A few months ago a neighbour engaged me in conversation about some obscure "healing" practices such as reiki which she had recently tried. I tried to be understanding, and respect that people have the right to blow their income on pointless crap if they wanted to, and simply stated that no, I'd never tried it because I didn't believe in it.
This managed to devolve into a lecture about my general lack of faith and how she pitied me, and found my lack of spirituality very sad. Practicing much self restraint, I managed not to snort with laughter, tell her to go fuck herself, describe the extent of my lack of "faith" in her overall intelligence, or have any other such honest reaction.
This incident, and so many like it I've experienced in my life was reflected so well in the words of Laci Green in the newly released video Afterlife (Available at http://youtu.be/eeMoOJpvUlU ).
Green talks of how she has had people tell her that her life must be depressing because she is an atheist. I have also had similar experiences: pitiful stares, outraged people who feel they need to "save" me on the spot, offers to pray for me... etc ad nauseum.
While there is absolutely no evidence that there is a "heaven", reincarnation or afterlife of any sort, it seems so much easier for people to accept than that I could be content with the idea that one day I will die, and my body or ashes will rot, be eaten, fertilise a tree or something similarly banal that they would readily accept if it were their cat/ dog/ roadkill they just hit.
"But you can't possibly believe we just DIE, and that's IT?!" I have often been asked. Actually yes, I can and do. The machine which is the body ceases to function, as with every other living organism, and as cell life ceases, so do we.
I think it is one of the central reasons for religion as a whole to have been created. We, as humans, have constructed this whole system of stories and "logic" around our own self importance in the universe to deal with the fear of death and the unknown. A "happy fantasy", as Afterlife puts it.
What most resonated with me about Afterlife was the following segment by AronRa, which reflects many of the themes I have blogged about, and what motivates me to write:
The worst aspect of western monotheism is their system of judgement, where in it doesn't matter how good or bad you were in life, you won't be judged according to your deeds the way you should be. It doesn't matter what an evil selfish, sadistic, bigoted victimiser you were in life; all sins can be forgiven if you but believe.
In being an atheist, some argue that I am only accountable to myself, and this somehow should make me a careless hedonist. What I don't have as an atheist are all the excuses that someone will always love me, someone will forgive everything I do in the future, and that what I do now, while alive, is but a blip in my own existence- I can enjoy "heaven" later.
This does not motivate me to murder or exploit for fear of a deity's impending judgement or consequences, but realise that everyone contributes to the world in a small way, if not by contributing something positive, as a minimum we can not impede thigns by absorbing energy in harming others; that I have to make things happen in my own life, rather than avoiding chances and praying that all will be peachy or taken care of by some greater being after I die.
As much as I hate to see you suffer, your pain certainly does produce the most riveting prose.
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