The Positive Side of Atheism

In a lot of my posts I've focused on what I believe to be the negative aspects of religion. While I do stand firmly behind my opinions, I realise that I can come across as a tad negative. So in this post I want to get away somewhat from religion, and focus on what I see as the positive aspects of being an Atheist.

One thing I'm asked quite frequently is, "how can you be happy not believing in anything?" With the follow up, "doesn't it depress you knowing that your life has no meaning?" My response to this is of course I'm happy, and no I'm not depressed at all, and here's why.

Let's begin with the first question. What I take as the meaning behind it, is how can I be happy not having a god to believe in, and to me the answer is quite simple. I don't see any scientific evidence for god, an afterlife, or whatever else supernatural. To me I find that to be a source of immense happiness. What that means, is that for me, this life is all I've got so best make it count, because I don't get the afterlife as a mulligan.

Knowing that there is no grand design fills me with more happiness and wonder than god ever did. Here's an example of what I mean. My entire existence is so unbelievably improbable that by all rights I, meaning the exact combination of genes that make up my DNA, shouldn't exist. The fact that I do indeed exist, despite the odds, can do nothing other than make me smile. Think of it this way, how happy do you think you'd be winning a huge lottery jackpot? Pretty happy, right? Well consider that the odds of you being you are far more unlikely than winning not just one, but several jackpots, in a row!
The fact that life has evolved over hundreds of millions of years to get to the point where I can exist, is to me is something that continually fills me with awe the more I learn about it.

As for the second question, who says my life has no meaning? For me, I find it far more liberating knowing that it's me, not god, that I'm accountable to. Going back to an earlier point I made, I don't believe there is an afterlife, so therefore to me, the meaning of my life is to enjoy as much of it as I possibly can. By creating the means to enjoy my own happiness I am far more fulfilled than I ever found I was relying upon god. And I don't require a book to provide me with any moral compass, I rely instead on my own, again something that has evolved over millions of years.

But more personally the meaning of my life, to me, is not to squander this gift that the universe has let me experience, and that's my life. When I think of the sheer improbability of the confluence of events that led to the creation of life on this planet, I'm not going to waste it hoping for something better once I'm dead.

So to all those who think that in order to be an atheist means a life of depression and hopelessness, think again. To me it's been nothing but uplifting and even more importantly enlightening. Studying the science of how the universe and life came into being has provided me with an enormous amount of happiness and meaning. In my opinion, only once you begin to understand how something really works can you truly appreciate it. To me atheism was the first step in understanding life, and I couldn't be happier.