Or that they have a, perhaps false, sense of security and purpose.
Like politics, religion has been "sport'ified". What team are you on? Many religious people and atheists are just against each other because they are on the other team.
Atheists and depression
- Thread starter Lark
- Start date
Or that they have a, perhaps false, sense of security and purpose.
Like politics, religion has been "sport'ified". What team are you on? Many religious people and atheists are just against each other because they are on the other team.
I can already hear a zealous preacher saying "This boy does not get it, will he ever do?".
PS: Duuude I have become such a religion hater.
Oh I know. They have the truth and it must feel nice. I do not hate though, only feel endless frustrations
We have all been at similar stages throughout our lives. There are so many religious beliefs that there has to be some core truth to it all, a common spiritual core that make part of each religion true in some way, if not true in its entirety. Atheists have the same feelings of wonder that religious people have. That is where they differentiate though. One leans toward the known universe, and the other the unknown. Neither should have dominion over the other.
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No I don't think they're related.
What I do think is that religious people are less likely to be open about depression because they have the 'good word'.
Do Real Christians Get Depressed?
It Can't Be Depression...I'm a Christian
I am a Christian, but why do I feel so depressed?
What I do think is that religious people are less likely to be open about depression because they have the 'good word'.
Do Real Christians Get Depressed?
It Can't Be Depression...I'm a Christian
I am a Christian, but why do I feel so depressed?
Tin Man
"a respectable amount of screaming"
I do not believe there is a correlation between atheism and depression. Depression is a wide spread problem which affects theists, non-theists and everyone in between.
It is possible that atheists who are willing to question their beliefs are more likely to ask the big questions. This can lead to despair at all the stupidity and violence there is in the world.
It is possible that atheists who are willing to question their beliefs are more likely to ask the big questions. This can lead to despair at all the stupidity and violence there is in the world.
I got a little upset. I forgot theres not a person in the world who is not an atheist. Man I have to stop that.
I'm going to be black sheep here and say that I do think there might be a correlation between atheism and depression, but correlation is not causation. It's not like, okay, I've done some thinking, some serious self-reflection and I can say that I'm a card-carrying atheist now and... wait... what is that black cloud of despair peaking around behind that corner? Oh shit. It's coming this way. Oh shit. Oh shit. GET IT OFF. I DO BELIEVE IN FAIRIES. I DO. I DO....
Depression, apart from the kind that results from chemical imbalances due to genetics or some serious drug abuse or psychological trauma, does typically come on the heels of an existential crisis and I think its safe to say that most atheists are born of these. Most atheists I know or have ever heard of are frequently former theists themselves or, even if they weren't, they've grown up in a society where religion's doctrine and beliefs still permeate every social cell of their existence even though they may have never consciously attributed these beliefs to the majority's belief in a deity. In many respects, the external locus of control and other psychological side-effects afforded by religion, by fate, by astrology and other supernatural and metaphysical forces are a huuuuuuge part of our social consciousness and separating yourself from the herd, separating your beliefs and all their underlying roots and tentacles from the fabric of the current social milieu is a minefield rife with conscious and subconscious cognitive dissonances that don't buckle under the clear-eyed might of reason. At the core, we're social animals and much of who we are is shaped by our environment. We are also not consciously privy to the deeper workings of our psyches and its influences. It's not that religion keeps people happy. It's belonging. It's validation. It's the realized desire of being surrounded by people and ideas that are congruent with your beliefs and ideas, overtly or otherwise.
Anyone who has ever felt like they've been alienated from society, consciously or subconsciously, socially, physically, emotionally, cognitively, is prone to depression.
Depression, apart from the kind that results from chemical imbalances due to genetics or some serious drug abuse or psychological trauma, does typically come on the heels of an existential crisis and I think its safe to say that most atheists are born of these. Most atheists I know or have ever heard of are frequently former theists themselves or, even if they weren't, they've grown up in a society where religion's doctrine and beliefs still permeate every social cell of their existence even though they may have never consciously attributed these beliefs to the majority's belief in a deity. In many respects, the external locus of control and other psychological side-effects afforded by religion, by fate, by astrology and other supernatural and metaphysical forces are a huuuuuuge part of our social consciousness and separating yourself from the herd, separating your beliefs and all their underlying roots and tentacles from the fabric of the current social milieu is a minefield rife with conscious and subconscious cognitive dissonances that don't buckle under the clear-eyed might of reason. At the core, we're social animals and much of who we are is shaped by our environment. We are also not consciously privy to the deeper workings of our psyches and its influences. It's not that religion keeps people happy. It's belonging. It's validation. It's the realized desire of being surrounded by people and ideas that are congruent with your beliefs and ideas, overtly or otherwise.
Anyone who has ever felt like they've been alienated from society, consciously or subconsciously, socially, physically, emotionally, cognitively, is prone to depression.
Yeah that used to be somewhat true for me, until I realized that if I want that kind of belonging and validation then I will forever be at the whims of other people which is depressing in itself. But I'm not having that, and I'm not depressed anymore.
Why would I want to belong to that mess? That's Samsara, or part of it anyway.
Yeah it's a funny thing.
I felt rejected by the tree but now I realize I'm not. So I'm not depressed.
Sure I get angry and angsty and piss off and say fuck all some times, and at times this really comes out, but I'm not actually depressed. This is just a passing thing and I realize I can go back whenever I like, so long as I remember I can.
I just don't understand how people can say God doesn't exist when there is no consensus on what God is
What is it they are rejecting?
I think they're rejecting two ideas:
1. You must believe this one God and not some other god
2. You're not allowed to remain unsure
I can see how it'd be a pain in the ass. Agnostics get their own kind of flak from both sides.
No an atheist is rejecting God
But what is God to them?
An agnostic is saying they're not sure but an atheist is saying there is no God
I'd imagine it'd have to be the God that believers are trying to tell them that there is for sure.
It's a bit absurd because we have one god that calls itself God but atheist really means belief in no gods at all, yet if you believe in Eris for example you'd not really be an atheist but believers in one true God are going to say your god (goddess) is a false one.
Which believers?
The pantheists, the abrahamists, the animists?
If atheism is about not believeing in 'deities' then what about the concept of deities being personifications of natural forces or aspects of our own psyche?
How can people reject something when they haven't defined what they're rejecting? THAT'S absurd!
No one is trying to get a consensus here on what 'God' is...yet lots of people are rejecting it (whatever it is)
So....what are they rejecting?
[video=youtube;Ps6TulqBWiI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps6TulqBWiI[/video]
[MENTION=1871]muir[/MENTION]
Have you somehow missed all the arguments that have been happening here lately?
God is pretty well defined! There might be several versions of it sure but many are quite well defined to the point where people are telling you what God thinks about and does.
That's very much being defined. That doesn't make it true, but it does make it defined.
Have you somehow missed all the arguments that have been happening here lately?
God is pretty well defined! There might be several versions of it sure but many are quite well defined to the point where people are telling you what God thinks about and does.
That's very much being defined. That doesn't make it true, but it does make it defined.