Atheist: “God does not exist”
Misotheist: “God is an a-hole”
Deist: “God is either imperfect, unaware, unfeeling, or in a state of decay”
Agnostic: “Idk”
If any of the above describes your attitude toward the universe, or whatever mechanism controls it–in other words, if you don’t believe in an omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent and perfect being who’s in charge of things–what keeps you going?
24 comments
Finding pleasure in life, like food, drugs, and companionship…and currently not doing drugs so it’s getting hard
Totally valid. I’m not too versed on philosphers, but I know one of the big ones is Epicurus who basically said that. Pleasure is what justifies existence; no spirituality required.
I’m with you on currently avoiding drugs though. Drugs work at first but they quickly become one of the things weighing you down so I’m taking a break (and struggling). What’s your reason for getting off the chemicals? And is there any benefit to being able to think clearer?
I think you can find pleasures in spirituality, and some people live for that. I have a hard time believing in a “God” so I can’t use that as a crutch.
But physical and emotional pleasure is my only motivation.
I quit “drugs” (used to smoke weed) because at a certain point it started to cause me a lot of anxiety due to not having my life together, and I entered a profession where smoking is not an option so I haven’t smoked in like 5 years.
Benefits to not smoking? You’re more motivated to better your life.
Hm, so what would be the term that describes the following:
-<1% chance “God” exists
-if there is a God, he certainly is an assshole to create this shitty system on Earth, where it’s a dog eat dog world that has scarce resources but unlimited organisms. And whereupon it selects for the most psychopathic and eliminates the good
-if there is a God, he most definitely is imperfect. He does feel as he proclaims (or at least some human has written in a book that “he is a jealous god”)
-there is no evidence that some human didn’t just make up shit and write the Bible to control ppl. Funny enough, the Bible has all the elements written in needed to control a populace, especially a large peasant class.
Funny how it just so coincidentally is, isn’t it?
And get them to work for peanuts bc they will have all the “riches” in an afterlife. So no need to have any of it here on Earth. After all, it’s temporary here bs everlasting heaven later.
It’s almost like a guy, not unlike Ron Hubbard, who just made shit up and called it a religion. and tons of believe whatever crap he wrote in this sacred “book.”
-there are a million versions of the Bible, so even if there is a “God” and a bible, then which God and which bible is it?
If we believe in religion, then only ONE religion is right and the rest are wrong. ie 90% of all religious ppl are dead wrong.
And we’d all be in hell. Although, I’d argue life on Earth IS “hell”, unless you happen to be rich/powerful/delusional/the rare person that’s got everything in life (purpose, love, money, etc)
-“God” sure has all the attributes of a shitty human, except with “powers”
-the idea of “God” and an afterlife was probably created by the rich to subjugate the masses. After all, why complain about mortal life and bother with an uprising when this life is nothing and you can have everlasting heaven soon- as long as you “do as you’re told” (ie follow the rules, be a good little worker ant, don’t seek material things, don’t worry about justice or the rich bc after all, the rich will be “punished” so you don’t need to do a single thing, especially not revolt and ask for living wages)
-Cynical view, yes. But I’m probably right.
Oh also, the idea of “God” is just appealing bc otherwise, what the fuc.k is the point of life on Earth? From a biology perspective, it’s to have progeny and create more of your species. But to what end? Procreate just for the sake of procreating? Be born just to be good for another species ?
Religion is comforting for humans. The idea that there is a meaning, purpose, fairness, justness, life after death and not just a meaningless life that ends in dust when we die.
It’s all too easy for some human to just make shit up to either make ppl feel better or to control them.
Food* not good
“Be born just to be food* for another species ?”
Also, it’s funny how God is misogynistic- almost like the person/people who wrote the Bible were human men
Sounds like you’re squarely in the Misotheist category. I tend toward that myself, but I also recognize that it’s easy to conflate “spirituality” with “religion”. For example taking the bible (or the quoran or the gita or any scripture) as “God” is, I think the biggest mistake that atheists make. They disprove the bible, easy enough since the universe clearly wasn’t created in 6 days, and take that as proof that God doesn’t exist. However all they proved is that men’s words are false.
So if we strip “God” down to what we observe in the natural world, no scriptures, no priests telling us what’s what, then we can start to analyze things more objectively. I still think nature is inherently screwed up. An entire system based on survival of the fittest is hardly divine. So if “God” created nature, then call me a Misotheist. Nature is cruel, as must be the one who invented it.
But here’s where there’s an interesting alternate called Deism. The Deist believes that there could be a superior being, or beings, but that these superior beings are NOT necessarily all-powerful, all-knowing, nor did they necessarily create the universe. In other words, a Deist’s “God” could be aliens on another planet who are more advanced than us but equally struggling to survive this shitshow, and maybe they’re doing their best to help us but are limited.
It’s funny that Christianity itself almost allllllmost acknowledges this possibility because Christ (I’m talking about Christ’s words, not the old testament) said something about “an ailing God” and that’s why, according to Christ, we must do our service to help. Maybe God is incapable of washing lepers’ feet, so Christ did it himself. Unfortunately this lesson seems to be lost because the old testamant steamrolls over the “ailing god” notion with images of a jealous, angry, all-powerful god. I totally reject the old testament for that reason.
But maybe “god” is just an alien who’s in charge of our solar system, doing the best job possible, but also struggling against the rules of this shit universe which were in place long before. That idea softens my attitude a bit, and although most blood-n-fire priests would shit themselves at the thought of a weak, injured or ailing god, it makes me think, well, maybe there’s something out there that’s trying to help.
Well I’m agnostic in that there is no way to prove God doesn’t exist. you can’t disprove a non existence. Like for example, you cannot disprove that a purple alien with 3 legs does not exist.
Yes, I have separated the thought of a “God” from religion. Religion is bullshit peddled by humans. But a “God” like being could theoretically exist- again, it’s bc one cannot prove or disprove.
But in that context, even if a God-like being exists, separate from human made up religion, then that where I say that God like being is an assshole. As you, the way nature is structured, is assholish. How could a benevolent God or benevolent being create and design a world like this? Where there’s starvation, disease, etc. where every organism must murder every day in order to live.
But it also gets into the Q of – if there is no “God” who created the world/universe, then how did the universe come about? Science cannot answer that Q very well. The Big Bang theory is not a very believable origin either.
Or maybe humans are so limited in our intelligence, we just simply cannot figure out how the universe began or explain it.
So you think there’s a higher being but it’s ailing, thus not all powerful?
I’m not religious, but don’t all/most religions say their god is all powerful?
I suppose an ailing, non perfect higher being, ex an advanced alien species, could explain why Earthen life is so assholish. But how does an alien or whatever being create a whole universe though? It’s not all powerful. And even if it was, it brings into Q the whole egg or chicken Q.
Eh, whatever it is, an all powerful God, or an ailing more advanced alien or similar, the world was designed by an assshole.
Either the all powerful god is shitty, the ailing advanced being is shitty, or nature without a god or god like being, is shitty.
If there’s no god, and idk what or how life on Earth was created, but nature is fucking evil. However Earth and nature was created, be it through creation or Big Bang or whatever- it’s fucking evil.
There are many gods. Anyone who contributed in our development and growth is a god to us. That’s why some worship sun, some moon, some nature, some their ancestors, some a great person. The prophets stumble upon a being (or being stumbles upon them) who is linked to our history and distribute his teachings.
“Down here, I’m God” – Trainman, matrix 2, who, according to a fan theory, is architect of a past version.
I haven’t slept so it’s not written well but you get the idea.
There’s also some very prominent scientists and ppl with very high IQ who speak of a possibility of a simulated world that we could be living in.
If we are in a simulation, then how do we know we aren’t in one?
I had dismissed all that as quack movie plot until there’s these very high IQ ppl saying it could be possible. And if ppl far more intelligent than me are saying it could be possible, then perhaps it could be a possibility (they’re not saying they believe we are in a simulation but that it could theoretically be possible).
Eh, whatever it is, we live in a shitty world where evil, selfishness and psychopathic traits triumph over nicenesss, goodness, etc.
I wanna use this chance to bring up Gnosticism, which states that God is actually the demiurge, an imperfect being created when Sophia, an emanating of the Logos, descended from the heavens and aspired to recreate paradise. The demiurge make Earth in the like ess of the heavens, but it was physical instead of spiritual as the demiurge lacked the power to make heaven as it was, and thus reality was twisted with predators and death and suffering.
I personally understand the message of the Bible, the more you read it the more it makes sense. We are simply like this because we do not follow God and Christ’s words. I believe if we followed the words of the new testament, we’d all be better off.. I simply just don’t believe Jesus was divine.
I’m fascinated by this concept. I’d heard the term “gnosticism” before but never looked into it. Seems like it’s a blend of misotheism & deism where a flawed or even ‘evil’ being created the universe but that there is some conceivable path to salvation through some divine spark or concept.
I also totally agree that Jesus wasn’t supernatural, and it actually gives me great respect for the man, to think he was ‘just a man’ but with great words and the balls to say it even though he knew it would get him tortured to death. What a fucking badass, for real. I find that inspiring, whereas if it’s explained by saying he was some supernatural incarnation of god, I zone out because it doesn’t seem to apply to the world as I perceive it.
Anyway great thoughts. Although I am thoroughly “godless” I like to keep a wide open mind, because after all there are some wonderful things in the world. It’s not a total chaotic shitfest, so I might as well keep picking thru the mess for ideas that might make sense of it all.
One of the worst things that ever happened in the history of human thought is the coupling of the question of the origin of the universe to religious insanity.
Perhaps it was unavoidable, because science and reason didn’t exist thousands of years ago. So humanity was basically groping around in the dark searching for answers and being in awe and terror of everything around them.
Imagine you’re a hairless monkey dropped on a giant rock with trees, animals, water, lights in the night sky that you didn’t understand, lightning, floods, etc.
In our childish, feeble attempt at trying to make sense of this universe, we started projecting ourselves onto this reality as a ‘superman/being’…that created it, the way humans make tools.
There’s nothing wrong with guesses/conjectures as to our origins…but the dangerous part comes in when humans start insisting these ‘supreme beings’ are real and they sent down commands on how to be good, how to live, treat our friends, enemies, etc.
Now you’ve opened the door to violence, misogyny and genocide…since every culture has their own creation myth and competing ideas. It’s worth noting, not once have any gods that we invented visited us and handed us pre-written ‘holy books.’
They are all man-made creations and billions of humans have been brainwashed to believe they have some divine origin, which makes it esp. evil and devious. And now we Atheists waste our time trying to remind our fellow deluded humans of this fraud that was perpetrated on all of us.
Not to mention the vast majority of people were forced into belief not by reason, but through invasions, conquests, fire, sword and colonialism. Then it was perpetuated by being rammed down the throats of infants who have no capacity of reason and knowing truth from fiction.
Had we stuck to secularism as a species, we could’ve been far more advanced, peaceful and shared our resources more fairly. We are still trying to get there today-because about a billion of us are not deluded by religious nonsense, but we’re being held back by the ‘assemblies of god.’
Just before I became an Atheist in my early teens I knew there was something wrong about religion-it was performative, ritualized and didn’t make much sense. The claims like ‘god answers prayers’….didn’t pass muster and soon my worst fears about religion were realized.
I finally knew I wasn’t put here because some god made me and gave me a purpose and that I was ‘special’ but that I was simply a result of two ordinary people getting together and having kids.
Seeing all the bullshit and contradictions in Christianity finally put the final nail in the coffin of religion for me. I knew they were all crap. I also knew my head was brainwashed with really stupid ideas from religion so I read a bunch of books by Atheists to detoxify myself and I’m glad I did.
Ofc the aftermath was pretty depressing. I saw that I was a ‘low man’ on the totem pole and was disadvantaged in so many ways. I mean there were things I loved about life but I wasn’t happy about who I was…esp being in a culture that valued wealth, beauty, height, strength, intelligence and so on.
I do believe I became more suicidal after becoming an atheist, because I was no longer living under silly illusions…I saw reality as it was. But I lived mostly for family and for things I wanted to do in life and it wasn’t all bad either, I did have some good experiences as well…but coming from a modest income I knew I missed out a lot on life.
The worst part for me is that the decades flew by and I didn’t get much further in life…though at least I didn’t end up in a worse place…but just meeting your needs isn’t enough, it’s not living.
As for the other categories in Atheism, I think they’re silly and redundant. If you believe in a magic sky daddy you’re a Theist, if you don’t ofc you’re an Atheist.
Sure there could be Russell’s ‘celestial teapots’ floating in space for all we know…but does it even matter? It’s like aliens, they might exist but have no value for us until there is proof.
Now as for the real origin of the universe…that remains to be an incredibly mystery and it would be amazing to find out the truth.
But claiming a god did it just creates a new mystery…where did this god come from? Was he created? Only science can answer these questions anyways.
So far for me the Big Bang is sufficient. We’ll ofc never know unless we invent a time machine that took us to a point way before the existence of the universe…but that isn’t possible…but hopefully through more research our answers will improve.
yup, how many wars have been pushed in the name of religion? Like almost every single one. Especially back in the 1500s-1980s (UK, France, Italy, Spain). Then from 1980s-now, it was the US but we did it in the name of “democracy” and “liberating” the “heathens” who did not know better.
but yeah, the ppl in power have always pushed religion as an excuse to kill ppl and take over their land/resources.
“It’s worth noting, not once have any gods that we invented visited us and handed us pre-written ‘holy books.’ ”
–Exactly. If God existed, why would he need to whisper it to some white guy at a burning bush instead of broadcasting it to everyone in the entire world himself? if God is all mighty, why let man print things into a book (and every religion that THEIR own version and their book)- if you’re God- why not come out of the sky and talk to the humans yourself? why have your words written in a book and modified by humans as they see fit, and why let your message be sent through priests that rape little children? If there was a God and he was a “savior,” wouldn’t he just come down and speak himself, rather than through religious leaders who have been proven to be either pedos or corrupt af.
I’m from Indonesia. I really love your comment, it’s deep!
Thanks, glad you liked it.
@ Soda
“Perhaps it was unavoidable, because science and reason didn’t exist thousands of years ago. So humanity was basically groping around in the dark searching for answers and being in awe and terror of everything around them. ”
I love this thought. It’s a less cynical explanation for the delusions that religion has heaped upon us. In a nutshell, it’s the best they could come up with at the time.
Even in modern science there have been (and still are) dumbass theories that everyone accepts because it’s the best they can come up with. “Spontaneous generation” of living things was rationally proposed by Aristotle and accepted as true, or at least feasible, until Louis Pasteur in the late 1800s. That’s nearly 2000 years of the world believing that living things sprout out of nothing, and in all fairness, could anyone come up with a better explanation?
I wonder if even the Big Bang Theory is a sort of “spontaneous generation” delusion just like Aristotle’s ideas. After all, they’re saying the same exact thing: that ‘nothing’ explodes into ‘something’ even though that goes contrary to every law of physics telling us that matter can be neither created nor destroyed. I do accept that there was a big bang–a local creation of our stars & galaxies–but I reject the idea that it came out of true nothingness. There had to be something before, and that ‘something’ is likely beyond the realm of human comprehension. Perhaps it delves into dimensions beyond the x,y,z,t that we understand.
But yeah, the bottom line is that we have to come up with some theories in the absence of any other explanations. Sometimes even the wrong idea is better than no idea at all. Problem with religion is that it’s infuriatingly adamant about clinging to outdated ideas even though they’re clearly proven wrong. At least in the scientific realm, we’re able to progress from Aristotle to Pasteur without too many people killing each other over the outrage of being wrong.
Nothing. I wish I could just disappear from this shitty life/world/society/existence/reality. But unfortunately, there is no easy ‘red button’ or Thanos’ finger snap. Suicide is hard, painful, & risky. So I’m stuck & trapped here everyday. It’s just like a prison, or even hell (especially for some people who are in pain & sufferings!)
Exactly. Ppl don’t understand just how hard and risky it is to attempt. So I hate it when ppl go “well suicide is always an option” as if it’s so easy to do it and all our problems solved.
You’re both right ofc…there is no magic pill for suicide. It’s the hardest decision for anyone to make and equally as hard to pull off, because so much can go wrong.
The human body isn’t designed to die easily. In the US 1.5m attempt and only 50k succeed every year.
At least here in Canada we have Maid and with the right help you can get approved. But even with medical assistance it’s not always straightforward…sometimes it takes hours even a day or two for people to diie. I’m hoping they perfected the process by now as we hear little about it, but that thousands are ‘freed’ every year.
It’s insanity that maid isn’t universally available and it’s again thanks to religious retardation that has blocked people from an easy way out of a bad life. All the more reason that religions are eradicated.
It’s not just religion. Corporations also don’t want people getting out of debt so therefore they (the rich) also push to stop MAID, Which is why MAID will never happen in the US.
Ya it’s a very ugly situation in the US. Christianity is dying however and within a generation or two, Liberals will become the majority and might have the power to push through the changes we want and get maid, abortion, universal healthcare, a social safety net implemented.
There’s more religious fanaticism and the influence of corporations as you mentioned happening in the US…while it’s not as bad in countries like Canada, UK, and European nations.
A lot will change and improve (hopefully) when religions die off in the West…assuming we haven’t destroyed ourselves by then…but we’re taking decades from now at least.