Mageth

I'm happy when I'm comfortably warm, not hungry (or in the process of becoming not hungry), free from pain or illness, working or playing at something I enjoy, and gettin' some on occasion.

Don't need a god or a lack of a god to do that. Though having to yield to the will of an imaginary god could get in the way.

WWSD

I think that the only part that atheism plays in any of my happy times is in the sense that I am free to think whatever I please and not have to worry about any reprecussions from a large angry sky god.

JaeIsGod

When I was a Christian I was constantly worrying about going to hell. Was my faith strong enough? Did I say anything bad about Jesus so he might kick me to hell?

And of course knowing that a part of my family and most my friends were gonne burn in hell for eternity doesnt make one happy.

Atheism relieved me of this fear , which made my life a whole lot better.

Amos

But there you go, you see, when someone tells you that Jesus is the answer you're in the wrong religion. Jesus is has just given us the example to follow and should never be part of our search for meaning in life.

Virgil Tibbs

As an atheist, I am not certain I have "The Truth" the same way the vast majority of theists are. All I know is that I have tried my best to evaluate the evidence I currently have without an eye for what I prefer to be true. And by doing that I arrived at the conclusion that atheism is most likely to be true. Give me some new evidence and that conclusion is subject to being falisfied, just like any other valid theory.

Sure, who wouldn't want eternal bliss or a sky daddy protecting you from the mean old world (granted, there are many other aspects of theism that are less attractive)? Problem is, lacking even a shred of reliable evidence, it doesn't matter whether I want to believe in a deity or not. Faith without evidence is the death of intellectual integity, IMO. Well, not including the weird cognitive dissonance most people seem to have where they can apply empiricism to topic x but use faith on topic y with no justification other than their personal emotions.

As for the original topic, I'll add that atheism has made me perhaps a little happier, but that has less to do with atheism itself as it does with dumping the indoctrinational programming specific to catholicism I was still carrying around unwittingly as an apathetic agnostic. Having only been an atheist for a few weeks now, the jury is still out on the long term effects for me.

Clearly, one cannot generalize about all atheists being happy or unhappy any more than one can do so for theists. Although it does seem a lot of theists assume all atheists are unhappy, because of their baseless assumption that the truth makes people happier. As an example, if a doctor told me I had a terminal illness, that could certainly be true without making me happy.

Tibbs

Arken

In another recent thread, emotional, you berated me for saying something about you which was untrue... now I believe you are guilty of the same thing. I have met very few atheists who claim they know what 'The Truth' is. I for one only know what I think it is, but I don't know if I'm right.

TomboyMom

Being an atheist makes me happy because I feel like I figured it out before I died.

Also I can focus my ethics, values, etc. on the here and now--on reality, and therefore have better tools for making decisions about my life.

Rene, the happy atheist

Roland98

Many atheists are also happy because we don't have to deal with the everyday pressures of being a Christian (and I'm sure it may be similar in other religions). When I belonged to Christian organizations in high school, it was always part of gaining acceptance and being judged as worthy and, to some extent, "holy." I can't imagine having to go my whole life trying to do that (not that all Christians do, but certainly many of them). Getting sick? Having doubts? Kids misbehaving? etc.; for Christian friends, all of those things result in my friends being judged (mostly by the other "righteous ladies" at their church) and coming to the conclusion that their faith isn't strong enough. Who needs that bullshit to contend with every day? I'm so much happier since I came "out" as an atheist; I've lost some relationships and strained others, but most of those people aren't the ones I'd want for friends any longer, anyway.

emotional

I've never met an atheist who doesn't think theists are deluded. What is "deluded"? Believing in things that are not true. And if the atheist in contrast to the theist is not deluded, then it follows that the atheist has the truth.

Atheists and Christians share the thought that those outside their group are in delusion, ie in error.

Amos

Rene, I think "the happy mom" suits you better because atheism cannot be conceive to exist without the recognition of theism as the antagonist in your life.