If you don't believe in God..

My friends are my family to me and I can see them when I ask for guidence which helps.

I grew up a jew and like mjax1979, I am much more at peace now that I don’t try to follow any teachings than I ever was. relying on myself and my family in times of need is more comforting than waiting for “something” or “some being” to help. the guilt and weakness that is part of “belief in a higher being” is just not for me.

lol, good question, actually nowhere and life pretty much sucked… But still can’t believe in a God that lets kids starve or natural disasters kill hundreds of thousands of people…

Being a recovering catholic, I can honestly say that even when I practiced, I never turned to god or prayer during bad times. I thankfully had plenty of family and friends around too. I honestly think there are very few people who are that alone in life that they have no one to turn to during hard times. No offense, but a question like this is what get many atheists back up. It is a bit arrogant and condescending to assume that those with belief in dieties somehow are more able to cope with tragedy than non-believers. Maybe it is the non-believer who is stronger during hard times because he has faith in himself (and family a friends if he is lucky), and not in something as unknowable as a diety.

I don’t find this question offensive though I see how some could. I also didn’t fully read the part about not having anyone to turn to.

I’ve had only a couple of times where I felt no one in the world cared about me and that was extremely tough. In both of those cases, I was still a believer but my prayers never seemed to reach anyone. There was no comfort and no strength there for me from any divine source. So I ended up finding it in myself. That was hell on earth for me but it did make me a stronger and more compassionate person.

I think that not believing in god gives me independence… and in times of not having anyone but myself, I come to the realization that yeah, maybe I am alone… but I sure as he*l am going to get through this even if it sucks huge c0ck… so, really I am never very low because I always know that I have something to look forward to when I get out of whatever bad situation I may be in… and if positive thinking doesn’t help, I write or draw. It is as simple as that, I do not need a god to lean on as a support system.

There have been lots of times I’ve needed encouragement and one was just last night. I felt like the whole world was caving in on me and I knew I couldn’t handle things alone. I turned to my husband for support and he was there. I’m very fortunate to have good family and friends who care for me and will be there for me. I trust in them to help me through the hard times.

* “In the extreme lows in your life if you had no one to turn to not even a friend, how do you overcome this extreme hard situation?”

I’ve had plenty of hard situations, but I’ve always had friends and family to help me through it, so I really don’t know how I would react. If I found myself in a situation like that, I imagine I would just be miserable.

So, how do you react when you’re in need, and all you get from your Christian friends is “we’re praying for you”, with no offers to provide any useful help?

I think it is part of Christian teaching that we are weak and need God to get us through life’s hard parts. While prayer no doubt is a comfort for believers I don’t think it is what gets people through difficulties. We get through hard times by the strength of our character and resolve. Atheists do not expect a world to be just or fair; we are all at the mercy of outrageous fortune. We don’t seek meaning in every turn of events. We don’t imagine bad luck as God testing us, punishing us, or ignoring us; it is just that, bad luck. Stuff happens.

actually some poeple dont need encouragment, they are there own boss. but people look up to many things…parents, freinds, celebrities, teachers, even people they dont know…even things that arnt people! I dont believe in anything. but I know that lows in life are just part of it…thats life. you take the good with the bad, but the bad wont last forever. and a lot of things that people dwell on could have been solved overnight.

I am actually much less depressed now that I’m agnostic than I ever was as a Christian. Part of the reason I think, is because as a Christian I would often pray to God and feel nothing, hear nothing, etc. This made me sometimes feel very insecure about my standing with God. Especially as I listened to other Christians pray and talk about it. But I was always afraid to doubt my faith and forced myself to keep believing, praying, etc.

Now that I’m agnostic, I feel truly liberated and I can decide for myself what I believe based on what I observe and my own reasoning. When I have trouble in my life and if my friends aren’t there with me, I dwell on the reality of situation. I realize that many of my problems are a matter of perception, and aren’t as bad as they seem. I don’t have to try and understand if this is God testing me, Satan subverting me, or just plain circumstance…I can reason and understand why on my own. Also, I try to focus on helping others, which really does take your mind off your own problems.