Friday, August 22, 2014

Why wait for an Afterlife?


Calling all Science Blind Religious: 
http://www.nairaland.com/attachments/1148355_religion_meme
_jpg880cec4d07ee35da81676540bf79e1c0
When you finish plugging your ears and singing your invisible friends praises so loud that you can’t hear anything remotely resembling facts, the Universe will still not care about you, the Cosmos will still be too vast for you to grok, and your unavoidable ending will still be imminent.
 
 What will you do with your incredibly short life? We Atheists think you should live it as if God doesn’t exist, even if you insist on believing in Gods and your religion’s promised “after-life”.

Now before you say “impossible” I ask, just what do you think Atheists are doing with their incredibly short lives?

We may not spend our Sunday mornings or other days of the weeks in prayer or other religious gatherings but we do socialize with other people, and work at jobs: pursue causes, do hobbies, shake our heads over headlines, and we write music or do other creative things for the joy these activities bring us. We have friends and date nights, children and pets. We have to go to the doctor and pay taxes just like everyone else. And we end up taking the big dirt nap just like religious folks.

(And yes there are Atheists in foxholes, risking their lives even though they have no expectation of another life after death. (If anything, Atheists wonder why the religious are hiding in the foxholes, since they must surely believe God will protect them, right?))

We can get caught up in our daily lives and forget to send a birthday card, we can get frustrated and angry just like anyone else and we have all the faults and flaws you’ll find in anyone else. We just live our lives with a little more awareness of our own mortality, of the unavoidable ending and nothingness that awaits us. Sure that sounds a bit bleak, but once you let go of all those unprovable and therefore unlikely promises of afterlife, then the here and now becomes a little bit more precious.

Remembering to send that card to your friend you haven’t seen in years becomes more important. Reaching out and letting people in your life know right now how you feel, becomes critical. Nostalgic contemplations lead to appreciation of one’s current situations, and gratitude for your luck thus far – not that we believe in “luck” or “fate” but we do accept that life is a gamble and any moment could be our last.

Our awareness, our live for today attitude, can lead us to indulgences sure, but you’d find your imagination of what crazy decadent things Atheists could do without fear of god is more impressive than what the average Atheist actually does. Since we’re not inclined to put off taking responsibility for our actions until it’s time to confess, Atheists tend to be pretty law abiding, responsible even. This is probably because we’re so aware of what consequences we might have to face in the here and now, and we think it through realizing that anything that makes our life shorter, or less pleasant? Well that’s bad of course, and so we avoid these things. Now that’s the highly logical and analytical reasons, but most times we follow the laws of the land because it’s the healthy, considerate and or compassionate thing to do.

So, how much of that sounds crazy different from the way you live your life? And is there anything you’d like to improve or modify about your life? Do you wish you could re-engage with an old college buddy, but haven’t had the nerve to reach out? Have you always dreamed of starting a business or taking up a creative hobby like painting? So what are you waiting for? Do It!

Your neighborhood Atheist says go ahead and keep on believing if you want, but don’t let your religion stop you from living a beautiful life. Why? Because what if we’re right and God doesn’t exist? then who’s the audience for your life that you’re striving to impress?

No comments:

Post a Comment