I'm a former staunch Christian who now is agnostic.

[Funtatlaguy]

Just wondering how many people share my dilemma.
Was raised in Bible Belt. It was just expected that you go to church, get saved, baptized.
Over the years, though, my questioning nature has moved me away from organized religion and my faith in any type of supernatural beings.
However, I miss the hope of there being something more than just this one short life.

[Croney]

1. If you're agnostic, you haven't quite given up hope.

I'm atheist, so I'm hopeless. Lol

Raised Southern Baptist but escaped once I grew a brain 50 years ago.

[Funtatlaguy]

2. Lol...how did you get ok with the idea that this life is all we get.

[Croney]

3. I had no choice. It was like getting OK with the idea

that my appendix needed to come out. Life just swoops us up and carries us downstream. Might as well just enjoy the scenery while we can.

[Funtatlaguy]

5. I admire and envy your attitude.

For a long time, I considered reincarnation so that I’d get more lives.
But, that’s really just admitting that there’s a higher power that gives us other chances, I guess.

[A HERETIC I AM]

19. Consider this;

It's been said that all of the atoms inside your body were at some point in the way distant past, inside a star.

"We are all star stuff" I think Neil DeGrasse Tyson said.

So when you die, your body becomes part of the atoms in the universe again and sooner or later, you'll be part of a star again.

OR.....the Oxygen and Hydrogen atoms that make up the water in your body are quickly absorbed back into the water cycle of this planet, and they may vary well be part of another human in somewhat short order.

So in that regard, the items that make up your body go on forever.

[Funtatlaguy]

20. Hmmm...I may reconsider where I want my ashes spread.

[AllyCat]

21. Heretic, this is where I am too.

In a way, we are reincarnated because nature puts our parts back in the mix. In fact, we get a near infinite number of new journeys. Just not, like...we are now. And I’m okay with that. Nature is.

[Thunderbeast]

37. "Star Stuff" Quote is from Carl Sagan...his mentor

From the original "Cosmos" series.

The thought is WAY more awe-inspiring to me than the whole "sitting in the clouds next to Jeebus" narrative.

Another Sagan teaching is that WE are the instrument that the Cosmos uses to become aware of itself.

Great stuff.

[Voltaire2]

59. However the network of matter and energy

that over a brief period of time encapsulates your conscious existence collapses at death. That quality of self, those experiences are gone.

It is this harsh reality that empowers the ludicrous theistic nonsense.

[Farmer-Rick]

4. Raised Catholic in the North with the same assumptions of always worshipping an imaginary being

Came South, tried that religion for awhile. Finally, I just gave up trying to pretend I believed all that crap. I feel more honest now that I've given up religion.

To tell you honestly though, I have not given up the idea of some sort of awareness surviving after death. The main reason is the split slit experiment that changes the path of particles if they are observed. Who observed the formation of the stars, or the big bang?

Then there is the peculiar self awareness we humans have. Imagine creating a creature that could understand you? That's what the universe has done. And if all our intellect, awareness and consciousness dies when our bodies die, well what a huge waste. But nature doesn't really waste anything, does it.

Seems to me most all religions spend way too much time trying to control how you live instead of exploring death.

[Raven123]

6. Why give up hope?

Maybe you don't believe in an anthropomorphic God. That idea may have arisen in its time due to the limits of human thought at the time.

No one knows for certain, so just keep thinking. You might just be able to fill that void.

[demigoddess]

36. agree with you. I have felt several ghosts/spirits over the years. Whether or not there

is a Christian type god, there is something after we pass over. I have always had trouble with the idea that there is a god who wants us to build churches and go and pray and say "give me, give me". But may be a god who set up things to work.

[Freedomofspeech]

7. Grew up Presbyterian and was once very active in the church...

Haven't set foot in a church since George W. Bush was elected. Totally lost my religion with no regrets.

[handmade34]

8. don't look at it

as a dilemma... embrace the quest for your own belief system...

I was raised a Christian, remained open minded and then went to seminary later in life... going to seminary is what gave me insight and meaning... I guess I would call myself a humanist now...

the understanding/belief that there is "just this one short life" can cause us to live it optimally...

whenever I get the chance, if someone wants my opinion (or sometimes not) I will say that the most important thing I learned in seminary is that Jesus's message was simply "Life is a bitch and we are all here to take care of each other"

[Funtatlaguy]

9. I have a buddy that changed that last line to read:

Life is a bitch and I sure married one.

[marylandblue]

10. I am an agnostic who doesn't want to give up hope either

This is not a rational decision, but we are not rational creatures, so I am okay with that. In the alternative, as the Buddhists say, the self is an illusion, a veil over our true natures. When we die, we just go back to our true natures. But we can also experience our true natures in this life through spiritual practices like meditation.

[ladjf]

11. Congratulations for making the transition from a subjective based worldview

to an objective world view. And while you might have some discomfort about immortality, your new found way of viewing existence will likely bring you years of enlightening experiences, leaving you with a position of vast admiration for the amazing laws of Nature and a profound appreciation for the gifts those "laws" have bestowed upon the inhabitants of the planet Earth.

[Funtatlaguy]

12. You sound like the National Geographic Channel...lol.

[progressoid]

13. Good for you.

It can be a tough transition. I suppose that's why so many people prefer their delusion to reality. But in the long run, it will make you happier IMHO.

[Funtatlaguy]

14. The worst part is reaction from family and close friends.

When I tell them that I’m no longer a Christian and, therefore, no longer pray, they look at me like I’m diseased. And they usually say something like....I’m sorry to hear that....what’s funny is that they never ask me why that I’ve changed.

[progressoid]

15. Yeah, I just keep it to my self mostly.

I've only really told a few family members and friends who I know also shun religion. I'm not interested in the others pity or shame from the others.

Thankfully we have the internet so I can vent!

[defacto7]

16. They never ask you why because they're afraid you may give them a good answer.

They have to keep propping up that faith that has no evidence for an anchor even if they have to act like the three no evil monkeys.

[lindysalsagal]

53. You got that right. They'Re scared.

That's a waste of your life: being scared.

[Mr.Bill]

17. I am an Atheist, have been one since I was a child.

My perspective on an afterlife is not an afterlife I will live, rather it is one others will live that will be hopefully enhanced by having known me. I try to be at my best with my family and other human beings and maybe have some good influence on them so that one day when I am gone they will maybe see something the way I would and react like I would. In that way I will live on even though I won't be there in a physical sense.

I think we all have known someone who influences us long after they have left this earth. Whether it be a family member, a teacher, a good friend or even someone we have never met but have read about or studied.


In this way we can all be somewhat of a superior being in some small way to others for generations to come. It comes with a responsibility to live the best life we can, treat others well and know that every act we perform can for outlive us through people we will never even meet.

And isn't that what Jesus did? I believe that the Christian Jesus is a composite if not mythical person. Every religion has it superior beings that their followers are supposed to emulate. I have those beings without the trappings and faults of organized religion, and if I live right, I can be in some small way one of those beings to others.

[Funtatlaguy]

18. Great perspective. Well stated.

[PassingFair]

22. It's all about acceptance for me.

I’d be happy with oblivion. It’s suffering that worries me. And the sorrow of those that will survive me.

[Funtatlaguy]

23. I've basically been ostracized by many former loved ones.

They think I’ve been radicalized and turned against God by some bad people.
They say they will keep praying for me.
I tell them that I’m still me and still love them but their lives are so tied up socially in religion and their churches that I’m really just not a part of their lives now.

[PassingFair]

24. I raised two daughters without supernatural beliefs...

We went to a wedding recently in a small town with four churches and no shops or evident industries. We had a great discussion about church membership and identification in small towns. I am lucky to have been able to raise them in a prosperous suburb with good secular schools, but they understand the forced tribal mentality that some people have had to grow up with. Apart from a few isolated incidents, they’ve never faced ostracism for our non-beliefs.

Hang in there, the people who truly view you as an individual will be there for you and the rest can go to (their) hell!

[keithbvadu2]

28. "forced tribal mentality" - Good one!

"forced tribal mentality" - Good one!

Even within one religion, there are various tribes.

Many Catholics/Protestants feel that the others are not true Christians.

Oftentimes, the method of religion is more important than the God of religion.

[MaryMagdaline]

26. I tried to believe

“Act as if you have faith” just couldn’t get me there.
However, God is still a useful construct for me. I’m inspired by the idea of God and the human family.

[TwistOneUp]

27. My current favorite quote

"I'd rather have questions I cannot answer,
Than answers I cannot question."
--Dr. Max Tegmark, astrophysicist / cosmologist

[Moostache]

29. How big do you perceive the universe to be?

If you are honest and understand what a light year (its NOT a time...its a distance)...then you have to accept the fact that humanity is nothing more or less than the most intelligent form of evolved life on the 3rd orbiting body of a nondescript star in an outer arm of a very plain and ordinary galaxy amongst clusters of other similar galaxies.

We are extraordinary in the fact that we can do so much more than other known life forms but we are forever separated from other life forms by two things - the speed of light and the distance between us and them.

Some people can't handle that and need a sky daddy to make it right...so be it, just know that does not make it true.

[Funtatlaguy]

30. I often wonder how many billions of people have lived throughout time.

That’s a helluva lot of souls to place in heaven or hell.

[Moostache]

31. It certainly is...

Good luck with your struggles...hope you find your answers

[StevieM]

47. I actually am willing to hold out the possibility that we are alone in the universe.

At least in terms of intelligent life.

I think simple life, like microbes, is probably fairly common. Plant and animal life is far more rare.

I think that a lot of planets that have plant and animal life probably never get beyond the dinosaur stage. Most of them probably don't get hit by an asteroid that is just the right size in the worst/best possible place.

[Cousin Dupree]

32. I believe that there is no life after death. I'm completely comfortable with this concept. We all

have to wrestle with questions of life after death. Best of luck with your personal journey

[TallMike]

55. yup

[The Genealogist]

33. Here is how I see it

I'll preface what I say by informing you that I am an atheist, have been since about 7th grade. I do a lot of genealogical work, so that really flavors how I perceive immortality and what becomes of us after we die. Who I am (someday that will be who I WAS) will live on in the memories of others.

At the time of my birth, my only living ancestors were my parents and three grandparents. But, through memories shared by my living ancestors, through photographs, news articles, obituaries, oral stories and other tidbits, I know a lot about ancestors I never met.
Other people who descended from the same people that I did have their own artifacts and stories about our common ancestors. We share what we have. We get richer.

The loved ones we did know live on in our memories: the love, the caring, the smiles, the ball games, the talks on the cool porch after a hard day's work. I think being remembered like this is as close to immortality as I will get.

As for what actually happens to me after death, I find the idea of true immortality to be kind of frightening. To just live on, and on, and on forever just isn't all that appealing to me. I guess over time I have grown to appreciate finitude.

[Funtatlaguy]

34. Great attitude. Well stated.

[lindysalsagal]

54. Agreed. The end isn't a bad thing, entirely. I don't want eternity.

I also don't want to meet up with everyone I knew in life.

[c-rational]

35. I was raised Catholic,, and attended church for years...no longer. I find religions to be

generally corrupted forms of belief/rituals. No guilt about not attending, actually relief about being free from not going. I studied philosophy for a couple of years, and today I would say I believe in the philosophy of advaita, the philosophy of non-duality. A belief in a universal consciousness. Suggested reading "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle. Also, The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz published in 1954. I would start with the latter...A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom. So, I empathize with your position, but find I have more hope and happiness than before.

[OriginalGeek]

38. Independent, Fundamental, bible-believing baptist

Until I got tired of their shit and started looking around.

I too am agnostic. I think everyone is in that nobody knows for sure and has evidence to prove their knowledge.

In addition to admitting I don't know, I also do not believe that there are any gods, devils, angels, unicorns, leprechauns, poltergeists, succubi, incubi, or any other supernatural or magical things.

For me, agnostic atheist is the only way to be.

[Funtatlaguy]

39. People who supposedly have had near death experiences fascinate me

Dont know that I buy the whole....walk to the light stuff....but I do find it interesting.

[lindysalsagal]

44. It's a junction of the way the brain works and images are delivered: Mild stroke victims

have lived to report on it. Search TED talks: There are a couple of stoke victims who are neuologists on there. Great talks. Funny.

[TallMike]

56. Ah!

Welcome home friend.

[Freelancer]

40. Stepping out of the woodwork to comment

We're such terrible narcissists. We think we're so important that God would watch all of our doings and construct a special cloud storage to preserve our specialness.

If Facebook and Twitter and the others have taught us anything, it's that we're not that special at all. There may not be an individual with exactly our configuration of traits and feelings, but if we look around, we see people that are 80% like us here, and 50% there. Our ways of being, our thoughts, our feelings are all out there -- just probably not in one distinct package called "us". When we consider all the people alive and yet to live, it's certain that a collection matching our own has occurred and will occur again and again.

Humanity is our immortality.

[Funtatlaguy]

41. Very true. And we are just one of billions of other life forms.

[NeoGreen]

42. Try watching this...

...

..and then close your eyes for 1 solid second.

It might help.

And remember:

The time you enjoyed wasting was not wasted." John Lennon

[lindysalsagal]

43. Thankyou.

[Funtatlaguy]

45. Cool video thanx

[Oneironaut]

46. kurzgesagt is such a great channel. This one has absolutely beautiful animation.

Also, remember - everyone in history who lived more than 100 years ago is dead. Eventually, everyone who ever used DU will be too. Then, the earth, the sun, and the universe.

It’s not something we need to like, or even accept, but it will happen regardless.

[rurallib]

48. When I finally understood that there really was no gods or the fantasy afterlife

that religions sell us, I felt freed from these chains that were someone's way of controlling people.
It was a most freeing and enlightening moment.

The real afterlife comes in the memories you leave in others and the lives you have touched.
Even on this forum I like to think there are many who would care were I to disappear.
No matter who you are you have touch lives someplace and are loved by someone.
Realizing the fantasy after life didn't exist I realized I should and could concentrate on living the best life I could.

For me that means some service to my friends and family. Others no doubt are hedonistic and it means more for themselves.
But for me I felt free to work on helping others.

Your kids, grandkids, other relatives, neighbors townsfolk etc. - give them something to remember you by.

As for me, one thing I do is give blood. I have helped a lot of people. They don't know me. But sometime they will remember that they were saved by a pint of blood some schmoe gave out of the goodness of his heart.

Wish you well in your journey. I am still on may journey as are most of us. tell us how it is going. You may have an insight that could help many of us.

[troyanos]

49. Consider your path God given?

Moving in and out of religious systems is normal if you are a seeker. An agnostic still has a glimmer of belief but a lot of unanswered questions. As long as there is still light at the end, keep going towards it. He is patient.

[uriel1972]

57. Uh no...

I'm an agnostic.. I don't know for sure, but I've seen no evidence of any Gods. Looking around I don't see any evidence of a kind and loving God, quite the opposite. If there is an all powerful creator deity, they are a best callous and at worst malignant.

Oh and

[NRaleighLiberal]

51. me too! Not a dilemma - I am happy to find out whatever happens - something, or nothing.

I am totally at peace with it.

What changed me - I am pretty analytical, think about things, and need things to make sense - also, all of the damage done by organized religion pushes me away from it.

[chia]

52. Same here, it's been a difficult road...

I've only told a few people, two were understanding and one asked "where did you get a crazy idea like that?!"

It started by questioning what I'd accepted from childhood through mid-life and finding the answers less and less reassuring.

My biggest issues are:

-Is all religion simply a human construct?

-Why would a good God allow bad things to happen to innocents?

-Is prayer an endless loop of "if my prayer is answered then God is blessing me and if it isn't answered, it wasn't his will?"

[defacto7]

58. a great book...

Doubt - by Jennifer Michael Hecht.

See in history who shares our questions about the universe, belief and why. It's a philosophical history of doubt. We are certainly not alone in our path.