Yesterday, I received an email that read (lack of capitalization and punctuation exactly as presented):
if you don't believe in faith well you will be very unhappy in your life because you will have to live in fear,and doubt
This certainly wasn't the first time I've heard such drivel from theists. And I imagine it won't be the last.
I think it's sad, really. The fact is, there are people out there who are simply unwilling to believe that an atheist can be happy in life. Further, I think it galls them to think that such a thing is even possible.
Is this strange? Not at all. After all, religions such as Christianity are suited to those who are unhappy.
Think about it. What does Christianity (or most any other theistic religion) have to offer to a person who is happy, self-confident, and successful? Nothing. Not a single thing.
And those who promulgate these faiths know this very well. This is why Judaism focused so much on the concept of sin. Sin made everyone into a wrongdoer. It instilled guilt on those who believed it. Christianity built upon this concept by adding a huge element of fear to the equation. Hell isn't mentioned in the Old Testament. It's a product of Jesus.
So here you have a major religion that is telling everyone that they are sinners, causing them to feel guilty about it, and then laying a heavy dose of terror on top of it. The whole picture is painted deliberately to make human beings unhappy, to strip them of self-confidence, and to belittle their personal successes to insignificance when compared to the prize of eternal life.
And when humans are hammered in this way, the religion that did the hammering can conveniently step in to offer salvation.
How handy.
According to the Judeo-Christian faith, we humans aren't supposed to be happy without religion. We're supposed to be weak, insecure wretches to be lifted up by the word of God.
Is it any wonder that the average theist doubts the ability of the atheist to lead a happy, productive life? Not at all. This is how the average theist has been taught to believe. And when confronted with evidence to the contrary, they will (just as they always do) deny it. "You can't be happy! It's not possible for you to be happy! God says so!"
And like so many other things that "God" has allegedly said, this is also wrong.
Well, I'd better run. I have to get back to my unhappy, fearful, doubt-filled life…
