How can atheism succeed without a positive vision?

It is mostly a fad, it is no surprise really as people these days are more emotionally disconnected than ever, it is no coincidence that atheism/materialism has grown at this time.

Unless they concede that atheism is a belief in materialism and many atheists are happy to do this, then all atheists have to offer is withering contempt, which will never succeed long term

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROtqnBh-nBY

There is no movement, no agenda, not success or failure connected to or with atheism. It's simply a position on the existence of gods/supernatural creatures. Some people think they exist, some don't. Any of those two groups may be in some kind of movement that has some kind of goal. But the lack of belief in gods is not a movement with an end goal.

The link between atheism and suicide is unbelievable and for very obvious reasons :

Atheism Has A Suicide Problem

About a year ago a friend of mine died. He was the first person I take credit for de-converting away from theism to atheism. While I can’t say for certain that his death was suicide, I can’t rule it out. It has also been about four months now since the death of Humanist activist and friend Joe Fox. Joe was the reason I became the head of PhillyCoR and while he seemed like the happiest person you could know and was always there for anyone who needed help, he apparently secretly struggled with depression. I also have another friend who recently de-converted and is having a very difficult time adjusting to the reality that God doesn’t exist. While I don’t think he is suicidal, I would be surprised if he didn’t think about it at times.

This is something we don’t like to admit, but it is true. There is a problem within the atheist community of depression and suicide. I know we would all like to believe that atheists are happier people than religious believers and in many ways we are. But we also have to accept the reality that in some very important ways we are not.

Ignorance really is bliss. People are happier when they have no idea what is going on. But when people do know what is going on, when they actually have a clearer picture of reality, they are in a better position to make themselves really happy. It is the difference between being high on drugs and being high on life. Or in this case high on Jesus vs. high on the vast wonders of the universe. Obviously, being high on life is the better kind of happiness.

Plus, when we know what is not making us happy, we can take actions to fix things and to make us happy. If we just wash down the pain with religious platitudes, we don’t actually fix any actual problems. With that said though, recognizing the problems sometimes isn’t enough. Atheists are often isolated and ostracized. We see the sad state of affairs in the world and see the harmful influences of religion which at times seem overwhelming with little to no hope in sight. Religious believers can find help and comfort in their religious institutions, but atheists usually can only find help online or in very small local communities that don’t meet very often.

Then there is the transition period in which an atheist has just left religion and feels completely lost. They are often without the community they have depended on for so long and suffer from the existential questions of life for the first time. They were often used to the belief that God is with them everywhereBLAH, BLAH, BLAH

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The same limited vision which enables you to be a Theist also blinds you to the fact that one can be positive without needing a god. Atheism is not a 'movement" but a personal choice and way of life.

It is truly sad that you require the treat of eternal torture or the promise of an eternal limbo called heaven for you to be positive in your life.

If I'm not bashing a baseball bat against a person's skull, I'm not attacking them.

Well, okay, bad example, if they hit first and I got the the bat before them, then I'm clearly defending myself.

But the point here is that there is a great difference between attacking something and defending against something that is wrong.

Your question is more akin to an attack than an atheist saying 'Hey, you can't do that, it's against the law to teach creationism in a government funded school.'

Well, all you see here are the folks who post here, and most of the time a person doesn't post to say, "Golly, I don't really buy that comment, but I guess I can see where you're coming from."

Dawkins expresses the view that our life here is essentially nothing, and he's completely at peace with that. Can't argue with that!

"From what I see..."

You need to look around more.

There's no goal of "success" in atheism. It's an attribute, without any "goals." It's not a "movement," and it's neither "positive" nor "negative."

Start dealing honestly with atheism, and then perhaps you won't make such silly claims.

it must be doing something right that you aren't. It has been around at least 2,500 years longer than christianity, has survived persecutions by every known form of theism, has consistently been proven to have members with higher IQs and incomes, is responsible for fewer divorces than the national average, retires earlier, and is in jail less than any other group in the US.

and for you it all boils down to us not believing in your sky guy passing out halos to hypocrites... what's wrong with this picture?

2% of the world population? I'd have thought fewer than that considering all that we've survived. Just in the past 1633 years since Christianity became the state religion of Rome Christians have summarily killed all the Marionists, Donatists, Gnostics, Cathars, Arians, Mithraics, plus the followers of Attis, Dionysis, Apollodorus of Tyana, and led an multi century campaign to rob and exterminate Jews ....just to name a few off the top my head. Are you sure about TWO PERCENT? Wow! We must be doing someting right to have survived this long under such hostile conditions.

Ah....more lies about atheists, I see.

Tell me....how did you come by this knowledge of all that atheists do? Most scientists are atheists....did you want to try living without computers, televisions, medicine, cars, airplanes, healthy food and so on? Most college professors are atheist....but I don't think that has had any effect on your life.

In fact...atheists tend to have families, jobs, homes, and lives....just like everyone else. Your tunnel vision only allows you to see that some of us also fight against the injustices in the world and the religion that promotes them. Read the story of the five blind men and the elephant...and expand your vision.

Providing factual truth does not equate to an attack.

"you have managed to garner now 2% of the world population"

More like 16% and growing exponentially.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreligion_by_country

But whatever. Your religion has already run its course; welcome to ancient mythology.

"Atheists are in her day in, day out harassing, ridiculing, accusing, people who believe differently because of a passive non-belief"

I just see all these Christians using death threats rather then evidence for their claims. You should expect a few atheists to not stand for it. We have no reason to respect your religion given its intolerance toward others and its history smeared with the blood of the innocent.

You OPENLY are part of a murderous, intolerant, vengeful, child killing and utterly disgusting religious cult. Don't expect respect.

Welcome to reality.