Myth: Atheism Fails to Provide the Comforts of Religion, Theism, God

[cleanhippie]

Myth:
Atheism has never dried a tearful eye. It has never tried to take away the pain and suffering of people.

Response:
Technically speaking, these statements are true: atheism does not dry any tearful eyes and it does not relieve anyone's suffering. So if it's true, why is it treated here as a myth? The "myth" part comes in because whoever is saying this is inappropriately categorizing atheism as something which should be expected to dry tears and relieve pain. This is thus a myth because of the incorrect perception of what atheism is, what atheists believe, and what atheism should be doing.

People who imagine that atheism is in the category of things which should be drying tears usually try to treat atheism as a philosophy, religion, ideology, or something similar.(Hmmmm, where have I heard THIS before?) This is all massively incorrect — atheism is nothing more or less than the absence of belief in gods. By itself, that mere disbelief is not only incapable of anything like drying tears or relieving suffering, but it shouldn't be expected to perform such functions in the first place.

--snip--

One fact which this reveals is that the person repeating this myth is inappropriately comparing apples and oranges: the apple of mere atheism with the orange of a complex theistic religion. Technically, this is an example of the Straw Man logical fallacy because theists are setting up a Straw Man out of atheism. The correct comparison should be some atheistic belief system (whether religious or secular) against a theistic belief system (probably religious, but a secular one would be acceptable). This would be a much more difficult comparison to make and it almost certainly wouldn’t lead to the facile conclusion that atheism has nothing to offer.

I wonder if this might be why it's so rare to see any religious theists — almost always Christians — actually making such comparisons. I can't remember ever seeing a Christian try to make a serious comparison between Christianity and atheistic Buddhism or between Christianity and Secular Humanism in order to demonstrate that such atheist belief systems are unable to provide comfort or solace. I'm sure that someone must have, but it's a rarity. Instead, they try to compare atheism with Christianity even though it should be clear that atheism is not a full-fledged belief system, rendering the entire comparison baseless.

http://atheism.about.com/od/atheismmeaninglesshopeless/a/AtheismComfort.htm

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It all sounds so.....familiar.

[darkstar3]

1. I've always said that I found far more peace when I abandoned religion than I ever found within it.

[Warpy]

6. Same here. Letting go of fear and shame were worth more

than trying to cling to a community based in large part upon them.

[Scuba]

11. +1

[RoccoR5955]

2. I find it more comforting believing in logic,

and abandoning religion, than believing in a talking snake, and an old bearded man in the clouds.

Religion never comforted me, it only gave me a paranoid feeling that I better act as I'm told, or I'll burn in Hades. If that's comfort, I'll take the alternative.

[demigoddess]

3. religious people are the ones who seem frantic with worry

and fear. It is they who drive the people crazy spreading fear. Fear of God, fear of outsiders, fear of sinners, fear of other religions. They just cannot seem to trust in God, they always are looking for a sign or a magic charm that will guarantee their salvation. I and many atheists say "live your life and trust that all will be well when you die". I do not fear the God will send good hearted people to hell just because they broke a little guideline once upon a time.

[qazplm]

7. then again

I'm not religious and I certainly fear non-existence. Plenty of fear to go around, and I am skeptical of anyone who says they have zero fear of death, theists or atheists.

[darkstar3]

8. I do not fear death.

I fear loss.

[demosincebirth]

12. ...of life?

[darkstar3]

13. ...of those I care about.

I can't believe I had to spell that out.

[Humanist_Activist]

19. Its not like I'd be aware of it, so why fear it?

It may simply be that we can't comprend our own nonexistence, but frankly I fear my death about as much as I fear 1977, the year before was born. I didn't exist then, and I most likely won't exist in 2076, what is there for me to fear?

Besides, its not death I would fear, but rather the possible pain and illness that occurs before death, I just hope I either die peacefully in my sleep or in the middle of throws of passion with a beautiful woman. :)

[Lunabelle]

4. I'm agnostic that leans heavily atheist.

I detest organized religions and I think I am a compassionate,empathetic, moral and loving person. (a true bleeding heart liberal, secular humanist) And I do it all without belief in any religion or deity. The only reason I call myself an agnostic is because I find myself praying to a God I know doesn't exist. Old habits die hard.

[izquierdista]

5. Because it's SO comfortable to

Kneel for long periods of time
Bang your head against a wall
Wear a fur coat in the summer sun
Flog yourself until you are bleeding
Replay a crucifixion
Fast from sunup to sundown
Cut the foreskin off of an infant
Smell the feet of the guy kneeling in front of you
and on
and on
and on

[no_hypocrisy]

9. A Plus: I don't have to worry about going to Hell.

:evilfrown:

[humankarenball]

10. My 2 cents

I was raised Baptist, but walked away from faith when I was around 23 years old. I have personally felt less fear and worry in crisis situations (death of family member or friend, medical issue, et. al.) since choosing atheism. I can't with 100% certainty say that atheism is the only cause of the diminished crisis stress. Maybe some of it is simply getting older, gaining life experience, learning the futility of these types of worries.

My children, however, were raised religion-free from birth. When two of their high school friends died in a 10 month span (my daughters' senior year of HS, son's first year of college), they were naturally quite upset at times. Their stress was always worsened when a well-meaning religious friend would tell them "you'll see them again someday" or "everything happens for a reason" or "God needed him/her in heaven more than we needed him/her here," (even though those concepts brought stress-relief to their religious friends). My kids' stress was alleviated by facing their own mortality (we're born; we live; we die), dedicating themselves to truly living their lives and not just existing, and appreciating the time they did get to share with the friends whose lives were short.

I think people find comfort within the framework of their own non-belief or belief systems. So calling it a myth that an atheist can't dry someone's tears (or vice versa) is sophistry.

[Lunabelle]

14. I think there is more than you're born , you live, you die.

I don't know if it is God, another universe or dimension, but I think we have an essence that continues. I only believe this because of personal experiences with, yes I know you'll think I'm crazy, but ghosts.

[dmallind]

15. Pretty much a 0-0 tie for me.

Why would I need, want or try to get comfort from a religious belief or lack thereof? Do people seekl these things from their political beliefs, their social beliefs or their historical beliefs? When I seek comfort I seek it from things that have objective analgesic or anaesthetic effect.

[theaocp]

16. As Tyler Durden said,

If our fathers are our models for God and they bailed on us, what does that tell us? That we don't NEED him. (I'm paraphrasing here)

I hold true to the belief that religion is just a crutch for those who cannot come to grips with the fact that after life is over, there is nothing else. Deal with it and you'll be happier, no matter what bullshit Pascal wanted to spew.

[Odin2005]

17. I have no need for the "comforts" of the delusion that is Religion.

[cleanhippie]

18. Agreed.

[frebrd]

20. Atheism provides the comforts.....

of reality-based living.

[cleanhippie]

21. Ahh, very true. +1.