Chaely Sleeps Forever

There are things one loses in giving up God, and they are not insignificant. Most importantly, you lose the guarantee of redemption. Suppose that you do something morally terrible, something for which you cannot make amends, something, perhaps, for which no human being could ever be expected to forgive you. I imagine that the promise made by many religions, that God will forgive you if you are truly sorry, is a thought would that bring enormous comfort and relief. You cannot have that if you are an atheist. In consequence, you must live your life, and make your choices with the knowledge that every choice you make contributes, in one way or another, to the only value your life can have.

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Good Minus God: The Moral Atheist - NYTimes.com  (via morefunthanbeingsad)

Something I have thought so long but unable to put so eloquently.

(via ergascientia)

First, I want to explain that I never really had a God to give up. I never had any redemption belief or anything like that to lose, so maybe it’s a different situation than those who had that & gave it up. I’ve never had to re-arrange my expectations of what my goodwill would earn or who I was being morally “good” for. I’ve always believed that you live to please or fail yourself & those around you. Goodness is not a commodity exchanged for a seat in heaven or the love of an omnipotent being, it’s something I practice to grow my own soul & set an example to others.

The hardest part of atheism or agnosticism, for me, is not believing in an afterlife. The idea that too much time passed since the last time I spoke with my friend Daryl & then he died suddenly, with no explanation, and that I’ll never see his face or hear his voice or feel his radiant warmth on this plane of existence or any other for the rest of eternity. That’s the burden I have to carry & cannot pacify myself with hopes of a cheerful reunion at the pearly gates. My decisions, actions & inaction and the price I pay for those are mine & mine alone.

(via ergascientia)