belief in some ‘ultimate’ purpose and without belief in a supernatural being who created everything and is in charge.
Is that a bit clearer? :)
Comment by: Jason
6 04/7/08 8:56 AM | Comment Link |Absolutely. It isn’t just the good things in life that allow me to appreciate the wonder of it all though. Sometimes it is the smallest of moments, inconsequential to anyone but me. I’m sure you know what I mean. A look, a smell, a sound, anything can evoke a memory or an emotion unique to my own experience.
The idea of an “ultimate purpose” or some kind of divine plan is just a distraction from that moment. If I felt that I had to praise a god for pleasure I get from my one of my children trying to explain to me why the sky is blue I’d lose that moment. They’re far too precious to waste.
Comment by: Karen
7 04/7/08 10:29 AM | Comment Link |This is a subtle point, but a really good one. I feel the same way. It’s liberating to just enjoy a sublime moment now without that immediate nagging thought that I should praise god for it, or pray about it, or that there’s any kind of “should” associated with it.
Comment by: Ir (Helen)
8 04/7/08 1:55 PM | Comment Link |Jason and Karen, I felt like a burden was lifted from me when I could just enjoy the moment and not have to say “Thank you God”.
I’m not saying other Christians necessarily feel it as a burden. Only that I did after my experiences with mental illness, when I wanted to unclutter my head and stay ‘in the moment’ instead of turning inward to engage in dialog with God.
Comment by: cognitive dissident
9 04/8/08 7:27 AM | Comment Link |“It’s liberating to just enjoy a sublime moment now without that immediate nagging thought that I should praise god for it, or pray about it, or that there’s any kind of ’should’ associated with it.”
Agreed…the whole “practicing the presence of god” adds a layer of mythical obfuscation to obscure our experience of reality. Life is so much more…direct…when we can simply be here now and share our lives with the ones we love.
Comment by: Jason
10 04/9/08 10:00 AM | Comment Link |I’ve never really considered thanking anything natural for being natural. My thanks are usually reserved for people who appreciate the sentiment. Of course, that doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate something natural or sublime, I just don’t need to express my gratitude.