Hello Mark, I wanted to take a minute to make some comments on your post on faith..

As a strong Atheist I would generally agree with your statement about atheists being sad, the conclusion is obvious. Death is a very terrible thing and only an Atheist can truly appreciate it’s significance, and it *should* be depressing and upsetting. It as an absolutely and utterly terrible thing. There is nothing wrong with being sad at things that should make you said. There is everything wrong with not being sad about things that should make you sad. The fact that the rest of the population feels better by deluding themselves is no rational attack against atheism. You are saying ‘if something bothers you, just don’t believe in it, then you will be happy’ That is certainly not logical, that is philosophical solipsism.

Additionally suggesting that one should believe in god merely because it makes them *feel* better is extremely irrational and arbitrary. Which god? To what extent? What else should I believe just because it makes me feel better? That someone loves me who really doesn’t? Also I don’t think someone living in an oppressive theocratic regime would feel the same way.

As an atheist there are certain things that make me very sad, but I disagree with your assessment about everything else, to the person of faith, everything is known and explained, to the atheist there are still many questions out there and everything is fascinating. The very fact that death does not make people of faith very sad is the primary reason why philosophical death is accepted and those who wish to overcome it are considered evil, selfish, or vile. It is the reason why it has perpetuated. People of faith, and who believe in god, are on an eternal prozac, justified in whatever illusion they fancy that can make them feel better. Their son dies, well, it was god’s will and he works in mysterious ways (ways conveniently absolutely indistinguishable from not working at all) Their mother dies, well she is off in a better place, knitting away for all of eternity, watching that Yankees game from heaven, etc. That is madness.

Of course nearly any atheist you ask will assert that the world is a more colorful place by being an atheist, and a theist will assert the opposite. Whatever those strongly held beliefs are they tend to amplify someone’s existing outlook on life.

I value reality over absolutely everything else, I will not make any effort to get by through evasions or self delusions, because once somebody philosophically accepts willingly deluding themselves it becomes easier and easier every step of the way, until they outright reject reality and favor new agey ‘my thoughts shape the universe’ nonsense. Thoughts which alone have not the power to alter the course of a single speck of dust in the entire universe.

You said : “The athiest, whose god is science, is now denying the science behind faith. How's that for logical? “

There is no science behind faith, you are only speaking of the feelings one associates with faith. Even if you did weigh all people who feel better by believing vs all that feel better by not believing and one comes in at more, that is an extremely utilitarian argument and ignores the idea of whether it is right or wrong to believe in something that is clearly irrational just because it makes more people happy. And faith is not paragon of happiness, consider the doctrine of original sin asserts all humans are guilty by merely existing. The faith has traditionally been used as merely another means to brutally oppress people.

Faith, in principle, is the opposite of reason, it is knowledge acquired by divine introspection completely irrespective of the real universe. Reason is knowledge acquired by observation, hypothesis, experimentation and conceptual integration. Faith makes people much more accepting of the very idea of death, and thus serves to perpetuate the philosophical acceptance of death as (take your pick) natural, the way of things, the end of your turn, gods plan, etc.

When he said “They live longer, are healthier, are happier and more content, have a stronger family base and even better sex lives” I would say that may very well be true, especially for people who live habitual lives. But the men who have made the world more enjoyable, made our lives longer, and our wealth greater, did it by progressively accepting reason over faith. And the only reason these irrational people get to live long lives at all is because of all the work and effort accomplished by those who negate faith and use reason to identify real problems and real solutions to those problems.

You said “The fact that all humans KNOW in their unconscious that death is imminent, is what drags down an athiest's attitude. How can you be happy when you know that death is coming”

Which is why, as an atheist, I feel compelled to do everything I can to combat death. And it is also why a theist generally feels absolutely no compulsion to do anything about death. It is the very reason why practically nothing has been done to combat death. By philosophically ignoring a problem you never make any headway in overcoming it. Men never prevented starvation by believing that merely opening ones mouth will cause food to fall from the sky. As another example, my cat is not unhappy about dying, and he could be considered an a-theist. Should one relegate the very concept of consciousness in order to no longer be afraid of dying? That is the Buddhist teaching, after all. Death *should* make you unhappy, it is the destruction of your highest value, your own existence. It is absolutely irrational to not be unhappy about dying.

You said “Atheism could be realistic, but it destroys your living, breathing moments. It destroys life, and when that is gone there is nothing after it. Where as faith makes life worth living, but it might give you a false sense of security.”

Obviously a conclusion I very strongly disagree with. Being an atheist made me realize how truly precious life is, consider the fundamentalists who have no qualms about murdering believing they are sending their victims to a better place. An atheist would never hold any such opinion. Being an atheist emphasizes the importance of every single moment I am alive, of every single breath and heartbeat. Of every touch and embrace. Theism, and believing that there is an afterlife, is what, objectively, destroys life. Not atheism.

This atheist, upon making that leap, loved life that much more and found precious moments where none were before and value were before only existed emptiness.

Michael