Originally posted by chaney3'Hope' is perhaps not quite the right word for how I feel, but I would certainly prefer to find out upon my death that this material life was not the whole story.
Are there any atheists, besides Ghost, who would admit that they HOPE a God exists?
Even a hardcore atheist must sometimes 'hope' that a Creator exists.....no?
I am a non-Christian/former Christian. Indeed, I am not a religionist of any kind. I don't see myself as an atheist because I feel an unclear and inexplicable instinct that there is a God.
I have no specific "beliefs" rooted in this instinctive belief ~ which perhaps can be referred to as deism ~ and there are no superstitions or notions of the supernatural that I know of or act upon in any way, let alone proselytize. Perhaps the "instinct" is hard wired into us - like morality - or only some of us - and/or its a product of factors that have had a bearing on our evolution. I really don't know for sure.
For example, I have no reason to believe there is an afterlife as there is no evidence of it. I am not aware of any revelation that God has made or of there being any 'instructions' for mankind.
I find the religions, such as those propagated here, completely unconvincing, although I attribute their putative attractions and purported functions as an understandable product of the human condition. None of the Christian proselytizers in this community are persuasive - in fact I find most of their mind maps and behaviour completely counter productive.
I do not "hope" that there will be a revelation as that strikes me as a rather spurious use of the human spirit; the same goes for contemplation of forms of immortality that there is no reason to think exists.
I am quite happy and reconciled with the fact that I will pass away in a decade or two from now, indeed I believe that its finite nature is in part what makes life delicious and wonderful.
I might say something different if I was due to die next week, but broadly speaking I am not interested in trying to soften the inevitability of death by subscribing to religion and dwelling on the peddled mumbo jumbo of ecclesiastical technocrats and their followers.
I am not interested in hoping for supernatural things to happen in order deal with real life. Personally I think it is a squandering of the amazing capacities of the human spirit which ~ perhaps ~ no one knows for sure ~ is God given..
If God exists, that means that are countless numbers of people experiencing the worst possible torture for all eternity; a number that will continue increasing when two billion Muslims eventually die, including Buddhists, people of other religions, and atheists.
Because of this, I doubt that any atheists "hopes" God exists. The world would be similarly terrible if Allah, Zeus or certain other god's exist.
Originally posted by vivifyThat said, the idea that a benevolent god exists, that will ensure an eternity in bliss is a nice idea. I'd love for that to be true.
If God exists, that means that are countless numbers of people experiencing the worst possible torture for all eternity; a number that will continue increasing when two billion Muslims eventually die, including Buddhists, people of other religions, and atheists.
Because of this, I doubt that any atheists "hopes" God exists. The world would be similarly terrible if Allah, Zeus or certain other god's exist.
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Originally posted by vivifyAnd that is the kind of God a small part of me is hoping for. (Though as Gandalf would put it, 'it's a fools hope' ).
That said, the idea that a benevolent god exists, that will ensure an eternity in bliss is a nice idea. I'd love for that to be true.
Naturally, as an atheist, i am not hoping that the Christian God exists who will punish me for all eternity for not believing in him. That God i am pretty certain doesn't exist.
