Yes

[Nephew Twiddleton]

It pretty easy to agree with an atheist.

Not really, for two reasons:  A)  They assume that absence of evidence = evidence of absence, which is a fallacy, and B)  A lot of them won't shut up about it, and insist on fucking with people who disagree with them.  That sort of atheist is no different than the most annoying Calvinist.

Mostly because a lot of religious people are fucking stupid.

Edited to remove incorrect qualifier.

Part two explains part one. That's why I like to describe a lot of atheists are religious fundamentalists.

They found their ism, and now they have to evangelize.

Also I took that shit. It was a glorious, but predictably messy shit.

Already starting to feel better but I'm annoyed my colon made me get up.

[LMNO]

I don't know if there is a god, and I can't say with absolute certainty if there's an afterlife, but I can say with all the confidence I can muster, when dad died it was turning off a light switch.  He didn't "go" anywhere, he just... stopped. 

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I don't know if there is a god, and I can't say with absolute certainty if there's an afterlife, but I can say with all the confidence I can muster, when dad died it was turning off a light switch.  He didn't "go" anywhere, he just... stopped.

This is unacceptable to me. If religion didn't exist, I would have to invent it. That is too terrifying a prospect to me.

Johnny wasn't ready to die apparently, regardless of knowing that it was coming.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I don't know if there is a god, and I can't say with absolute certainty if there's an afterlife, but I can say with all the confidence I can muster, when dad died it was turning off a light switch.  He didn't "go" anywhere, he just... stopped.

For all you know, he's standing in a classroom somewhere, lecturing his ass off and having the time of his (after)life.

Think of it that way.  Either he's gone, in which case at least he's not dealing with fucking cancer anymore, or he's enjoying the hell out of himself.

I don't have any room in my cosmology for any other options.

[P3nT4gR4m]

My approach was to accept that something would happen after I die. Either oblivion and no more me or something something unicorns something jesus. The hard part (the being a grown up part) was accepting that, until I'm dead, the whole question is as irrelevant as it is unanswerable.

Once you've accepted this you get the added bonus of viewing most of humanity (faithfools and atheists alike) as being naive and childish in this respect.

I've never been a big fan of referring to people as "faithfools" unless they insist on trying to drag me off to crazytown with them.

Notable exceptions:  Libertarians, Homeopathy freaks, Fred Phelps.

Personally, I'm not an atheist.  I just don't feel the need to grab you guys by the arm and bellow my personal beliefs in your face.

I'm more than comfortable calling them faithfools, given that the whole concept of "faith" is one of the most strategically retarded positions possible. It's essentially saying "I'm confident everything will be okay because I hope it will"

I class athiests slightly differently - they are essentially faithfools after a different fashion - "I'm confident fuck all will be okay because I hope it won't" but they don't have the intellectual honesty to admit it.

The bottom line is - any beliefs are dumb. If you have one, it's pretty much a given that smart people will exploit you. Smart people have models and the difference between beliefs and models is that models will change, given the arrival of new information. Beliefs will simply become even more retarded.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

The bottom line is - any beliefs are dumb.

I'm comfortable with that.

I've been a dumbfuck all my life. 

[P3nT4gR4m]

The bottom line is - any beliefs are dumb.

I'm comfortable with that.

I've been a dumbfuck all my life. 

I believe you 

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Also, I'd like that add that unlike Libertarianism, homeopathy, and Fred Phelps, my beliefs are harmless to others.  Hell, I've mentioned them a grand total of 3 times in 10 years, and I've never even bothered to explain them.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

The bottom line is - any beliefs are dumb.

I'm comfortable with that.

I've been a dumbfuck all my life. 

I believe you 

That's a bit of a line with me.  One day, I said something pig-ignorant in front of Mrs Castro, if you can believe it, and she eyeballed me and said "You're lucky that I like 'em big and dumb.", and I replied, "That's awesome, honey, because I've been a dumbass all my life."

And then she accidentally.

[trippinprincezz13]

The bottom line is - any beliefs are dumb.

I'm comfortable with that.

I've been a dumbfuck all my life. 

I believe you 

That's a bit of a line with me.  One day, I said something pig-ignorant in front of Mrs Castro, if you can believe it, and she eyeballed me and said "You're lucky that I like 'em big and dumb.", and I replied, "That's awesome, honey, because I've been a dumbass all my life."

And then she accidentally.

My approach was to accept that something would happen after I die. Either oblivion and no more me or something something unicorns something jesus. The hard part (the being a grown up part) was accepting that, until I'm dead, the whole question is as irrelevant as it is unanswerable.

Once you've accepted this you get the added bonus of viewing most of humanity (faithfools and atheists alike) as being naive and childish in this respect.

I've never been a big fan of referring to people as "faithfools" unless they insist on trying to drag me off to crazytown with them.

Notable exceptions:  Libertarians, Homeopathy freaks, Fred Phelps.

Personally, I'm not an atheist.  I just don't feel the need to grab you guys by the arm and bellow my personal beliefs in your face.

I'm more than comfortable calling them faithfools, given that the whole concept of "faith" is one of the most strategically retarded positions possible. It's essentially saying "I'm confident everything will be okay because I hope it will"

I class athiests slightly differently - they are essentially faithfools after a different fashion - "I'm confident fuck all will be okay because I hope it won't" but they don't have the intellectual honesty to admit it.

The bottom line is - any beliefs are dumb. If you have one, it's pretty much a given that smart people will exploit you. Smart people have models and the difference between beliefs and models is that models will change, given the arrival of new information. Beliefs will simply become even more retarded.

Meh, my "belief system" is comprised of "I don't know. Neither do you. In the meantime, leave me the fuck alone about it." I.E., I don't know that something IS going to happen. I don't know that something ISN'T going to happen. I'd like to believe something might happen, and I keep an open mind, but I don't particularly like anyone telling me what is or isn't going to happen. Yes, dying forever is scary, though I guess that won't matter too much when I'm dead, will it? 

But yes, wanting to believe SOMETHING certainly can lead to vunerability and being taken advantage of. I certainly don't fault people for having some kind of faith.It's when they're blinded by it that it becomes a problem.

[trippinprincezz13]

As for death, I'm not sure how I feel about it, uncomfortable I suppose. I haven't had anyone close to me die since I was young (my last grandparent died when I was in 6th grade). People I've known, but weren't close too and/or people that people I care about have known have died in more recent years. "I'm sorry" and "I'm here for you" are usually the best I can offer. I tend to shy away from "he/she's in a better place now" or most other "words of comfort" since regardless of one's afterlife belief, it seems to be cold comfort to utter some cliche - better to lend an ear, or a shoulder to cry on, etc. There is nothing I can say that will really make it better, so I would rather not pretend to try. My boyfriend understood when a close friend died and I was still there for him as much as I could. I just hope it doesn't seem to cold to others, because that's not it at all. I would certainly be broken up if/when someone close to me dies - it will still mean more to have people there for me, rather than people talking at me, if that makes any sense.

[P3nT4gR4m]

Yes, dying forever is scary, though I guess that won't matter too much when I'm dead, will it? 

This is pretty much my entire philosophy in a nutshell. You let the fear of death or the having to devote your entire life to misery and servitude thing take over then you're pissing away the only part of eternity that can be verified, ie the 70 years or so that you get to be alive.

There is also the part that's been touched on already ITT. The kind of god that wants to surround himself with sycophantic miserable cunts like christfags is an asshole who I want nothing to do with. even if that means trading eternity for 70 years or so of partying like I mean it.

[Elder Iptuous]

one thing that assuages me is considering that i don't really feel too terrible about the time before i was alive, so i really shouldn't feel too terrible about the time after i'm alive.

furthermore, we are limited in space, just as well as time.  should we be upset about the fact that we are missing the experience of life on that planet 4000 lightyears away where they finally rid themselves of stupid, and the worst thing in life is the dull ache in your cheeks from grinning too much? nobody ever gnashes their teeth about that one...

it doesn't dismiss the notion that we should strive to live longer, experience more, seek unicorns, etc.  but it seems to focus the notion that anguishing over temporal limitation sours the infinitesimal grain of perception we do have at our disposal.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

one thing that assuages me is considering that i don't really feel too terrible about the time before i was alive, so i really shouldn't feel too terrible about the time after i'm alive.

furthermore, we are limited in space, just as well as time.  should we be upset about the fact that we are missing the experience of life on that planet 4000 lightyears away where they finally rid themselves of stupid, and the worst thing in life is the dull ache in your cheeks from grinning too much? nobody ever gnashes their teeth about that one...

it doesn't dismiss the notion that we should strive to live longer, experience more, seek unicorns, etc.  but it seems to focus the notion that anguishing over temporal limitation sours the infinitesimal grain of perception we do have at our disposal.

Well, that's exactly it.  IF we were put here by some agency, it was obviously for us to live our lives.  IF we got here by natural means, but have been "adopted" by some agency, then we still have to live our lives.  And IF it's a cold, empty void, then we'd DAMN WELL BETTER live our lives, because that's all we've got.

The problem is, most people walk around assuming that God (or whatever) is just as petty and narcissitic as they are.  "GROVEL LEST I THROW YOU INTO THE DARKNESS."  Sounds like the admins at Mysticwicks, more than a deity of any kind.  And if the deity IS like that, then I'll take the darkness, if it's all the same to him/her/it.

[P3nT4gR4m]

one thing that assuages me is considering that i don't really feel too terrible about the time before i was alive, so i really shouldn't feel too terrible about the time after i'm alive.

furthermore, we are limited in space, just as well as time.  should we be upset about the fact that we are missing the experience of life on that planet 4000 lightyears away where they finally rid themselves of stupid, and the worst thing in life is the dull ache in your cheeks from grinning too much? nobody ever gnashes their teeth about that one...

it doesn't dismiss the notion that we should strive to live longer, experience more, seek unicorns, etc.  but it seems to focus the notion that anguishing over temporal limitation sours the infinitesimal grain of perception we do have at our disposal.

Yup! I strongly suspect that if more people got this, the world would be a lot less retarded and possibly nowhere near as much fun