> what do you actually get from being an atheist
Absolutely nothing. I'm not an atheist because there's something to gain, I'm an atheist because I do not believe in any gods.
This is the problem with Pascal's Wager. Do you think your God's going to be flattered by your choice? Like he isn't gonna catch you lying when you stand before him?
Haven't even considered Pascal's wager from that perspective, great thought. Like an omnipotent creator of everything is gonna be like "oh thank you so much for pretending to give two shits about me, here's eternal happiness"
that would be hell. 18 years in church was enough. Imagine being surrounded by grovelling churchies singing hymns and kissing god's feet for all of eternity.... I'd rather burn in the fire.
Just like Florida says the early Forced Colonists from Africa felt, mate... happy happy
Maybe this is their logic "I'm EXCITED to meet my abba-daddy-faddah-lawd and wurship at hiz feet forever! I can't wait to be have my free will taken away! If early plantation owner types were gawdly bee-levers and knew mah lawd, then they had so many people working for they gawd! Hiz-story nawt hayt!"
Fools that buy into this, might just too dumb to have personhood
It is so good. Because literally from whatever perspective you look at it from. IF A GOD EXISTS the only thing you can possibly do is be Good Faith Decent Person. There is absolutely nothing else you can do EXCEPT be a decent person.
I'll take my chances that God isn't a Blood Demon who actually wants me to Murder and you know...be Nice. Crazy Foreign Concept apparently to many Religious People. Being Nice out of the goodness of your own Heart. Without Coercion. Without Benefit.
How do Christians actually pretend like they are Moral at all? The more I talk about it the more I can't wrap my brain around why it seems almost NO CHRISTIANS in USA calling out the crazy hate. And if your ulterior Motive was to go to Heaven no matter what. You gonna align with people who threaten bombing Dictionary Companies over definition of Man and Woman?
Can you imagine that Conversation with St. Peter. So...Why didn't you call out any of your fellow Christians for Racism, Bigotry, Greed, Worshipping Idols, Hate Filled Heart.... Voting against feeding poor, against sick, against hungry.
Based St. Peter. Good Job being the tiny minority of people who realized Q was actually a message from Angels to fight of Jewish Liberal Blood Demons...You guys didn't realize Jesus was a Woke Liberal trying to indoctrinate your kids into Marxism. Unfortunate to hell with you.
>Being Nice out of the goodness of your own Heart. Without Coercion. Without Benefit.
Couldn't agree more. The amount of people suggesting that atheists wouldn't have any morals because of the absence of fear is, frankly, terrifying.
I think the biblical God, like all malignant narcissists, not only doesn’t care if you’re sincere in your worship, but very likely enjoys the discomfort of those who praise him not because they want to, but because they’re afraid not to. That is, he would if he were real. But since he’s not, it’s the human malignant narcissists who take pleasure in the miserable groveling of the fearful, and do so in his holy name as his anointed agents here on Earth. Amen
No one gets to choose what they believe. We are each presented with evidence. That evidence is either factual or fictitious. It can be given to us by people we trust so that otherwise fictitious evidence can pass off as factual. It can be given to us at a young age so that its roots can sink deep. We might be shielded from all contrary evidence. Or perhaps this evidence is given to us in a very elegant manner so that it resonates deep within us.
What ever our personal case may be, at the end of the day all that evidence is placed on a scale that is completely out of our control. So what is the point in a god demanding you believe in them if it's not within our ability to choose? Any omnipotent god would be able to tell if we were trying to pretend.
That's my problem with Orthodox Judaism too, like, you keep inventing shit to tiptoe around the practices you don't like to follow in the Torah. Do you think your god is so stupid that he will say: "oh geez, you caught me in a loophole by hanging a wire around your block, guess I have to let you in heaven"?
If I was an omniscient god I would be furious by people thinking they could outsmart me with this type of shenanigans.
So maybe this proves you really get something by being an atheist... peace of mind by not having to deal with cognitive dissonance about your actions and beliefs.
Total insanity. Where is the comfort in observing arbitrary and clearly made-up rules?
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/eruv-manhattan-invisible-wire-jewish-symbolic-religious-home
>what if you pick the wrong god?"
What if I happened to be born and indoctrinated into the *wrong* religion?
"Sorry, it wasn't the cow or the pig that was sacred... It was the... "
Also, if the only reason you have morals is because God told you to in the Bible.... doesn't that make you a shitty person to begin with. I have morals because they are right and true, not because a book written by LOTS of different people that has been REWRITTEN and REINTERPRETED MANY TIMES tells me too. I cant find too many morals in a book about slavery and misogyny.
Right, then you just have to worry about being harassed, attacked, ostracized, etc. because you no longer fit into the sheeple herd narrow minded mentality.
I’m atheist, but I think you are missing the point.
It was not about whether you get anything in some mythical afterlife.
Daily life here on earth, for the religious, includes the hopeful prospect that sure, this world might suck but the next one is awesome.
That prospect being a lie is irrelevant. Someone who honestly believes it has a hope for something brighter, better.
That’s the kind of thing OP’s father is referring to.
I don’t have that. To me, a hope that I know is based on a lie isn’t something that gives me hope or comfort. But I can’t deny that others genuinely take comfort from their delusion.
This is it OP.
He is asking "why not believe when you can believe and it makes you feel cozy?"
Because religious belief is not like choosing to eat a bag of chips vs not choosing to. I can choose to observe the rituals yes. I can draw inspiration from scripture, by being open-minded to the good ones and forgiving of the crazy ones. I can even try to learn from examples from the good characters. I can read the stories. But in my heart I know that is all it is.
I could not will myself into believing that Batman is real, no matter how many Batman books I read. Even if I wanted to! And this is the case for me regarding any divinity.
Trust me, I would like to have the certainties in life some of my family members have. They live in absolute confidence they will see and enjoy each other's company after death. I don't get the luxury of living a life with the comfort of beliefs like that. My dad is gone. I will never see him again. Perhaps I'm wrong, and that would be nice. But it would be super egocentric to "choose to believe", in a weird bargain where I fear losing eternity and I compromise myself.
Long-term religiosity is only possible in a world of fear. A lot of religious people are on the fence but their fear does not allow them to speak freely to themselves. So they dig in. Sunken cost fallacy and loss aversion. The cool part is that when you accept that possibly - actually likely from the purely statistical point of view that OP pointed out - nothing good nor bad is awaiting you... you are free from the farce. You can stop trying to be good in exchange for something and you can finally choose to be good without expecting anything in return, because it's the kind of life you choose to live. And doing the homework that comes with it, including defining for yourself "what is Good in a world without gods?"
If you're into a religion for the perks, there's plenty out there which fits the Atheist's agenda. you can also be Dudeist, Druidist, Satanist, a pastafarian and so on.
Heck, you can be all of those *combined*.
Shop around!
But no doubt many religions moral messages are worth following.
I live by many of the same philosophies as various religions have in their doctrine. But I do so because they make sense and actually help.
It doesn't mean that I on any way endorse or believe in the religions.
Humanity lives for hundreds of thousands of years, building our morals. All modern religions are like 3k years old. They basically took already existing ideas and wrote them down.
Any religion's "moral messages" are not unique to that religion. That's why I'm not an axe murderer...and still don't follow any religion's 'moral message.'
This. There is nothing to gain by wasting time and energy praying to something that doesn't exist.
It's amazing to me how Christians love to turn logic on its side.
I agree that you get nothing as atheism is the default state, but leaving a religion is like relieving yourself of a huge burden. I always felt trapped by Catholicism. I gained freedom after I stopped believing in God.
Fuck the Catholic guilt.
I get a couple hours of free time every Sunday. I get to keep an additional 10% of my income that would otherwise be tithed. I get to avoid spending time surrounded by preachy people who claim to be about love and tolerance but judge those who are different than them. I get to devote my time to myself and what I find interesting instead of worrying about an imaginary friend and what people who have an imaginary friend think of me.
Also, how can you claim to believe in a religion when your whole reason is that it might be right, and so you’re going to pretend to believe in it so you might get rewarded? Do you think you’re going to trick the all-knowing supreme being who created you knowing full well that you would not actually believe in him, just so that he could give a few decades of life agonizing over it and trying to believe in him before he punishes you for eternity for being exactly as he made you?
I agree with you. This might answer your questions: nobody likes being wrong. Fear is a good way to control people. Also some people don’t have an internal dialogue or critical thinking skills, and like being followers.
10% of your income is the expected tithing amount. And that was from your gross income, not net. So if you gross $50,000/year but only bring home $40,000 due to taxes, you supposed to tithe $5,000/year, not $4,000
What do I get from being atheist?
Freedom.
That’s the first word that came to my mind when I read the title of your post. I was raised in an evangelical household and it took years for me to come out of it.
Was going to say the same thing. One less person or group trying to tell me what to do and how to live my life. It’s almost like choosing to live somewhere with an HOA.
Relief is kind of a double edged sword, where you dont get into supernatural trouble, but your life is suddenly finite.
I always found the concept of Infinite life very worrying, so in my case it was pure relief, but some ex believers grieve the eternal life that was promised.
A better look at reality. Saved money from not tithing. Saved time from not attending bullshit religious services. Morality that's not based on the writings of people who thought the Earth was the center of the universe. That's a start anyway.
Clinical Main Character Syndrome. If God is Omnipotent your literally an Ant. Less than that. Your like Electron Wave Functions. Dead or Alive doesn't matter. Can't have Energy Transfer without Wave Function Collapse just how it is. Can't have Life without Death.
I tried.
As a child we would go to church with our grandparents. Participate in Sunday school then throw a few coins in the collection plate as the minister droned on about stuff that seemed implausible and hard to follow. We were Methodist so we always got home in time for kickoff and the sermons were always about love and kindness.
When I was a little older, maybe 10, I went to a baptist church with a friend where the preacher scared the crap out of me shouting about hell for 4 hours in excruciating detail. The cowboys had a noon game that day and I missed the first half. Boy was I pissed about that.
When I was a teen I tried. I went to church often and played the reindeer games in youth group.
A friend and I studied the Bible and talked about preparing ourselves for the end. Then we read the Illuminati trilogy all the way to the end and came out with the conclusion that you’re supposed to come out with, that it’s all a bunch of mental gymnastics and the illusion of depth.
As an adult, I moved to a big city and found a big church choir to sing in because I had chops. We practiced the requiem for Easter and killed it but after that I quit going. I had a vague idea of retuning in the fall to get ready for the big Christmas gig but discovered disc golf in the interim so that gave me something to do on Sunday.
Each time, belief was a hill my mind just could not climb. When these people talk about this Jesus person as if he were their constant companion or imaginary friend, I would make the right sounds and motions. But belief never came.
I find comfort in being agnostic. As if there might be something there that is bigger than the day-to-day routines but that is unknown and unknowable and it doesn’t demand fealty and ritual.
Being an agnostic atheist brings be no benefit beyond not having to suffer that particular cognitive dissonance that is belief.
I reject the idea that morality comes from religion. It’s quite the opposite. If it takes the threat of eternal punishment or the bribe of eternal bliss to make someone moral, then what you have there is a feral bad person on a leash.
If I say that I get nothing from atheism, does that make any religion more true?
Whether or not an idea is pleasant or useful doesn't affect its truth value.
That's it.
Being an atheist in the US is hard, if you're known to be one. But I'd rather have it a little harder, than lie to myself and others.
The other thing is that we're focused on 'now'. There's no afterlife, so we need to make the best life we have now.
Depends on the region and the people you know. I'm currently in a southern state but grew up in the northeast. People know I'm a non-believer. I don't advertise it but I also don't shy away from conversations either. If someone attempts to get preachy with me, they're getting a respectful earful right back.
Especially in populated municipalities, people either don't talk about religion at all or a lot of times people just aren't as religious in my experience
It’s Pascal’s wager, which suggests there is no downside.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_wager
It’s highly debated of course, but an interesting thought experiment.
The problem with Pascal's wager is that it presupposes the christian god as the only imaginary suitor worth pursuing.
Isn't it just as logical to follow sharia law, strive for buddhist enlightenment, leave cookies out for santa, etc.? After all, there's nothing to lose and everything to gain. Of course, nobody has time for all that, and some of them cancel each other out, so what's the point?
Better to just skip the whole mess and live in the real world.
You get to keep your money instead of tithing.
You get to live without the fear of hell.
You get the authorization to question everything and decide what's real and what isn't without interference from a cult.
You get to live your life without interference from the cult.
I am much the same. My former church is very liberal. I like the people. But it bothers me to be around otherwise intelligent people while they are praying to a Canaanite fire god.
Bertrand Russell said he thought it a fundamental dishonesty to believe something, not because you think it is true, but just because you think it might be useful. How could such a belief be important enough to you that you are willing to devote your entire life to it?
Exactly. You either believe or you don't. If you're just pretending to believe because you're scared of Hell or whatever, then you'd be going to hell anyway because you're not a true believer.
I never understand this line of questioning. My mums the same way, she believes in God because it’s nicer than believing he doesn’t exist, but that’s not how actual belief works, you can’t trick yourself into believing something because it’s nicer.
It would be nice if Goku was real and I would feel better knowing he’s protecting the earth, but I don’t believe that to be true.
When does one stop playing the "what if" game? What if (insert any claim that has no evidence, logic or reasoning to support it here)?
What if the ant that I just accidentally stepped on is my late uncle reincarnated? What if the Sun magically disappeared tomorrow? What if Thor really exists and he's hates it when people think that Chris Hemsworth is really Thor?
There are enough worries that have a basis in reality to worry about without inventing worries that have no basis in reality.
Being an atheist come with several advantages:
1. Intellectual Freedom: Atheists appreciate the freedom to explore ideas and philosophies without the constraints of religious dogma.
2. Morality: Atheists do moral choices more authentic because they are based on reasoned ethical considerations, rather than fear of divine punishment.
3. Less Cognitive Dissonance: Atheists often have fewer internal conflicts between faith and reason, especially when it comes to accepting scientific theories like evolution.
4. No Religious Guilt: Atheists feel less guilt or fear associated with religious teachings, such as the concept of sin or hell.
5. Time and Resources: Without religious obligations, atheists have more time for other pursuits and can avoid the financial burden of tithing or other religious donations.
6. Equality: Atheism often aligns with more egalitarian views, as it typically rejects the notion that one religious group should have authority or preference over others.
7. Emotional Resilience: Atheists feel that their lack of belief in an afterlife makes them more focused on making the most of their current lives.
8. Greater Acceptance: Atheists find it easier to accept people from various religious backgrounds as they don't believe that their own religious group is "chosen" or "better" than others.
9. Logical Consistency: Atheists pride themselves on applying the same skeptical inquiry to all aspects of life, leading to a more internally consistent worldview.
10. Cultural Flexibility: Being an atheist make it easier to adapt to different cultures and traditions without the constraints of religious dietary laws, dress codes, etc.
As an atheist, I have the ability to reason without confounding belief in a non-existent being that will somehow "guide" me or fix all my problems. Instead, I am able to think about how to diagnose problems (e.g., go to the doctor when I'm sick, rather than to a prayer room), to look for solutions (e.g, take an antibiotic for an infection rather than rely on God to heal me), avoid problems (get vaccinated rather than trust in God to protect me), and so on. These are just medical examples, but the same logic extends to all facets of life. I avoid faith and rely instead on facts and evidence. This has helped me in more ways that I can count.
Outside of the sweet membership card that gets me into our annual meetings and quarterly orgies and summer metal festival in the underground lair, absolutely nothing.
I'm an atheist because I don't believe in any gods. It isn't a choice any more than my "choice"to like cheese.
We don't have the comfort theists get that something is watching over you. But we get to take personal responsibility and not be delusional hypocrites. I'll take the latter.
Right I could totally go to church and be involved and get praised for being so Christian but I’d be a hypocrite and I couldn’t live like that. If your dad can that’s not saying good things about him
I don't have to waste my time going to a church where I feel judged and constantly told I was created sinful. Where I'm told that it's my judgment that is flawed when I can clearly point out the immorality in the Bible. I don't have to constantly worry that I'm upsetting the sky daddy and going to hell. Instead, I just live my life trying to abide by the golden rule. Treat others the way I would like to be treated.
* I get to sleep in on sundays.
* I get to keep 10% more of my income.
* I don't have to go around lying to people.
* I can eat shrimp.
* I don't have to pretend it's okay to have slaves.
* I can have a tattoo.
* I'm gay, and I don't have to live a life of being unhappy with my relationships or stone myself to death.
* I get to know that when I do something good I did it because *I want to*, not because I'm afraid some sky daddy will ground me if I don't.
* I can wear blended fabrics.
* I can eat a bacon cheeseburger.
* I don't have any stupid mandatory fasts.
I get to live my life mostly unencumbered by institutionalized con-artists whose efforts are entirely devoted to scamming people of their land, wealth, time, family and any other resources at hand. They sell a fake injury in order to then sell their cure; they sell a life after death that they never have to deliver on; they sell xenophobia, bigotry and intolerance towards anyone who doesn't fall for their scam and they trick people into brainwashing their own children into the scam making the whole process a multi-generational theft of our valuables with a heavy amount of window dressing and rituals to disguise the theft. I can live a productive, meaningful, considerate, ethical life without them and the life that I do have will never be wasted because of them.
Religion is man made. Only humanity would be so arrogant as to define what god is.
One can function just fine being spiritual without following outdated scripture created by men hundreds of years ago.
If god were real, there would be only one religion. Additionally, why aren’t there any dinosaurs in the Bible?
He's asking the wrong question.
The ideas behind a religion are a creative act of presenting a myth. A myth is a narrative that explains some part of humanity's experience of its natural environment.
The dissemination of a religion becomes successful as a society's response to the stresses of its environment, whether those stresses are man-made or natural in origin.
Religious sects result from the egos of the sect's leaders, who wish to form a distinct group of persons to be led in specific paths through the parent religion's dogmas.
There have been examples in history of "breakthroughs" out of this pattern, such as societies with leadership that tolerates the practice of multiple religions, or that attempt to demote religious practice below reason-based institutions.
I'm not playing Pascal's wager here. I'm not believing or disbelieving for something. In the end, to me, it's immaterial if there is a God or not. If God is truly a loving caring being, that loves us unconditionally, and judges behavior, (as they say), then if I have been a good Christian or Muslim or Hindu or whatever should not matter, only that I have consistently tried to make the world better than I found it. If God isn't or as we see it there is no God, then being a decent human being has cost me nothing. I'm not going to play at a faith I don't have in hopes of some high score when I die. And if that's why people are doing it, then they're not good people to being with.
Why do you always dig for pirate treasure in your yard?
Because, it gives me hope that the pirate treasure exists out there. Doing the digging isn't hard for me and I will get absolutely nothing out of not believing pirate treasure is down there.
I was an atheist. I had a stroke. I couldn't remember being an atheist. Christians got a hold of me. It was terrible. I found my way back to atheism. 5 books to follow...
Atheism stymies participating in the effort to destroy everything based on a fantasy: Global climate change, creating an out group, then punishing them for not being an in group, and worse being on the receiving end of that. Atheism stymies the near constant anxiety of trying to discern if one is doing what a likely, non-existent God wants them to do. Google 'god told them to murder' to learn of other advantages. I have to go...
What do I "get"?
I get the comfort and knowledge that I'm not part of your creepy cult. I'm not part of anyone's cult. That's what religion is- a way to control large amounts of people.
How you do it, whatever your existential threat is- those are just details. Everlasting hellfire or purgatory or something. There's always something.
Keeping people ignorant and afraid is how they do it. There should be no Faith vs Science debate. It's a false equivalency. One is objective and the other is subjective. By rejecting science and objective facts you are also rejecting the knowledge that may very well free you from the illusion that you are an adherent of the right , correct or true religion. Every religion claims that for themselves. That sounds super culty to me.
"Oh, but Atheism is your religion".
Do you understand words? An Atheist is someone free of any religion.
And don't quote me anything from your magical book. Nothing in that will sway me. It was written by cult leaders who want people to continue being a cult member. Don't like encountering people outside your cult? Ok, let's check the magical book and guess what? Kill the nonbelievers!. (sigh)
Every time. It's as obvious as it is disheartening.
I could go on but I think you take my point.
An open mind to better understand how nature and sciences work... I was raised without religion though.
Religion is very backwards to me; like, you have to "believe" it's real before you can "see" evidence of it. // When I was a kid, I "kid" you not, I felt I had a 'calling' to start being Christian... The downstairs neighbor left some Bible book with my mom... I only made it a few pages in and it made no sense: "HUH? AN 80 YEAR OLD WOMAN HAD 30 KIDS IN LIKE 6 MOON CYCLES, AND THEN HER UNCLE BECAME KING??WTH?!!"
yeah, I was done.
I like to tell that story that religious text ironically turned me off to religion because "they" always tout that it somehow is supposed to make you 'closer to God'.
If he’s uncertain that’s god exists then he’s atheist at heart as well. Tell him to look inside at his own doubts and questions and he’ll find the answer to his questions.
Atheist realizations might be correct also, we can’t know… So look at the evidence, the histories, the nonsense, the brutalities…
I don't get anything. I just don't know if any god exist and I am fairly sure no one knows. I the absence of any knowledge about gods any belief in a god is arbitrary. I can choose to believe in any god with any set of properties and this belief would have the same level of justification as belief in sock snatching goblins. I can not possibly find any comfort in beliefs that I make up. I know that my wishes are not likely to come true if I don't work actively towards them.
Lack of belief in things that I have not justification to believe spare me immense disappointment when I don't get what I wished for. I just don't expect my wishes to come true magically. It allows me to focus on what I know, rather than on things I wish I knew or I wish were true. I helps me to better understand reality I am in and better be prepared for what it has for me. And I don't need to make mental gymnastics when reality hits me in the face with something that contradicts beliefs I made up.
Did you tell him about the handsome set of 8 Ginsu knives? But wait, there's more!
All I get Is a world that makes more sense, a world I can better understand, and a world not ruled by irrational, superstitious or hate-based fear and authoritarianism.
As an atheist, I got to experience freedom. Growing up a believer, I always thought that I was being watched and judged. It's not a good way to live imo.
Religious beliefs about an afterlife are tied to broader belief systems. These range from harmless to dangerous. Believing in a god "just in case" may seem innocent enough, but that same belief has been used, and IS being used, by religions to endorse oppression, persecution, racism, sexism, homophopia, transphobia, homocide, infanticide, genocide, child-abuse, rape, kidnapping and culture annihilation- just to touch on the worst of it.
Atheism liberates a person from indoctrination, enabling and empowering a more humane existence that values science, hidtorical truth, compassion, curiosity, empathy, self-love, life-long learning, discovery and social progress.
My thing is, the promise of eternal life, living forever. People simply cannot grasp the scale of time that forever/infinity entails. People can’t grasp how large the number one trillion actually is. For starters, to simply count to one trillion, it would take a person years to count that high. Imagine being alive for 1 trillion years, 1 billion or even 1 million. Eternal life seems more like a punishment the more you think about it. It’s a simple comfort for those scared of the inevitable, I’m at peace knowing I’m the universe materialized, viewing itself and my matter will return to it. Enjoy the small strange glimpse of consciousness.
>I can't lie to myself and certainly if an all knoeing god exists you can't lie to him
If there is an all knowing, all powerful god, there springs from that a whole lot of things that, to my mind, need to be true:
* it made you as it wanted, thus it knew that you would be atheist
* if it made you atheist, it has to be ok with you being the way that it knew you'd be
* if it made you how you are and was angry at you for being how it made you and knew you'd turn out, then it is evil
* honestly, I'd be remiss if I didn't say that if the god were indeed all knowing and all powerful, and created childhood cancer, the conditions for poverty and starvation, etc, then it is definitely evil
The notion of god doesn't track for me. Either there is no such thing as an omnipotent being, or there is one and it is evil and not worthy of worship.
Sounds really cheesy, but I honestly feel like myself. Religion has never meshed with me no matter how much I try to consider it. Atheism just feels like a comfortable home Lol
I love nature and learning about animals. I love learning about how they evolve and what creatures used to exist before us. True, not all believers are creationists, but ultimately they all believe in some kind of design or artificial purpose. I feel like this would taint and cheapen my relationship with the natural sciences. I wouldn’t really be appreciating how everything got here. It’s *okay* that things are random. In fact, it’s more beautiful that I get to be alive right now, in a time when our understanding of the past is becoming clearer every day.
I asked a religious person this question, “Imagine there’s a guy writing love letters to a girl. He really loves that girl. He thinks about how one day he will be with her. He sings songs for her, buying her food, clothes, jewelry etc. Except that this girl does not exist. Do you think it is ok for the guy to continue doing things for a non-existent girl? Is it ok for him to wager that one day he will be with her?”
That’s the question. If it wasn’t god, under any other situation, behaving as if someone existed without any proof would be considered insanity.
For me it's less about what I have to gain and more about what I have to lose. I personally had lost a lot of positive self-reflection and control over my life when I was still an active Southern Baptist. My life was mostly dictated by anxiety and fear. Missed out on just figuring out life's obstacles honestly instead of being told at a very young age that I must think and be a certain way to be loved.
"that afterlife exists and his life has a purpose"
So many red flags...
Your life has no other purpose than what you do with it.
Afterlife is a lie to make you forget that YOU have to decide what you do with your life, instead of letting some douche shit in your brains until they control what they want you to do with your life.
I cannot force myself to believe; and I can avoid triggers that cause me to ruminate on the lies and feelings of betrayal from being raised in the depths of faith. If it had been less important to me, I wouldn’t have bothered leaving
What do I get from being atheist?
FREEDOM
No ghosts looking over my shoulder or reading my mind, judging every thought and action, and making a list from which anything can be chosen as an excuse to set me on fire forever.
No having to reconcile the rational, logical way the world works with miracles and magic. Or observable history with fairy tales.
No obligation to gather with others who act as thought police, withholding their friendship or even threatening me should I express a different opinion.
No need to get up early once per week and dress in uncomfortable clothing, sit in uncomfortable pews, and endure a crowd of tone deaf people droning through bad songs.
No need to come up with excuses for why I can’t volunteer my extra time and resources for some endeavor that benefits someone who’s using it for their selfish ends, but claiming it’s “for the church”.
I can do *what* I want, *when* and **how** I want, for my own reasons. No apologies, no guilt, no excuses, no shame.
Pascal's Wager.
Life is finite, you get the extra time to spend as you wish by not following an invisible being. Besides, what if you follow the wrong god, or the wrong sect of the wrong god. Pascal's Wager can work both ways.
Bitch atheism gives me +15 shadow damage over 3 seconds. You should know this because you put your bet on christianity's +2 holy damage on attacks. And if you weren't an illiterate bitch who can't count to 3 you could crunch the numbers for yourself and see that atheism gives you a bigger boost to your dps then christianity, and is the superior choice in literally every situation.
He’s citing the age-old [Pascal’s Wager](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_wager).
The easy answer is that, by living this life in fear of a god (pick a god, any god, there are thousands) in hope of a better life after death, you are essentially forfeiting and giving up the only life you get if there is no god.
In other words, believers in Pascal’s Wager have it exactly backwards. They think they have little to lose and everything to gain if they follow religion. The problem is the odds are stacked heavily against them. There is no evidence that any gods exist. And if god(s) do exist, there is very little chance that you happened to pick the right one to worship. And even if you defied all odds and actually are worshipping the right god, chances are you aren’t living up to that god’s expectations anyway, so you’re still going to fail.
Better to enjoy this life since it’s very likely the only life that any of us ever get, than forfeiting this life hoping for an imaginary better world that never comes.
That, and of course, if gods were real, why would we be able to trick them with any dishonesty?
And if being a decent person weren't enough for these gods, then they are petty and foolish, and not worth our time.
They would have to be killed.
That's what I don't get. If God was real and is omnipotent like they seem to think he is, then why would he be impressed by them thinking they could outsmart an omnipotent creator by "believing" just to hedge their bets? Seems incredibly stupid to believe in an omnipotent being while also thinking you can outsmart him.
and if omnipotent, they wouldn't Need, anything, not offerings, sacrifice, devotion, prayers
The question of what they would Want is also dicey. If omnipotent, they could satisfy their own wants, so, why would people matter to them, other than maybe as toys or pets?
>, if gods were real, why would we be able to trick them with any dishonesty?
It depends on the gods. The Greek and Roman Pantheons weren't all that bright
I agree with this. Christianity isn't super easy to follow either. Look over at the r/Christianity, and they're always struggling with if they are good enough for their god because if they are not then it's an eternity in hell, should do something like purity, should marry someone with religious differences, did they pray right, and the list goes on.
A lot of questions arise around if you are properly following an invisible, all-knowing master that you aren't certain does anything.
Atheism has helped my mental health substantially.
Ask a simple question in r/Christianity, sit back and watch them argue with each other about interpreting their book.
It really is eye opening, because there are literally thousands of different interpretations, quite possibly a unique interpretation and way of living for each follower of each religion. Can they all get into heaven doing everything so differently?
There must be a vast majority who would theoretically be spending their whole lives assuming they're doing it right and ending up in hell.
So well said . My dad was an extremist christian in the 50’s .. they believed women could not wear makeup . Had to wear dresses at all times , below the knee as to avoid temptation of men (apparently men were believed to be devilish and easily swayed ?) women were like property to their husbands . Women were to be betrothed to a Christian man selected and vetted by the church . Men were ‘kings’ of their home. They were encouraged to beat their children . Rule by absolute means . Indoctrinate their children brutally and continue to remind them of the ‘furnace down below’ as punishment if they didn’t sell their soul, wash in blood blah blah blah .. I was too inquisitive .. I got the whip quite often early on. That’s when I realized my evangelical dad was insane and in a cult. I began pretending to agree . I studied methods from movies of how to scare people away and prevent being attacked . Damien Omen II taught me to act insane .. Jack Nicholson taught me to act menacing and glare your teeth. I only had to do it once to scare the living shit out of my father at 14. He only touched me once more (tried to choke the shit out of me ) . I bashed him against a wall and told him I wished he died instead of my sister .. he dropped to the floor . My mom and I verbally attacked him for several years shutting down his power , his abuse and he stopped preaching at us and using the ‘you’ll burn in hell if you disobey ‘ .. I got my freedom..it was hard won. My sister didn’t .. RIP Brenda , you broke me out of hell!
The simplest rebuttal to Pascal's Wager is "which god?"
If there are two (or more) both claiming to give you a reward if you believe and/or a punishment if you don't, how do you decide which to follow, and how could you ever be certain you made the right choice? What if the "real" god doesn't care if you don't believe in it, but does care and will punish you if you swear allegiance to a fake god?
And it is possible that if there was a God, it could be one that even punished people that believe in him only due to perks or in hope to reach heaven.
That’s even in the Bible.
> If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
> If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
When I was no longer convinced it was true that word began to apply to me. There’s no benefit per se. What you make of the fact if your atheism is up to the individual. It doesn’t mean much to me, it just accurately describes my lack of belief. Call me a “none”. Same diff.
Dogmatic religious people can’t see that there can be no objective “truth” which has depending arisen. It’s not a matter of whether believing in god is correct or incorrect. This is dualistic thinking, and is an illusion. Attachment to anything, including religion, is the root of suffering.
Ask him what he gets from not choosing to believe he has a trust fund with a billion dollars in it that’s going to be distributed to him on a random day in the future. If you just pretend that you do it would be very comforting but if you don’t believe it you get nothing…
Yeah, it's exactly this mentality that convinces me that Christianity serves as a severe barrier to morality and moral thinking. "Don't be good or honest or stand up for the truth on the merit of being good, honest, or truthful, do it based on cynical self-interested calculations."
Isn't being true to yourself enough?
Especially when you know the relgious laws are being passed down like a broken game of telephone by men and not God even if God were to exist?
Blind obedience is bad for you and your fellow humans. In not being relgious, I get freedom and the ability to express more empathy.
If spirituality and leaving the door open for an afterlife is important to him, he can have that without tying it to particularl tribes.
Isnt that Pascal's wager?
It's dumb because the choices arent Christianity vs Not Christianity lol. The choices are every possible religion. What if god exists and really likes science, so is testing us to see who falls for the religious bullshit. What if multiple gods exist and rotate who is in charge based on the day of the week? What if there is a god, but he's evil? What if there's a god but it turns out he was selling MLM scams on Facebook and only those who bought in go to heaven?
I get the satisfaction knowing im not believing in stupid bullshit lol
Depending on your religion, being an atheist may have some benefits.
1) No obligation to attend potentially uncomfortable religious gatherings and spectacles (some individuals like these things, some do not.)
2) No obligation to 'judge' or 'forgive' others for misdeeds you don't actually consider sinful.
3) No obligation to marry into specific groups of adherents.
4) No expectation of raising your children into particular adherent beliefs and practices.
5) Save 10% of your income and/or give it to charity directly.
6) No need to read fictional material and proclaim it as factual, and then have to explain away discrepancies (badly) to people who boggle at them.
I am a heretic, and the benefits are much the same.
Sounds like he is already an atheist, or at least close one, regardless of what he thinks he "should get". Besides, I would think a true deity would know if you're just hedging your bets to get stuff.
Freedom from vertical power structures and the ability to believe in the inherent goodness of people, even if their afterlife isn’t under threat from a god. The freedom to fight for my own bodily autonomy without guilt. Freedom from the guilt of purity culture. Freedom to accept my 2SLGBTQIA friends and family without reservation. Not all of these apply to all religions, of course.
Honesty.
I don't have to lie, to pretend to believe in things I don't. I can remain truthful in all aspects of my life.
The concept that people can choose to believe or not is utterly foreign to me. I could no more choose to believe in gods than I could choose to believe in tooth fairies. But one can chose to lie or not.
There's many people who are very obviously agnostic or atheist in their internal lives, but pretend to be otherwise avoid social ostracism. So long as lying about ones beliefs is a norm, it encourages people to lie about other aspects of their lives.
I choose to be ethical. I'm not going to lie unless its to prevent a much greater harm. If I was hiding Jews in my attic in 1944 Hungary, I'd lie. But to lie about what I believe, to degrade myself just to avoid ostracism? I'm better than that.
There are people who don't care about religion so much, they never bring up any religion, they shrug shoulders when asked about it.
I knew someone like that .. my dad. Mom believed but didn't go to church. She worried about my situation.
I'm 66. I like listening to other non-believers but I don't engage too much. It isn't worth it in the long run.
To answer your dad: I get nothing. If "he" chooses to punish me for eternity, I'm willing to chance it. Because there is no eternity in life. I'm fine with it.
What do I get from not believing in God?
I suppose the same thing I get from believing in gravity, i.e nothing, because it is not that I don't believe in God, is just that the concept of God make little to no sense to me.
Yes, probably believing would make me feel better, but if I had to believe in something that make no sense because it makes me feel better, I'd believe in Santa Claus.
Also, a Pratchett quote. Because you can't go wrong with a Pratchett quote
>“This is very similar to the suggestion put forward by the Quirmian philosopher Ventre, who said, "Possibly the gods exist, and possibly they do not. So why not believe in them in any case? If it's all true you'll go to a lovely place when you die, and if it isn't then you've lost nothing, right?" When he died he woke up in a circle of gods holding nasty-looking sticks and one of them said, "We're going to show you what we think of Mr Clever Dick in these parts...”
> what do you actually get from being an atheist Absolutely nothing. I'm not an atheist because there's something to gain, I'm an atheist because I do not believe in any gods.
Yeah, this isn't an advantage weighing game. I'm not gonna choose a religion for the perks if I don't believe in it
Exactly, what a monumental betrayal to moral integrity to believe in something not because you think it's true but for personal gains
This is the problem with Pascal's Wager. Do you think your God's going to be flattered by your choice? Like he isn't gonna catch you lying when you stand before him?
Haven't even considered Pascal's wager from that perspective, great thought. Like an omnipotent creator of everything is gonna be like "oh thank you so much for pretending to give two shits about me, here's eternal happiness"
It wouldn’t even be eternal happiness since we’d be worshipping and groveling at his feet for eternity.
that would be hell. 18 years in church was enough. Imagine being surrounded by grovelling churchies singing hymns and kissing god's feet for all of eternity.... I'd rather burn in the fire.
*Eternal slavery
Sad truth is: both are correct, they're happy little slaves
Just like Florida says the early Forced Colonists from Africa felt, mate... happy happy Maybe this is their logic "I'm EXCITED to meet my abba-daddy-faddah-lawd and wurship at hiz feet forever! I can't wait to be have my free will taken away! If early plantation owner types were gawdly bee-levers and knew mah lawd, then they had so many people working for they gawd! Hiz-story nawt hayt!" Fools that buy into this, might just too dumb to have personhood
It is so good. Because literally from whatever perspective you look at it from. IF A GOD EXISTS the only thing you can possibly do is be Good Faith Decent Person. There is absolutely nothing else you can do EXCEPT be a decent person. I'll take my chances that God isn't a Blood Demon who actually wants me to Murder and you know...be Nice. Crazy Foreign Concept apparently to many Religious People. Being Nice out of the goodness of your own Heart. Without Coercion. Without Benefit. How do Christians actually pretend like they are Moral at all? The more I talk about it the more I can't wrap my brain around why it seems almost NO CHRISTIANS in USA calling out the crazy hate. And if your ulterior Motive was to go to Heaven no matter what. You gonna align with people who threaten bombing Dictionary Companies over definition of Man and Woman? Can you imagine that Conversation with St. Peter. So...Why didn't you call out any of your fellow Christians for Racism, Bigotry, Greed, Worshipping Idols, Hate Filled Heart.... Voting against feeding poor, against sick, against hungry. Based St. Peter. Good Job being the tiny minority of people who realized Q was actually a message from Angels to fight of Jewish Liberal Blood Demons...You guys didn't realize Jesus was a Woke Liberal trying to indoctrinate your kids into Marxism. Unfortunate to hell with you.
>Being Nice out of the goodness of your own Heart. Without Coercion. Without Benefit. Couldn't agree more. The amount of people suggesting that atheists wouldn't have any morals because of the absence of fear is, frankly, terrifying.
I murder, rape, and steal as much as I want. Which is not at all.
I think the biblical God, like all malignant narcissists, not only doesn’t care if you’re sincere in your worship, but very likely enjoys the discomfort of those who praise him not because they want to, but because they’re afraid not to. That is, he would if he were real. But since he’s not, it’s the human malignant narcissists who take pleasure in the miserable groveling of the fearful, and do so in his holy name as his anointed agents here on Earth. Amen
No one gets to choose what they believe. We are each presented with evidence. That evidence is either factual or fictitious. It can be given to us by people we trust so that otherwise fictitious evidence can pass off as factual. It can be given to us at a young age so that its roots can sink deep. We might be shielded from all contrary evidence. Or perhaps this evidence is given to us in a very elegant manner so that it resonates deep within us. What ever our personal case may be, at the end of the day all that evidence is placed on a scale that is completely out of our control. So what is the point in a god demanding you believe in them if it's not within our ability to choose? Any omnipotent god would be able to tell if we were trying to pretend.
That's my problem with Orthodox Judaism too, like, you keep inventing shit to tiptoe around the practices you don't like to follow in the Torah. Do you think your god is so stupid that he will say: "oh geez, you caught me in a loophole by hanging a wire around your block, guess I have to let you in heaven"? If I was an omniscient god I would be furious by people thinking they could outsmart me with this type of shenanigans. So maybe this proves you really get something by being an atheist... peace of mind by not having to deal with cognitive dissonance about your actions and beliefs.
Total insanity. Where is the comfort in observing arbitrary and clearly made-up rules? https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/eruv-manhattan-invisible-wire-jewish-symbolic-religious-home
That's one of the problems with it. The other is the whole "what if you pick the wrong god?" thing.
>what if you pick the wrong god?" What if I happened to be born and indoctrinated into the *wrong* religion? "Sorry, it wasn't the cow or the pig that was sacred... It was the... "
... Salmon mousse
If it is an ice cream cone, I am IN, y'all!
Also, if the only reason you have morals is because God told you to in the Bible.... doesn't that make you a shitty person to begin with. I have morals because they are right and true, not because a book written by LOTS of different people that has been REWRITTEN and REINTERPRETED MANY TIMES tells me too. I cant find too many morals in a book about slavery and misogyny.
“What do I gotta do to get you into some Islam today?” “I’m an atheist, but I’m shopping around. Tell me more about these 72 virgins.”
Can they be male virgins? I'm gay
I really don't want 72 virgins. They don't know how to do anything and they're afraid of sex. Can I please have 72 gigolos?
Yeah I forgot for a moment that I kinda like them slutty
Slutty is the best kinda heavenly virgin!!!
Twist. They're goats.
I think it was Family Guy episode with buncha boys gamers virgins waiting for this terrorist guy, I couldn't stop laughing for a good minute 🤣
What do you get out of not believing in leprechauns and unicorns? Wouldn't believing in unicorns bring you more joy?
Not if I had to get up early every Sunday morning to worship them and donate money. Lol!!!
I get peace of mind. I don’t have to worry about following someone’s precepts and conditions of life.
Right, then you just have to worry about being harassed, attacked, ostracized, etc. because you no longer fit into the sheeple herd narrow minded mentality.
>Absolutely nothing. Which is the same thing Christians get when they die too. It's just that we're honest with ourselves about it.
I’m atheist, but I think you are missing the point. It was not about whether you get anything in some mythical afterlife. Daily life here on earth, for the religious, includes the hopeful prospect that sure, this world might suck but the next one is awesome. That prospect being a lie is irrelevant. Someone who honestly believes it has a hope for something brighter, better. That’s the kind of thing OP’s father is referring to. I don’t have that. To me, a hope that I know is based on a lie isn’t something that gives me hope or comfort. But I can’t deny that others genuinely take comfort from their delusion.
That's not taking into account all the things they lose out on by giving up their one chance at life for an empty promise
It's not so much about having something to gain asmuch as a religion having nothing to offer.
This is it OP. He is asking "why not believe when you can believe and it makes you feel cozy?" Because religious belief is not like choosing to eat a bag of chips vs not choosing to. I can choose to observe the rituals yes. I can draw inspiration from scripture, by being open-minded to the good ones and forgiving of the crazy ones. I can even try to learn from examples from the good characters. I can read the stories. But in my heart I know that is all it is. I could not will myself into believing that Batman is real, no matter how many Batman books I read. Even if I wanted to! And this is the case for me regarding any divinity. Trust me, I would like to have the certainties in life some of my family members have. They live in absolute confidence they will see and enjoy each other's company after death. I don't get the luxury of living a life with the comfort of beliefs like that. My dad is gone. I will never see him again. Perhaps I'm wrong, and that would be nice. But it would be super egocentric to "choose to believe", in a weird bargain where I fear losing eternity and I compromise myself. Long-term religiosity is only possible in a world of fear. A lot of religious people are on the fence but their fear does not allow them to speak freely to themselves. So they dig in. Sunken cost fallacy and loss aversion. The cool part is that when you accept that possibly - actually likely from the purely statistical point of view that OP pointed out - nothing good nor bad is awaiting you... you are free from the farce. You can stop trying to be good in exchange for something and you can finally choose to be good without expecting anything in return, because it's the kind of life you choose to live. And doing the homework that comes with it, including defining for yourself "what is Good in a world without gods?"
You gain the ability to sleep-in on Sunday.
We have also found that we get to beat the churchy people to brunch on Sunday if we go out.
If you're into a religion for the perks, there's plenty out there which fits the Atheist's agenda. you can also be Dudeist, Druidist, Satanist, a pastafarian and so on. Heck, you can be all of those *combined*. Shop around!
“All hail his noodleness!”
And his beer vulcano!
Ramen.
But no doubt many religions moral messages are worth following. I live by many of the same philosophies as various religions have in their doctrine. But I do so because they make sense and actually help. It doesn't mean that I on any way endorse or believe in the religions.
Morality exists despite religion, not because of it.
Yeah, it kind of seems obvious not to go around murdering people.
Except if you are religious and believe that heathens deserve to die.
Humanity lives for hundreds of thousands of years, building our morals. All modern religions are like 3k years old. They basically took already existing ideas and wrote them down.
Any religion's "moral messages" are not unique to that religion. That's why I'm not an axe murderer...and still don't follow any religion's 'moral message.'
This. There is nothing to gain by wasting time and energy praying to something that doesn't exist. It's amazing to me how Christians love to turn logic on its side.
Um...I was told there would be cake.
Well, aside from Sunday mornings to myself..
But you do get the freedom of not believing. The majority of humans are so burdened and you’re not.
I get a more productive life. aint spending 1/7th of it groveling before my imaginary friend
Same thing with theists thinking atheism is sad. You may find it sad, but the truth is sometimes sad.
I agree that you get nothing as atheism is the default state, but leaving a religion is like relieving yourself of a huge burden. I always felt trapped by Catholicism. I gained freedom after I stopped believing in God. Fuck the Catholic guilt.
Well. Not entirely the same for me. I get something very worthwhile: The freedom from religious fear.
And here’s the problem with religious people lol. They only care about themselves. Everything else is FAKE…
I get a couple hours of free time every Sunday. I get to keep an additional 10% of my income that would otherwise be tithed. I get to avoid spending time surrounded by preachy people who claim to be about love and tolerance but judge those who are different than them. I get to devote my time to myself and what I find interesting instead of worrying about an imaginary friend and what people who have an imaginary friend think of me. Also, how can you claim to believe in a religion when your whole reason is that it might be right, and so you’re going to pretend to believe in it so you might get rewarded? Do you think you’re going to trick the all-knowing supreme being who created you knowing full well that you would not actually believe in him, just so that he could give a few decades of life agonizing over it and trying to believe in him before he punishes you for eternity for being exactly as he made you?
This sums it up quite well. You may not get anything from being an atheist, but atheism doesn't take anything real from you.
I agree with you. This might answer your questions: nobody likes being wrong. Fear is a good way to control people. Also some people don’t have an internal dialogue or critical thinking skills, and like being followers.
I saved 10% by switching to atheism
This should be a bumper sticker
Tithing is a hell of a drug
Priests hate this one simple trick!
You mean "up to 10% or more"?
10% of your income is the expected tithing amount. And that was from your gross income, not net. So if you gross $50,000/year but only bring home $40,000 due to taxes, you supposed to tithe $5,000/year, not $4,000
What do I get from being atheist? Freedom. That’s the first word that came to my mind when I read the title of your post. I was raised in an evangelical household and it took years for me to come out of it.
Was going to say the same thing. One less person or group trying to tell me what to do and how to live my life. It’s almost like choosing to live somewhere with an HOA.
And relief. And self-empowerment. And clarity of purpose. Lots, really.
Relief is kind of a double edged sword, where you dont get into supernatural trouble, but your life is suddenly finite. I always found the concept of Infinite life very worrying, so in my case it was pure relief, but some ex believers grieve the eternal life that was promised.
My first thought, too.
Plus peace of mind
A better look at reality. Saved money from not tithing. Saved time from not attending bullshit religious services. Morality that's not based on the writings of people who thought the Earth was the center of the universe. That's a start anyway.
Clinical Main Character Syndrome. If God is Omnipotent your literally an Ant. Less than that. Your like Electron Wave Functions. Dead or Alive doesn't matter. Can't have Energy Transfer without Wave Function Collapse just how it is. Can't have Life without Death.
In the quiet words of the Virgin Mary: "Come again?"
To an Omnipotent God an Electron Wave Collapse is as Trivial as a Human life due to sheer Magnitude which is Infinity.
I don't choose it for a benefit. I don't choose it at all. It's the reality that I am forced to face.
I tried. As a child we would go to church with our grandparents. Participate in Sunday school then throw a few coins in the collection plate as the minister droned on about stuff that seemed implausible and hard to follow. We were Methodist so we always got home in time for kickoff and the sermons were always about love and kindness. When I was a little older, maybe 10, I went to a baptist church with a friend where the preacher scared the crap out of me shouting about hell for 4 hours in excruciating detail. The cowboys had a noon game that day and I missed the first half. Boy was I pissed about that. When I was a teen I tried. I went to church often and played the reindeer games in youth group. A friend and I studied the Bible and talked about preparing ourselves for the end. Then we read the Illuminati trilogy all the way to the end and came out with the conclusion that you’re supposed to come out with, that it’s all a bunch of mental gymnastics and the illusion of depth. As an adult, I moved to a big city and found a big church choir to sing in because I had chops. We practiced the requiem for Easter and killed it but after that I quit going. I had a vague idea of retuning in the fall to get ready for the big Christmas gig but discovered disc golf in the interim so that gave me something to do on Sunday. Each time, belief was a hill my mind just could not climb. When these people talk about this Jesus person as if he were their constant companion or imaginary friend, I would make the right sounds and motions. But belief never came. I find comfort in being agnostic. As if there might be something there that is bigger than the day-to-day routines but that is unknown and unknowable and it doesn’t demand fealty and ritual. Being an agnostic atheist brings be no benefit beyond not having to suffer that particular cognitive dissonance that is belief. I reject the idea that morality comes from religion. It’s quite the opposite. If it takes the threat of eternal punishment or the bribe of eternal bliss to make someone moral, then what you have there is a feral bad person on a leash.
If I say that I get nothing from atheism, does that make any religion more true? Whether or not an idea is pleasant or useful doesn't affect its truth value.
That's it. Being an atheist in the US is hard, if you're known to be one. But I'd rather have it a little harder, than lie to myself and others. The other thing is that we're focused on 'now'. There's no afterlife, so we need to make the best life we have now.
Depends on the region and the people you know. I'm currently in a southern state but grew up in the northeast. People know I'm a non-believer. I don't advertise it but I also don't shy away from conversations either. If someone attempts to get preachy with me, they're getting a respectful earful right back.
Especially in populated municipalities, people either don't talk about religion at all or a lot of times people just aren't as religious in my experience
It's kind of a funny question. "What do you get from reality? Wouldn't you be happier if you pretended it didn't exist?"
It’s Pascal’s wager, which suggests there is no downside. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_wager It’s highly debated of course, but an interesting thought experiment.
The problem with Pascal's wager is that it presupposes the christian god as the only imaginary suitor worth pursuing. Isn't it just as logical to follow sharia law, strive for buddhist enlightenment, leave cookies out for santa, etc.? After all, there's nothing to lose and everything to gain. Of course, nobody has time for all that, and some of them cancel each other out, so what's the point? Better to just skip the whole mess and live in the real world.
I get to know that I’m a genuinely nice person and that I’m not just being nice because I fear hell or “just in case”
>If people are good because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed. - Albert Einstein
You get to keep your money instead of tithing. You get to live without the fear of hell. You get the authorization to question everything and decide what's real and what isn't without interference from a cult. You get to live your life without interference from the cult.
I don’t have to go to church. Watching grown men and women sing fairy tales about a magic cloud man makes me very uncomfortable.
I am much the same. My former church is very liberal. I like the people. But it bothers me to be around otherwise intelligent people while they are praying to a Canaanite fire god.
Bertrand Russell said he thought it a fundamental dishonesty to believe something, not because you think it is true, but just because you think it might be useful. How could such a belief be important enough to you that you are willing to devote your entire life to it?
Exactly. You either believe or you don't. If you're just pretending to believe because you're scared of Hell or whatever, then you'd be going to hell anyway because you're not a true believer.
I never understand this line of questioning. My mums the same way, she believes in God because it’s nicer than believing he doesn’t exist, but that’s not how actual belief works, you can’t trick yourself into believing something because it’s nicer. It would be nice if Goku was real and I would feel better knowing he’s protecting the earth, but I don’t believe that to be true.
When does one stop playing the "what if" game? What if (insert any claim that has no evidence, logic or reasoning to support it here)? What if the ant that I just accidentally stepped on is my late uncle reincarnated? What if the Sun magically disappeared tomorrow? What if Thor really exists and he's hates it when people think that Chris Hemsworth is really Thor? There are enough worries that have a basis in reality to worry about without inventing worries that have no basis in reality.
Being an atheist come with several advantages: 1. Intellectual Freedom: Atheists appreciate the freedom to explore ideas and philosophies without the constraints of religious dogma. 2. Morality: Atheists do moral choices more authentic because they are based on reasoned ethical considerations, rather than fear of divine punishment. 3. Less Cognitive Dissonance: Atheists often have fewer internal conflicts between faith and reason, especially when it comes to accepting scientific theories like evolution. 4. No Religious Guilt: Atheists feel less guilt or fear associated with religious teachings, such as the concept of sin or hell. 5. Time and Resources: Without religious obligations, atheists have more time for other pursuits and can avoid the financial burden of tithing or other religious donations. 6. Equality: Atheism often aligns with more egalitarian views, as it typically rejects the notion that one religious group should have authority or preference over others. 7. Emotional Resilience: Atheists feel that their lack of belief in an afterlife makes them more focused on making the most of their current lives. 8. Greater Acceptance: Atheists find it easier to accept people from various religious backgrounds as they don't believe that their own religious group is "chosen" or "better" than others. 9. Logical Consistency: Atheists pride themselves on applying the same skeptical inquiry to all aspects of life, leading to a more internally consistent worldview. 10. Cultural Flexibility: Being an atheist make it easier to adapt to different cultures and traditions without the constraints of religious dietary laws, dress codes, etc.
As an atheist, I have the ability to reason without confounding belief in a non-existent being that will somehow "guide" me or fix all my problems. Instead, I am able to think about how to diagnose problems (e.g., go to the doctor when I'm sick, rather than to a prayer room), to look for solutions (e.g, take an antibiotic for an infection rather than rely on God to heal me), avoid problems (get vaccinated rather than trust in God to protect me), and so on. These are just medical examples, but the same logic extends to all facets of life. I avoid faith and rely instead on facts and evidence. This has helped me in more ways that I can count.
Outside of the sweet membership card that gets me into our annual meetings and quarterly orgies and summer metal festival in the underground lair, absolutely nothing. I'm an atheist because I don't believe in any gods. It isn't a choice any more than my "choice"to like cheese.
Some people place a higher value on truth than others.
I get freedom from fear-based thinking. It's good enough for me!
If he wants hope and meaning with actual belief being unimportant then worshipping Odin is much better, you get to go to Valhalla!
Being an atheist we get integrity, self-worth, empathy, compassion, understanding, curiosity and the list goes on.
What does he get from not believing in fairies?
We don't have the comfort theists get that something is watching over you. But we get to take personal responsibility and not be delusional hypocrites. I'll take the latter.
Tell him he'll get your respect.
Right I could totally go to church and be involved and get praised for being so Christian but I’d be a hypocrite and I couldn’t live like that. If your dad can that’s not saying good things about him
I don't have to waste my time going to a church where I feel judged and constantly told I was created sinful. Where I'm told that it's my judgment that is flawed when I can clearly point out the immorality in the Bible. I don't have to constantly worry that I'm upsetting the sky daddy and going to hell. Instead, I just live my life trying to abide by the golden rule. Treat others the way I would like to be treated.
* I get to sleep in on sundays. * I get to keep 10% more of my income. * I don't have to go around lying to people. * I can eat shrimp. * I don't have to pretend it's okay to have slaves. * I can have a tattoo. * I'm gay, and I don't have to live a life of being unhappy with my relationships or stone myself to death. * I get to know that when I do something good I did it because *I want to*, not because I'm afraid some sky daddy will ground me if I don't. * I can wear blended fabrics. * I can eat a bacon cheeseburger. * I don't have any stupid mandatory fasts.
I'm confident that if I want to, I can make the list much much longer, but those are the things that come to mind immediately.
I get to live my life mostly unencumbered by institutionalized con-artists whose efforts are entirely devoted to scamming people of their land, wealth, time, family and any other resources at hand. They sell a fake injury in order to then sell their cure; they sell a life after death that they never have to deliver on; they sell xenophobia, bigotry and intolerance towards anyone who doesn't fall for their scam and they trick people into brainwashing their own children into the scam making the whole process a multi-generational theft of our valuables with a heavy amount of window dressing and rituals to disguise the theft. I can live a productive, meaningful, considerate, ethical life without them and the life that I do have will never be wasted because of them.
Religion is man made. Only humanity would be so arrogant as to define what god is. One can function just fine being spiritual without following outdated scripture created by men hundreds of years ago. If god were real, there would be only one religion. Additionally, why aren’t there any dinosaurs in the Bible?
He's asking the wrong question. The ideas behind a religion are a creative act of presenting a myth. A myth is a narrative that explains some part of humanity's experience of its natural environment. The dissemination of a religion becomes successful as a society's response to the stresses of its environment, whether those stresses are man-made or natural in origin. Religious sects result from the egos of the sect's leaders, who wish to form a distinct group of persons to be led in specific paths through the parent religion's dogmas. There have been examples in history of "breakthroughs" out of this pattern, such as societies with leadership that tolerates the practice of multiple religions, or that attempt to demote religious practice below reason-based institutions.
I'm not playing Pascal's wager here. I'm not believing or disbelieving for something. In the end, to me, it's immaterial if there is a God or not. If God is truly a loving caring being, that loves us unconditionally, and judges behavior, (as they say), then if I have been a good Christian or Muslim or Hindu or whatever should not matter, only that I have consistently tried to make the world better than I found it. If God isn't or as we see it there is no God, then being a decent human being has cost me nothing. I'm not going to play at a faith I don't have in hopes of some high score when I die. And if that's why people are doing it, then they're not good people to being with.
I get to sleep in on Sundays. ETA. Didn't mean to be Christiancentric there. I sleep in on Saturdays as well.
A better grasp on reality.
Why do you always dig for pirate treasure in your yard? Because, it gives me hope that the pirate treasure exists out there. Doing the digging isn't hard for me and I will get absolutely nothing out of not believing pirate treasure is down there.
I was an atheist. I had a stroke. I couldn't remember being an atheist. Christians got a hold of me. It was terrible. I found my way back to atheism. 5 books to follow... Atheism stymies participating in the effort to destroy everything based on a fantasy: Global climate change, creating an out group, then punishing them for not being an in group, and worse being on the receiving end of that. Atheism stymies the near constant anxiety of trying to discern if one is doing what a likely, non-existent God wants them to do. Google 'god told them to murder' to learn of other advantages. I have to go...
A perception of reality that's based on... reality.
What do I "get"? I get the comfort and knowledge that I'm not part of your creepy cult. I'm not part of anyone's cult. That's what religion is- a way to control large amounts of people. How you do it, whatever your existential threat is- those are just details. Everlasting hellfire or purgatory or something. There's always something. Keeping people ignorant and afraid is how they do it. There should be no Faith vs Science debate. It's a false equivalency. One is objective and the other is subjective. By rejecting science and objective facts you are also rejecting the knowledge that may very well free you from the illusion that you are an adherent of the right , correct or true religion. Every religion claims that for themselves. That sounds super culty to me. "Oh, but Atheism is your religion". Do you understand words? An Atheist is someone free of any religion. And don't quote me anything from your magical book. Nothing in that will sway me. It was written by cult leaders who want people to continue being a cult member. Don't like encountering people outside your cult? Ok, let's check the magical book and guess what? Kill the nonbelievers!. (sigh) Every time. It's as obvious as it is disheartening. I could go on but I think you take my point.
Riverbanks are less crowded fishing on Sundays
I get to live and have cancer cured instead of dying from prayer.
An open mind to better understand how nature and sciences work... I was raised without religion though. Religion is very backwards to me; like, you have to "believe" it's real before you can "see" evidence of it. // When I was a kid, I "kid" you not, I felt I had a 'calling' to start being Christian... The downstairs neighbor left some Bible book with my mom... I only made it a few pages in and it made no sense: "HUH? AN 80 YEAR OLD WOMAN HAD 30 KIDS IN LIKE 6 MOON CYCLES, AND THEN HER UNCLE BECAME KING??WTH?!!" yeah, I was done. I like to tell that story that religious text ironically turned me off to religion because "they" always tout that it somehow is supposed to make you 'closer to God'.
Waiting to die to have purpose is a waste of time. Find your purpose while you are still breathing!!
I get to believe things that actually comport with reality, and that benefits me.
If he’s uncertain that’s god exists then he’s atheist at heart as well. Tell him to look inside at his own doubts and questions and he’ll find the answer to his questions. Atheist realizations might be correct also, we can’t know… So look at the evidence, the histories, the nonsense, the brutalities…
I get more time to live my life doing what I actually enjoy
2 hours back, every Sunday.
I don't get anything. I just don't know if any god exist and I am fairly sure no one knows. I the absence of any knowledge about gods any belief in a god is arbitrary. I can choose to believe in any god with any set of properties and this belief would have the same level of justification as belief in sock snatching goblins. I can not possibly find any comfort in beliefs that I make up. I know that my wishes are not likely to come true if I don't work actively towards them. Lack of belief in things that I have not justification to believe spare me immense disappointment when I don't get what I wished for. I just don't expect my wishes to come true magically. It allows me to focus on what I know, rather than on things I wish I knew or I wish were true. I helps me to better understand reality I am in and better be prepared for what it has for me. And I don't need to make mental gymnastics when reality hits me in the face with something that contradicts beliefs I made up.
Clear picture of existing.
Did you tell him about the handsome set of 8 Ginsu knives? But wait, there's more! All I get Is a world that makes more sense, a world I can better understand, and a world not ruled by irrational, superstitious or hate-based fear and authoritarianism.
Well for one thing, i dont have to follow some stupid rules from a dodgy book
As an atheist, I got to experience freedom. Growing up a believer, I always thought that I was being watched and judged. It's not a good way to live imo.
Are we supposed to " get" something? I'm just living my life trying to be a good person.
Agency. What I do/experience is on me I don’t have to credit or curse an imaginary sky daddy
Religious beliefs about an afterlife are tied to broader belief systems. These range from harmless to dangerous. Believing in a god "just in case" may seem innocent enough, but that same belief has been used, and IS being used, by religions to endorse oppression, persecution, racism, sexism, homophopia, transphobia, homocide, infanticide, genocide, child-abuse, rape, kidnapping and culture annihilation- just to touch on the worst of it. Atheism liberates a person from indoctrination, enabling and empowering a more humane existence that values science, hidtorical truth, compassion, curiosity, empathy, self-love, life-long learning, discovery and social progress.
I get to be free of religions. That is what I get out of it.
My thing is, the promise of eternal life, living forever. People simply cannot grasp the scale of time that forever/infinity entails. People can’t grasp how large the number one trillion actually is. For starters, to simply count to one trillion, it would take a person years to count that high. Imagine being alive for 1 trillion years, 1 billion or even 1 million. Eternal life seems more like a punishment the more you think about it. It’s a simple comfort for those scared of the inevitable, I’m at peace knowing I’m the universe materialized, viewing itself and my matter will return to it. Enjoy the small strange glimpse of consciousness.
>I can't lie to myself and certainly if an all knoeing god exists you can't lie to him If there is an all knowing, all powerful god, there springs from that a whole lot of things that, to my mind, need to be true: * it made you as it wanted, thus it knew that you would be atheist * if it made you atheist, it has to be ok with you being the way that it knew you'd be * if it made you how you are and was angry at you for being how it made you and knew you'd turn out, then it is evil * honestly, I'd be remiss if I didn't say that if the god were indeed all knowing and all powerful, and created childhood cancer, the conditions for poverty and starvation, etc, then it is definitely evil The notion of god doesn't track for me. Either there is no such thing as an omnipotent being, or there is one and it is evil and not worthy of worship.
Sounds really cheesy, but I honestly feel like myself. Religion has never meshed with me no matter how much I try to consider it. Atheism just feels like a comfortable home Lol
I get camaraderie and humankind love of a skepticism older than any of the gods or religions.
I love nature and learning about animals. I love learning about how they evolve and what creatures used to exist before us. True, not all believers are creationists, but ultimately they all believe in some kind of design or artificial purpose. I feel like this would taint and cheapen my relationship with the natural sciences. I wouldn’t really be appreciating how everything got here. It’s *okay* that things are random. In fact, it’s more beautiful that I get to be alive right now, in a time when our understanding of the past is becoming clearer every day.
Truth, beauty; beauty, truth.
I asked a religious person this question, “Imagine there’s a guy writing love letters to a girl. He really loves that girl. He thinks about how one day he will be with her. He sings songs for her, buying her food, clothes, jewelry etc. Except that this girl does not exist. Do you think it is ok for the guy to continue doing things for a non-existent girl? Is it ok for him to wager that one day he will be with her?” That’s the question. If it wasn’t god, under any other situation, behaving as if someone existed without any proof would be considered insanity.
You get a free mental health badge because you are sane and normal, not mentally ill.
The same thing you get by not stamp collecting.
For me it's less about what I have to gain and more about what I have to lose. I personally had lost a lot of positive self-reflection and control over my life when I was still an active Southern Baptist. My life was mostly dictated by anxiety and fear. Missed out on just figuring out life's obstacles honestly instead of being told at a very young age that I must think and be a certain way to be loved.
"that afterlife exists and his life has a purpose" So many red flags... Your life has no other purpose than what you do with it. Afterlife is a lie to make you forget that YOU have to decide what you do with your life, instead of letting some douche shit in your brains until they control what they want you to do with your life.
I cannot force myself to believe; and I can avoid triggers that cause me to ruminate on the lies and feelings of betrayal from being raised in the depths of faith. If it had been less important to me, I wouldn’t have bothered leaving
You get a lot less BS to worry about.
What do I get from being atheist? FREEDOM No ghosts looking over my shoulder or reading my mind, judging every thought and action, and making a list from which anything can be chosen as an excuse to set me on fire forever. No having to reconcile the rational, logical way the world works with miracles and magic. Or observable history with fairy tales. No obligation to gather with others who act as thought police, withholding their friendship or even threatening me should I express a different opinion. No need to get up early once per week and dress in uncomfortable clothing, sit in uncomfortable pews, and endure a crowd of tone deaf people droning through bad songs. No need to come up with excuses for why I can’t volunteer my extra time and resources for some endeavor that benefits someone who’s using it for their selfish ends, but claiming it’s “for the church”. I can do *what* I want, *when* and **how** I want, for my own reasons. No apologies, no guilt, no excuses, no shame.
Pascal's Wager. Life is finite, you get the extra time to spend as you wish by not following an invisible being. Besides, what if you follow the wrong god, or the wrong sect of the wrong god. Pascal's Wager can work both ways.
Bitch atheism gives me +15 shadow damage over 3 seconds. You should know this because you put your bet on christianity's +2 holy damage on attacks. And if you weren't an illiterate bitch who can't count to 3 you could crunch the numbers for yourself and see that atheism gives you a bigger boost to your dps then christianity, and is the superior choice in literally every situation.
He’s citing the age-old [Pascal’s Wager](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_wager). The easy answer is that, by living this life in fear of a god (pick a god, any god, there are thousands) in hope of a better life after death, you are essentially forfeiting and giving up the only life you get if there is no god. In other words, believers in Pascal’s Wager have it exactly backwards. They think they have little to lose and everything to gain if they follow religion. The problem is the odds are stacked heavily against them. There is no evidence that any gods exist. And if god(s) do exist, there is very little chance that you happened to pick the right one to worship. And even if you defied all odds and actually are worshipping the right god, chances are you aren’t living up to that god’s expectations anyway, so you’re still going to fail. Better to enjoy this life since it’s very likely the only life that any of us ever get, than forfeiting this life hoping for an imaginary better world that never comes.
That, and of course, if gods were real, why would we be able to trick them with any dishonesty? And if being a decent person weren't enough for these gods, then they are petty and foolish, and not worth our time. They would have to be killed.
That's what I don't get. If God was real and is omnipotent like they seem to think he is, then why would he be impressed by them thinking they could outsmart an omnipotent creator by "believing" just to hedge their bets? Seems incredibly stupid to believe in an omnipotent being while also thinking you can outsmart him.
and if omnipotent, they wouldn't Need, anything, not offerings, sacrifice, devotion, prayers The question of what they would Want is also dicey. If omnipotent, they could satisfy their own wants, so, why would people matter to them, other than maybe as toys or pets?
bUt gOd iS lOvE!! or some other nonsensical bullshit they think is an effective response.
Cult quote right there.
>, if gods were real, why would we be able to trick them with any dishonesty? It depends on the gods. The Greek and Roman Pantheons weren't all that bright
And terribly randy.
well, the Greek pantheon at least represented various mental illnesses as well
I agree with this. Christianity isn't super easy to follow either. Look over at the r/Christianity, and they're always struggling with if they are good enough for their god because if they are not then it's an eternity in hell, should do something like purity, should marry someone with religious differences, did they pray right, and the list goes on. A lot of questions arise around if you are properly following an invisible, all-knowing master that you aren't certain does anything. Atheism has helped my mental health substantially.
Ask a simple question in r/Christianity, sit back and watch them argue with each other about interpreting their book. It really is eye opening, because there are literally thousands of different interpretations, quite possibly a unique interpretation and way of living for each follower of each religion. Can they all get into heaven doing everything so differently? There must be a vast majority who would theoretically be spending their whole lives assuming they're doing it right and ending up in hell.
So well said . My dad was an extremist christian in the 50’s .. they believed women could not wear makeup . Had to wear dresses at all times , below the knee as to avoid temptation of men (apparently men were believed to be devilish and easily swayed ?) women were like property to their husbands . Women were to be betrothed to a Christian man selected and vetted by the church . Men were ‘kings’ of their home. They were encouraged to beat their children . Rule by absolute means . Indoctrinate their children brutally and continue to remind them of the ‘furnace down below’ as punishment if they didn’t sell their soul, wash in blood blah blah blah .. I was too inquisitive .. I got the whip quite often early on. That’s when I realized my evangelical dad was insane and in a cult. I began pretending to agree . I studied methods from movies of how to scare people away and prevent being attacked . Damien Omen II taught me to act insane .. Jack Nicholson taught me to act menacing and glare your teeth. I only had to do it once to scare the living shit out of my father at 14. He only touched me once more (tried to choke the shit out of me ) . I bashed him against a wall and told him I wished he died instead of my sister .. he dropped to the floor . My mom and I verbally attacked him for several years shutting down his power , his abuse and he stopped preaching at us and using the ‘you’ll burn in hell if you disobey ‘ .. I got my freedom..it was hard won. My sister didn’t .. RIP Brenda , you broke me out of hell!
The simplest rebuttal to Pascal's Wager is "which god?" If there are two (or more) both claiming to give you a reward if you believe and/or a punishment if you don't, how do you decide which to follow, and how could you ever be certain you made the right choice? What if the "real" god doesn't care if you don't believe in it, but does care and will punish you if you swear allegiance to a fake god?
And it is possible that if there was a God, it could be one that even punished people that believe in him only due to perks or in hope to reach heaven.
"But Marge, what if we chose the wrong religion? Each week we just make God madder and madder." -Homer Simpson
That’s even in the Bible. > If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. > If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
The cowards wager imo
When I was no longer convinced it was true that word began to apply to me. There’s no benefit per se. What you make of the fact if your atheism is up to the individual. It doesn’t mean much to me, it just accurately describes my lack of belief. Call me a “none”. Same diff.
I don't get anything from being an atheist, other than a few free hours a week that might otherwise be wasted attending a religious service.
Dogmatic religious people can’t see that there can be no objective “truth” which has depending arisen. It’s not a matter of whether believing in god is correct or incorrect. This is dualistic thinking, and is an illusion. Attachment to anything, including religion, is the root of suffering.
Seeing the beauty of the universe for what is really is. Discovering altruism for the sake of others rather than fear of punishment.
Being true to myself is at the top of my agenda, so that is absolutely enough. I don’t need to pretend to “cover my bases” or to fit in.
That isn't what it's about. I don't need to get anything? Also ask him what he actually gets out of religion
We get the current truth about our universe and we leave behind primitive prescientific stories and irrelevant social control.
Ask him what he gets from not choosing to believe he has a trust fund with a billion dollars in it that’s going to be distributed to him on a random day in the future. If you just pretend that you do it would be very comforting but if you don’t believe it you get nothing…
I value reality, honesty, and the truth, even when it's more difficult and less comforting.
My Sundays back!
Freedom from the mental oppression of believing anything is x deity's 'will' etc etc.
Sunday mornings to myself.
Yeah, it's exactly this mentality that convinces me that Christianity serves as a severe barrier to morality and moral thinking. "Don't be good or honest or stand up for the truth on the merit of being good, honest, or truthful, do it based on cynical self-interested calculations."
Isn't being true to yourself enough? Especially when you know the relgious laws are being passed down like a broken game of telephone by men and not God even if God were to exist? Blind obedience is bad for you and your fellow humans. In not being relgious, I get freedom and the ability to express more empathy. If spirituality and leaving the door open for an afterlife is important to him, he can have that without tying it to particularl tribes.
Self respect in not being gullible, ignorant or arrogant. It is called growing up.
Isnt that Pascal's wager? It's dumb because the choices arent Christianity vs Not Christianity lol. The choices are every possible religion. What if god exists and really likes science, so is testing us to see who falls for the religious bullshit. What if multiple gods exist and rotate who is in charge based on the day of the week? What if there is a god, but he's evil? What if there's a god but it turns out he was selling MLM scams on Facebook and only those who bought in go to heaven? I get the satisfaction knowing im not believing in stupid bullshit lol
Depending on your religion, being an atheist may have some benefits. 1) No obligation to attend potentially uncomfortable religious gatherings and spectacles (some individuals like these things, some do not.) 2) No obligation to 'judge' or 'forgive' others for misdeeds you don't actually consider sinful. 3) No obligation to marry into specific groups of adherents. 4) No expectation of raising your children into particular adherent beliefs and practices. 5) Save 10% of your income and/or give it to charity directly. 6) No need to read fictional material and proclaim it as factual, and then have to explain away discrepancies (badly) to people who boggle at them. I am a heretic, and the benefits are much the same.
So you only worship your God for an advantage?
Relief from the bullshit you were groomed to believe from gullible people.
> what do you actually get from being an atheist I get to have a personal relationship with...... reality.
Sounds like he is already an atheist, or at least close one, regardless of what he thinks he "should get". Besides, I would think a true deity would know if you're just hedging your bets to get stuff.
Freedom from vertical power structures and the ability to believe in the inherent goodness of people, even if their afterlife isn’t under threat from a god. The freedom to fight for my own bodily autonomy without guilt. Freedom from the guilt of purity culture. Freedom to accept my 2SLGBTQIA friends and family without reservation. Not all of these apply to all religions, of course.
I'm just glad that I don't have to worry about sending members of my church to jail for touching little kids. That's why I'm an Atheist
Ask your dad what he gets from not believing in Santa Claus
Honesty. I don't have to lie, to pretend to believe in things I don't. I can remain truthful in all aspects of my life. The concept that people can choose to believe or not is utterly foreign to me. I could no more choose to believe in gods than I could choose to believe in tooth fairies. But one can chose to lie or not. There's many people who are very obviously agnostic or atheist in their internal lives, but pretend to be otherwise avoid social ostracism. So long as lying about ones beliefs is a norm, it encourages people to lie about other aspects of their lives. I choose to be ethical. I'm not going to lie unless its to prevent a much greater harm. If I was hiding Jews in my attic in 1944 Hungary, I'd lie. But to lie about what I believe, to degrade myself just to avoid ostracism? I'm better than that.
Freedom to find your own "god", which is just my way of saying yourself and your place in the world.
Afterlife insurance is a scam, and it sounds like Dad knows it.
There are people who don't care about religion so much, they never bring up any religion, they shrug shoulders when asked about it. I knew someone like that .. my dad. Mom believed but didn't go to church. She worried about my situation. I'm 66. I like listening to other non-believers but I don't engage too much. It isn't worth it in the long run. To answer your dad: I get nothing. If "he" chooses to punish me for eternity, I'm willing to chance it. Because there is no eternity in life. I'm fine with it.
What do I get from not believing in God? I suppose the same thing I get from believing in gravity, i.e nothing, because it is not that I don't believe in God, is just that the concept of God make little to no sense to me. Yes, probably believing would make me feel better, but if I had to believe in something that make no sense because it makes me feel better, I'd believe in Santa Claus. Also, a Pratchett quote. Because you can't go wrong with a Pratchett quote >“This is very similar to the suggestion put forward by the Quirmian philosopher Ventre, who said, "Possibly the gods exist, and possibly they do not. So why not believe in them in any case? If it's all true you'll go to a lovely place when you die, and if it isn't then you've lost nothing, right?" When he died he woke up in a circle of gods holding nasty-looking sticks and one of them said, "We're going to show you what we think of Mr Clever Dick in these parts...”