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What emotional satisfaction do you get from being an agnostic or atheist?

Religious people get a good deal of emotional satisfaction, such as feeling they have a secure answer to life's questions, that they have a loving god who will take care of them, they will have salvation & an afterlife. that they have a supportive community.

What emotional satisfaction do you get from being an agnostic or atheist? Ego satisfaction in feeling you are smarter than the dupes around you? Joy at rebelling at the oppression of your religious upbringing? Feeling you are courageous enough to live your own insight?

What else?

Remiforce 7 Oct 12
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64 comments

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As a one time religious believer I took pride in the fact that I knew all of life's answers with the universe and mankind in general. This went so far that I studied phenomena of every possible kind just so I would know. I was the "answer man" and I loved it.

As an atheist today I realize it is all false and nobody can know. Believers were only making it all up and they continue to do so today. Religious belief has changed drastically in the last 70 years. So has phenomena in general. My great satisfaction today is in know that it is OK to admit that we do not know. This is the "one up" that I have on others by logic and evidence.

6

I get the satisfaction that I'm living the most honest life that I can!

My thought exactly, being true to my beliefs, authentic and real.

Honesty with ourselves makes for real integrity & satisfaction

@girlwithsmiles agree ; being genuine/ and in search of further truths and knowledge.( both about ourselves& others)

6

My Sundays are free & I save 10%.

Very practical answer. I like that

5

I feel awed, inspired & overwhelmed by the beauty & nature of the cosmos.
A god is not necessary.

To my mind, nature & the cosmos are all we will ever know of the divine. We don't really need fanciful notions of a supreme being more supreme than what is

5

I take satisfaction in knowing that I was able to open my mind and can now enjoy the world, the universe, and science on a level that I never did as a believer.

I'm glad for you

5

Comfortable.
I am comforted by the fact that when bad things happen to me or others it isn't because some capricious or malicious being wants it that way.
I am comforted by the idea that while in the past I have been fooled by human liars to my detriment, I'm not being fooled by this giant lie every day.
I am comforted to know that suffering from illness does not mean that I don't have enough faith or didn't pray enough, and that nobody is being cured because they are. I am enough.
I feel comforted that by accepting people for who and what they are does not mean I am breaking some cosmic rulebook full of absurd judgments and moral ambiguity.
I am comforted that my morals and ethics are far more fair, kind, and decent than the flockers flocking in the church down the street.
Mostly I am comforted by the knowledge that nobody is going to suffer any eternal torture, because hell simply does not exist.

Deb57 Level 8 Oct 12, 2019

Thanks for your well thought out answer

Yeah , the basis of making choices through fact based reality. Self growth and learning what motivates my decisions is peace of mind☮

5

I take satisfaction in knowing I have the personal integrity to follow the truth where it leads.

4

None. I do not require any of that.

4

I don't have the guilt of sin. No more fear of Hell.

No more fear of Hell--yes! But I still have guilt--not for disobedience to a divine authority, but for injustices to others. In fact, I think my sense of ethics is keener now that it is no longer defined by religion.

Religion uses guilt & fear as a cudgel to force obedience & belief

@Wallace I think traditional religion, with its emphasis on forgiveness & salvation, shields people from the guilt they should really feel. It prevents change

4

Have been an atheist since age 13.

I feel responsible for my own happiness. This motivates me.

I surround myself with positive people.

Good for you. I think there is joy in self responsibility

4

I feel freedom, contentment with my lot in life, and pride in my independence.

Good for you

4

I think for myself

If you don't think for yourself, someone else will do it for you

@Remiforce IamAware of that, therefore IamNot religious by any means.

4

I have been without faith in religion since childhood, so I don't know how yo answer your question. I let James Brown answer this:

4

I experience a great satisfaction from living an authentic life, that is, from being who I really am, and not having to lie about believing any of that religious propaganda.

4

I find no more "joy" of being atheist than I do from knowing that 1+1=2.

3

None .All it is is a thought process.Non believers are not happier ,smarter or better off than believers unless they are forced into a religion or unable to leave it. .Willing Believers probably get more emotional satisfaction than non believers

True, but what emotional satisfaction do non believers get. To stay with a belief, even a belief in non belief, we must get more emotional satisfaction on our terms than believing anything else

@Remiforce You make sense even though it sounds like something that Norton would say. But @richiegtt‘s point is well taken. There is no need to get any personal satisfaction from being an atheist, just as there isn’t one for being left-handed or for knowing all your multiplication tables. The initial question of what emotional satisfaction do we get from being agnostics or atheists only reflects the psychologically needy position of believers, who are unable of being emotionally independent and therefore in need of something outside of themselves.

3

Not having to worry about death, or retribution from a mythical Sky Daddy. When I die it will be as it was BEFORE I was born. Or to put it another way, it will be as if I was NEVER born...accept to the few who remember me and loved me, but too soon THEY will be gone as well. It's been 14 BILLION years since the Big Bang; my poor little meaningless time on Earth of less than 100 years, pales in comparison.

I think it's true--we are the tiny between oblivion & oblivion, for the universe will continue to exist after our little life is over, but our consciousness may merge into the great consciousness, but what does that mean to our ltiny ego

3

See, I did geology at uni, which makes you into a bit of an uber-athiest. You get to look at the world in full 4d. I've stood on top of a volcano in Indonesia, and my mind was filled with knowledge of what was going on under my feet, with how that fitted with the neighbouring peaks arcing off into the distance, with the oceanic trench to the south and the Australian continent, far over the horizon, crawling towards me at the speed of fingernail growth. Eruptions, subductions, faulting, folding, and partial crustal melting.
I don't see how the sheer... joy this gave me could be available to the deist.

Thanks for your very poetic answer

3

Never was a believer, and you can't force yourself to believe however much you may gain by doing so. And if there are any advantages, then not having to do cognitive dissonance all the time is perhaps the best.

Not having to contort your consciousness with cognitive dissonence when you have serious doubts is a real emotional satisfaction, felt most strongly by those who had to go through that struggle

3

I wouldn't call it satisfaction. I'd call it relief.

When you have a mind ache & it stops, that's relief. For mind aches, agnosticism/atheism works like aspirin for head aches

3

I don't know that I get any emotional satisfaction from atheism. I certainly don't think I'm smarter or more righteous because I'm an atheist, and I'm no rebel. The best I can say is that I feel like I'm living a more authentic life now, that my principles are more consistent and that I'm not seeking simplistic solutions to complex problems. I suppose there's some satisfaction in that, however slight, though I think the devout feel far more satisfied and comforted in their world view.

3

I am happy to be curious about the world and how everything works without knowing all the answers.

3

I think it is more of an intellectual satisfaction than an emotional one.

2

I like being right all the time!

At least righter than you were

2

I get the satisfaction of being independent and brave, because we atheists are brave individuals by definition. As atheists, we have to take full responsibility for our actions and accept all their consequences knowing full well that there is no superpower that will come to save us. I enjoyed that protection when I was five and my father carried me on his shoulders; I am no longer five, my father is no longer here to protect me, I now protect myself, I don’t need my father, I don’t need a god. As atheists we know that when our bodies reach the end of their functionality, that’s it, and we accept that end without the need of a promise of an afterlife. As strong and loving individuals, we love ourselves and have people that love us; we don’t need the love of an non-existing being. As strong individuals, we are at ease in solitude; we don’t need the promise of ever loyalty. As atheists we know life has no other meaning but the one we want to give to our lives. As atheists we don’t need a powerful god, we are powerful over our lives. This is the description of brave person, and we are the few.

Right. I think it takes bravery & self responsibility to be an atheist. You can take your life straight up

2

I don't have to fret about going to hell, or heaven.

So you can concentrate on what's going on right here on earth

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