What do you believe?

Curious, as atheists what makes you all get out of bed in the morning? I can't come to grips with it I believe in God but not per say religion even Jesus says Worship only God when Satan uses the Bible to try and tempt Jesus Matt4:10. Yes this proves the Bible can be used for evil but it also proves that if we take it at what it is we will be able to overcome evil. Anyway I doubted God for a long time and found it hard to even get out of bed what's the point in a world so full of hate and discontent how can you go on not believing in something greater than yourself/?/ Don't give me the Nietzsche crap about your ego manifests God, I understand that point but it's also your ego that won't let you believe in something more than yourself. And yes for sure religion is the #1 or #2 reason that is so much hate out there, but isn't the basis to 'Love your neighbor as yourself" Even the Koran teaches these things so don't give me BS about Muslims spreading hate either it says in the OT of the Bible that God commanded the Israelites to kill all nonbelievers in Canaan to so keep your out-of-context crap to yourself. Some things to think about struggling myself but trying to stay educated and keep an open mind.

Curious, as atheists what makes you all get out of bed in the morning?

Knowing that I'm the artist of my own life, I must get out of bed to finish my masterpiece.

ETA. 'Love your neighbor as yourself" is actually from Confucius; long before the bible or Koran.

"My past is an unfinished painting, and as the artist of that painting, I must fill in all the ugly holes and make it beatiful again." - Lady gaga

I find this relevent, as although we are talking about the present here, this pretains to the past.
Correcting my mistakes and "Filling in all the ugly holes" is what makes me get out of bed in the morning.

I could stay in bed, but I want to go to work to earn money, because I want to pay the bills so I can have a roof over my head. I don't HAVE to, of course, because nobody has to do anything if they don't want.

I wake up and get up because life is a beautiful experience waiting for you. All the pain, suffering, sadness, and turmoil is all in your head. You can choose to look at the world as a cold, harsh, unfair place, but you would then be boiling it all down to nothing more than a lifeless machine. The world is full of life and love. YOU are everything there ever was and ever will be. Once you begin to appreciate how important you are, regardless of the illusion you may have of independent existence, you not only change, but so does the world.

Be thankful for what you have, and want nothing more than that. Ask not for the day to be sunny, ask instead yourself that you may weather the cold and the rain through the strength within you. Be thankful for where you are, because here now is the only place you can be. Be thankful for who you are, because you couldn't and will never be anything else but you.

Do we need God and faith to find the strength to get up and get through the day? Perhaps you may, perhaps not, Whatever gets you through the day isn't important in that context. What is truely important is that you live life. Experiencing is all you can do. Enjoy everything now, don't linger upon the past or fear for the future. Don't make the world your Hell, make it your Heaven.

Excellent question, as I continue to struggle with what is "true"; in sum, I was baptized Roman Catholic, walked away from the church when I was a young adult (since I was no longer forced to go to church on Sunday), had considered returning to the church upon feeling utterly empty one day and having realized I had not prayed or done anything spiritual in years, then soon after returned to the church following a near-death experience, and, finally, became an evangelical up until recently. That has changed, In fact, I have finally come to the conclusion that the deity-level moniker "The Word of God" is an ascribed, not an inherent, value. In other words, perhaps man has ascribed such a lofty value to a collection of books that does not inherently have a value of such a magnitude.

So, why do I still get up in the morning? Despite rejecting the fundamentalist path, I remain convinced that I am part of Creation, made by a Creator, and, to paraphrase one of the other commenters, I am a work in progress for which I play an integral -- and not simply a passive, puppet-like -- part.

reply to post by LesMisanthrope


Thus further emphasizing my point that religions are all interconnected when it comes down to it.

reply to post by ManjushriPrajna


"All the pain, suffering, sadness, and turmoil is all in your head."

While I do not claim to know the "true path" (if one exists), I once responded to someone who uttered the above claim by pinching his arm. He shouted "Ouch! What did you do that for?" to which I responded, "Did that hurt?" to which he said "Of course it hurt!"

"Well," I said, "I guess pain isn't an illusion after all."

reply to post by Headband7

Thus further emphasizing my point that religions are all interconnected when it comes down to it.

True, but you may also add: "and completely created by man"....

reply to post by ManjushriPrajna


I don't want anything more than I have I'm content with the crap i have because i don't care how much I have anyway as long as I'm eating. My problem is that the world says FU at that point and you must become this or that it's crap, thats whats crap. My used to have a beautiful view of life and I had just as much in possessions as now, nothing lol.

reply to post by LesMisanthrope


Can I? the only part of that i don't believe is that in the beginning of time there is no freaking way it just bang and was here out of dust without a guiding hand. The world is way to complex I believe in God true but am what is called old earth creationist going against evolution is just stupid science can't be disproven. Nietszche tried to explain all this to so did Aristotle and Freud God is still here not extinct (or the idea extinct), the only thing constant throughout time has been belief in God.

reply to post by darkredfish


She was probably talking about her happy hole bud. Lady Gaga come on

I'm not an athiest, but I will answer because when I get up in the morning I am unsure of myself, I am unsure of life, I am unsure of faith, and I unsure of everything.

Thank you writing such a great post, I think the best original posts are the ones that throw out a simple question, open to the world to answer.

Maybe if I had a million dollars I would open my eyes and I would feel everything is ok because I would have a beautiful woman next to me and I wouldn't have to work.

After I wake up and go outside to say hello to the nature, I come back in and I have a smile on my face because I realize the wonder of life, the magic of life, I can't understand, but I believe, I have faith.

Life is too mysterious, and I want to win in my magic.

Originally posted by Headband7
Curious, as atheists what makes you all get out of bed in the morning?

Usually I have to pee pretty bad, but then I have a cuppa and take the dogs out exercising. They depend on me. Of course I also have a life that I have to attend to. You know... family, chores, eating, having fun... Why wouldn't I get out of bed? We have a wonderful life and beauty and love are all around us... Why sleep the day away?

Anyway I doubted God for a long time and found it hard to even get out of bed...

That's your experience. VERY different from mine. I don't need a "story" to get me out of bed... I like one when I'm going to bed, sometimes, though.

reply to post by bitsoys


Of course it would hurt. The question is, will the pain pass, or will you allow it to linger?

reply to post by Headband7


A fool stands in the rain, singing. The villagers say how stupid he is, but the fool is the wisest among them.

reply to post by Headband7


one of my goals in life is to experience something amazing or something that will get me a rush like a drug or getting drunk but iwant something more than that, like get a plane and go upwards n jus keep going or get on yop of 1 n jus experience... or jump off a plane with a parachute or run from the police ill escape or get killed, or when a spaceship is going 2 go 2 space il sneak somewhere imagine that, ill be going through the clouds n stuff at some point il probably explode or something lol...or like kill the president n make a video something like me showing how i kill him n saying f u illuminati then making the video go viral, or somehow get in the vatican or get to the higher relmas of secret societies n stuff or russian roulete or rob someone really rich n give everything to the needy, i have to do something effin big! either something big that will help the poor or something or something big for me like a amazing experience, i want to do something that i considerer BIG, i dont want to have lived my life jus working or skool or alcohol,girls drugs parties football travel food etc this is all bs 2 me i want to do something big, so yea.

reply to post by Headband7


I agree with you on the big bang, It's too difficult for us to fathom the start of the universe, and it is just a theory, nothing more.

We're systematizers; we need a system for everything or we cannot fathom it. Religion is one of those systems, an institution created by objective reasoning, a man-made cop-out even; because we are unable to systematize some of the workings of a chaotic universe, we've taken the easy way out and attributed those workings to some being higher than us. It's still trapped within the realm of our primitive reasoning, and because it's been accepted by the masses, and handed down through thousands of years of collective thought and indoctrination is the only reason it still persists today.

Nietzsche called for a re-evaluation of all values, which I believe is also necessary, as the values put forth by religion and other ancient philosophies are extremely out of date. I'm glad Nietzsche was my first foray into philosophy, as I took every philosophy I read after his as subjective opinion. It helped me to develop my own reason and to determine my own values.

To me: belief in a God is fear of nature, chaos and the unfathomable. It only exists as a buffer between us and our own natural instincts, as a form of control imposed on ourselves by ourselves. It only exists in our heads, unless someone can prove otherwise. When we pray, it's naive to think that our thoughts are exiting our mind and heading into the heavens; we're praying to ourselves; we're praying to our own sub-conscious and nature. You can attain this freedom of fear without a god, through your own reason and creativity.

Also, science can and always will be disproven.

Thanks for hearing my opinion.

reply to post by Headband7


I believe this is going to turn into another "lets bash Jesus" thread. Thats what i believe. Anytime an athiest sees the name of Jesus they see red.