lriddle80
I have a few atheists in my family that are heavily into politics and one of them is a socialist and wondered if the best she could look forward to is barely being able to fight off the Nazis and the other one talks almost daily about wanting to die because of the state of the world and where we are with accepting everyone as equal.
This is the problem when someone takes a stand of certainty on topics that one can’t possibly be certain of.
Just to let you know, I am neither Atheist nor a Theist nor an Agnostic.
I read a quote by Voltaire when I was about 17 years old that made a lot of sense.
“Uncertainty Is an Uncomfortable Position. But Certainty Is an Absurd One.”
We notice that there were basically three lines of thought at the time. (Atheist, Agnostic and Theist) of which I subscribe to none.
Being raised in a JW family, I already didn’t believe in talking snakes, magical fruit, and invisible beings that materialized just to terrorize beautiful women.
As far as Atheism is concern, I personally felt and still do, that “we know to little to commit to a position of strict Atheism, --where we act as though we got it all figured out.” And at the same time, “we know to much to commit to a particular religion.”
While the unknown may cause us discomfort, if we’re so certain about something, that we never question anything,---- we are bound to run into problems sooner or later. That’s the reason many Jehovah Witnesses lose it when they find out they were in a religious cult, in a matter of speaking.
On the other hand, the benefits of uncertainty is that it keeps you sharp because you are always asking questions. And by asking questions, it allows for the sorts of surprises that can make life interesting. “Knowing the outcome or answer—or believing you do—might seem nice, but it's ultimately not in your best interest.
You can never be sure of anything. (Just talk to a former Jehovah Witness who woke up after 50 Years) That may seem frightening, but it can actually be a great source of excitement and discovery.”
I consider myself a Possibilian which allows me to have multiple possibilities of where we came from what our purpose is and where are we headed. And at the same time this stand allows me to accept new narratives as they are revealed by Science or other means. This trend started a little over 10 years ago. It came about as a result of getting tired of all the debates between the two schools of thought,---atheist and theist.
And for us that have adopted this view, we never feel a need to commit suicide because life is amazing and there is so much to learn.
Here is a better explanation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LENqnjZGX0A&feature=youtu.be&t=1